The People for the Ethical Treament of Animals (you know this pseudo-terrorist organization that tries to cram their beliefs down everyone's throat) are petitioning the jockey for Eight Belles and the trainer be suspended after the tragic injury to the philly resulted in her being euthanized on the track at the Derby Saturday. I believe these PETA fools need to check the second letter in their acronym before they fire off press releases. When a horse, especially one as massive as Eight Belles, snaps both legs in their front ankles (one bone penetrated the skin), there is absolutely no way to allow that horse to live and consider yourself treating the animal ethically. The kindest thing to do is euthanize it on the spot. Lost on these animal nazis is the pampered life these thoroughbreds lead. They are spoiled with a fantastic diet, running in the fields and if they're good enough and lucky enough, get to breed in retirement. We should all be so lucky. Yes, I saw the report that said 2.7 out of every 1000 thoroughbreds end up injured and euthanized as a result of injuries. This isn't an indictment on their treatment, or the sport, but it's indicative of the velocity and ferociousness of the sport. It's a danger sport for the animals and for the jockeys on board, who are relatively unprotected. Tragedy does strike the sport and it's always terrible, but nobody feels worse when that happens than the rider, the owner and the trainer, not because they're losing money (in fact they're highly insured), but because these animals are like their family. So, PETA, just go taunt Michael Vick and quick barking up this tree. There's nothing to this story that should concern you.

April showers have turned into May flowers and many fantasy are blossoming with a little of our help. Here's a look ahead to Week 6:

STUDS OF THE WEEK
Rafael Furcal is off to a red-hot start on the young season and this week was the icing on the cake for the Dodgers' shortstop. Furcal knocked out 13 hits in 28 at bats (.464) and drew four walks. The homerun on Friday was the highlight to his run production, but 5 RBIs and 12 runs provided owners a boost. Throw in two more stolen bases and you can see why he gets the nod. The Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang (2-0) struckout 14 batters in 13 innings while posting a 0.69 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in his two starts last week.

DUDS OF THE WEEK
Third baseman Mark Reynolds has hit seven homeruns already this year for the D-Backs, but he is strikeout machine. This past week was a nightmare for owners that have taken a flyer on him. He mustered just one hit in 19 at bats and if strikeouts count against you his 10 whiffs could have been devastating.The Mariners' Felix Hernandez turned into two dismal efforts last week, raising a bit of concern with owners. The 0-2 mark with 10 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings didn't help owners either. He did strikeout 13, but 10 of them came in one start.

KEY INJURIES
David Ortiz (knee): Questionable for May 5-8 series @DET
Alex Rodriguez (knee): Out until at least mid-May
Jimmy Rollins (ankle): Should return by end of week
John Smoltz (shoulder): Out indefinitely; will head to bullpen
Troy Tulowitzki (quad): On DL; out for at least two months
Jorge Posada (shoulder): Will likely be out until mid-June
Josh Willingham (back): Placed on 15-day DL
Howie Kendrick (hamstring): Could return May 5-7 @KC
Rich Harden (shoulder): May pitch 5/11 @TEX
Hank Blalock (hamstring): Targeting mid-May return
Yovani Gallardo (knee): Out for the season

TWICE AS NICE
Here are some two-start pitchers to consider this week:

AL
Must-starts:
Cliff Lee - @NYY (Andy Pettitte), TOR (A.J. Burnett)
Javier Vazquez - @TOR (Dustin McGowan), @SEA (Jarrod Washburn)
Ervin Santana - @KC (Brian Bannister), @TB (Andy Sonnanstine)

Sleeper Picks:
Brian Bannister – LAA (Ervin Santana), BAL (Matt Albers)
Dana Eveland – BAL (Matt Albers), @TEX (Sidney Ponson)

NL
Must-Starts:
Chris Young - @ATL (Jair Jurrjens), COL (Mark Redman)
Oliver Perez - @LAD (Chad Billingsley), CIN (Johnny Cueto)
Max Scherzer – PHI (Jamie Moyer), @CHC (Jason Marquis)

Sleeper Picks:
Jonathan Sanchez - @PIT (Tom Gorzelanny), PHI (Adam Eaton)
Brandon Looper - @COL (Mark Redman), @MIL Jeff Suppan 

WAIVER WATCH (from leagues played at CBSSports.com)
Five most added:
SP Max Scherzer - ARI(+53% roster change)
OF Carlos Quentin - CHW (+37%)
OF Alfonso Soriano - CHC (+27%)
SP Andy Sonnanstine - TB (+27%)
C Jeff Clement - SEA (+25%)

Five most dropped (non-injured):
RP Manny Corpas - COL (-20%)
SP Rich Hill - CHC (-19%)
SP Barry Zito - SF (-19%)
1B Mike Jacobs - FLA (-12%)
SP Francisco Liriano - MIN (-12%)

GAMES PLAYED
Let's take a look at how many games each team will be playing this week:

American League
7: BAL, BOS, CHW, DET, KC, SEA, TEX, TOR
6: CLE, ANA, MIN, NYY, OAK, TB

National League
7: ARI, COL, PHI, STL
6: ATL, CHI, CIN, FLA, HOU, LAD, MIL, NYM, PIT, SD, SF, WAS

Braves' ace John Smoltz, who is on the 15-day DL with a severely inflamed biceps tendon and inflammation of the rotator cuff of his right shoulder, appears to be headed to the bullpen upon his return.

Their is no immediate return in sight for the 40-year old right-hander, but it appears whenever he does come back it will be as the team's closer.

"It would be great if he could be out there and be part of that bullpen," Braves' manager Bobby Cox said earlier this week. "It may be easier on that shoulder. I can visualize him locking up a lot of games for us."

The veteran is the only pitcher in baseball history with at least 200 wins and 150 saves, but has been back in the rotation since the start of the '05 seasons and averaged 33 starts per year in that span. Smoltz became the 16th pitcher in MLB history to get to 3,000 strikeouts last month, but clearly age is becoming a factor.

Smoltz was 3-2 with a 2.00 ERA in five starts this year, but only has logged 27 innings in the process. His 36 strikeouts (1.3 K per inning) suggest that he can still get it done, but it appears as if going long into games is a concern.

"I know the success that I've had has confused people, but it's only been five innings at a time, and it was getting harder to do that," Smoltz told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Pitching an inning, sitting down, pitching an inning, sitting down was getting tougher as I got to the fourth and fifth inning. I feel like one inning at a time might be a little bit better at this point."

Fantasy owners knew when they nabbed Smoltz that he was a high-risk, high-reward type of player. He provided four dazzling starts in limited action during April, but it is pretty clear that the only way he is going to pitch in '08 and perhaps beyond is as a closer. It remains to be seen if Smoltz will be able to go on back-to-back days and with Rafael Soriano, who is trying to come back from an elbow injury himself, still in the mix his action could be limited even after he returns.  If you were counting on Smoltz for innings you will have to look elsewhere, he's worth stashing on the DL or bench if you can afford to so though as he could prove to be a top 10 closer by time everything is said and done in '08.

As for Soriano he only has value in deeper mixed and NL-only leagues and it's minimal at best.

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As bad as the Bengals' reputation has become for acquiring and tolerating bad character players, there's one level they've never gone to: teammate-on-teammate violence.  Lucky for them, they've got (now former) Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Olivo Astacio to look down upon.

The Pirates released the prospect after he attacked another teammate in extended spring training with a bat.  According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Astacio and the other player were having an argument, the sources said, and Astacio struck the player's leg with a swing of his bat. He swung again and missed before the incident was broken up."  The other player was not identified.

This isn't Astacio's first bout with behavioral issues.  As a prospect in the Red Sox organization, he was suspended for the entire 2005 season for unspecified disciplinary reasons.  He also broke his hand last season in a fight, just after being promoted to AA. 

As a prospect who has struggled past high-A ball, it isn't likely that another team will take a chance on Astacio.  The only question is whether this bat swinging incident is crazier than Jose Offerman's outburst last season.  Offerman charged the mound with his bat last season after being hit by a pitch in an independent league game, swinging and hitting both the pitcher and catcher. 

Offerman was arrested for his incident, however, so I guess that's a leg up for him, but given Astacio's history that may balance the scales.