Today's Fantasy Rx

American League Relief Pitchers with DV from $4 to $9

Quick Key to the tables:
W = Wins.  S = Saves.  ERA = Earned Run Average (ER*9/IP).
WHIP = (Walks + Hits)/IP aka Ratio.  K = Strikeouts.  BB = Bases on Balls aka Walks.
H = Hits.  IP = Innings Pitched.  P = Pitches.  B = Bats.
2003 Age = Player's Age as of October 1, 2003.
4x4 = BA, HR, RBI, and SB in 12-team, $260 leagues with 23-man rosters.
5x5 = BA, HR, RBI, SB, and R in 12-team, $260 leagues with 23-man rosters.
DV = Draft Value (The price a player earned under a 70/30 hitting/pitching split).
AV = Actual Value (The price a player earned under a 50/50 hitting/pitching split).
Rotohelp = 2003 Rotohelp Predicted Draft Value.
LABR/Tout = 2003 Expert League prices; LABR for 4x4. Tout Wars for 5x5.

Average league worst BA, ERA, and WHIP based on data compiled from TQ Stats.

Players are ranked in order from the highest draft value in a 4x4 league to the lowest. As the majority of fantasy leagues allow you to keep anyone traded to the other league, all players are listed in the league where they began the season.

20.		W	S	ERA	WHIP	K	BB	H	IP
Brendan Donnelly		2	3	1.58	1.07	79	24	55	74
ANA Angels		DV		AV		Rotohelp		LABR/Tout
P:R    B:R	4x4:	9		14		4		2
2003 Age: 32	5x5:	8		14		3		2

Donnelly finished the year with as much qualitative value as any AL reliever aside from Keith Foulke. Considering he opened the year as the mostly unheralded third reliever in Anaheim's pen, costing far less than Percival or KRod, his nearly double-digit contribution certainly helped any lower lucky enough to roster him for a buck or two. Considering he earned almost $10 with essentially no wins or saves, Donnelly's value could rise substantially in the near future thanks to Anaheim's improved offense and his competition with KRod to close for the Angels if Percival departs at the end of the year as most expect. Of course, the major surprise here was the ERA improvement, largely due to a fall from .4 to .2 HR/9, even as his ground-fly ratio decreased from .98 to .67 G-F and his hit rate jumped from 5.8 to 6.7 H/9. We can't expect him to match that homer rate, however despite an ERA increase from .38 to 3.81 after the All-Star break, accompanied by the near doubling of his walk rate, I still have significant faith in Donnelly. In his two-year career, he only has allowed 8 of 58 inherited runners to score, and he pitched decently in the second half of 2003 despite requiring surgery to remove bone spurts from his pitching elbow and a torn meniscus in his knee right after the season. Don't count on him seeing many save opportunities thanks to his dominating performance in middle relief, but he still merits a bid around $5 in nearly any league.

50 Days to Choose Your Pitchers: '04 continues tomorrow with more American League relievers.

Today's Fantasy Rx: While most of the today's pitchers appear likely to echo these performances next year, I see little opportunity for much roto upside since their current teams appear to view them as no more then tertiary save options at best. Billy Koch should regain the Chicago closing job, Rafael Soriano belongs in Seattle's rotation, and Kerry Ligtenberg should swipe some save opportunities in Toronto, however the other fifteen pitchers appear quite comfortable in middle relief. View them as interchangeable roster filler, and while I advise drafting a couple of these guys in AL-only leagues to add likely profit in the late rounds of the draft, don't expect double-digit performances from them.