Monday, the 15th

Good morning everyone. Welcome to the beginning of the last month of the first half. There are 4 weeks left to make your move, or to not fudge it up depending on your current status. Unfortunately, it begins with more interleague. Lets get to it.

YESTERDAY

I was out for most of the day and missed pretty much everything, but was pleased to see that Dream Weaver did a terrific job, pitching a complete game shutout for me. This is the second time I have taken him and the second time he has performed well. He may have to be added to the automatic list in the near future. My bats did ok as well, let by Berkman (9) and Tejada (8). McCaan, Chipper, Soriano and Upton combined for only 3 points but I still took home 34 from the bats and ended the day with a 65. This was good enough to bump me up a little further to #22 overall and 61 points ahead of 50th. My demise is surely eminent as I have been on fire for over a week. Look out.

TODAY

When in doubt, play it safe. That's what I tried to accomplish with today's lineup. There are only 2 games and neither of them are what I would consider to be good. I, and I suspect you as well, will be happy just not to be on the wrong side with the staff. If that happens, it won't be all that bad. Here's the final.....

C: VMart
1B: Prince
2B: Buriss
3B: Figgins
SS: Hardy
LF: Braun
CF: Hunter
RF: Choo
DH: Rivera
PS: Angels

TODAY

Weather:
White Sox/Cubs 60%
Braves/Reds 50%
Tigers/Cards 60%
I don't see anything her worth worrying about, but I suggest you check it again before the end of the night. I know I will.

Teams facing Lefty starters:
Brewers, Nats, Phillies, Blue Jays, Rangers, Cubs, Royals, Rays, Dodgers, A's, Angels

Teams facing rookie starters:
Phillies vs. Romero (3-3 3.71 in 7 starts)

Pitchers:
Felix (6-3 3.06, 84 K in 85 IP, 3 R in last 28 IP, 3-1 2.36 on road)
Gallardo (6-3 2.88, 77K in 78 IP, 2 R or less in last 4, 3-1 2.81 on road, At Cle)
CC (5-4 3.68, 3 R or more in last 4, 1-1 4.07 at home, .203 BAA vs. Was)
Romero (3-3 3.71, 0-2 3.66 on road, 1-1 2.70 in June, at Phi)
Braden (5-5 3.33, 2 R or less in last 3, 1-3 3.72 on road)
Jurrjens (5-2 2.85, rocked in 2 of last 3, 3-1 2.27 on road)
Harang (5-6 3.74, 4-2 2.84 at home, 0-1 1.72 in June)
Wandy (5-5 2.82, 75 K in 79 IP, rocked in 3 of last 4, at Tex)
Millwood (6-4 2.72, 2 ER in last 19 IP, 4-1 2.19 at home)
Z (4-2 3.39, 2 ER in last 21 IP, 1-1 4.62 at home)
Davis (3-7 3.65, 2 R or less in 3 of last 4, 2-2 3.77 on road)
Meche (3-5 3.70, 2 R ot less in 4 of last 5, 0-3 5.93 at home)
Verlander (7-3 3.02, 106 K in 86 IP, 2 R or less in 9 of last 10, 4-2 4.39 on road, at StL)
Wainwright (6-4 3.49, poor in 2 of last 3)
It's no day to try tobe a hero on this one. I can easily narrow it down to CC, Gallardo, Felix and Verlander. I don't want any part of any pitcher at Coors East and I don't want Yoga in an AL park, so it it Justin ot Kinf Felix? Either are going to be solid choices, but in the end I have to go with Felix at Dan Diego. Fat Al alone scares me off of Verlander and Felix has been just as solid inhis last 3 starts.

First:
Huff (1-2)
Tex
Youk
Berkman (8-24, HR vs. good starter)
Konerko (7-22, 4HR vs. good starter)
Morneau
Pujols (3-5 vs. good starter)
Helton
A Gonzales (7-17, HR vs. good pitcher)
When looking at the matchups, it is clear to me that Tex has notonly a good opportunity vs. Martis, buthe's inthe besthitters park in the league.

Second:
Roberts
Castillo (2-2)
Cano
Utley (vs. Lefty)
Pedroia
Phillips (1-3, HR vs. good starter)
Kinsler (7-10 vs. good starter)
Roberts and cano hit righties equally well, but for now I'll take Roberts. I will also keep Castillo in mind if I need to save dough later.

Third:
Wright
ARoid
Cantu (7-21, HR)
Reynolds (1-2 vs. good starter)
Longoria (vs. lefty)
Beltre (3-7, HR)
I lose out on ARoid every time I take him. Wright is an easy one for me.

Short:
Jeter
Hanley (1-3)
Zobrist (vs. lefty)
Renteria (4-15)
I think Hanley will have a big day, but can't pass on Zo at Coors right now.

Left:
Braun (vs. Lefty)
Damon
Ibanez (vs. lefty)
Bay
Lee (2-4 vs. good starter)
Pierre (kills lefties)
Holliday (2-5 vs. lefty)
Man, I'm going to be way over the cap. I would take Pierrs, but Braun is only 0.1 more. Braun also went deep tonight already, so I have to take Raul for now.

Center:
Jones
Beltran
Victorino (vs. lefty)
Granderson (1-1 vs. good starter)
Upton (vs. lefty)
Hunter
At the moment, I like Victorino - the ugly bastard can play some ball and I almost never take him.

Right:
Cake
Bruce (2-3 vs. good starter)
Pence (2-6 vs. good starter)
Upton (0-3 vs. good starter)
Hawpe
It's Hawpe or Cake for me and Hawpe is hitting better.

DH:
Matsui
Kubel
Stewart
Griffey (3-5, HR)
I really like Matsui more than anyone else, but can't afford him. I think I'll stay with Rivera who is absolutely hammering lefties.

Catcher:
McCaan (7-13, HR)
Soto (1-2 vs. Lefty)
AJ (5-15, HR, vs. good starter)
Mauer
Yadi (3-5 vs good starter)
Benji (2-5)
I want McCaan here. This is an easy one for me and it saves me some cash.
Now, I'm considerably over the cap andhave to get creative. However, I don't want to sell the farm to meet the limit. I'll take the two guys who have the least power, Roberts and Victorino, and trade them off for Castillo and Ellsbury. Cool. I'm set.

FINAL LINEUP
C: Mccaan
1B: Tex
2B: Castillo
3B: Wright
SS: Zobrist
LF: Ibanez
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Hawpe
DH: Rivera
PS: King Felix

STAT CORNER

Who's hot:
Last 7 days:
M. Olivo, KC8-for-21, 4 HR, 8 RBI
A. Pujols, STL7-for-23, 4 HR, 6 RBI
M. Reynolds, ARI10-for-23, 3 HR, 9 RBI

Last 30 days:
J. Broxton, LAD2 W, 7 SV, 14.0 IP, 2 ER
M. Cain, SF6 W, 0 SV, 41.2 IP, 8 ER
J. Verlander, DET4 W, 0 SV, 36.0 IP, 5 ER

Who's not:
Last 7 days:
W. Taveras, CIN0-for-22, 0 HR, 0 RBI
W. Harris, WSH1-for-17, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Last 30 days:
F. Carmona, CLE0 W, 0 SV, 13.1 IP, 20 ER
M. Parra, MIL1 W, 0 SV, 27.1 IP, 34 ER

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, tell a friend and.....

FU Kerry Wood