Today's Fantasy Rx

Download the spreadsheet with our complete projected stats for 4x4 and 5x5 leagues here; this file also includes complete NL LPR values as discussed in last weekend's articles.

Below is our projected Draft Value for the 313 National League pitchers whom we expect to see in the majors this season. While we've undoubtedly missed a few dozen players, we've included everyone who we believe has any chance of deserving a nomination in your spring draft.

These Draft Values are intended only for NL-only 12 team leagues, using traditional 4x4 or 5x5 scoring, with $260 of cap space to draft 9 pitchers. We've also moved from a 65/35 hitting/pitching split to a 70/30 split based on the trends we observed last season, as well as data we've compiled this spring from a variety of sources. Based on last year's TQ Stats data, courtesy of Rototimes, we selected a 4.485 ERA and 1.429 WHIP for the baseline values necessary to calculate the Category Dollars in each category.

When I've listed two values, the first is the 4x4 Draft Value and the second is the 5x5 Draft Value.

Top 3 NL Starters: Randy Johnson, $25/27; Curt Schilling, $22/24; Kerry Wood, $19/20.

Top 3 NL Relievers: Eric Gagne $29/26, John Smoltz $28/25, Billy Wagner, $26/23.

Best NL Wins/Ks Sleepers likely to exceed their DV: Juan Cruz, $6/6; Brandon Duckworth, $4/6; Jesse Foppert, $3/3.

Best all-around starting pitcher sleepers: Jason Schmidt, $19/20; Damian Moss, $12/12; Orlando Hernandez, $12/12; Mark Redman, $11/11; Ben Sheets, $5/7.

Best NL Saves Sleepers: Mike Koplove, $6/5; Kyle Farnsworth, $5/5; Britt Reames, $3/3.

NL Relievers most likely to exceed 10 vultured Wins: Felix Rodriguez, $8/8; Dustin Hermanson $3/3; Carlos Silva, $3/3.

First tier of non-closing relievers with consistently excellent skills: Octavio Dotel, $10/10; Paul Shuey, $7/6.

Second tier of non-closing relievers with consistently excellent skills: Ray King, $2/2; Roberto Hernandez, $2/1; Paul Quantrill, $2/2; Mike Remlinger, $2/2; Terry Adams, $2/1.

Top 2003 Pitcher Sleeper: Ben Sheets $5/7.

Rotohelp.com's 2003 NL Pitcher Projected Draft Values

Pitcher			4x4	5x5
Acevedo, Jose		-3	-3
Adams, Terry		2	1
Ainsworth, Kurt		9	10
Alfonseca, Antonio	9	7
Almanza, Armando	1	1
Alvarez, Juan		-3	-3
Alvarez, Victor		-3	-3
Alvarez, Wilson		0	0
Anderson, Jimmy		-6	-5
Ankiel, Rick		-3	-3
Armas Jr., Tony		6	7
Ashby, Andy		3	3
Astacio, Pedro		-1	0
Austin, Jeff		-4	-4
Ayala, Luis		-1	-1
Aybar, Manny		-3	-3
Bacsik, Mike		-2	-2
Barcelo, Lorenzo	-3	-4
Bartosh, Cliff		-1	-1
Batista, Miguel		3	3
Beck, Rod		0	0
Beckett, Josh		14	15
Beimel, Joe		-3	-3
Bell, Heath		-3	-3
Beltran, Francis	-3	-3
Benes, Alan		-3	-3
Benitez, Armando	24	21
Benson, Kris		10	11
Biddle, Rocky		-2	-3
Boehringer, Brian	1	1
Bong, Jung		-4	-4
Borland, Toby		-2	-3
Borowski, Joe		4	3
Bottalico, Ricky	-4	-4
Brohawn, Troy		-3	-3
Brower, Jim		0	0
Brown, Eric		-3	-3
Brown, Kevin		11	11
Buddie, Mike		-3	-3
Burnett, A.J.		14	14
Bynum, Mike		-3	-2
Byrd, Paul		7	7
Calero, Kiko		-1	-2
Campos, Francisco	-3	-3
Capuano, Chris		-2	-3
Carpenter, Chris	-2	-2
Cerda, Jaime		-1	-1
Chacon, Shawn		-8	-6
Chen, Bruce		-3	-3
Christiansen, Jason	-2	-2
Clement, Matt		14	15
Clontz, Brad		-3	-3
Coggin, Dave		-2	-3
Colyer, Steve		-2	-3
Condrey, Clay		2	2
Cone, David		-3	-2
Cook, Aaron		-4	-2
Corey, Mark		-3	-3
Cormier, Rheal		-1	-1
Crowell, Jim		-2	-2
Crudale, Mike		2	1
Cruz, Juan		6	6
Cruz, Nelson		-3	-3
D'Amico, Jeff		-2	-1
Darensbourg, Vic	-4	-5
Dawley, Joey		-2	-3
Day, Zach		-1	-1
de los Santos, Valerio	1	1
DeJean, Mike		13	12
Dempster, Ryan		-8	-4
Dessens, Elmer		6	7
Diggins, Ben		-3	-3
Dotel, Octavio		10	10
Downs, Scott		-3	-3
Dreifort, Darren	4	5
Drew, Tim		0	-1
Duckworth, Brandon	4	6
Duff, Matt		-1	-2
Durocher, Jayson	1	0
Eaton, Adam		7	8
Eischen, Joey		4	3
Elarton, Scott		-5	-4
Eldred, Cal		-3	-3
Estes, Shawn		2	3
Etherton, Seth		-3	-3
Eyre, Scott		1	1
Farnsworth, Kyle	5	5
Fassero, Jeff		0	0
Fernandez, Jared	-4	-4
Figueroa, Nelson	-2	-3
Fogg, Josh		-5	-3
Foppert, Jesse		3	3
Ford, Matt		-1	-1
Foster, John		-4	-4
Franco, John		-2	-3
Franklin, Wayne		-4	-2
Fuentes, Brian		-2	-2
Gagne, Eric		29	26
Glavine, Tom		2	3
Gonzalez, Alfredo	0	0
Gonzalez, Dicky		-3	-4
Graves, Danny		2	2
Gryboski, Kevin		-2	-2
Guerrier, Matt		-2	-3
Guthrie, Mark		1	0
Guzman, Angel		-2	-3
Hackman, Luther		-2	-2
Hampton, Mike		3	4
Hancock, Josh		-3	-3
Harnisch, Pete		-2	-3
Haynes, Jimmy		-9	-6
Heilman, Aaron		3	3
Heredia, Felix		-3	-3
Hermanson, Dustin	3	3
Hernandez, Livan	-8	-5
Hernandez, Orlando	12	12
Hernandez, Roberto	2	1
Hodges, Trey		0	0
Hoffman, Trevor		2	1
Holmes, Darren		3	2
Holtz, Mike		-3	-3
Horgan, Joe		-3	-4
Howard, Ben		-3	-3
Hudson, Luke		-3	-3
Ishii, Kazuhisa		1	3
Isringhausen, Jason	20	18
Jackson, Mike		-2	-3
Jarvis, Kevin		0	1
Jennings, Jason		-6	-3
Jensen, Ryan		2	2
Jimenez, Jose		13	11
Johnson, Randy		25	27
Jones, Todd		-3	-3
Journell, Jimmy		-1	-1
Junge, Eric		-3	-3
Kent, Steve		-3	-3
Kieschnick, Brooks	-3	-3
Kim, Byung-Hyun		11	11
Kim, Sun-Woo		-2	-2
King, Ray		2	2
Kinney, Matt		-6	-4
Kline, Steve		3	2
Knott, Eric		-3	-3
Koplove, Mike		6	5
Lawrence, Brian		9	10
Leiter, Al		9	10
Leskanic, Curtis	-2	-1
Lidge, Brad		1	2
Lincoln, Mike		-2	-2
Linebrink, Scott	-3	-4
Lloyd, Graeme		0	0
Looper, Braden		19	16
Lopez, Javier		-4	-4
Maddux, Greg		13	13
Maduro, Calvin		-2	-2
Mahomes, Pat		-3	-3
Mairena, Oswaldo	-3	-4
Mallette, Brian		-2	-3
Mann, Jim		-3	-3
Mantei, Matt		11	10
Manzanillo, Josias	0	0
Marquis, Jason		1	1
Martin, Tom		-3	-3
Matthews, Mike		-2	-2
Meadows, Brian		-3	-3
Mercado, Hector		0	0
Mercker, Kent		-5	-5
Mesa, Jose		23	20
Miceli, Dan		-4	-4
Michalak, Chris		-4	-4
Middlebrook, Jason	1	1
Miller, Greg		-3	-3
Miller, Wade		11	12
Millwood, Kevin		17	17
Moehler, Brian		-4	-3
Molina, Gabe		-3	-3
Morris, Matt		13	13
Moss, Damian		12	12
Mota, Guillermo		4	3
Munro, Pete		-2	-3
Myers, Brett		2	3
Myers, Mike		-1	-1
Nagy, Charles		-3	-3
Nance, Shane		-2	-2
Nathan, Joe		-5	-4
Neagle, Denny		-4	-2
Neal, Blaine		2	2
Nen, Robb		25	22
Nomo, Hideo		8	10
Nunez, Vladimir		5	5
Ohka, Tomokazu		8	8
Ohman, Will		-3	-4
Ohme, Kevin		-3	-3
Oliver, Darren		-4	-4
Olsen, Kevin		-2	-2
Oropesa, Eddie		-4	-4
Orosco, Jesse		-3	-3
Ortiz, Russ		7	8
Oswalt, Roy		18	18
Padilla, Vicente	9	9
Painter, Lance		-3	-3
Patterson, John		-1	2
Pavano, Carl		-2	-1
Pearce, Josh		-3	-4
Peavy, Jake		6	8
Penny, Brad		3	4
Perez, Odalis		14	14
Perez, Oliver		4	6
Phelps, Tommy		-3	-3
Plesac, Dan		1	0
Pratt, Andy		-3	-3
Prinz, Bret		-4	-4
Prior, Mark		16	18
Puffer, Brandon		-1	-1
Quantrill, Paul		2	2
Quevedo, Ruben		-3	-3
Ramirez, Horacio	3	3
Randolph, Stephen	-3	-4
Reames, Britt		3	3
Redding, Tim		-3	0
Redman, Mark		11	11
Reed, Steve		0	0
Reitsma, Chris		-1	0
Remlinger, Mike		2	2
Reyes, Dennys		-3	-3
Reynolds, Shane		-2	-1
Reynoso, Armando	-3	-3
Riedling, John		3	2
Rijo, Jose		-3	-4
Ritchie, Todd		0	1
Roa, Joe		1	0
Roberts, Grant		-1	-1
Robertson, Jeriome	-5	-4
Rodriguez, Felix	8	8
Rueter, Kirk		1	2
Rusch, Glendon		0	2
Saarloos, Kirk		0	1
Sanchez, Duaner		0	0
Sanchez, Felix		-2	-3
Sanchez, Jesus		-3	-4
Sauerbeck, Scott	1	1
Schilling, Curt		22	24
Schmidt, Jason		19	20
Seo, Jae Weong		-3	-3
Serrano, Elio		-3	-4
Sheets, Ben		5	7
Shuey, Paul		7	6
Silva, Carlos		3	3
Simontacchi, Jason	5	5
Smith, Bud		-3	-3
Smith, Dan		2	1
Smoltz, John		28	25
Smyth, Steve		-3	-4
Snare, Ryan		-2	-3
Song, Seung		-3	-3
Speier, Justin		1	1
Spooneybarger, Tim	4	4
Springer, Russ		-2	-2
Spurling, Chris		-1	-1
Stanton, Mike		4	3
Stark, Denny		-3	-2
Stechschulte, Gene	-2	-2
Stephenson, Garrett	2	3
Stewart, Scott		10	9
Stone, Ricky		-3	-3
Strange, Pat		-3	-3
Strickland, Scott	4	4
Sullivan, Scott		-3	-2
Suppan, Jeff		6	6
Swindell, Greg		-3	-3
Sylvester, Billy	-3	-3
Tankersley, Dennis	-4	-4
Tavarez, Julian		-3	-3
Tejera, Michael		1	1
Telemaco, Amaury	-3	-4
Tollberg, Brian		-3	-4
Tomko, Brett		11	11
Torres, Salomon		-2	-1
Trachsel, Steve		7	7
Trujillo, J.J.		-2	-2
Tucker, T.J.		-3	-3
Urban, Jeff		-3	-3
Vance, Cory		-3	-4
Vazquez, Javier		12	13
Veres, Dave		1	1
Villafuerte, Brandon	14	12
Villarreal, Oscar	-3	-4
Villone, Ron		-3	-4
Vizcaino, Luis		5	5
Wagner, Billy		26	23
Walker, Kevin		-2	-2
Walker, Tyler		-2	-3
Ward, Jeremy		-2	-3
Wayne, Justin		-2	-3
Weathers, Dave		1	1
Wells, Kip		1	3
Wendell, Turk		-2	-2
White, Gabe		1	1
Williams, David		-3	-3
Williams, Jerome	0	-1
Williams, Mike		18	15
Williams, Woody		14	14
Williamson, Scott	21	19
Wilson, Paul		-2	0
Witasick, Jay		2	2
Wolf, Randy		17	17
Wood, Kerry		19	20
Worrell, Tim		6	5
Wright, Jamey		-4	-4
Wright, Jaret		-2	-2
Young, Jason		-4	-2
Zambrano, Carlos	4	5
Zerbe, Chad		0	0

Please feel free to write in with your questions and comments.

Today's article concludes my preseason prediction columns, although our projection files will remain accessible indefinitely.

I'll spend tomorrow taking a brief look at some lineup and general playing time situations before spending the weekend reviewing our BBW/CDM challenge rosters and week one lineups.

Today's Fantasy Rx: The only major closer changes we expect to see this season involve injury. This season looks like a particularly bad year for targeting top set-up men in the hope of lucking into a few sleeper closers since the only teams on which I have any doubt as to the identity of their closer are Boston, Montreal, San Diego, and the Cubs. Boston likely won't see anyone with more than 20 saves, Scott Stewart remains your best bet in Montreal, Brandon Villafuerte should close for the Padres until Hoffman returns, and either Dave Veres or Kyle Farnsworth will see the majority of save opportunities until Antonio Alfonseca returns. So while there's nothing fundamentally wrong with risking a low finish in saves due to not investing in an established closer, we believe the odds don't favor this strategy as strongly as in past years.