Thursday's report

Overall standings

1. Arbitration Losers (Tim) 191
2. Holliday Road (Bill-Cliff) 184
3. Misfits (Reid) 178
4. Chico's Chuggers (Shawn) 175
4. Triple-A's (Ken) 175
6. Ubaldo Spots (Rich) 169
7. Goatwhisperers (Arik) 167
8. VC Appraisers (Dave-Kevin) 166
9. Pitch You Blockhead (Scott) 158
9. Pickle Bugs (Jon) 158

Week 2 head-to-head

VC Appraisers 74, Chico's Chuggers 64
Ubaldo Spots 67, Holliday Road 53
Misfits 95, Triple-A's 61
Goatwhisperers 91, Pickle Bugs 79
Arbitration Losers 105, Pitch You Blockhead 62

Daily notes

The Arbitration Losers moved into the overall lead after nice games from Troy Tulowitzki and Raul Ibanez. ... Roy Halladay's 20-point game breathes life into Misfits' week. ... Another solid outing for Josh Joshnson (VC Appraisers) still doesn't earn a win. ... Pitch You Blockhead may change name to 'Play' You Blockhead in honor of Ian Stewart.

Note to owners

"Probables" document has been updated with next week's probable pitchers.

Wednesday's report

Overall standings

1. Holliday Road (Bill-Cliff) 182
     Hawpe, Ludwick both went to Tijuana to get Golden Sombreros
2. Arbitration Losers (Tim) 174
     Hitters finally wake up and make big contributions
3. Chico's Chuggers (Shawn) 172
     Very hard to pick right side of 3-person platoon
4. Triple-A's (Ken) 167
     Hitting keeps team afloat while pitching struggles
5. Ubaldo Spots (Rich) 159
     Ubaldo goes on DL with owie on finger
6. Goatwhisperers (Arik) 148
     Nothing this week from Ruiz, Werth, Stanton
7. Pitch You Blockhead (Scott) 147
     When in doubt, draft someone with same last name
7. VC Appraisers (Dave-Kevin) 147
     Best pitcher is closer Huston Street; not a good sign
9. Misfits (Reid) 140
     Misfits lose Wells to DL
10. Pickle Bugs (Jon) 138
     Lincecum's 24 points help Bugs get back into it


Week 2 head-to-head

Chico's Chuggers 61, VC Appraisers 55
Ubaldo Spots 57, Holliday Road 51
Misfits 57, Triple-A's 53
Goatwhisperers 72, Pickle Bugs 59
Arbitration Losers 88, Pitch You Blockhead 51

Players acquired

SP Jason Hammel, by Ubaldo Spots (April #1)
SP R.A. Dickey, by Ubaldo Spots (April #2)
1B Lyle Overbay, by Holliday Road (April #1)

Commissioner's note

Holliday Road had points removed for Ryan Ludwick in Week 1 because of projected DL of Matt Holliday

Tuesday's report

Overall standings


1. Holliday Road (Bill-Cliff) 172
    Could get Holliday back by next week
2. Chico's Chuggers (Shawn) 157
    Still search for 2B who actually plays everyday
3. Triple-A's (Ken) 136
     Still looking for first pitching win of season
4. Ubaldo Spots (Rich) 133
    Still waiting on something from Drew
5. Misfits (Reid) 126
    Pitching start of first weeK: Randy Wells?
6. Arbitration Losers (Tim) 124
    Back-to-back complete game shutouts
7. Pitch You Blockhead (Scott) 120
    Stewart, Wigginton combine for -1 at 3B
8. Gladstone Goatwhisperers (Arik) 118
     Chacin, Wright save day from a load of zeros
9. VC Appraisers (Dave-Kevin) 111
    Hamels' -3 is not a great start
10. Pickle Bugs (Jon) 84
    Bugs' resting on last year's laurels

Week 2 Head-to-head

Chico's Chuggers 46, VC Appraisers 19
Holliday Road 33, Ubaldo Spots 31
Misfits 43, Triple-A's 22
Goatwhisperers 42, Pickle Bugs 5
Arbitrations Losers 38, Pitch You Blockhead 24

Week 2 roster changes

Week 1 midweek changes

Holliday Road: On Saturday, conditionally placed OF Matt Holliday on DL; activated OF Ryan Ludwick

VC Appraisers: On Sunday, started Randy Wolf as emergency starter in place of Jair Jurrjens

Additions/subtractions

Chico Chuggers: Acquired 2B Darwin Barney (April #1); released 2B Blake DeWitt

Misfits: Acquired SS Angel Sanchez (April #1)

Week 2 active roster changes

Chico Chuggers: Released 2B Blake DeWitt, benched SP Edinson Volquez, activated 2B Darwin Barney and SP Brian Beachy

Pitch You Blockhead: Benched 3B Ty Wigginton, activated 3B Ian Stewart

Triple-A's: Benched SP Wandy Rodriguez, activated SP Bronson Arroyo

VC Appraisers: Placed SP Jair Jurrjens on disabled list

Ubaldo Spots: Benched SP Mike Pelfrey, activated SP Kyle McClellan

Misfits: Benched OF Shane Victorino, activated OF Nate McLouth

Goatwhisperers: Benched SP Kevin Correia, activated SP James McDonald

Arbitration Losers: Benched 2B Juan Uribe and 3B Chris Johnson; moved 1B Aubrey Huff to OF and OF Martin Prado to 3B; activated 2B Orlando Hudson and 1B Ike Davis

Holliday Road: Benched OF Matt Holliday (if not placed on DL); activated OF Ryan Ludwick

Pickle Bugs: No changes.

Thursday's report

Overall Standings

1. Chico's Chuggers (Shawn) 39
     Three pitchers on opening day is always nice
2. Pitch You Blockhead (Scott) 26
     Not much to talk about until Kershaw's 21
3. Holliday Road (Bill-Cliff) 19
     Someone should tell Heyward that every day is Opening Day
4. Misfits (Reid) 17
     Kimbrel paying instant dividends
4. Pickle Bugs (Jon) 17
     7 IPs + 0 ERs = 1 loss for Lincecum
6. Arbitration Losers (Tim) 14
     Two quality starts, but no wins on Thursday
7. Triple-A's (Ken) 13
     Only four players active Thursday, but they all scored
8. VC Appraisers (Dave-Kevin) 8
     Friday figures to be better with loads of idles Thursday
8. Ubaldo Spots (Rich) 8
     Braun giveth, Axford taketh away
10. Goatwhisperers (Arik) 2
    Kind of a boring Opening Day when all your players are done by 1 p.m.

Head-to-head scores

Triple-A's 13, VC Appraisers 8
Ubaldo Spots 8, Goatwhisperers 2
Misfits 17, Pickle Bugs 17
Chico's Chuggers 39, Arbitration Losers 14
Pitch You Blockhead 26, Holliday Road 19

Opening day roster moves

Chico's Chuggers released SP R.A. Dickey

Pitch You Blockhead placed OF Corey Hart and OF Jason Bay on disabled list; charged April move No. 1 to retain OF Pat Burrell; charged April move No. 2 to retain OF Gerardo Parra; conditionally placed 3B Ian Stewart on disabled list, replacing him with 3B Ty Wigginton

VC Appraisers placed OF Domonic Brown on disabled list; charged April move No. 1 to retain OF Domonic Brown

Ubaldo Spots released 1B Lyle Overbay

Misfits placed SP Johan Santana on disabled list; released SP J.A. Happ

Gladstone Goatwhisperers placed SP Zach Greinke and SP Johnny Cueto on disabled list; charged April move No. 1 to retain SP Johnny Cueto; charged April move No. 2 to retain SP Kevin Correia; released SP Bud Norris and RP Brad Lidge

Arbitration Losers placed 2B Chase Utley on disabled list; charged April move No. 1 to retain SP Tim Stauffer; released OF Andres Torres

Holliday Road placed RP Brian Wilson on disabled list; charged April move No. 1 to retain RP Joel Hanrahan; released SS Yuniesky Betancourt

Pickle Bugs released SP Mike Minor and OF Cody Ross

Small adjustment to head-to-head format

Because MLB expanded its regular-season schedule to include an extra weekend, we've decided to count the games from March 31-April 3 as Week 1 in the FBLG head-to-head schedule.

What this will allow us to do is play an 18-game regular season and return the semifinal playoff round to a best-of-3 series while eliminating Week 27 from the head-to-head format.

So it's a win-win-win situation.

Well, almost. The one drawback is the short week 1.

So as you set your Week 1 lineup, be aware that if any of your pitchers are the No. 4 or 5 pitchers in the teams' rotation, they won't pick in Week 1 (unless they pitch for the Dodgers or Giants, who actually play 4 games in Week 1).

This list of pitchers may include the likes of Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, Madison Bumgarner, Jair Jurrjens, Randy Wolf among others.

We'll try to put up a post of projected pitching rotation orders sometime next week before Week 1 rosters need to be set on March 31.

Reviewing rules on position eligibility

One of the bigger issues that owners have to deal with in the FBLG is position eligibility.

Unlike other fantasy baseball leagues, in the FBLG position eligibility is based on the current season.

In other words, players are eligible to play positions that they have played in 2011.

Week 1 of the FBLG season is March 31-April 3.

To set your Week 1 roster, you can use a player at any position that player has played during spring training.

For example, if I wanted to start Juan Uribe at second base in Week 1, I could.

However, for setting my Week 2 roster on Monday, April 4, Uribe would only be eligible at positions he played during Week 1 of the season.

Here's the rule on position eligibility:

A player is eligible to be played at any position that he has played at least five games at during the current season.

However, if a player has not played at least five games at any one position, he's eligible to be played at any position at which he's played at least one game at.

So if in Week 1, Uribe plays three games at 3B and one at 2B, I could play Uribe at 2B or 3B in Week 2.

But if by the start of Week 3, Uribe has played seven games at 3B and two games at 2B, Uribe would only be eligible at 3B for Week 3. He would need to play three more games at 2B to gain full-season eligibility there.

So keep this rule in mind while making your final roster decisions and before setting your Week 1 roster.

Injuries you need to be concerned about

Ian Stewart, 3B, Rockies: Strained MCL, bone bruise; expected to open season on DL; expected ready by mid-April; Ty Wigginton will fill in at third base

Aaron Cook, SP, Rockies: Broke his finger after shutting it in a door; he'll be out a month, then must start over to get ready; a late April return might be pushing it; Esmil Rogers is leading candidate to fill spot in rotation.

Mike Stanton, OF, Marlins: Strained a quad early in spring training; taking BP now; hoping to return to play final 7-10 spring training games to be ready for opener.

Jason Castro, C, Astros: Underwent surgery for torn ACL; likely done for season.

Jeff Keppinger, 2B, Astros: Offseason foot surgery; out of protective boot, but still not expected back until some time in May.

Jon Garland, SP, Dodgers: Suffered strained oblique; expected to miss 4-6 weeks; aiming for mid-to-late April return.

Zack Greinke, SP, Brewers: Expected out 4-6 weeks after suffering fracture ribs, which could cost him 3 starts in April.

Corey Hart, OF, Brewers: Recovering from  strained oblique; isn't expected to keep him out for opening day, but it's worth watching.

Jonathan Lucroy, C, Brewers: Will have pins removed from surgically-repaired finger on March 21; still hopeful to be ready for opener, but be wary.

Carlos Beltran, OF, Mets: On track to start season despite sore knee; worth keeping an eye on.

Johan Santana, SP, Mets: Recovering from shoulder surgery; aiming for late June or early July return.

Domonic Brown, OF, Phillies:  Expected back in mid-to-late April after suffering a broken hand.

Chase Utley, 2B, Phillies:  Continues to make progress from sore knee, but opening stint on DL appears likely.

Kyle Blanks, 1B-OF, Padres: Recovering from Tommy John surgery; won't begin playing in games in minors until late May at earliest; return to majors will be some time after that.

Adam Wainwright, SP, Cardinals: Had Tommy John surgery on elbow; done for 2011.

David Freese, 3B, Cardinals: Working his way back from ankle surgery; playing in games now; worth watching.

Stephen Strasburg, SP, Nationals: Recovering from elbow surgery; Chance he could return some time in 2011, but Nationals likely will take conservative approach.

2011 Relievers

1. Heath Bell (SD) 309
2. Carlos Marmol (Chi) 309
3. Brian Wilson (SF) 303
4. Francisco Cordero (Cin) 236
5. John Axford (Mil) 224
6. Leo Nunez (Fla) 212
7. Francisco Rodriguez (NY) 199
8. Jonathan Broxton (LA) 188
9. Ryan Franklin (StL) 187
10. Hong-Chih Kuo (LA) 170