I’m a bit under the weather from a long weekend of traveling and little sleep, so today’s Daily’s Blog will be abridged, less insightful, and filled mostly with incoherent rambling.

Tomorrow is Major League Baseball’s trade deadline, which is one of my favorite times of the year.  It’s like Christmas, or Hunger Games premiere night, or when two girls hit on you at the same time.  Catching up on all the rumors and seeing who goes where in the flurry of moves that are bound to occur tomorrow is one of the most gratifying parts of the season, particularly amid the grind of traditional fantasy.  For daily leaguers, trade deadline value changes provide an opportunity for additional profit.

As we’ve already discussed, players that get traded are entering new environments with a slew of new contextual factors to consider -- factors that are capable of swinging a player’s needle from “loss” to “profit.”  When figuring out which players are worth selecting and which are best left off your daily team, start off with my recent series on the relevant matchup data for hitters and pitchers.  After that, there are a few other factors that don’t have recognizable impact on a daily basis but which help establish a player’s baseline talent level.  Since most of these things are unknown or used incorrectly by most daily league players, knowing them will help you procure an advantage over the competition.  I’ve already talked about the importance of getting traded across leagues, particularly for pitchers.  It’s also important to pay attention to a hitter’s new manager and how aggressive he is on the basepaths, particularly for speedsters.

WHAT WAS
- The Astros traded closer Jose Veras to Detroit yesterday.  That pretty much assures Joaquin Benoit will remain the closer there (DraftStreet: $1,734 | Fantasy Feud: $15,392).  In Houston, Jose Cisnero will take over.  He costs the minimum $15,000 on Fantasy Feud but is not yet available on DraftStreet.  Fellow Houston reliever Hector Ambriz (earlier in the year thought to be next-in-line for saves) is the minimum $1,500, so that’s likely where Cisnero will start off.  Cisnero has pretty good stuff but struggles a bit with control and is in the bottom tier of closers.  Still, cheap is cheap.

- Pedro Strop, the odds-on favorite to take over Chicago’s closer role if/when Kevin Gregg is traded, imploded yesterday by allowing 5 ER in just 0.1 IP.  It’s yet to be seen how that will affect his chances of taking the role.  Luckily for daily league players, this kind of speculation doesn’t matter much.  Traditional players might want to grab Blake Parker just in case.

- Eric Sogard batted second for the first time yesterday, having previously batted no higher than seventh. He’s been hitting well lately and has a little speed, so if you’re looking for a cheap second base option on days when he has a good matchup, he makes for a solid option if he continues to get reps in the two-hole.

- David Price was missing some velocity when he was struggling earlier in the year, but it’s been back up at 95 mph over the past three starts.  He posted an 8/0 K/9 in 7.1 one-run innings in a win yesterday, and he can safely be counted on as an elite starter going forward.

- Brandon Beachy struck out 5 and walked just 1 in his return from the DL yesterday, but he allowed 7 runs on 8 hits in just 3.2 IP.  A rocky first outing isn’t a huge red flag just yet, especially against the Rockies, but keep an eye on him.  For what it’s worth, I’ll have no problem recommending him in good matchups, at least for the time being.

- My favorite pitcher play yesterday, Mike Leake, went 7 shutout innings while striking out 5 batters, walking 2, and allowing just 4 hits.  He was robbed of the win when Aroldis Chapman blew the lead in the ninth but was still a profit pitcher for those who selected him.

WHAT IS
Event Tip: I haven’t mentioned this one yet, which is surprising given how much it’s up my alley, but StarStreet has been running qualifiers for their Playboy Fantasy Baseball Championship all season long.  They take a bit more off the top than the big tournaments on other sites, but given the novelty of the tournament it’s understandable.  Qualifiers earn entry into a $200,000 tournament at the Playboy Mansion in addition to “a round-trip flight to/from LA, 2 nights hotel accommodations, a ride from the airport, dinner & drinks Friday night, and a Legendary Saturday Party at the Mansion.”  StarStreet also offers a slew of alternate means of gaining entry.

Contest Tip: Every Friday at DraftStreet, you have the chance to try out one of their alternate contests, the oh-so-fun Pick ‘Em game, in a $300 free roll — with the added bonus of competing against me.  Make sure you join with this link.

Life Tip: Never let on to your mother that you would like to find a cougar sugar momma who knows what she’s doing in bed, will use you as arm candy, and will buy you pretty things.  She may or may not threaten to cut your penis off if you sleep with anyone over the age of 35.  Then again, this may lead her to point out all the young girls that are stealthily checking you out, so take this one whichever way you will.

WHAT WILL BE

Liztomania.

Top 5 Pitchers for Today

1. Mat Latos at SD
2. Wei-Yin Chen vs. HOU
3. Scott Kazmir vs. CWS
4. Lance Lynn at PIT
5. Anibal Sanchez vs. WAS

One of the topics I plan to investigate at some point is whether a player who goes back to his old home park gets any sort of pseudo home field advantage.  I'm guessing that they do, which means that Latos on the road in the great pitcher's park that he called home for three years is a terrific play today.

Top 5 Teams to Stack Today

1. Philadelphia Phillies vs. LHP Barry Zito
2. Boston Red Sox vs. LHP Joe Saunders
3. San Francisco Giants at LHP John Lannan
4. Atlanta Braves vs. RHP Juan Nicasio
5. Chicago Cubs vs. RHP Tyler Thornburg

Zito is on the road yet again in a hitter's park.  You know what to do.

And now for the part where I force my non-fantasy views upon you, berate you if you dare disagree, and send you a friendship bracelet if you tell me how impeccable my taste is…

As I said, I’m a bit under the weather. I’m too lazy to go get myself tea, much less go on some long rant about the absurdity of certain comic book villains (another reason why I need a sugar momma to take care of me).  Instead, I’ve got Gaslight Anthem on the brain having scored tickets to their private show this past weekend, so I’ll try to turn you onto some of the best music to come out of my homeland.

Top 5 Gaslight Anthem Songs for the Uninitiated

1. The ’59 Sound
2.  “45”
3. American Slang
4. Great Expectations
5. Old White Lincoln

Top 5 Most Underplayed Songs at Gaslight Anthem Concerts

1. Old Haunts
2. Spirit of Jazz
3. Miles Davis and the Cool
4. Wherefore Art Thou Elvis?
5. Drive