Nick Fruscello: Hello and welcome to this dreary, rainy fantasy friday. Last night was a dreary performance by the hometown Penguins as the forces of hockey evil actually mustered up enough talent to win a game in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Philly fans were in their glory with phantom penalties (and I'm not talking about their minor league team), cheapshots at star players and chanting "Crosby Sucks" over and over. Let me just say this... Thank you Flyers and Flyer fans. Getting this team mad and refocused on the task at hand is the best thing you could have done for us. You've provided plenty of fuel for the Pens to blast you and your team into your golf season this Sunday and I thank you. And with that, let's get into some questions...

Clueless: Nick: I am done with Betancourt. Since Borowski is likely to blow up soon after his scheduled comeback next week, do I claim Masa Kobayashi or opt for Scott Downs since their bullpen seems to be somewhat of a committee approach. Someone just waived Rauch, but I am last in Waiver order. I surely don't want Isringhausen or any of the Brewers' relievers. Pickings are slim.

Nick Fruscello: Kobayashi and Downs are both gamble picks at this stage and should only be considered short term solutions. Since Kobayashi won't be the closer by the end of the next week, Downs is your go to guy for now. However, I would like to see Borowski pitch a little more before giving up on Kobayshi as the closer. Borowski didn't look very impressive so far this season and Kobayshi looks good. He was a big closer over in Japan for many years, so if Borowski struggles at all, he'll be pulled. Go with Downs for now, but keep you trigger finger ready to drop him for Kobayshi if Borowski struggles.

BronxBombers: In PPG baseball, everyone's salary changed and nobody is affordable now. Nobody good anyways.

Nick Fruscello: I would beg to differ. Magglio Ordonez dropped to $6.19 when the salaries changed and RBI leader Josh Hamilton is around the $7 range. My pick for NL MVP, Matt Holliday is under $10. That's an incredible price for him. Ryan Braun, who has been swinging a hot bat lately is around $8. Conor Jackson, who I've been singing high praises for the past couple weeks is around $6. I agree that some players salaries have really skyrockted, but there is plenty of talent still available.

FlyersFan08: This is OUR year for the cup, baby!!!!!

Nick Fruscello: Looks like somebody is still drunk from last night. Last night, was your teams' last hurrah. Next week, the only thing on their minds will be how many strokes will it take them to get to the green.

K-Dog: I'm sure this will not be the only time this question is submitted to you BUT what is Georges Laraque sitting on the Bench with 1:20 left in the game while Crosby and Malone on the ice fighting with the Flyers. It seems the Flyers were trying to set the tone for game 5 with Pittsburgh while Therrien sat back and watched. What is the point of having Laraque take up a seat on the bench while only playing a little less then 4 minutes in game 4, contribute very little and not be used when he is needed to protect star players.

Nick Fruscello: I was wondering that myself. Laraque should have been on the ice for the final seconds, but instead we have Upshall taking a run at Staal and Richards slashing Crosby repeatedly in a faceoff. The flip side of that is, if Therrien puts Laraque out there, John Stevens will accuse Therrien of dirty tactics by putting a goon on the ice in the final seconds. Me personally, I would've put Laraque out there and had him beat the heck out of anyone wearing orange including the fans until the Philly police came to stop him. But hey, that's just me.

Clueless: On the other hand starters are bountiful. Is it time to claim Mussina, Lilly, Myers, Snell, some intriguing names available in my 10-team league? Also Francis, Garland, Ollie Perez, R. Johnson, Maddux, Blanton, Gorzy, Glavine, Redding, Contreras. I tend to favor the younger kids like Jurrjens, Bannister, Micah, Duchsherer, Greg Smith, also see Laffey available. Other youngsters are Garrett Olson, D.Cabrera, Sanchez (who I recently waived), Ed Jackson, Garza. As you can see lots to choose from do you see any of these as must claims or keepers even if their next start is not so hot? Easy to grab someone almost daily if I want to go that way.

Nick Fruscello: Yeah, you could go like that, but that's kinda cheap. Basically you win because you have way more innings pitched that your opponent. I touched on this a little last week, but I really like how much Daniel Cabrera has improved this year. His strikeout totals have dropped, but he has a lot more command and isn't giving up many runs and is winning games. Cabrera, in my opinion should be on nobody's waiver wire. Mussina is a good pickup if the Yankees get rolling again. I would stay away from Lilly and even though I recommended him earlier this year, Ian Snell as well. Brett Myers... unless you want your ERA to get lit up more than a Christmas tree in Santa's house, leave him on waivers.

Bring_On_Detroit: How much do you like Lance Berkman right now?

Nick Fruscello: He's in a great spot right now. He's in a hitters friendly park and has Tejada in front of him and Carlos Lee behind him. I could hit well with those circumstances. Berkman is a monster right now and you NEED to have him on your team in a salary cap league, if you want to win.

Bring_On_Detroit: How many games will it take for the Pens to beat the Red Wings?

Nick Fruscello: First things first, finish off Philadelphia, then we'll talk Stanley Cup Finals.

Bring_On_Detroit: Any chance at all the Pens could resign Hossa?

Nick Fruscello: They could, but they would have to let a lot go. Malone, Ruutu, Orpik and possibly even Fleury. The Pens have be real careful here and not turn into the Tampa Bay Lightning. They invested all their money into three players and the rest of the team was awful. I would keep Hossa, but only if that meant being able to hold onto Fleury as well which would be tough.

Clueless: I was in the building last night, Flyers fans make drunk Steelers fans look like a group of Gloria Verderbilt's. They acted like they just won the Cup. Totally agree. Will there tee time Monday be at 11 or 2?

Nick Fruscello: Wow you were unfortunate enough to be in Philly last night? Doesn't surprise me one bit. Its their last win of the season so why not live it up. I believe their tee time on Monday will be around 19:75 military time. Err, I mean 11am

Clueless: Last night seem to be exhibit A as to why Dupuis was a throw in, in the Hossa trade. He either missed the net or put the puck in Biron's bread basket, numerous time. And if Hossa was not so the previous few games, you might want to get down on him, too. Thought Crosby had a great game setting up his wingers, nothing to show for it!

Nick Fruscello: You can't really take anything that happend last night too seriously. The Pens were flat and didn't seem very interested in trying to win until the 3rd period. I was thinking about this yesterday, its a shame we dropped Recchi, he'd look a lot better on Crosby's left wing than Dupuis.

Clueless: I have a 2-man bench, how long do I hold onto Thome or do I cut my losses now. I recently cut Mark Reynolds for Dewitt and that seems to be working out. Do you see Dunn as a better option than Thome or do I go speed with Fred Lewis?

Nick Fruscello: Thome and Dunn are almost clones of each other. Neither is doing well right now and both will probably end up with similar stats. I would stick with Thome until June. If he's still struggling then, you should drop him. One rule of thumb I always play by is if a player starts out good and is still playing good in June, he's a keeper, if not he starts out bad and doesn't turn it around by June, drop him. Its always worked out for me.

malkin71: Recchi?? Dude, I'd rather have Dupuis over Recchi

Nick Fruscello: Recchi still has a fair amount of speed and has playoff experience. Plus, he's a much more gifted offensive player that Dupuis, even in the twlight of his career. Recchi really helped the Canes win the Cup a couple years ago. He could have done the same here.

Clueless: In the long run, I agree, win more Cups with Orpik and Malone than with Hossa. And Talbot has been good, too. Amazing how third line almost got last night's game into OT.

Nick Fruscello: Yeah, basically the Pens would have to give up their depth to keep Hossa, unless of course he wants to take less money to stay. I doubt that'll happen though. He's having a pretty good playoff run and that was the one knock against him. Someone like the Rangers or Bruins, a team with money to spend, will make him a great offer and he'd have to be nuts to pass it up to stay for less money. Then again, if he stays here, he'll be playing for the Cup pretty much every year. What appeals to him more?