[oykib]

Originally posted by SkyDog
POSITION REPORT: Starting Pitchers

32-year-old lefty Jimmy Cobbs (8/8/9) looks like the best of the bunch. Cobbs went 12-7 with a 3.07 ERA last year, and has led the league in strikeouts in each of the past two seasons. He's a steal at $2.47M, but is in the last year of his contract. On the other hand, 33-year-old Roberto Medina (8/7/6) has never lived up to his scouting reports in his nine seasons in the bigs. His career-best season to date is a mediocre 13-13 with a 4.79 ERA. He's signed for $5.28M through 2001. Another solid-ratings, poor-performance guy on our staff is 32-year-old James Shultis (7/6/6). Shultis has been a spot starter for most of his career, but was in the Atlanta rotation last year, going 7-14 with a 5.40 ERA. He's only costing $560K, and his contract runs out after this season. The rest of the veterans are one-star talents with little hope.

As far as starting pitching prospects, 25-year-old Samuel Figueroa (Avg/Good/Bril) is the best we have. This 4-star lefty, rated the #86 prospect in the game, might be ready for the bigs. His current ratings are 5/6/8, and he's had two solid seasons at AAA (6-8, 3.20 and 11-8, 3.31). The only other promising-looking prospect is 23-year-old Willie "The Fireball" Prahl (Good/Avg/Avg). The Fireball has had two seasons in AAA, and has looked VERY good. His current 6/5/4 ratings also indicate that he may be ready.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I'd like to get a FA or trade for one solid starter, so I don't have to rely on both Figueroa and The Fireball in the rotation this year.

One reason for your pitchers' subpar performances might be your crappy defense. Having both your second baseman and Shortstop rated "D" has got to be a real killer. I haven't really tried out my OOTP5, yet. I'll post my dynasty soon, as well.