Like Cepeda, McCovey played in an era when pitching was far more dominant than it was when Piazza played. McCovey's Adjusted OPS (147) is a little better than Piazza's (142), and the longevity adds a little more credence to McCovey. In my humble opinion, McCovey's a Hall of Famer, though I think he's more of a borderline case than his fans make him out to be.

Of course, Piazza the hypothetical 1B/OF/DH might have played another 3-5 seasons and picked up another 100 HR and 600-700 hits and rendered this discussion moot. But given the stats of the hypothetical Piazza as 1B/OF/DH, I'd say no to the Hall.

But if we're talking about Piazza the catcher, it's most likely a moot point, and the question is not if Piazza goes in to the Hall but when.

Yep, he was inducted in 1999.

My opinion is that Cepeda doesn't belong in the Hall. If I had to choose between Piazza and Cepeda even without considering position, I'd pick Piazza.

And then (re Piazza's HOF credentials) there's Willie McCovey. By dint of playing 22 seasons, McCovey has far better career totals, but it's not like Piazza was a flash in the pan and his career averages are substantially better.

Re Piazza thread, isn't Cepeda in the Hall, Mike? I'm pretty sure he is. And Piazza by every measure has better career numbers.

I didn't think you were criticizing. I appreciate the healthy debate, and I often change my mind on players after going back and forth. As an example, my price on Jason Giambi has dropped.

In my money league I play 4x4, so I'll admit the whiffs aren't as important to me. And the whiffs did go down last year and Pettitte's at an age where they might not go back up. And I hate to bring this up again because of all the rocks that got thrown at me in the Clemens thread (not that I didn't paint a big ol' target on my back, as Alex pointed out), but I'm skeptical that Pettitte's 2005 numbers weren't tied in some way to HGH.

Still, I see your point. Paying $12 if you're convinced you're going to get $10-12 worth of stats is a security blanket that sure beats paying $10-12 for Matt Garza and then spending the rest of your year biting your nails wondering if Garza's going to earn $15 or negative $15.

I took him for $1 in the Sportsline expert auction because I can reserve him at will even if he's on the MLB roster. His command both inside and outside the zone seems to be more of a problem than his raw stuff, but that's like saying your car runs fast but you can't steer it and there's fire shooting out from under the hood. Blow up his Post All-Star numbers last year and he earned $1 in 5x5 and lost $5 in 4x4. I'd say he's not worth a 4x4 bid but worth a $1 flier in 5x5 leagues where you can reserve him. There are poorer risks out there.

The argument could be made, though the non-catcher comps over at Baseball Reference tell me that Piazza would be on the wrong side of the argument. The HR would be his strongest argument as a non-catcher. The 12 All-Star selections and eight Top 10 MVP finishes might have been fewer at a thicker position. He had three absolutely sick years for a hitter at any position from 1995-1997, but wouldn't fit into the "most dominant hitter at his position argument" as an OF or 1B. In eight postseason series, he only came through big in the 2000 NLCS vs. St. Louis, and he has no rings.

Not a criticism of you, but I believe in pitching starved AL (depth-wise), a dependable guy like Pettitte is more valuable than his numbers because he won't burn you like alot of the other guys. Plus, alot of Ks.

Eugene's been trying to get me to take DiNardo with the all important sixth round reserve pick I have coming up in the Sportsline draft.

DiNardo's upside is Jamie Moyer. He throws a mid-80s fastball with sink and an assortment of other pitches that keeps hitters off balance. He's definitely not a Quad-A guy; he belongs in the majors.

He certainly did strike out a lot of guys in the minors. But the K/IP rate did drop after DiNardo hit AA, so while he passed what John Sickels calls the "Double-A finesse acid test", DiNardo didn't exactly pass it with flying colors. Still, he deserves the shot he's gotten thus far.

His splits as a starter/reliever, though are radical over the course of his career. As a starter: 126 1/3 IP, 153 H, 56 BB, 54 K, 77 ER, 16 HR .309 BAA 1.654 WHIP, 5.49 ERA. As a reliever: 86 1/3 IP, 91 H, 31 BB, 58 K, 33 ER, 5 HR, .275 BAA, 1.413 WHIP, 3.44 ERA.

And the splits by pitch count tell even more of the story. Last year, his OPS against by pitch count:

Pitches 1-15: 569
16-30: 780
31-45: 665
46-60: 829
61-75: 812
76-90: 968
91-105: 808

I think DiNardo's funky stuff is better suited for the pen. If the A's stick him into the rotation and you buy him, I think you're in for a rough ride.

When we see the first boxscores in spring training, who else is going to be at 3B for SF besides Justin Leone? Here's what the Fantasy Baseball Guide 2008 has to say about him: "He gets on base, has some power and can run. He's way too old to get another big league shot, but keep an eye on him if he does."

You will, you bet we will, Rotoman!

No other publication profiles him, you can be sure of that.

Pitchers and catchers seem to have assembled without him. Could be argued his career stats are HOF-worthy if he wasn't a catcher.

Makes me think that Crede is all but on his way to San Francisco.

Can I bear another year of watching this guy pitch for me every 5th day? Certainly a trendy sleeper based on his so-called "improvement" in the 2nd half. I guess at $1 (only if you can reserve him when necessary) he is worth the flyer and has more upside than other $1 pitchers out there. Any thoughts?

Should be back from T.J. surgery mid-season.

Might hold his job for another year, but to hear Bochy hem and haw, it's Frandsen's job to lose going into spring training.

Decent set-up guy on a team that is taking its chances in the saves category.

Save yourselves some money here, Peter and Mike. Aki underwent surgery, possibly TJ surgery, in January. My guess is, he'll play in Japan after he recovers, but just in case, I'm making him an R4 in the software.

Despite the higher strikeouts, he's kind of the Paul Byrd of the N.L. insofar as he's ugly to watch. I owned him in Sportsline last year and it was one ugly ride. Anyone who saw him pitch in the LCS last year knows what I'm talking about. Mediocre stuff (at best) that he somehow managed to fool hitters with for a while, but he threw way too many pitches and wound up making the D-Backs go to the bullpen way too early. I'd add to Alex's point by saying that, in 4x4, the smarter sim-GMs avoid these guys and buy middle relievers who are less likely to put up earnings in the red and might even earn $10-15 if you're lucky.

I think they're talking about more about DiNardo's stuff and his projectability as a Quad-A guy then they are about his ability to start versus not.

My point was that A's Nation is a knowledgeable blog whose writers watch his team pretty closely every day. You're also knowledgeable, Eugene, but I was just throwing another opinion out there.

DiNardo sounds like he's in open competition for that last slot.

I personally think Jackson has more upside than DiNardo, but I could see why everyone on Earth would not agree with that.

The money you don't spend on closers in 5x5 goes to pitchers like Doug Davis. Real-life GM's, if anything, allocate even more of their budgets to this type of pitcher.