The Wizard dishes out fantasy advice and answers all your questions

SIR LANCE-A-LOT

	Lance Berkman is the hottest hitter in baseball right now. And it's not even close. Icon SMI
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Baseball's hottest hitter right now is in Houston. Astros 1B Lance Berkman ($7,100,000) is crushing everything thrown his way. Over the past two weeks, he's hitting a completely insane .606. That's right: .606! Plus, he's tied with Chase Utley for the big league lead in home runs with 14. Berkman has always been an All-Star type of hitter, but he's never gone on a hot streak like this. You can now consider him one of the elite players in fantasy baseball. Come back to the SIKIDS.com Fantasy page on Monday to see if Berkman tops the Fantasy Wizard's exclusive updated list of fantasy baseball's Top 20 players.

IS DUANE WRONG ABOUT WANG?

So if you've been checking out SIKIDS.com's newest fantasy column, Low-Budget All-Stars (by my very own apprentice/nemesis, Ballroom Dancing Wizard Duane from New Jersey), there's a big controversy going on. Every week, Duane identifies the best bargains in fantasy baseball. It's a very cool tool for any fantasy baseball player.

But anyway, Duane mentioned last week that Yankees SP Chien-Ming Wang ($7,500,000) is NOT a Low-Budget All-Star because he costs too much. And many of you wrote in to ask how I felt about it.

Now, Duane and I disagree on a lot of stuff. For instance, he thinks the Backstreet Boys are really cool, and that Carrot Top is HILARIOUS! I disagree with him. However, on the question of whether Wang is a Low-Budget All-Star, I'm with Duane. Wang is great. But to be a Low-Budget All-Star, you have to be great and not cost a lot of money.

At $7,500,000, Wang is the 33rd-most expensive pitcher out of all the pitchers (starters and relievers) in fantasy baseball. He might be an All-Star. But Low-Budget? I think not.

And while we're dishing out fantasy advice, here are some extra words of wisdom from baseball blogger extraordinaire (you can check out her latest column right here) Sarah Braunstein...

WHO'S HOT, WHO'S NOT

Hot

Dan Uggla ($7,000,000), Florida Marlins: Things are getting Uggla in Florida, and it's because the Marlins' second baseman is having the hottest week in the majors. In his last six games Uggla has 11 hits, six for extra bases including four home runs. The Marlins are set to face the Rays in an inter-league match up of first place teams but I can't see hit hot bat (.593 BA, 1.190 slugging since May 9th) cooling off that much.

Not

Richie Sexon ($4,200,000), Seattle Mariners: Apparently the only thing Richie Sexson can hit is another team's pitcher. Not including his batting helmet toss at Rangers' hurler Kason Gabbard, Sexson is proving that last year's numbers, .205, 21HR, 63 RBI were no fluke. Even after he serves his suspension, keep him and his current line - .202, 7, 18 - off your team.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled mailbag...

TAKE DOWN THE FANTASY WIZARD (OR AT LEAST TRY)

Week 1 of the WOW League is already underway. It's too late to sign up for Week 2 (starting Monday), but we award winners on a weekly basis. So if you're interested, get ready to go in Week 3! (See very important sign up instructions below.)

For those of you who still aren't familiar with the WOW League, have you been living in a cave or something? it's your chance to take on the Fantasy Wizard, SIKIDS.com's Ballroom Dancing Wizard Duane from New Jersey (aka the BDW), and SIKIDS.com's resident baseball columnist Sarah Braunstein of the Dugout Dispatch.

Anyone can sign up for the WOW League. And if your team finishes with the highest score in any week, you'll get to write whatever you want on baseball and have it appear right here in the fantasy mailbag! (And yes, that means you can talk some trash if you take down the Wiz.) WOW League players should look for an email every Monday to see if they won the week! (After all, we have to have your thoughts by the time the weekly mailbag is posted on Thursday night.)

Invitations for the following week go out every Friday morning...

HOW TO SIGN UP FOR THE WOW LEAGUE

If you want to get involved in the Wizard challenge and join the WOW League, just send a request through the question box. Be sure to include a valid email address. Then we'll send you an official invite. And all invitations go out on THURSDAY morning.

VERY IMPORTANT NEW INSTRUCTIONS: If you are already in a league, and you want to join the WOW League, you'll have to sign up using a DIFFERENT email address!!! If you use the same email address as the one you used to join your first league, our computers get confused and think you're trying to join your original league all over again. In short, you won't be allowed to join WOW.

ALSO, if you have an AOL account, your invitation might be blocked out. If you haven't received your invite within 7 days of your request, you have three choices: (1) Have your parents lower the security setting on your AOL account, (2) Have your parents help you sign up for a new account with a server like GMAIL or YAHOO, or (3) Have your parents send in your WOW League request through their email account.

And remember, we're taking week-by-week standings only. So even if you sign up late, you can still be a WOW League champion and get to tell us your two cents. Be sure to have your lineup set by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Sunday night to play that week.

Let's open your emails and get to this week's mailbag...