Here's a list of two start pitchers for the second week of Fantasy Baseball 2009. The list isn't as impressive as last week, but you've still got some solid options:

• A.J. Burnett—New York Yankees: @ TB, vs. Cle
• Jon Lester—Boston Red Sox: @ Oak, vs. Bal
• Scott Kazmir—Tampa Bay Rays: vs. NYY, vs. CWS
• Edinson Volquez—Cincinnati Reds: @ Mil, @ Hou
• Chad Billingsley—Los Angeles Dodgers: vs. SF, vs. Col
• Yovani Gallardo—Milwaukee Brewers: vs. Cin, @ NYM
• Zack Greinke—Kansas City Royals: vs. Cle, @ Tex
• Chien-Ming Wang—New York Yankees: @ TB, vs. Cle
• Chris Carpenter—St. Louis Cardinals: @ Ari, @ CHC
• Javier Vazquez—Atlanta Braves: vs. Fla, @ Pit
• Gavin Floyd—Chicago White Sox: @ Det, @ TB
• John Danks—Chicago White Sox: @ Det, @ TB
• Ted Lilly—Chicago Cubs: vs. Col, vs. Stl
• Matt Garza—Tampa Bay Rays: vs. NYY, vs. CWS
• Kevin Slowey—Minnesota Twins: vs. Tor, vs. LAA
• Randy Johnson—San Francisco Giants: @ LAD, vs. Ari
• Mike Pelfrey—New York Mets: vs. SD, vs. Mil
• Ubaldo Jimenez—Colorado Rockies: @ CHC, @ LAD
• Fausto Carmona—Cleveland Indians: @ KC, @ NYY
• Chris Volstad—Florida Marlins: @ Atl, @ Was
• Koji Uehara—Baltimore Orioles: @ Tex, @ Bos
• Todd Wellemeyer—St. Louis Cardinals: @ Ari, @ CHC
• Jesse Litsch—Toronto Blue Jays: @ Min, vs. Oak
• Glen Perkins—Minnesota Twins: vs. Tor, vs. LAA
• Jamie Moyer—Philadelphia Phillies: @ Was, vs. SD
• Vicente Padilla—Texas Rangers: vs. Bal, vs. KC
• Zach Duke—Pittsburgh Pirates: vs. Hou, vs. Atl
• Dana Eveland—Oakland Athletics: vs. Bos, vs. Tor
• Doug Davis—Arizona Diamondbacks: vs. Stl, @ SF
• Daniel Cabrera—Washington Nationals: vs. Phi, vs. Fla
• Zach Miner—Detroit Tigers: vs. CWS, @ Sea
• Walter Silva—San Diego Padres: @ NYM, @ Phi
• Ricky Romero—Toronto Blue Jays: @ Min, vs. Oak
• Brian Moehler—Houston Astros: @ Pit, vs. Cin
• Dustin Moseley—Los Angeles Angels: @ Sea, @ Min
• Carlos Silva—Seattle Mariners: vs. LAA, vs. Det
• Carl Pavano—Cleveland Indians: @ KC, @ NYY

Thanks to the folks over at Fanhouse.com, we can bring you a list of hurlers that'll be throwing twice this week, so set your rosters accordingly.

For a more detailed breakdown of the list, click on the Fanhouse link:

Brandon Webb
Dan Haren
Jair Jurrjens
Josh Beckett
Carlos Zambrano
Ryan Dempster
Cliff Lee
Ricky Nolasco
Josh Johnson
Roy Oswalt
Francisco Liriano
Johan Santana,
C.C. Sabathia,
Tim Lincecum,
Felix Hernandez
Erik Bedard
Adam Wainwright
James Shields,
Roy Halladay
Mark Buehrle
Aaron Harang
Justin Verlander,
Joe Saunders
Hiroki Kuroda
Randy Wolf
Jake Peavy,
Chris Young
Kyle Lohse
Jeremy Guthrie
Aaron Cook
Wandy Rodriguez,
Gil Meche
Dustin Moseley
Jeff Suppan,
Nick Blackburn,
Dallas Braden
Trevor Cahill,
Paul Maholm
Ian Snell
Kevin Millwood
David Purcey,
John Lannan
Scott Olsen,

Well, it was bound to happen some time. Sports Illustrated has it's cover curse, we have our "Can't Miss Fantasy Prospect Advice" curse. We're not saying we're big enough to actually rival SI's cover curse, we're just saying we're not listening to our advice anymore. You probably shouldn't either.

Nick Swisher: Swisher has been the cover boy for this new 108 Red Stitches curse. Drafted in our fantasy league in each of the past four seasons (after Swisher's dominating welcome to the majors), Swisher has either run into a wall, had a tough season, or was traded to a team who mis-used him by making him their lead off hitter. Currently, our favorite hard nosed ball player is batting .213 with 13 RBIs. Hard nosed is no longer considered a stat in most fantasy leagues, which lead us to dropping Swisher in favor of the young Joey Votto. Look for Votto to fail miserably within the next few weeks.

Santiago Casilla: One of our latest "touted prospects" for your fantasy team needing a quick boost, here's the update on Casilla, courtesy of Rotowire;

Spin: He left Thursday's game with a right elbow injury, but there's no word yet from his medical evaluation.

Ryan Garko: Could we have screamed any louder on draft day when Garko fell quietly into our laps way late in the draft? Yes, we could, and have. Garko has looked more like a gecko at the plate than his previous self. After hitting 21 dingers last year, Garko was given the keys to first base, and has been spinning his wheels in neutral all year. Four home runs (majority coming in the past week or so) and a scorching .235 BA have left Garko owners (cough...us....cough) pounding our heads into our keyboards.

So, does three players actually qualify as a curse? No, probably not. But just to continue to earn curse points, lets just name a few players in this blog, and see what happens in the next few weeks: Santana, Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Wagner, Schneider, Church, Pedro, Alou, Perez.

Yes, I'm a Yankee fan currently watching the Subway Series. Hey, they need help.

Injury bug got you down? That overpriced outfielder (Soriano) not holding up his end of the bargain? That late draft pickup (Foulke) land back on the DL? Hate seeing the dreaded DTD letters next to your starters name? Hate having to try to play Carnac, wildly guessing whether to sit, bench, or drop a guy?

Here's a quick list of guys you can pick up to keep your fantasy team's head above water until the early season bumps, bruises, pulls, aches, and pains fade away:

1. Santiago Casilla, RP (Oakland). With Keith Foulke spending some time on the DL, the A's found a stop-gap solution to bridge to their closer. Casilla's numbers (to date) are the following:

Wake up, rub eyes, open laptop, log onto ESPN.com, search for glasses, rub eyes again (this time in disbelief; Swisher can't be doing that bad again...).

Such is the morning routine of this 108 Red Stitches contributing author. If ESPN.com is void of any interest, I'll mosey on over to Rotowire.com, or if I'm looking for propaganda articles, I'll click over to MLB.com.

Not anymore. I'm a proud, card-carrying member of the best sports site you may have never heard of.

Crowdpicks.com.

For the record, I am not getting any compensation for writing this, there's no tricky links in this post that will benefit myself if you click on them. This is a simple, Grade-A, wholesome, genuine, perfectly legit, good-old recommendation.

This site is a blend of facebook, myspace, vegas gambling sites (without the money transactions), and youtube, all designed for the sports fan in mind.

Crowdpicks.com advertises itself as the only sports website where you'll have to prove your worth.

Oh, is it worth it.

Members consistently comment on articles that you write or post (there's a blogging feature and a news story linking feature) and you can even embed youtube videos for others to watch.

There is a profit sharing system in place, similar to Revver.com's, but in my honest opinion, the money making aspect to the site is the least of all the features.

You can try to predict game day scores, and you're given trophies to display on your homepage if you become a successful member of crowdpicks.com. They give you tools to promote yourself throughout the internet such as the snazzy looking crowdpick badge, located at the top right portion of this blog.

Fans on this site range from your everyday baseball fanatic to your lovable beer guzzling Nascar fans. There's even a section for the more refined golf addicts.

College sports, pro sports, you take your pick. Try out the site, you'll love it.

ESPN's Fantasy Department recently ran an article explaining how and why washup and never drafted Aubrey Huff will outperform a rising star and over paid for Evan Longoria. While the evidence is there, we don't totally agree with Huff outperforming Longoria, but we do have our own list of overbid and underpaid:

Nick Swisher vs. Andre Ethier

Swisher has been slow to perform this season (fantasy wise) batting a sub par .268. Not the greatest batting average for a lead off hitter. He's been extremely streaky (2-12 in one stretch followed by a 4-10 current stretch) and his power isn't there just yet. Sure he's scored a bunch of runs (11) because he's hitting in the lead off spot, but lets be honest, I didn't draft Swisher because he scores a lot. Note; he is still Selective Swisher, walking 12 times so far this season.
Here's a fun stat: Percentage of Fantasy Leagues With a Team That Owns Nick Swisher: 100%

Andre Ethier, on the other hand, is only owned in 80% of the same leagues (ESPN Fantasy) and is outperforming Swisher; .308 BA, 2 HR, 11 RBI, and has a stolen base.

Are we saying that Ethier is a better player than Swisher? No, not really. We're just pointing out the oddity of dissimilar players putting up similar numbers and being drafted on opposite ends of the board.

Frustrating is the life of a fantasy league team owner. He carefully selects a player he hopes will bat third or fourth in a semi-potent White Sox lineup, only to find out Swisher will be batting leadoff, and some other owner gets lucky by drafting a fourth string outfielder who supplants Juan Pierre in the Dodger batting order.

After finishing a spot above the cellar last season, the 2008 Lugnuts look dominant, on paper.

But the game isn't played on paper, yada yada, played on a field, yada, injuries, yada, man crush on Nick Swisher.

Determined to re-think our draft strategy, we focused on building a pitching staff with low WHIP and good strike out to walk ratios. Not overly concerned with wins, we even made a few stabs at guys who play for less than stellar teams, partially because of their ability to control their pitches.

Here's our current lineup, keepers from last season listed in red, picks we considered steals in green, re-drafts from last season in yellow, and sleepers in blue. Analysis to follow.

C: Joe Mauer
1B: Prince Fielder
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Miguel Tejada
3B: Garret Atkins
OF: Nick Swisher
OF: Chris Young (Arizona)
OF: Kosuke Fukudome
Utility: Ryan Garko
Bench: Justin Upton, Cameron Maybin

SPs: Jake Peavy, Justin Verlander, Dan Haren, Carlos Zambrano, Jeff Francis, James Shields, Jon Garland, Gil Meche, and Jake Westbrook
RPs: Bobby Jenks, Tony Pena, BJ Ryan, and Scott Shields

Here's What We Love:

Starting Pitching: This is as dominant a fantasy rotation as we've ever had. Haren will be nasty behind Webb, and we drool at the prospect of Haren facing 8 hitters, most of whom never batting against the former Athletic. Peavy, Verlander, and Zambrano will bring the K's and the W's, while Shields, Francis, and Garland provide a very strong back end of a rotation.

Keepers: Our three keepers built a foundation that allowed us to go pitcher heavy in the first five rounds. With Mauer working extra hard on offseason conditioning, he'll be way more productive this season. If Utley and Fielder produce half of what they did last year, it'll be more than the majority of the teams in our league.

What We're Excited About:

Tejada and Young: Tejada is moving to a ballpark that will fall in love with his swing. Young could possibly put up a 30-30 season this year, and fills a power slot in our lineup that was missing (after Fielder). They are major upgrades over JJ Hardy (SS, 2007) and Casey Blake (OF, 2007). We're not going to miss the morning sickness that came with checking Carlos Beltran's stats or the rapid increase of BJ Upton's strikeout total.

What We're Concerned About:

Bullpen: Drafting BJ Ryan late could pay off big time, or he could wind up being a left handed specialist with a sore pitching arm that throws once every five days. We were a little upset with ourselves for not knowing enough about Tony Pena (apparently not their heir apparent to the closer role in Arizona). If every goes wrong according to Murphy's Law, we have one decent closer and three guys who will dominate the ever important holds category.


Jury's Still Out On:

Fukudome, Upton, and Maybin: This could either be the biggest steal since the trade that landed the Padres Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez, or the biggest bust since, well... last season's Lugnuts second to last place finish.

Short stops used to be the fantasy gem position, before first basemen started routinely hitting 40 Home Runs and driving in 100 plus runs ever season. A few years ago, your first round consisted of A-Rod, Jeter, Tejada, and occasionally Frucal, gone before the end of the first round.

Things have changed a little, so we're glad you came looking for some advice.

First, the obvious. Jose Reyes will get you steals, Hanley Ramirez is turing into a cheap 90's A-Rod imitation, Jimmy Rollins will be a MVP Candidate for the next four years, and Derek Jeter will continue to put up solid numbers.

Assuming that you didn't get any of those short stops in your draft, you're left with little options to fill your lineup.

Our biggest "get" at short stop this season will be Miguel Tejada. He'll likely fall in your draft, partially because of the emergence of Troy Tulowitzki as a new fantasy fan favorite, and partially because of his involvement in the steroid scandle.

The last time we checked, being accused of taking steroids is not a major fantasy league statistic. Home runs, rbi's, and run scored, however, are. And since Mr. Tejada will be playing in a ballpark tailored to his offensive approach, we highly recommend grabbing him if he's available.

Edgar Renteria is a quite attractive option at short, too. He'll be hitting in one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball and should have a bunch of at bats with runners in scoring position.

We're suggesting to shy away from two particular short stops this season; J.J. Hardy and David Eckstein. Having Hardy in your lineup is like riding a roller coaster throughout the season. He hit a ton of home runs (15) before the All-Star Break, but fizzled in the second half, barely scraping above 20 dingers to end the season (21).
The Blue Jays signing of Eckstein is a complete head scratcher. If it was a move to sure up defensively, is doesn't make sense; the Jays had one of the best defenses last season. Coupled with the fact that their previous short stop wasn't half bad (John McDonald), signing Eckstein seems like a knee-jerk reaction.

If you are looking for the biggest piece of fantasy advice on the internet, you have come to the right place. Get ready for this, and make sure you're sitting down in a chair.

Ready?

DO NOT DRAFT RYAN BRAUN. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU CONSIDER TAKING RYAN BRAUN WITH ANY OF YOUR 25 DRAFT PICKS. LEAVE HIM ON THE FREE AGENT WIRE.

Confused yet?

Good.


We're talking about (obviously) Ryan Braun of the Kansas City Royals. It will be the single most mistake this draft year. Our advice to you is to pay extremely close attention during your online draft, if you are hoping to select Braun. Make sure that you're drafting the correct Braun, the one who plays for the Brew Crew.

Ok, back to normal, every day, 108 Red Stitches advice.

If you can't get your hands on Rodriguez, Wright, or Cabrera, do yourself a favor and pick up Garrett Atkins. As long as Atkins is playing in Coors Field, he'll do wonders for your fantasy team. If you're able to draft Atkins, make sure you have spend a lower level pick on a backup third basemen like;

Chase Headley, Padres. This kid can flat out hit. His only problem is where he plays in the field. With Kevin Kouzmanoff plopped down at third for the Padres, Headley could wind up playing in the outfield, or second base. If he's in the outfield, he'll platoon at first, and won't be worth keeping him on your team. If he plays second, we've got a totally different story. In a position with two great options, (Cano and that other Chase) if moved to second, Headley will immediately increase his value.

Scott Rolen, Toronto. His suggested starting bid is $13. He's a great option because he's hitting in a lineup of guys who love to get on base. If you get into a bidding war with another owner, let him go. $13 is relatively high for a guy on the down slope of his career. Rolen has a little something left in his bat if he can stay healthy this year.

Joe Crede, White Sox. The Giants have expressed interest in Crede, as long as he stays healthy during spring training. With the White Sox having a youngster settling in at third (Josh Fields) Crede becomes expendable. If he heads over to the Bay, his value increases, but not by much. We're not suggestion to draft Crede, just want to make you aware of his current situation.

Our theme for the 2008 fantasy draft is simply put; "Don't waste high picks or spend tons of hard earned cash on a first baseman." First basemen in this draft come a dime-a-dozen.

Even if the top ten first basemen (as listed by Fantasy Baseball Index) are taken before you have a chance to blink, names like Todd Helton, Kevin Youkilis, Conor Jackson, James Loney, Daric Barton, and Lyle Overbay are still available.

Stay away from high priced under-producers like Carlos Delgado ($15) or Richie Sexson ($12). And be wary of flash in the pans like Dmitri Young or Mike Jacobs. Jacobs should be a 30 Home Run guy with huge fantasy upside, but his swing is way to wild and unpredictable to be a consistent contributor to your team.

And if you ever, ever think about drafting Lance Niekro, you should contact your fantasy league manager and tell him to lock your team for the rest of the season and have a love one submit you to a psych ward. Because you obviously have not idea what you are doing and are considered a danger to the human race.

Joey Votto, Cincinnati. Keep an eye on this rookie, if he wins the starting first base job from Scott Hatteberg, scoop him up. He'll most likely be available in your draft, because he plays for a media-less market and 90% of folks in your draft likely won't ever have heard of him. We realize that we downgraded Brendon Phillips because he plays for the Reds, but there's something about a young lefty with something to prove playing in a hitter's dream park that makes us want to take him later in the draft.

Ben Broussard, Texas. Ron Washington, manager of the Rangers, gave Broussard the starting job at first base, no matter what hand the pitcher is using to throw the ball. So this translates into Broussard getting more at-bats, but that doesn't mean he'll get more quality at-bats. He hits like crap against lefties, but playing in a cozy Arlington ballpark should increase his power numbers a bit.

Joe Koshansky; Rockies. He will be the sleeper pick of the year if the Rockies begin to bottom out early in the season. If they head south quickly, the Rockies would look to trade Helton's hefty contract and pick up some minor league prospects or add to their bullpen. Koshansky can rake, and we can only sit back and smile at the thought of what he would do in Coors Field. If Koshansky becomes trade bait himself, his value decreases just a little, depending on where he winds up.

So here's a common situation that many fantasy players find themselves in; It's late in the draft and you've spent a lot of money and draft picks on solidifying your lineup, have a decent bullpen going, and your rotation is looking pretty. However you realize that you missed filling out your second base slot.

First, let us congratulate you on a wise draft so far. Unless you are in the position to draft Chase Utley or Robinson Cano, your top picks shouldn't be wasted on a position that hasn't produced big numbers since Alfonso Soriano lost his eligibility.

While our recent articles have given suggestions on who to take in your draft, we'd like to start out by suggesting players to avoid.

Take Dustin Pedroia for instance. Post season heroics don't translate into season long success. Be careful not to overbid or draft Pedroia too much or too early. Fantasy players have long been known to react to hype machines, and Pedroia is such a machine.

While Fantasy Baseball Index lists Brendon Phillips as their #2 second basemen, we are urging all of our readers to stay far away from Phillips. Cincinnati is a totally different baseball team than last year, and Manager Baker scares us. Look for a significant drop in Phillips' numbers this season.

Let's take a look at some reasonable options that should be around late in the your draft:

Howie Kendrick, Angels. Don't be discouraged by his lack of power, after all, he did break his hand twice last season. If he can improve his strikeout/walk ratio, he's got a great chance to add 20 points to his already high .322 batting average. Be wary, he's not a producer when it comes to stolen bases, so if you need that statistic from a second baseman, pass on Kendrick.

Kelly Johnson, Braves. Drafting Johnson could pay off in two different ways. If he is slotted in the leadoff spot in the Braves lineup, He'll score a bunch of runs and might steal a base or two. If he's bumped down in the lineup, he'll have more RBI opportunities. Watch his progress in the spring, and then draft him (or not) based on his lineup position.

So here's a common situation that many fantasy players find themselves in; It's late in the draft and you've spent a lot of money and draft picks on solidifying your , lineup,have a decent bullpen going, but your rotation could use . You look at your slots and notice that you need to pick up another starter, but since its so late in the draft, almost everyone is gone.

Let's take a look at some reasonable options that should be around late in the your draft: (Players chosen are based on a 10 team league, with the top 60 players ranked by Fantasy Baseball Index removed from consideration, assuming that each team has already drafted four or five starters).

Barry Zito; Giants. Zito is listed at 61 in the rankings, and has a starting bid of $10. Our advice is to offer up to $12, to see if any other owner might bite, but don't go any higher. Sure Zito had a rough season last year (11-13, 4.53 ERA), but he's capable of bouncing back. Since Zito is most likely going to be facing other team's 1 and 2 starters, his run support (from an already listless lineup) will likely be non-exsistant. There's going to be plenty of other options out there, but if he's your number five starter, you're staff is probably in good shape to begin with.

Dontrelle Willis; Tigers. Willis is one of our sleepers in this years draft. He moves to a pitcher's park and has a lineup of devastating hitters. The Tigers could easily average 5-6 runs per game, which would win him a boat load of ballgames if he shaves a run off of last years 5.17 ERA. The Tigers have a nice bullpen that will save him 3 or 4 wins this year, but its the lineup, the ballpark, and the fact that he'll be low in the rotation that makes Willis an attractive grab.

Mark Prior; Padres. Suggested starting bid, $6. Can he stay healthy? Can he regain his old form? Our answer is a maybe. But isn't that what you're looking for in a back end starter on your fantasy team? He's going to be pitching in another pitcher heaven and facing back end of the rotation types. We'd bench him whenever he starts against Colorado, so take a gamble on Prior.

Manny Parra, Brewers. He threw a perfect game in Triple-A. The Brewers had enough confidence to start him during their playoff run. The suggested starting bid is $4. Most of the guys in your league never have heard of any other Manny than the lazy left fielder on the Red Sox. Do it. Do it. Pick up Parra. You can send us the thank you checks in the fall.

Matt Clement; Cardinals. Look at the resurrections that have occured in St. Louis. Carpenter, Suppan, Izzy, Looper, whether its post operation or a place where careers go to resurrect from the dead, there's something about Clement that says he'll follow precedence. While Clement is a fringe prospect, we're just here to remind you that stranger things have happened to pitchers wearing the Red Birds uniform.

So here's a common situation that many fantasy players find themselves in; It's late in the draft and you've spent a lot of money and draft picks on solidifying your rotation, lineup, and have a decent bullpen going. You look at your slots and notice that you need to pick up another outfielder, but since its so late in the draft, almost everyone is gone.

Let's take a look at some reasonable options that should be around late in the your draft:
(Players chosen are based on a 10 team league, with the top 80 players ranked by Fantasy Baseball Index removed from consideration).

Carlos Quentin; White Sox. Fully healthy coming into this season, Quentin, if given enough playing time, could blossom in Chicago. Living in a hitter's park could mean greater home run numbers for Quentin, which is unexpected in an outfielder chosen this late in the draft.

Josh Anderson, Braves. Twenty five years old, runs like the wind, covers ground like a cheetah. Might not have the best shot of cracking the opening day lineup, but with an aging Kotsay in centerfield, its only a matter of time before Anderson takes over. In an era where the running game seems to have disappeared, Anderson's 84 steals over the past two minor league seasons is exciting.

Endy Chavez, Mets. With the chance of Moises Alou out for an extended period, Alou owners might want to consider picking up Chavez until he returns. He's relatively cheap (suggested starting bid is $1) and has a major upside sitting in the Mets lineup.

Ryan Sweeney, Athletics. Dealt to Oakland in the Swisher deal, Sweeney had a rough Triple-A in Charlotte last year, but a change in scenery and a chance to play every day in the bigs can get a young guy going. He's not our favorite out of this group, but he's got a major, major upside if he cracks Oakland's lineup.

Name: Clayton Kershaw
Organization: LA Dodgers
Position: Pitcher
Born: 3/19/1988
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Drafted: 2006, 1st Round, 7th Overall


Mixing in the wily veterans with a youth corps, the Dodgers are more than excited over the prospects of this 20 year old lefty tossing the pelota in Chavez Ravine this season. Scout Magazine lists him as the number one prospect in the Dodger organization, ahead of masher Andy Laroche and Double A reliever of the year award winner Jon Meloan.

Kershaw started his career in Low A-Ball (Great Lakes) and finished last year in Double A Jacksonville. Kershaw was a combined 8-7, but had an ERA of 2.95 , and batters hit at a .204 clip against the southpaw.

Will Kershaw be wearing Dodger blue this season? It depends. If he comes out firing on all cylinders in Vero Beach or if a Dodger starter gets hurt early in the season, there's reason to believe Kershaw will be considered for a call up.

Time to open up the 108 Red Stitches Mailbag. To ask us a question email 108redstitches@gmail.com. Try to keep it baseball related, spammers not welcome, we know where you live and have Italians on our staff, and we're not afraid to use them.

Dear 108 Red Stitches, "We just started up a fantasy league with a bunch of my buddies from college. Obviously we've gotta wager on the season and I'm looking for an edge on the competition. Any suggestions?"
-Kevin in South Bend.

Well Kevin;
Seeing your email is from South Bend, we're figuring you could at least look to the luck of the Irish to get some help for your fantasy team. Most fantasy sites will tell you not to load up on one stat, home runs for example. Pitching is important, make sure you take a look at a guy's innings pitched, its a key stat in determining how reliable he'll be throughout the season.
So far, some pretty normal advice. Now here's where we put our spin on things. One of the most crucial elements to a successful fantasy season lies within your team's name. Picking some old ordinary name like Pinstripes, or the Bronx Bombers, or The Green Monsters does little to invoke fear into your opponent. Fear instills laziness in most Fantasy League players. The onset of laziness begets forgetfulness, which causes opponents to forget to check their lineup. Visit this site for a distinct advantage on naming your team.

Dear 108 Red Stitches; My favorite team just signed a player that's my sworn enemy. Now that he's playing for my favorite team, should I stop hating him? - Rich, Dallas

Hey Rich,
As a famous Emperor once said "Good Luke, let the hate flow through you." Free agency has made a mockery of Major League Rivalries. We've always felt that if the Yankees ever signed Barry Bonds, we'd probably set fire to the Stadium, or at least give up our season tickets. A lot of Yankee fans had similar feelings when Clemens signed on and a lot of Mets fans had confused feelings with the signings of Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine. A lot of baseball fans are simply content with rooting for a jersey now, and attempting to remember who is wearing them.
Our advice Rich, "Give Milton a Chance!" (and tell your first base coach and/or manager to keep his hands off him).

Send us your questions at 108redstitches@gmail.com

Free agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins and the Philadelphia Phillies seem to have agreed on a contract. What does this mean for fantasy owners? Lets take a peak:
Jenkins was just waiting out his contract as a member of the Brew-Crew; he didn't really wear out his welcome, but was more a casualty of a up and coming Brewer farm system.
Jenkins has decent power and is a .280 hover hitter. His power number could benefit from a playing 81 games in the pinball machine park that the Phillies call home.
Jenkins signing would also effect Pat Burrell, potentially. ESPN suggests that Jenkins could replace Burrell whenever there's a righty on the mound. That would be disastrous for Burrell Fantasy Owners, because they're taking a huge gamble by owning him in the first place, now he's going to lose a good chunk of plate appearances.
With Shane Victorino now the everyday center-fielder, Jenkins could also spit time with Jason Werth.
With Aaron Rowand leaving via free agency and Michael Bourn traded to the Astros in the Brad Lidge trade, the Phillies outfield should probably be left alone on your draft day.

My Lugnuts. My Fantasy Team. My Bastards. You break my heart.
Last week of the season before playoffs and you decide to catch fire.
Too bad we were eliminated from playoff contention five weeks ago.
I should file a restraining order against Nick Swisher, I feel like I'm being abused.
But I love him anyway.
He ruins my fantasy team for the entire season, and just after I write about how there's no way he'll be wearing the Lugnut Cap next season, he has to go and catch on fire.
Three dingers in three days.
How do I justify leaving him now?
Scott Kazmir, you little runt you. I love you to death, but every morning, I flavor my coffee with tears because I can't stand the fact that you're bullpen steals 50+ wins from you every season. You're about as useful to me as a long inning reliever.
But I love him anyway.
Joe Mauer, you represent everything that is good and wonderful with the human race.
Too bad that's not a stat in my league this year.
Last season he's leading the league in batting average. The kid hits and no one can stop him.
Then he puts on a Lugnuts jersey.
But I love him anyway.

Barry Bonds. You're foot is hurting.

You'll never wear a Lugnuts Cap, no matter how many records you break.

You'll never have the opportunity to ruin one of my fantasy baseball season.

I hate you.