Dewon Brazelton

Yes, those are ugly numbers, but Brazelton was involved in a bitter and bizarre custody battle with the mother of his child last year. Maybe there was a more mature way to handle it than by leaving his team for a month in midseason, but, hey, we try not to throw stones from our glass house. What's a bit more interesting is that Brazelton actually posted a sub-4.00 ERA in his first three innings of work in his starts last year. If the Padres decide to recast Brazelton as a long reliever, they could be on to something, especially in that park.

During the 2001 draft, some analysts felt that Brazelton was nearly as good as Mark Prior, who went just ahead of him. No one's saying that now. He improved on a few fronts in 2004—he cut his home run rate in half and reduced his component ERA from 6.29 to 4.58—but he still doesn't strike out enough batters to expect a breakout. He'll be part of Tampa Bay's 2005 rotation.

After some very disappointing early outings, Tampa Bay went the Roy Halladay route with Brazelton, demoting him all the way to high Single-A in an attempt to reconstruct his mechanics. There's a chance it may have worked. In the Arizona Fall League, Brazelton went 5-0 with a 2.77 ERA in nine games (including a win in the title game) with an 0.97 WHIP and a 40-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 39 innings. He'll compete for a rotation role again in the spring. As in 2003, he'll probably win a job. Unlike 2003, he'll probably pitch better once the season starts. Don't be afraid to take Brazelton late in your AL league draft.

After a fairly promising pro debut season in 2002 (7-9, 3.13 in 28 starts, with 119 K's in 158 innings split between AA and AAA ball, including playoffs), Brazelton made his MLB debut in September and pitched fairly well in two starts. Tampa Bay's No. 1 draft choice in 2001, he'll start the year in the starting rotation unless he pitches his way out of it. He's probably already gone in your keeper league, but if he isn't, grab him. As for 2003, it'll be a learning year on an offensively challenged team; he'll get all the innings he can handle, but his numbers may not be that gaudy.