Wednesday, the 19th

Good morning, everyone. I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for good bullpens, right? Wow. Here are a few random thoughts, Larry King style........Bret Favre - who gives a shit?........John Smoltz - if he signs with the Cards, I hope it goes well. He deserves to go out successfully.........the Rangers, the Giants, and the pennant race - Man it would suck if these two played eachother in the series, as unlikely as it probably is.........Panama - never been there, probably never will.......That chick on the Evony ad - nice cans! Probably talks with an accent, too!

YESTERDAY

It surely started out poorly, as Lincy got railed early and often. Fortunately, the bullpen came through with a great effort and the majority of us walked away with a decent 18 points. My bats were pretty much crap asode from Mauer (14), Kinsler (9), and Hanley (5). They totalled 34 on the night, giving me a grand total of 52. Again, I don't complain about any score above 50. This morning, I am ranked #26 overall and #462 in the half.

TODAY

So I pulled out my sack last night and laid that sucker on the table for all to see. I am not sure at this point if it was a good move or not, but I went with Jurrjens in New York tonight, hoping he outduels Lee and Verlander. Lee was clearly the top pick with 45% and Verl followed with 29%. It's a do or die kind of day, but I felt like it was a good time to try to sneak one in. If it works...but if it doesn't....shit! Here is my final, along with the top picks...

C: McCann (Mauer*)
1B: Huff (Pujols*)
2B: Cano (Kinsler*)
3B: Longoria (Figgins*)
SS: Hanley*
LF: Braun*
CF: Cameron (Hunter*)
RF: Cuddyer (Cake*)
DH: Vlad*
PS: Jurrjens (Lee*)

TOMORROW

Weather:
Giants/Reds scattered t-storms
Mariners/Tigers rain and thunder
DBacks/Phils scattered
Rocks/Nats scattered
Angels/Indians scattered
Braves/Mets scattered

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Tigers, Mariners, Phils, Jays, Bosox, Rays, Braves, Twins, Marlins, Dodgers, Cubs

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Rays vs. Matusz (1-2 6.75 in 3 starts)

Possible Load-ups:
Rays vs. Matusz (1-2 6.75)
Rangers vs. Swarzak (3-6 5.87)

Bats You May Want to Avoid:
Phillips (2-14, HR vs. starter)
Hafner (4-26)
A Cabrera (1-11)
Feliz (3-26)
Rollins (3-22)
Utley (2-11)
Millar (4-21)
Hill (0-14)
Lind (2-14)
Scott (3-16)
Infante (2-24)

Pitchers:
Cain (12-4 2.49, 1.15 WHIP, 6-2 2.61 road, 0-2 4.84 August, 0-1 6.43 at Cin)
Rowland-Smith (2-1 3.60, 1.11 WHIP, 0-0 4.91 road, 1-0 4.08 August, at Det)
Washburn (8-7 2.95, 1.09 WHIP, 0-1 5.12 August, vs. Sea)
Lackey (8-5 3.73, 1-1 2.49 August, 1-0 1.29 at Cle)
Davis (7-10 3.59, 3-4 4.10 road, 2-0 2.70 August, at Phi)
Blanton (7-6 3.88, 4-3 4.03 home, 0-2 2.61 August, vs. Zona)
Lester (9-7 3.71, 176 K in 153 IP, 4-4 4.03 road, 0-0 2.37 August, 2-1 2.33 at Tor)
Shields (7-9 3.88, 1-3 5.45 post break, 1-0 0.00 vs. Balt)
Johan (13-8 3.10, 8-2 2.32 home, 1-1 0.00 vs. Atl)
Johnson (12-2 2.85, 1.07 WHIP, 2-0 2.66 August, at Hou)
Wandy (11-7 3.05, 6-2 1.92 home, 1-1 6.60 August, at Hou)
Pineiro (11-9 3.25, 1.12 WHIP, Low K's, 2-0 6.27 August, 1-0 4.05 at SD)
My top three here are Lackey, Johan and Cain. The depleted Tribe should be no match for Lackey. I like Cain more, being in the NL, but the Reds bats scare me just a little after what they did to Lincy. But I like Johan more than the rest. He has not given up an earned run in 2 starts vs. Atlanta this season and the Braves have a long history of struggling vs. lefties. Johan for me.

First:
Votto (4-8 vs. Cain)
Howard (2-6, 2HR vs. Davis)
Youk (2-3)
AGonz (6-19, HR vs. Pineiro)
Pujols (2-3)
I have to go with Pujols here. Of the group, he faces the weakest starter. Youk is appealing as well, but I have to stay with the best hitter in the game.

Second:
K Johnson (7-18 vs. Johan)
Uggla (3-9 vs. Wandy)
Well obviously I don't like either of these guys, but Kinsler vs. Swarzak looks appealing enough. He seems tobe getting back into his early season groove.

Third:
Peralta (10-25 vs. Lackey)
Zimmerman (1-3, HR)
Lowell (1-3, HR vs. lefty)
Chipper (5-14 vs. Johan)
Kouz (2-6, HR vs. Pineiro)
I don't much care for the way this group works either. I guess I'll stay with Evan. Eventually, he has to come through. This is definately a throw away pick, though.

Short:
Scutaro (6-19 vs. Lester)
Escobar (5-15 vs. Johan)
Hanley (4-8 vs. Wandy)
Furcal (3-6 vs. lefty)
Once again, the numbers leave me wishing for more. Pencil in Tulo, but I may dump him if I need money later.

Left:
Bay (2-2, HR vs. lefty)
Diaz (11-20, HR vs. Johan)
Holliday (1-3, HR)
I have to take Bay here. I think I will get the same value from him as I would out of Holliday, plus he's much cheaper.

Center:
Hunter (2-6, HR)
Morgan (3-6)
A Jones (6-15 vs. Shields)
Ross (3-5 vs. Wandy)
I would take Kemp vs. the lefty, if it wasn't for the flu that kept him outlast night. Let's take Hunter. The Halo's are killing the ball right now.

Right:
Choo (4-9 vs. Lackey)
Abreu (2-6)
Willingham (2-4, HR)
Werth (3-6 vs. Davis)
I like Willingham here. He has recently become a favorite pick of mine. Something tells me Hawpe will have success as well.

DH:
Velez (4-9)
Griffey (3-9, HR vs. Washburn)
Ortiz (1-3, HR vs. lefty)
It's a shitty group. I guess I'll stay with Vlad.

Catcher:
Napoli (2-5, HR)
Bard (4-6)
VMart (2-5, HR vs. lefty)
Varitek (2-2, 2HR vs. lefty)
Paulino (5-8, HR vs. Johnson)
Martin (2-5 vs. lefty)
VMart is an easy pick for me. I still think Mauer may sit. Let's just say I heard from someone who knows someone who knows something about this game that Mauer may sit before the weekend. Keep in mind, though, that this is UNCONFIRMED.

FINAL LINEUP

C: VMart
1B: Pujols
2B: Kinsler
3B: Evan
SS: Tulo
LF: Bay
CF: Hunter
RF: Willingham
DH: Vlad
PS: Johan

DISCLAIMER

My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are welcome to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again, and pass the word if you will.

FU HALL OF FAME

Kerry MF'n Wood (Founder, -14, -11, -7, -6)
Nick MF'n Blackburn (record holder at -43)
Jake MF'n Peavy (2 time offender at -8 and -2)
Houston MF'n Astros Staff(-4)
Los Angeles MF'n Dodgers Staff (-11)
Zach MF'n Greinke (-4)