Arizona Diamondbacks

With a minor league system stacked with postion propsects ready to play in 2006 - Carlos Quentin, Chris Young and Stephen Drew along with Conor Jackson, the Diamondbacks look ready to build a dynasty over the next 5 years. With such players, the onerous contract of Russ Ortiz is subsumed by the under-market value contracts of the postion players.

Usually, a player with a starting job is worth $10 or so at any draft. In the Diamondback's case, two starters, Craig Counsell and Eric Byrnes, may not be worth much more than a few bucks due to the the impending ascension of the the team's top prospects.

Craig Counsell has put together back-to-back good Roto seasons (17 and 26 SBs). I am not a fan of scrappy, non-Roto-contributing 300+ ABs players, but I am almost ready to concede Counsell has made it past that characterization. Almost. With the presence of Stephen Drew in the minors and 2005 Gold Glove 2B Orlando Hudson, I see Counsell's value dropping from a mid-teens range on Opening Day to nothing the moment Drew is recalled. There will be nowhere for him to play. As such, I'd get rid of him if I had him while he still has apparent value.

Eric Byrnes was a huge disappointment last season following his 20/73/17/.283 2004 campaign. Why he dropped off is hard to determine. Was is the new performance-enhancement/recovery policy? Was it the elimination of Vioxx? Did the years of hard-nosed play finally catch-up to the 29-year-old? It will not matter if he bounces back because he will lose his job the moment either Carlos Quentin or Chris Young is recalled.

On the mound, the D'backs are hurting. Does Brandon Webb thrive as the #1 or does he pitch like he did in 2004 when he last held the role? I know his ERA was good but that WHIP was God awful for 200+ innings, and he only won 7 games to boot. He was an anchor through the bottom of the boat for Roto staffs. My guess is he does not regress back to that level. The season sticks out like a sore thumb. As he is still young and his other two seasons are similar, I feel comfortable projecting him to match last season.

Russ Ortiz? He shouldn't have been pitching in the majors last year but for the $33 million contract he signed. He should be out of baseball based on last season. Crickets won't be present when his name is called at the draft.

Miguel Batista is intriguing. After successfully closing for the Jays last season, he has to be considered the back-up closer behind Jose Velverde. He could slip under the radar on Draft Day because he will be in the rotation, and I am sure there will be sufficient quotes from him and his manager saying that is where he wants to stay. But he is getting older (35 on Opening Day) and his arm may not withstand starting every 5th day. Grab him but recognize he may be a detriment as a starter if his arm cannot hold-up. As soon as he moves to the bullpen, his value should improve.