In an era where pitching comes at a high price, a new trend is developing among some MLB clubs. Teams are buying damaged and worn goods, signing formerly successful pitchers at a discount price.

The San Diego Padres started things by signing Mark Prior to a one-year $1 million deal. The 27-year-old righty has shown no signs of returning to his 2003 form when he went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA, but he has good stuff and is still young. In the baseball world, a million dollars is like change you find in the couch. Why not take a chance on Prior putting together a healthy season? 

The Cardinals followed suit and signed Matt Clement to a one-year, $1.5 million contract, hoping the 33-year-old right-hander can recapture the magic that made him a 200-plus strikeout guy and an All-Star in 2005. Well worth the gamble, considering the struggles the Cardinals’ makeshift rotation experienced last season. Even if Clement is mediocre or only pitches a month or two, it’s no worse than another season of Braden Looper and Mike Maroth.   

Not surprisingly, the always low-budget Kansas City Royals are getting involved, signing 39-year-old Hideo Nomo to a minor league contract. Nomo was named the NL Rookie of the Year in 1995 and has thrown a no-hitter in both leagues. The Royals have nothing to lose, and if Nomo can make the squad he can add another impressive accomplishment to his resume – surviving a year with the team formerly known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Past history indicates that injury riddled pitchers rarely return to form or overcome their arm problems, but at bargain-basement prices the risk is minimal and the potential reward is high. After all, there is no guarantee that paying millions for previously healthy pitchers will work out either. Carl Pavano, Jason Schmidt, Mike Hampton and Barry Zito are a few names that come to mind.

Whether they have a $100 million or $1 million contract, every pitcher is one slider away from a blown out elbow and Tommy John surgery. For small market teams, giving a former stud pitcher a small contract filled with incentives makes sense. It’s a gamble and the odds aren’t great, but the amount of money at stake is low. Remember, Erik Bedard, Justin Verlander, Jon Lieber and Jason Insringhausen are just a few guys that have returned from elbow surgery to have some level of success.

NFL Network is saying that Chad Johnson might seek a trade or a contract renegotiation. Well, I say pony up guys, we need Chad Johnson. And we'd get almost nothing for him in a trade. Look what Oakland got for Randy Moss. That trade didn't work out to well for the Raiders now did it and did pretty good for the Pats. Chad signed a bargain deal last year. We were all proud of him taking less than market value. Maybe he will the honor contract. I doubt Mike Brown will willingly tear up a bargain contract and give him more. But I'd rather them keep Chad than trade him. He is ridiculously talented and makes the offense so much better. He had 1,400 receiving yards this year and it was a down year for him. He made TJ Houshmanzadeh so much better by his presence. TJ is not a #1 WR. Together Chad and TJ are lethal, but without each other, well, we're back to mediocrity. Now you have Carson Palmer, one of the elite QBs in the league who isn't getting any younger. So why would you take away more of his offensive weapons by getting less than market value for Chad? Don't believe for a second that the Bengals woes this year were to be blamed on Chad or his immaturity. Are those claims accurate, sure? But no one works harder on film studies or practice than Chad. He's the first one in, last one out. Others could learn by example from Chad. Does it appear that Marvin treats Chad differently? Perhaps. If that's true it's because Chad is what he wishes other of his players were, hard working and attentive. The other issues of Chad's antics and immaturity and perceived favoritism by Marvin is on Marvin's shoulders, not Chad's. If Marvin wanted to set Chad in his place, he could. Do I think Chad is the perfect Bengal? No, but I know, beyond a shadow of doubt that the Bengals are better WITH Chad Johnson than without him.

The NFL regular season is over and unfortunately the Bengals and I are both watching the playoffs from the couch. This season was definitely disappointing, but there is one benefit from a 7-9 record – a top-10 draft pick. Enter a world of mock drafts and Mel Kiper projections to get me through the next few months.

--The draft order was released New Year’s Eve and while the three through five picks are subject to a coin flip, the Bengals are assured the ninth selection in the draft. With a defense that allowed nearly 350 yards per game and ranked in the bottom half of the league against the run and the pass, the pick has to be used to bring in an impact defender. The Bengals have used their last two first round picks to bolster the secondary so this time the front seven has to be addressed.

--LSU’s Glenn Dorsey would step in and plug the middle and Virginia’s Chris Long would provide the edge rush the defense desperately needs, but unless the teams picking ahead of the Bengals all pull a Minnesota Vikings and fail to get their picks in on time, neither player is going to be left.

--Thankfully, a number of other teams ahead of the Bengals will likely go offense with their first pick. Jake Long and Darren McFadden will undoubtedly go early, and Kansas City, Atlanta and Baltimore could all use a quarterback. If some combination of Matt Ryan, Brian Brohm and Andre Woodson falls into place, the Bengals will have their choice of solid defensive options.

--As an Ohio State alum, I am keeping my fingers crossed that middle linebacker James Laurinitis is still available when the Bengals are on the clock. An athletic playmaker at the linebacker position is just what the fans need to help them forget about Odell Thurman and David Pollack. Chuck Bresnahan and Ricky Hunley will be the first to tell you that it’s hard to field a stout defense with a makeshift line-backing core.

--The one team standing in the way of my dream scenario is the New England Patriots, who are the proud owners of the seventh overall pick thanks to some brilliant strategy by the 49ers. Teddy Bruschi, Junior Seau and Mike Vrabel are all solid players but all three are in their 30s. Laurinitis would add youth to the mix, and he has the versatility that Bill Belichick looks for in a player. My hope is that Belichick opts for his usual draft day strategy and trades down for multiple picks, leaving the OSU star on the board.

-- If Lauranitis isn’t available, there are plenty of other options. USC’s Sedrick Ellis is the best option at defensive tackle next to Dorsey and OSU’s Vernon Gholston has all the makings of an excellent pass rusher. At the linebacker slot, the Trojan’s Keith Rivers isn’t a bad number two option.

In the coming months, the combine and workouts will make the draft order a little clearer, but the Bengals would be foolish not to address the defensive side of the ball in the first round. The rest of the draft is up for debate, but I would like to see a legitimate threat at the tight end position. USC’s Fred Davis would look pretty nice in orange, gashing the middle of opposing defenses and moving the chains.

Roger Clemens will swear on CBS's 60 Minutes that he was only injected with B-12 and Lidocaine (joint pain killer). Brian McNamee, a former strength coach for the Blue Jays and Yankees, told George Mitchell he personally injected Clemens with steroids in 1998 while they were with Toronto, and with steroids and human growth hormone in 2000 and 2001 while with New York. Someone is lying and everybody is so sure that it's Clemens. Why? I think it's the skepticism of the whole "steroid era" in baseball. McNamee could sue Clemens for defaming him on national television and Clemens has claimed he'll be suing McNamee. Again, both parties will have to testify under oath at some point about what they know. With no concrete evidence, it's a he said/he said thing. But, Clemens has way more on the line than McNamee. His reputation and career are on the line. It's likely that even if he's somehow exonerated that the holier than thou baseball writers will convict Clemens in the court of public opinion and deny him the Hall of Fame. I find this whole thing compelling and frustrating. I generally don't watch 60 Minutes, but I'll be watching on Sunday. I want to believe Clemens. I've always appreciated him as my generations greatest pitcher. I never once thought he was enhancing his performance through banned substances. He always worked hard in the weight room and conditioning. His work ethic was great. His style was phenomenal. Right now I'm standing by Clemens until I see otherwise. I hope others do too.

I heard Bob Costas come up with a great explanation of how to handle steroids in baseball and I think it's sound. In the baseball history book, put a chapter (maybe even a plague at Cooperstown) talking about the Mitchell Report, etc. Then leave the records as is, no asterisk. Let those who visit and the baseball fans judge how they see fit. But, I think Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, et. al., should be Hall of Famers, without a doubt. 

Alright, confession time.  The above banner is misleading.  The word “strategy” implies that I walked into my fantasy football draft day with a preconceived notion about how to handle my selected players’ bye weeks.  I didn’t. 

I honestly wish that I could say I was that Belichek-ian.  I’m not.  I actually had never given the bye weeks a second thought.  And therein lies the rub.   

Here’s how it went down: 

I walked into the draft day with all the usual trappings of a hopelessly addicted fantasy gamer.  I had my list of rankings, my list of sleepers, a list of players I thought were probably going to be undervalued by my competition, and my draft position.   

In addition, I personally had completed several mock drafts.  This allowed me to have a vague idea about how I thought the draft would unfold, and come up with some personal guidelines:  

I wanted a stud RB in Round 1, either another stud RB or stud WR in Round 2 (whichever was best available), spend Round 3 building RB stock and then spend Round 4 continuing the RB theme, or get a second stud WR (again, whichever was best available).   

Notice anything special in all the above?  That’s right, not a mention of considering bye weeks.  None.  Nada.  Zero.   

So I had the 5th pick in a 12-team league with snake drafting setup.  Round 1 I get J. Addai (stud RB).  Round 2 I grab M. Harrison (stud WR because I thought I could get what was left in the RB pool at later rounds, and Marvin hadn’t been hurt yet).  Round 3 I take M. Lynch (RB depth) and Round 4 I snatch L. Coles (I had RB A. Green has a sleeper I knew I could get later, so I went with WR depth.  In interest of full-disclosure, I could not have been more wrong on Green.  Ugh.) 

It’s at this point that I’m beginning to look the QB position and see what I can get, and where I think I can get it at, when my buddy Ben elbows me and asks me if I’m purposely trying to pick players that all have the same bye week.  I look at my selected players and realize that 3 of my first 4 picks all have byes on week six of the season.  

Uh-oh.   

This is also the moment that this peculiar drafting oddity is made public by Ben and me laughing at my ignorance.  (Personal note:  this never would have happened in my baseball draft, as baseball is my favorite passion, so I pour over everything with a zeal that I lack during football season.) One of the other owners then begins a discussion about how some so-called fantasy “experts” are actually touting this as a drafting theory.  You select has many players as you can with the same bye week.  That way you get all your bye week weakness out of the way in one week.  You go into the season knowing that you can scratch that bye week up as a loss, and then you are full-strength the rest of the way.   

Sounds like an interesting theory with some logic to it, albeit not one that I readily agreed with at the time.  But since my own ignorance had already caused me to fall off the boat into this ocean, I might as well try to swim for shore. 

So that is what I did.  I continued to draft with only my rankings and best available talent as concerns.  I even ended up adding a couple more players with the bye week on week six.   

With the League Championship now squarely in my back pocket, what did I learn from my unique experience? 

I learned that drafting without regard to bye weeks is as sound a strategy as any other fantasy football strategy.  Why?  Because ultimately the season will be determined as much by your in-season management, as your bounty on draft day. 

You still have to get top-notch talent in the early rounds.  You still have to have running back depth (they are still fantasy football gold).  You still have to be smart with your trades.  You still have to watch the waiver wire closely.  You still have to play matchups.  And finally, you still have to have a little luck.  These are all constants, no matter what strategy, theory, or ignorance you choose to use on draft day. Truth be told, it was a couple of critical in-season moves that I made that actually proved to be the difference.   

I played the waiver wire well with pickups of QB David Garrard when I saw that Kitna was not going to live up to expectations.  I also picked up RB J. Fargas when I realized I had blown it with A. Green, and RB A. Stecker late in the season when M. Lynch was out for a few weeks with injury.  It was Stecker and his favorable late-season matchups that were a real boon. I also made one critical trade.  I traded M. Harrison early in the season for A. Gates.  This was back when the Colts were still reporting that he only had a sprained knee and should only miss a couple games, not the whole freaking season.   

Those in-season moves are ones that I would have made no matter what my drafting strategy would have been.  

In the end, I’m going to employ the same strategy next season.  I’m going into the 2008 draft with only two things in mind:  1) Get my studs early and 2) Go for talent over all else.   

Bye weeks be damned!  

The NFL playoffs start this weekend! With all the lop-sided college bowl games that are taking place right now, some exciting football would definitely be nice. Every playoff game this weekend has the potential to be great. I'm guessing we won't see any games, well maybe one, where the final score is something like 41-10 or 48-28 like we saw over the last few nights in the BCS games. What a joke! But enough about the BCS and the awful bowl games that have happened so far. Let's get onto the wild card playoff matchups for this weekend.

SATURDAY
Washington Redskins @ Seattle Seahawks
This is an interesting matchup. The Redskins are one of the hottest teams in the league going into the playoffs having won their last four games. The just came off a big win over the Dallas Cowboys to assure themselves of a playoff spot. QB Todd Collins is playing great right now and Portis is gashing defenses for yards as well. The Seahawks on the other hand didn't have much of a running game all season until the last couple games where Shaun Alexander finally got on track and remembered why he won his MVP award a couple years ago. The key to this game will be who can force more turnovers? The Redskins are playing with heavy hearts but have played amazingly well since the passing of Sean Taylor. Unfortunately I'm not sure that's going to keep them going as the have to fly all the way across the country to play in the loudest stadium in the NFL.
My Pick: Seattle

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers
This could be the best game of the weekend. The Steelers are coming in banged up though and will be without their top offensive threat in RB Willie Parker. Ben Roethlisberger is banged up as well and so is most of the offensive line. The defense isn't as stout as we're use to seeing it either. These two teams met earlier in the season and the Jags ran the ball down their throat with their 1-2 punch of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. They're the key to the game. If they can get the ball moving on the ground and QB David Garrard can keep the ball protected like he has most of the season, the Steelers playoff run will be short lived. They're playing in Pittsburgh and it will most likely be cold there, but that didn't seem to bother the Jags last time.
My Pick: Jacksonville

SUNDAY
New York Giants @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs are one of the surprise teams this year. They won their division despite all the injuries they suffered throughout the year. Granted the NFC South was a pretty weak division this year with the Panthers and Saints having sub-par seasons and, well, then there was the Falcons. They lose their starting running back in Cadillac Williams and are forced to start a guy nobody had ever heard of in Earnest Graham. Guess what? Everyone knows him now, especially everyone that plays fantasy football. And once again QB Jeff Garcia proves he has the skills to lead a team to the playoffs even with mediocre talent around him. The Giants, on the other hand, were expected to make the playoffs by most experts. They have a great offense if QB Eli Manning can get his head out of his butt long enough to realize he has the skills to be a great QB. He'll never be what his brother is, but if he could just be half that he'd be an exceptional player at his position. There are weapons all over the offense from RB Brandon Jacobs, to WRs Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, to TE Jeremy Shockey. The defense is pretty good too. They hung with the best team in the league and nearly knocked off the Patriots last week. While they did lose, I think they might have finally realized themselves that they are a good team and can hang with the big boys.
My Pick: New York

Tennessee Titans @ San Diego Chargers
If there is going to be a game that ends in a blowout this weekend, this would be the one. Look, Tennessee is a good team, but they barely scraped their way into the playoffs. Had Cleveland not lost to Cincinnati in week 16, it would be the Browns going into San Diego this weekend to get waxed rather than the Titans. Vince Young, in my opinion, is not ready to lead his team to a playoff win, especially against the likes of this Chargers team. The Titans have a good defense, but I don't think they're good enough to stop the Chargers' offense. LT is on fire lately and I'm willing to bet we will see him involved in some trick plays this weekend. There's a good chance he could end up running for, receiving and passing for a TD this weekend. As long as Philip Rivers can protect the football and not throw any INTs, the Chargers shouldn't have any problems moving onto the second round. Plus, their defense is pretty good and they have this guy by the name of Shawn Merriman...maybe you've heard of him?
My Pick: San Diego

Those are my picks for this weekend's action. Agree? Disagree? Who ya got? I'll be back next week to pick the divisional round games.