Contreras conundrum 
Really? Contreras? But this is what a lot of people apparently think, so I'm going to discuss what fantasy baseball owners should think of this statement. I mean, if he's the best pitcher in the game, shouldn't he then, by definition, be more valuable than any other hurler? Why, because he's won 15 straight decisions? So that makes him better than Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez and, basically, everyone else as well?
Contreras has been very good this season, with a 7-0 record, 2.62 ERA and 1.01 WHIP, and I don't want to demean his achievements one bit, but if someone offers him to me in fantasy baseball for Curt Schilling, Brandon Webb or Carlos Zambrano, well, I'm saying no. And those guys aren't Johan or Pedro. Contreras won again on Monday night, which triggered this lovefest since he tied the White Sox record for consecutive wins and, of course, it wasn't a very busy night in the bigs.
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Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He competed in his first fantasy draft in 1987, and chose Wade Boggs 11th overall. Karabell enjoyed his 24 home runs, which tripled Boggs' career high, and was hooked. (He also drafted Dale Sveum that year. Look up his career stats!) Eric has covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football.
Eric can be seen several times a week on ESPNEWS, hosts a national ESPN Radio show (Sundays from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET and is a weekly guest on numerous other shows. He appears frequently on ESPN.com's Fantasy Focus, is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast and contributes to ESPN The Magazine. He has also been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writer's Association, and this blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007.
Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors all Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer.