Monday, the 1st

Welcome to June! You know, I think it is because this game is so humbling that we continue to come back day after day, year after year. Just when you think you've got it licked......BAM! Man, I love it. Let's get right to the juice.....

YESTERDAY

Here is my team for today in a nutshell: bum, DNP, bum, juiced up bum, bum, Raul, DNP, DNP, bum, bum. After moving up every day last week, all the way to #41 on the leaderboard, those clowns agae me 14 lousy points yesterday. It's not so bad that Greinke busted out (since almost everyone suffered on that pick) but the bats just totally let me down. For Pete's sake, guys, make an effort will ya? I dropped back off the LB again, this time to #67, 12 points of the LB pace. All in all, it could have been much worse. Fortunately, you all sucked just about as bad as I did. I thank you for that. Moving on....

TODAY

Today is going to be very interesting. The starting pitchers are a miserable bunch. The leaderboard certainly could not decide who the best pick is as 5 teams were represented with at least 10% of the picks. This will be a moving day for sure. I sure hope I move in the right direction. Here is the lineup:

C: Weiters
1B: Berkman
2B: Utley
3B: ARoid
SS: Tejada
LF: Damon
CF: Victorino
RF: Upton
DH: Thome
PS: Wellemeyer

TOMORROW

As poor as the options are for today, tomorrow is the exact opposite. Good pitching is everywhere and many rookies are also going. Good matchups are bountiful. That said, I would expect this to be a moving day as well. Choose wisely as your status in this game could be very different then it is today come Wednesday morning.

Weather:
Boston/Detroit 50%
Oakland/White Sox 60%

Teams facing lefties:
Nationals, Pirates, Mets, Blue Jays, Marlins, Twins, Padres, Orioles, Diamondbacks

Teams facing rookies:
Atlanta vs. Wells (1.80 ERA in 4 starts, 23K in 25 IP)
Cubs vs. Kawakami (2-3, 3.03 May ERA)
Boston vs. Porcello (5-0, 1.50 May ERA)
San Fran vs. Shemman (0-1, 5.56 ERA in 2 starts)
San Diego vs. Bastardo (the Lefty makes his major league debut)
Colorado vs. Paulino (4 runs or more allowed in last 3 starts, 6.75 ERA)
Minnesota vs. Huff (10.97 ERA in 3 starts)
Seattle vs. Hernandez (1-0, 1.59 ERA is 1st start vs. Detroit)

Pitchers:
Lincecum (84K in 65 IP, 2-0 2.91 in May, .222 BAA, at Washington)
Johan (7-2 1.77 ERA, 4-1 2.43 in May, 86K in 66 IP, .174 BAA, at Pitt)
Duke (2-3 2.98 in May, low K's, .272 BAA, vs. minor league Mets)
Saunders (3-2 3.12 in May, 3.38 road ERA)
Halladay (4-0 1.76 in May, 68K in 82 IP, .216 BAA, backed up by BJ Ryan)
Peavy (84K in 72 IP, 3-2 2.13 in May, 3-3 2.98 at home, .213 BAA, vs. Philly)
Bedard (3-2 2.48 ERA done very quietly, 54K in 54 IP, 0-2 2.00 at home, .237 BAA)
Haren (2-1 3.50 in May, 71K in 71 IP, lost with a 3.00 ERA to Dodgers on April 12, .326 BAA)
Wolf (3-1 2.84, 2-0 2.35 in May, Low K's, .245 BAA)
There are way too many good choices here but, in the end, I have to go with Johan over Lince.

First:
Tex (2-7, 2HR)
Millar (6-12, 2HR vs. good starter)
Pena (2-2)
Prince (1-4, HR)
Helton (1-2, HR)
Morneau (vs. rookie)
Pujols (13-42, 3HR)
For now, I am going to take Fat Al. If cap room becomes an issue down the road, I may change.

Second:
Cano (3-8, HR)
Hill (4-11 vs. good starter)
Uggla (2-4)
Hill has tapered off lately and Uggla just can't seem to get any consistency going. Pencil in Cano, but again, I don't really like him at that price and may downgrade if needed.

Third:
ARoid
Wright (5-15, HR vs. good starter)
Encarnacion (5-14, HR)
I am saving money on ARoid after the price increase. I don't see anything available that would cause me to give that up.


Short:
Jeter
Hanley (3-5)
Tejada (2-7)
Hanley is just coming back and I don't want to overload with Yanks. I'll keep Tejada for now.

Left:
Braun
Melky (1-2)
Crawford (1-3)
Damon (3-11)
I really don't like anything here. I'll take Crawford for now but this is another possible downgrade position.

Center:
Granderson (4-9, HR)
Hamilton (4-9, HR vs. good starter)
Cameron (2-4)
Ankiel (5-11, 3HR)
Simple - Dice K sucks and I can't be 100% sure Ankiel will play.

Right:
Pence (3-8)
Hawpe (2-2 but weak on road)
Cuddyer (vs. rookie)
I know Hawpe struggles on the road, but Cuddyer is banged up and Pence hasn't done much of late.

DH:
Matsui (1-1)
Kubel (vs. rookie)
I have to take at least one Twin in this one. Down goes the rookie!

Catcher:
Posada
Pudge (2-5)
Mauer (vs. rookie)
VMart (4-6 but banged up)
McCann
I can't afford Mauer who, is the only dependable choice. I have a good feeling about McCann. He has almost always performed for me.

Due to financial restraints I am going to have to drop Cano from my lineup. In an unexpected move, I am going to replace him with my first El Cheapo Especial of the week, Brendan Harris who will be starting daily while Punto is out.

FINAL LINEUP
C: McCann
1B: Pujols
2B: Harris
3B: ARoid
SS: Tejada
LF: Crawford
CF: Granderson
RF: Hawpe
DH: Kubel

STAT CORNER

The San Francisco Giants as a team have only 6 more home runs this season than Adrian Gonzales has all by his lonesome.

500 players have stolen over 150 bases in Major League history. However, there are only 41 active players that have stolen even 100.

Leaders in batting average for the month of May:
Mauer .406
Tejada .394
Kennedy .390
Pence .385
Ichiro .384

Leaders in RBI for the month of May:
Tex 34
Fielder 31
Mauer 31
Bay 29
Phillips 27

Leaders in total bases for the month of May:
Tex 86
Mauer 77
Upton 77
Morneau 72
Ibanez 71

Tomorrow we will look at the best pitching stats from May.

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. I do not tell anyone who to put on their teams. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, tell a friend and, oh yeah.........

FU Kerry Wood