Today's Fantasy Rx

National League Starting Pitchers with PDV below $5

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.

41.		W	S	ERA	WHIP	K	BB	H	IP
Al Leiter		15	0	3.99	1.49	139	94	176	180.2
NY Mets		DV		AV		Rotohelp		LABR/Tout
P:L    B:L	4x4:	4		7		9		5
2003 Age: 37	5x5:	6		10		10		13

As he falters on most road trips and faces increasing struggles against right-handed batters, we simply can't trust Leiter, given his age and recent injury problems, to earn more than a few dollars of value in 2004. The only obviously good news is that solid skills across-the-board accompanied his fantastic second-half performance. With the acquisitions of Kaz Matsui and Mike Cameron giving the Mets their best defense in years, Leiter also stands to benefit from a lower hit rate, thus lowering his hit rate to helpful levels. He still will suffer from control lapses and a .99 G-F won't contain a rising homer rate, but if you need innings later in a draft, I see no reason not to grab him as long as bidding doesn't approach $10.

50 Days to Choose Your Pitchers: '04 continues tomorrow with more National League starters.

Today's Fantasy Rx: While some of these pitchers qualify as surprises for earning PDV, most of them fell here due to injury or ineffectiveness after costing much more on draft day. However, as a few of these pitchers are both left-handed and well into their 30s, you certainly should exercise some caution in drafting Al Leiter, Kirk Rueter, Tom Glavine, and even Randy Johnson. While they each still owns the basic skills that earned them so much acclaim in the first place, I strongly suspect many owners will continue bidding off their past successes rather than on a logical prediction of their future performances. Don't plan to roster any of these four on draft day unless bidding stalls almost immediately on the first three or if Randy lags around $20.