The Week Ahead

Welcome, my fellow fantasy freaks, to The Week Ahead! I hope you all had a spectacular St. Patrick's Day and celebrated well. Wherever you may be, be it San Francisco or Saratoga, Slainte!

We are in full spring training mode, and some matchups are still being fought over like the last piece of leftover cake from your St. Paddy's Day party. Others, however, have been locked up safer than gold in Fort Knox

Since the season is still not here, we will talk about some draft and auction strategy. This week, I'll reviewing/critiquing/berating my NL-only experts league team. Reviewing teams seems to be all the rage here at TMR.com.

Now, without further ado, here is my TMR.com NL-only experts league team:

Biggest Bargain: Todd Greene for $2. J.D. Closser has failed to impress during spring training (.100 BA, 0 HRs + RBIs), which has made the Rockies' managerial staff give more thought about using Greene more often than they planned on doing.

Greene, in 75 games (195 ABs) in 2004, hit .282 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs, which is impressive for a second-string catcher. If he can get, say 300 at-bats or so, he could potentially hit 20 homers with 70 RBIs, also impressive for a second-string catcher.

Waste of Money: Chase Utley for $20. Yes, I am a huge Utley fan for this year, but I think $20 is a bit much for him. However, I would not be outbid on Utley no matter what the cost. Starting Opening Day for the Phillies, I will christen the " Chase Utley Fan Club." Anyone who wants to join me can do so ... for a small fee, of course.

That said, I expect Chase to hit around .290-25-90 with 10 steals or so. If those stats come to life, not only would I welcome them to my team, he would be worth the $20 I spent on him.

Strength(s): I would definitely say my starting infield is one of my strengths. Mike Piazza, Utley, Ryan Freel and Nomar Garciaparra are all solid. Piazza and Garciaparra should both return to form this season, while Utley and Freel will jump into the upper tiers of their respective positions.

I also think that I have a decent pitching staff. Mulder (not Scully) and Peavy are both solid, and make up my top two starting pitchers. Glavine for $2 was one thing and one thing only: a bargain. Yes, he is 39, but he no longer has the pressure of being the ace of the Mets staff. That job belongs to Pedro "Who's Your Daddy?" Martinez. Glavine could, and should, provide decent ratios and wins.