Today's Fantasy Rx

To make this a little easier for those of you following along in the Sports Weekly 2003 Fantasy Guide, I'll review the teams in the order that Sports Weekly lists them.

Please refer to the LABR American League rosters here.

Owner: Jim McGrath
Site: Regular Guy
$ Left: $0.
Split: $173H/$87P = 67/33.
Reserve roster: Jason Davis, Dan Wright, Aaron Sele, Johnny Peralta, Marco Scutaro, and Graham Koonce.

Nice pick: Ichiro Suzuki, $32; as always, Ichiro goes for somewhere around $10 less than we expect him to earn, and considering he earned $41 last year while impressing few people, we expect him to remain a bargain.
Top sleeper: Graham Koonce, R; we like the upside of Davis and Wright, but only Erubiel's Durazo health stands between Koonce and a potential $20 season. Koonce is an excellent target even in the endgame and certainly merits consideration in any reserve round.
Potential bust: Aquilino Lopez, $14; perhaps he reaches this level of value while Joe Nathan ($16) also earns his salary, but they both appear risky at this price. Of course, rostering two closers for less money than Rivera or Foulke cost is a good way to accumulate saves.
Wasted picks (that won't contribute in the majors): None, as even Peralta and Scutaro should see some playing time this year.
Early good/bad luck: Nathan still looks like the Twins' closer, New York hasn't upgraded on Enrique Wilson($1) yet, and Wright should break camp as Chicago's 5th starter. Unfortunately, if Jay Gibbons($19) heads to Los Angeles as rumored, his batting average and RBI totals could plummet.
Category to trade: Batting average and potentially saves, particularly if KRod ($10) supplants Percival at some point.

McGrath wanted to compete in all eight categories through drafting potential or uncertain closers, young players with upside, and veterans approaching free agency. While he failed to acquire a single pending free agent who merits ownership in even an AL-only league, a definition that excludes Aaron Sele, I like the potential of this team's offense and bullpen. The core of Ichiro, Vlad($35), Bret Boone($27), and Hank Blalock($26) all should be bargains, and he didn't overpay for Jay Gibbons($19) and Mike Young($16). Yet I'm not certain that he'll post strong quantitative marks after selecting seven position players that only should be platoon starters at best.

Swapping a closer for a first baseman would be a good early move here, yet with a rotation of Bartolo Colon ($21), Jarrod Washburn($12), Kelvim Escobar($7), Gil Meche($5), Davis, Wright, and Sele, adding qualitative pitching help appears more important than more offense. I view all these pitchers as risky acquisitions to some extent, and if the Angels struggle, this team could head down the standings quickly. Of course, McGrath also displayed a willingness to roster low-risk middle relievers like Jason Kershner($1) and Mike DeJean($1), so I expect he at least will keep his staff in decent shape.

Summary: If McGrath can convert a closer or two into help in the other categories, I see no reason he can't contend all year. However, despite the upside of rostering eight players under $3, I don't expect most of them to earn more than a buck or two of profit, placing him at risk of slipping into the second division.

Today's Fantasy Rx: Mat Olkin's decision to open bidding on Halladay at $31 likely cost him a couple bucks. Despite the temptation to make preemptive bids, unless you're jumping a bid to shut another owner down due to a lack of roster spots or cap room, we strongly advise keeping your bids and raises to the minimum allowable.