Scott Olsen

Senior Fantasy Baseball Analyst, Jesse Mendelson, switches leagues to preview the National League Central's Pittsburgh Pirates' starting rotation. Jesse promises nothing, but notes Paul Maholm and company could potentially aide your fantasy baseball team in 2011.

From a fantasy perspective, the single most amazing thing about the Pirates’ 18 consecutive losing seasons is their incredible lack of mixed league-ownable starting pitching over that time.  

Although not there yet, I will be in Orlando tomorrow to bring you all of the latest news at Major League Baseball's annual Winter Meetings.

As usual on the first day, there is much dialogue between clubs.  Most of it goes nowhere, but rumors will fly and some groundwork to future deals may be laid.

Scott Olsen rebounded after a poor start last week to to pitch seven innings while allowing only six hits, no runs, and recording eight strikeouts against a strong hitting Dodgers club. Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps came in to close the door, helping complete the shutout and giving the Nationals a 1-0 victory to take the series from Los Angeles.

The Washington Nationals might not have the most popular starting pitchers in Major League Baseball, but they have some of the most underated pitchers in all of baseball. 

It seems like starting pitching was a major concern for the Nationals going into the 2009 season, as they picked up two starters who have a lot of potential and could be in for breakout seasons this coming year. 

Scott Olsen and Daniel Cabrera were both key, under-the-radar type acquisitions who I could see putting up a solid season in 2009.

As Spring Training is going on, Bleacher Report asked all the community leaders for Major League Baseball teams to write an article debating a certain question against another community leader. Here is my side of the debate, which has to do with the Braves and Nationals.

The Topic of Debate