Here's a dollar, kid, buy yourself a team

Derek Milhous Zumsteg

Last week we assembled the finest free-agent hitters. And Geronimo Berroa. Even bargain-hunting, it cost me $47m for my starting nine, which should have been an excellent lesson on the price you pay for not having a farm system. This week we go shopping for pitchers and things get better. And worse. Much, much worse.

Right Handed Starters

Name	Age	ERA	Innings Pitched	OBP allowed	SLG allowed	OPS allowed
Kevin Brown	33	2.44	243	283	300	.583
Armando Reynoso	32	2.77	61.2	.331	.318	.649
David Cone (player option)	35	3.68	200.2	.305	.377	.682
Juan Guzman (club option)	32	4.19	206.1	.324	.400	.724
Todd Stottlemyre	34	3.86	214.2	.318	.412	.730
Orel Hershiser (dual option)	40	4.46	189.2	.338	.398	.736
Joey Hamilton	28	4.32	206.1	.353	.395	.748
Mark Clark	30	4.99	205.2	.322	.432	.754
Omar Olivares (club option)	31	3.91	172.2	.352	.405	.757
Tim Belcher	37	3.96	223	.324	.436	.760
Bob Tewksbury	38	4.42	136.1	.315	.452	.767
Pete Schourek	29	4.70	113	.350	.453	.803
Mark Portugal (club option)	36	4.59	158.2	.321	.483	.804
Danny Darwin	43	5.55	147.2	.353	.485	.838
Charles Nagy	31	5.28	199.1	.354	.497	.851
Mike Morgan (club option)	39	4.18	120.2	.355	.503	.858
Doug Drabek	36	7.19	106.1	.356	.509	.865
Frank Castillo	29	7.20	110	.386	.530	.916
Roger Pavlik	injured

Of these, Kevin Brown is a must-have. He's a tremendous pitcher, and paying the premium for him is worth it. My team snaps him up. Beyond that, Joey Hamilton's good because he's young (relatively), and he'll make a fine back-o-the rotation starter, but he's already making 3.25m and is probably looking for a hefty raise. Mark Clark would be equally good, because his OBP allowed is superior, despite his age, but the Cubs need their pitching and are likely to bid through the roof to hold him. I'm also giving Tim Belcher a deal, because he pitches like this every year. If he were more inconsistent, he'd have had a much more lucrative career. Avoid at all costs Danny Darwin, Mike Morgan, who are really old, and Drabek, who is terrible and seems much older than he is. And how do pitchers like Drabek and Castillo with 7+ ERAs get to pitch over 100 innings? An average AAA pitcher could do significantly better than that. Pavlik and Reynoso are both DL gambles, and for the money I'm spending, I don't make these kinds of gambles.

Left Handed Starters

Name	Age	ERA	Innings Pitched	OBP allowed	SLG allowed	OPS allowed
Al Leiter	33	2.50	179.2	.300	.308	.608
Randy Johnson	35	3.34	237.1	.296	.341	.637
Chuck Finley	36	3.44	217	.332	.377	.709
Steve Avery (club option)	28	5.20	117.2	.362	.427	.789

Thin crowd. The Milhous Marauders raid this list, taking Al Leiter, and Johnson. It would be silly to pass up Al Leiter. He's been great. this year, he's a sprightly 33, and his demands are unlikely to be too amazing. Randy Johnson supposedly wants Maddux-like money, but there's lingering concern that his back or his brain may go out. I step in and make him a happy man. Insurance is team of well-compensated on-call psychotherapists who, I think, will have little to do. It'll make the board happy. Chuck Finley occasionally gets a Baseball Weekly article when he's on a hot streak, but that's about it. I'd bring him on board for a hefty raise if Randy finally went for over 8m. Avery is left for Peter Angelos to woo.

Right Handed Relievers

Name	Age	ERA	Innings Pitched	OBP allowed	SLG allowed	OPS allowed
Steve Reed (club option)	32	3.19	79	.275	.319	.594
Xavier Hernandez	33	3.54	56	.309	.323	.632
Jim Corsi (club option)	37	2.6	62	.301	.342	.643
Mike Maddux	37	3.76	52.2	.300	.345	.645
Alan Mills	32	3.82	75.1	.325	.322	.647
Mike Timlin	32	2.95	76.1	.305	.357	.662
Mark Leiter (club option)	35	3.32	84	.323	.349	.672
Rod Beck (mutual option)	30	2.91	74.1	.302	.408	.710
Mike Fetters	34	4.37	57.2	.344	.374	.718
Rich DeLucia	34	4.08	70.2	.337	.382	.719
Dennis Eckersley	44	4.26	38	.325	.409	.734
Dennis Martinez	43	4.5	88	.335	.417	.752
Jose Mesa	32	4.57	80.2	.360	.394	.754
Jeff Montgomery	36	5.26	53	.345	.429	.774
Heathcliff Slocumb	32	5.48	64	.386	.416	.802
Pete Smith	32	5.57	85.2	.358	.447	.805
Doug Jones (club option)	41	4.45	83	.332	.498	.830
Greg McMichael	32	4.15	65	.390	.448	.838
Bobby Ayala	29	6.96	75	.365	.484	.849

Ayala is a prime example of streaky player who always has a job. Ayala's career is like a yo-yo that stays down most drops. But those years that look so tempting, his hot months, they make Woody Woodard toss contracts at him every couple of years.

Steve Reed will most likely have his option picked up-- I can't imagine it won't happen-- but I wanted to list him anyway. If I could get him, I would bid the world. His numbers have been good for years, and no one notices. Too bad for them. I'm taking Xavier Hernandex, Mike Mills, and hoping Mike Timlin's new found 'closer' label doesn't inflate his demands (of course, being the closer in Seattle is like DHing in Kansas City -- it's not like there's a lot of quality competition for the job). My alternative is to unite the Leiter brothers, hoping that option's not picked up, which is unlikely. Then I'd have to take Mike Fetters or Co. It's funny that for all the crap Dennis Martinez takes for hanging onto the game, he's still better than bullpen-strengthening Jose Mesa, or Jeff Montgomery (but that's not Jeff's fault, I think the surgery really hurt him).

- On to lefty relievers and putting it all together -