Mets fans who are wondering if their bullpen will be better this year -- have you looked at this?

alex, I just checked again in AL. all the shortstop game numbers are at third, while third at ss. for instance, jeter, young, peralta, bartlett, renteria are at 3rd, A Rod at ss.

I will defer to MikeG who is a Mets fan, but yes, I think the Mets' pen is much improved.

I will take Putz and K-Rod over what the Mets' were throwing out there in the 8th and 9th innings in August and September last year.

I found it more interesting with the pitchers that there were so few dissenting opinions in the picks/pans. You would expect there to be a wider array of opinions on pitchers.

Though I suspect that all of these touts were afraid to go out on any kind of limb.

H% 24 in the first half, h% 36 in the second. Do we call that luck or was he stinging the ball?

Until I hear otherwise from Orioles season-ticket holders, I'm calling it luck.

From non-tendered by the Rockies on December 12 to $6.25 million over two years from the Reds two weeks later. (Would he have come close to that in arbitration?) Dusty Baker's take: "A lot of people talk about his on-base percentage. I like to think in terms of him getting into scoring position."

In 4x4, so do we.

In 5x5, we keep hoping.

Is the Mets bullpen that much improved? K-Rod for Wagner is about a wash and Putz seemed to be fading last year.

I think the PANs are meant to dissuade bids in the high teens. $10 seems reasonable. With the limited number of PICKS/PANS in the Guide, it would be nice if they weren't so concentrated on a handful of players.

He is being kept at $8 in my New York City based NL only league.

A little NY bias in that league, of course, but I agree the potential for a $15 season will drive his bids to $10 in most leagues.

The Mets' much improved bullpen this year will probably raise the price of all their starters a couple ticks.

Price is #1 among the 100 Names You Need to Know, according to the latest issue of Sports Weekly, from which we can conclude that the football writers are still turning it out.

"He no longer is considered just a fine pitching prospect in the Rays organization. He now is a genuine phenom, displaying his splendid talent in the fall for all of the baseball world to see."

While, apparently, the football world forgot him.

Judging by the experts writing for The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2009 (on newsstands now), the baseball world both remembers and is less easily impressed.

STEVE MOYER PAN: "Here's a great name to throw out at the beginning of a draft, when everybody's got plenty of money to waste."

BUCK DAVIDSON PAN: "He's bound to hit some rough spots as the hitters adjust to him."

LAWR MICHAELS PAN: "He has wicked stuff, and a bright future. But, be haunted by names like Johnny Cueto and Clay Buchholz and Anibal Sanchez."

JEFF WINICK PAN: "Let someone else pay for the dream."

In the aptly named American Dream League, I'll be paying $10 for him.

That's his this-year price after being on my reserve list last year.

It's not that I refuse to listen to all these dire warnings. It's that, given that I don't have a very good freeze list to begin with, I choose not to heed them.

In the draft I'll be working on a two-year plan (the maximum we can keep players in this league); in the back of my mind I'll be thinking, didn't the Rays win a pennant while they were rebuilding?

It's not a true inseason NL league free agent list if you can't sort by IP and have him jump to the top of the page.

Sadly, so much happens in spring training -- both trades and other moves, and decisions about playing time -- that the prices we post here can indeed get to be embarrassing. Luckily, in the software we get to make weekly adjustments . . . any embarrassment there is earned.

Even with his poor 2008, it's hard to see letting him go for less than $7 or $8, because he *could* have another $15+ year. It's also hard to advise going much higher . . .

I don't know, I think that the increased numbers of starters that are more valuable in 5x5 mean that it's unlikely that there are a lot of relievers like Affeldt whose value gets bumped up.

That's not to say that you shouldn't bump him up to $2 or $3 on your list if you think he'll have a 2009 like his 2008; it's just that, you should have at least six or eight guys like this on your list, and you should get at least one of them at $2 (or $1, if you have the patience to wait and let others take guys like this at $2 or more).

I keep meaning to do a more through analysis of this, but I believe that guys like Affeldt are worth that $1 in the endgame in 5x5 as well.

Signed with the Braves for 4 years, $60 million.Thus, just like Raul Ibanez, Lowe will be Jack Benny's age in his final year. Like the Phillies, the Braves won't know the true cost until they find out who the Dodgers take this June with the Braves' first pick.

Phillies will be paying him $31.5 million until he's Jack Benny's age. I have no problem with that. But I'll be curious to see who the Mariners take this June with the Phillies' pick in the first round.

Nats have taken him on at one year, $2.6 million. He'll find his way onto Ultra rosters in the reserve rounds.

Signed a one-year, $2.45 million contract with the Brewers. If he gets more than 575 AB, he gets an extra $100,000 this year and, conservatively, an extra $5 million in the next contract he signs.

According to Alex's Evaluator, 19 American League pitchers who threw more than 100 IPs actually lost money in 2008. Many of the major $ losers (Robertson, Millwood, Washburn, Rogers, etc.) went in the $3-$8 range in most drafts. Given what a crap-shoot starting pitching is, I will be in there bidding about $5 on Hill, assuming he manages to strike out more batters than he walks in spring training. He certainly seems to have more upside than the Jerrod Washburns of this world. Of course, I would drop Hill after maybe three bad starts, reminding myself that I probably would have wasted the money elsewhere in the draft.