Fantasy strategy is a never-ending conversation; Tip Drill is merely a conversation starter. Five days a week we offer a bite-size nugget of goodness to you, then we shift to Steve Buscemi mode on the weekend. Enjoy.

I prefer fantasy auctions to fantasy drafts, and I've had pretty good success with them (no need to document here - I know you don't care, and you shouldn't). Here are some auction tips I've collected over the years; read them, consider them, and offer your own on the way out.

Vary Your Nominations

Most of my early throws will be expensive players I don't need or want, or an overyhyped sleeper I think the room will waste money on. But it's important to mix up your nomination strategy, especially in the first half; sneak in a few guys you actually do want, see if you can slide your pet defense or sleeper receiver through for the minimum, keep them guessing. One fun gambit is throwing out a trendy handcuff before the starter is off the board, makes for some interesting

Interesting things seem to happen in Arlington on a nightly basis and Tuesday was no exception, as the Mariners and Rangers gave us another crazy ballgame. Runs, hits and errors were flowing all night, along with injury news, blown saves, and some frosty Lone Star Beer to wash it all down (every game in this park plays out like a keg-tapper, doesn't it?). Settle in for a while, podner, and we'll sort through Texas's 11-10 victory.

• Michael Young (broken finger) stayed in the lineup after all, but was it a good idea? He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, which makes you wonder how compromised his swings become if he plays through the malady. The doctors have said he can't make the finger any worse, so Young intends to gut it out.

• Ramon Vazquez was initially going to replace Young at shortstop but instead he'll be saddling up at third base; Hank Blalock (shoulder) went back on the disabled list Tuesday and is down for 10-14 days at minimum. Vazquez was a horror show in the field

The original Tuesday Tippage plan was to talk about auction strategy, but a few audibles were called at the line and the auction piece will instead run Wednesday. In its place, tonight, is this puff piece fine article about "donators" and how to pick them out.

"If you can't spot the sucker at the table, you are the sucker." We've all heard the line and we know where it comes from (that's 2,000 words for another day). How do you recognize the dead money on draft night? Below are a few dead giveaways - don't worry, those entry fees have been paid up front:

Tries to draft first-round talent in the fourth round

This generally is an error of disorganization more than anything else, but still, anyone who thinks Frank Gore is sitting out there at pick 34 is a donator through and through. And you have to wonder, why didn't this chucklehead try to take Gore in Round 2 or 3?

Pays the freight on a career year

Simply put, there's no reason to carry around last year's stats with you, be it on paper

The Angels have been notorious in the past for sitting on their hands during the trade deadline, but apparently this year is different. Los Angeles made the first big splash of deadline week today, sending Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek to Atlanta for slugger Mark Teixeira.

There's not a giant roto effect felt from this one — Tex is worth more in the American League, Kotchman less in the National League, but these aren't monstrous differences. Teixeira has a mediocre career record at the Big A (.245/.372/.465), but we're only talking about 155 at-bats. The biggest fantasy winners here are FAAB-hoarding owners in AL-only and NL-only groups.

It will be interesting to see how the other contenders respond to this swap; for now, there's little doubt that the Angels are the AL favorite on paper.

In other Tuesday items:

• Mike Young is being told that he can play without causing additional damage to his broken finger, so he's been upgraded to day-to-day and might even

Everyone's hurt and no one's being traded - that's your theme from Monday night at the sandlot. Here's hoping the CT shifts to come later in the week have a little more buzz to them. Until then, I have a loaded gun and I'm not afraid to let the bullets fly:

• It was just 24 hours ago that Tim Hudson was talking about staying in the rotation and not missing a beat, but his status did a 180 on Monday. An MRI on Hudson's elbow revealed ligament damage, and he's headed to Alabama to be examined by Dr. James Andrews (you know what that means). It looks like Hudson's season is over, and if Andrews doesn't like what he sees, Tommy John surgery could be in the works.

For Atlanta fans, this will go down as the day the music died for 2008: Hudson and Chipper Jones (hamstring) both hit the DL Monday, and the club publicly admitted that it's aggressively trying to move slugger Mark Teixeira. The market is a little tricky given that not every contending club has an opening at 1B or DH, but a batter

Easy and breezy, the Tip Drill series goes down like a Popsicle on a steamy training-camp afternoon. We'll delve into deeper strategic concerns later in the year; our aim here is to give you a quick hitter. Use the ones you like, pass over the ones you don't. One tip size does not fit all leagues, and your mileage may vary.

Don't fear the unknown. Don't fear the reaper. Don't fear the bye week.

There are two common misconceptions about bye weeks and let's clear them up today:

Bye Week Management is a Big Part of Drafting (False)

If no one trades in your league and your free-agent picks are extremely limited, okay, fine, give a lot of respect to the bye-week layout. But in most common leagues, trading flows constantly and the waiver-wire cooks all season. And with that, it's a grave error to overreact to bye weeks as you're sitting down to draft. Do consider the bye-week aspect when judging players, but only as a tie-breaker.

"Value now, balance later" should be your mantra on draft

We've already talked about Fernando Rodney and Manny Ramirez in this space over the weekend, so there's no need for a rehash in this edition (you can do your Rodney Rappin' here, or spend a Manny Minute here). Instead, let's freshen up the fantasy pistol and let those bullets fly.

• It was a heaven-and-hell week of assignments for Clayton Kershaw, who got to work at home against Washington Sunday (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K) after drawing Coors Field five days ago. Kershaw had his good stuff yesterday (you won't see a better curveball) and the punchless Nats didn't put up much of a fight, getting shut out for the 15th time this year. The 20-year-old lefty stays at Chavez Ravine this week, drawing Arizona on Friday.

It will be interesting to see how much the Dodgers expose Kershaw the rest of the way. He threw 86 pitches over six innings Sunday; he's now at 107 innings (combining all levels) for the season. Back in May the team announced a "Kershaw Decree" that afforded the lefty just 25

Jim Leyland apparently has had enough of Todd Jones blowing games, because he announced a closing change in Detroit today.

And here's the hook - it's not Joel Zumaya getting the ball.

Fernando Rodney, who's ownership level doesn't show under an electron microscope, has been given the ninth inning for the time being, Leyland said before Sunday's ballgame. Rodney's seasonal stats are pretty messy, but he's thrown the ball well in recent appearances since coming off the disabled list. Check what he's done over the last month: 13.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 12 K.

Update: As it turns out, Sunday's game took a funky turn. Zumaya got hurt in the eighth inning (triceps, considered minor) and Rodney replaced him, in a non-save situation. The results weren't initially pretty: two walks and a hit before he got the final two outs. Rodney stayed for the ninth and struck out the side (showing a fastball in the mid-to-high 90s), but he struggled with command all day and needed 42 pitches for his stint. By