Today's Fantasy Rx

Please refer to the 2004 AL Tout Wars rosters here.

Owner: Dean Peterson
Site: STATS, Inc.
$ Left: $1.
Split: $191H/$68P = 74/26.
Reserve roster: B.J. Upton, Mike DeJean, Quinton McCrackn, Chris George, Eric Owens, and Alfredo Amezaga.

Nice pick: Keith Foulke, $24; locking up the one of the top two closers in the league for less than $25 is a nice coup for any team.
Top sleeper: Alex Escobar, $1; while he won't post a great BA, his quantitative contribution could push his overall value well into double digits.
Potential bust: Ted Lilly, $9; although his strikeouts and wins will boost his value, the SkyDome will magnify his homer problems. Given his health questions this spring, approaching double-digits on Lilly is a definite risk right now.
Wasted picks (that won't contribute in the majors): Eric Owens, unless he quickly lands with another team.
Early good/bad luck: Escobar's pseudo-starting job makes him a great bargain, but with Upton and Amezaga in the minors and Nomar($29) hurt, this middle infield looks weak
Category to trade: Pitching, especially strikeouts and saves.

While I harbor questions regarding Peterson's quantitative performance on offense and his qualitative pitching stats, I see a lot to like here. If Nomar returns quickly, he combines with Huff($31), Blalock($26), and Baldelli($23) to provide a great offensive base with significant upside. Unfortunately, neither Joe Mauer($9) nor Brandon Inge($1) were good buys even before Mauer's injury, and I don't see any bargains on offense outside of Escobar and Ken Harvey($4). Steals also could be a problem if Luis Rivas($15) and Darin Erstad($15) don't approach 20 each.

Of course, a bullpen of Foulke, Francisco Cordero($19), and DeJean gives him the best relief corps in the league, so saves won't be a problem. The question is whether a rotation of Lilly, Jarrod Washburn($8), Victor Zambrano($4), Jason Davis($1), Jimmy Gobble($1), Nate Cornejo($1), and Dan Wright($1) will develop into a potent across-the-board contributor or kill his ERA and WHIP by the end of May. Given I like the upside on all these pitchers, they at least warrant the Dollar Days selections. Peterson also could focus on offensive and the quantitative pitching categories, potentially even dealing Washburn and Lilly for better bats.

Summary: With good in-season management, Peterson should finish in the first division while contending for a money slot.

Today's Fantasy Rx: When joining a new league, make every attempt to research the recent league history to check the strategies of various owners, the hitting/pitching split, etc. Perhaps Sam Walker wanted to employ a unique approach by deviating from the established H/P split by over 30%, and he certainly purchased quality pitchers, however his offense looks very weak right now. I see no reason in most circumstance to drop below even a 60/40 split unless you don't mind risking finishing with only a couple points in each quantitative hitting category.