Today's Fantasy Rx

Please refer to the Tout Wars National League rosters here.

Owner: Roger Anderson & Glenn Wells
Site: Rotoauctioneer
$ Left: $3.
Split: $169H/$88P = 66/34.
Reserve roster: Rocky Biddle, Joe Borowski, Pete Munro, Brian L. Hunter, Wilson Delgado, and Ruben Mateo.

Nice pick: Ivan Rodriguez, $19; while we also like Berkman at $33, nabbing the best fantasy catchers in the majors for under $20 qualifies as a significant coup.
Top sleeper: Rocky Biddle, R; as he's already saved 2 games, Wells might have lucked into a Montreal co-closer in the reserve round.
Potential bust: Derrek Lee, $27; I just don't envision him reaching $25+ without an unlikely significant BA boost.
Wasted picks (that won't contribute in the majors): None.
Early bad luck: Ben Petrick, $3, failed to break camp in Colorado.
Category to trade: Saves.

Wells compiled an intriguing staff led by a $39 Randy, however he managed to grab Mike DeJean, Braden Looper, Biddle, and Joe Borowski for a total of $20, or less than the price five individual closers. Russ Ortiz, Brad Penny, Garrett Stephenson, and Darren Dreifort don't comprise a particularly strong starting staff, however they each could reach double-digit wins, and combined with Randy and a very impressive bullpen, should attain eight or more points in every category.

Rotoauctioneer implemented the same stars-and-scrubs offensive strategy as seemingly half the league, and we can't really argue with purchasing Pudge and Barrett for $27 or grabbing Berkman at $33 or Chipper at $31. Unfortunately Sosa at $33 almost seem like a luxury given he needed five Dollar Days' picks to complete his offense: Alex Cora, Neifi Perez, Rey Sanchez, Greg Norton, and Mike Kinkade. Neither a $7 Timo Perez nor a $3 Rob Mackowiak qualify as bargains, so unless Pudge, Lee, and all three $30 outfielders each hit 100+ RBI, I expect this team to reach no higher than the middle of each quantitative category. I like the odds of this team finishing with 10+ BA points, but otherwise I see a lot of offensive holes that will require significant roster management to overcome.

Summary: A solidly deep pitching core and five elite offensive players could push them well into the first division.

Owner: Art McGee
Site: How to Value Players for Rotisserie Baseball
$ Left: $0.
Split: $174H/$86P = 67/33.
Reserve roster: Scott Strickland, Alex Gonzalez, Denny Stark, Brian Boehringer, Jose Acevedo, and Phil Nevin.

Nice pick: Damian Moss, $3; I'll be very surprised if he doesn't reach double-digit value.
Top sleeper: Scott Strickland, R; he'll inherit any extra Mets' save opps. if Benitez continues faltering or switches teams.
Potential bust: Curt Schilling, $34; while he should remain the second best starting pitcher in the league, I don't expect him to reach $30 this season.
Wasted picks (that won't contribute in the majors): Phil Nevin and probably Jose Acevedo.
Early bad luck: Fernando Vina, $10, might miss a month with a hand injury; Orlando Hernandez, $5, remains out until at least until May; and Felix Rodriguez, $4, let Tim Worrell win the Giants' temporary closer's job.
Category to trade: Middle relievers with good qualitative numbers, and possibly RBI.

Schilling and an $18 Wade Miller give McGee a superb base of strikeouts, and we certainly like the upside of a $5 El Duque and Moss. Unfortunately his only other starters are a $2 Kaz Ishii and Denny Stark, so either he'll struggle in wins or finish rather poorly in the qualitative categories. I also don't approve of allocating $24 to relievers without rostering even a co-closer, and while Steve Kline isn't a bad pick at $6 given Izzy's problems, $18 for Remlinger, FRod, and Quantrill is way too much when established closers like DeJean cost less than $10.

McGee also didn't grab any bargains on offense, but he at least found established starters at every single position, almost all rostered at fair prices. He should finish solidly in runs and RBI, and several players could contribute double-digit steals. Any team with Tatis and Burnitz will face some BA problems, but there's little reason McGee shouldn't nab several points in all qualitative offensive categories.

Summary: Great seasons from Schilling and Miller and a even two dozen saves from anyone should push McGee into a money spot, although his lack of star players could leave him in a fight to avoid the second division.

Owner: Thom Henninger
Site: Stats, Inc.
$ Left: $11.
Split: $176H/$73P = 71/29.
Reserve roster: Jerome Williams, Grant Roberts, Dave Kelton, Gabe White, Mike Sirotke, and Jose Valverde.

Nice pick: Ray Durham, $24; he should push $30 with a chance to score 130+ runs while hitting at the top of a great lineup.
Top sleeper: Morgan Ensberg, $1; a Geoff Blum injury could leave Ensberg with 400+ AB and double-digit value.
Potential bust: Greg Maddux, $21; this looks like an obvious pick given his terrible start but we didn't expect him to push $15 under any circumstances.
Wasted picks (that won't contribute in the majors): Francisco Cordova, $1, Mike Sirotka, and probably Dave Kelton and Jose Valverde.
Early bad luck: Jim Edmonds, $24, opened another season at less than perfect health, Greg Maddux, $21, has looked terrible thus far, and Jerome Williams couldn't break into a fairly shallow Giants' pen.
Category to trade: .

A $25 Oswalt, $4 Trachsel, $8 Luis Vizcaino, $5 Vlad Nunez, and $1 Juan Cruz provide a nice pitching foundation, however Maddux, a $7 Paul Byrd, and a lack of pitching depth could leave Henninger noticeably short in a few pitching categories. He didn't draft any primary saves' options, and I'm not even convinced of solid qualitative marks if Maddux can't rebound.

Fortunately Henninger drafted an intriguingly solid offense. He rostered a core of quality starters at reasonable prices before grabbing some of the best low-risk, high-upside back-ups available, including Ensberg, a $4 Matt Williams, $3 Todd Pratt, $3 Reggie Taylor, and $1 Troy O'Leary. Pratt could net significant playing time as Lieberthal's back-up, and the others should reach 300+ AB, particularly Taylor now that he's starting in center for Cincinnati.

Summary: A Maddux rebound could allow Henninger to flip the Atlanta ace for a closer, thereby giving him enough category diversity to finish in the first division and potentially in-the-money. Of course, Henninger might have been my pick for first if he hadn't overpaid for Maddux or left $11 on the table

Owner: Greg Scalf
Site: Fantasy Baseball Central
$ Left: $0.
Split: $197H/$63P = 76/24.
Reserve roster: Shawn Estes, Brian Meadows, Denny Neagle, Adam Hyzdu, Wilson Betemit, and Esix Snead.

Nice pick: Juan Encarnacion, $20; a 20/30 season looks quite likely as he enters his prime playing for the steal-happy Torborg.
Top sleeper: Jose Reyes, $3; although we're not convinced he'll see the majors before September due to the Mets' need for Rey Sanchez's defense at shortstop, Reyes could steal a dozen bases a month in the majors.
Potential bust: Ken Griffey, $20; although this ranks as another obvious pick after two weeks of the season, we didn't expect him to reach $20 even if healthy barring an unexpected BA rebound.
Wasted picks (that won't contribute in the majors): A $2 Tony Alvarez, Wilson Betemit, and likely Esix Snead.
Early bad luck: Griffey's injury wasn't completely unexpected, but back problems have slowed a $29 Ryan Klesko, and neither a $19 Izzy nor a $6 Trevor Hoffman look likely to return any time soon.
Category to trade: Steals, thanks to Encarnacion, a $26 Aaron Boone, and $21 Eric Young.

Scalf only drafted enough innings to meet the minimum, and neither a $12 Hideo Nomo nor a $12 Tony Armas ranks as a particularly good buy. The persistent injuries of both his closers also leave him short on saves, and I'm not convinced he rostered pitching with sufficient skills to avoid very poor showings in every pitching category.

At least he possesses a deep and talented offensive core even without Griffey, however neither Reyes nor Alvarez look like good picks right now. While he rostered enough starting talent here to post solid finishes in every offensive quantitative category, I expect he'll suffer from both BA problems and a weak bench.

Summary: A multitude of injuries and a limited pitching staff should doom Scalf to a disappointing second division finish.

Like AL Tout Wars, I see clear divisions between different groups of teams in terms of probable finish. Gawon, Liebowitz, Shandler, and Henninger look like the probable top four. Anderson & Wells, McGee, and Wilderman & Muckler should comprise the rest of the first division with a change of an in-the-money finish. Keri, Wiegart, and Haverty will need a good deal of luck to contend, and then Brown & Elliott, Scalf, and Mosey seem stuck with poor finishes barring very surprising developments.

Today's Fantasy Rx: While we're not offering a Shadowdraft for 2003 NL Tout Wars, I'm quite interested in our readers' opinions as to the best bargains and most overpaid players. If you have the chance, drop me a line with your thoughts on this leagues.