"Octavio Dotel is in the fold, and that means that, once and for all, Dotel's duel with Matt Capps can begin, right?

First, let us set some framework for the debate ...

In 2010, they will cost pretty much the same: Dotel will be paid $3.25 million, Capps $3.5 million.

They also will have the same number of years of control: The Pirates have the club option on Dotel for 2011, and the Nationals have a third and final year of arbitration with Capps in 2011, after which he can become a free agent.

Which leaves two variables in play: Age and performance. And, really, age only matters as it relates to performance in this equation, meaning that, if Dotel somehow starts throwing 88-mph fastballs and looking like his career has hit a wall, his being 36 years old will look like the defining drawback to his contract. Otherwise, age matters little because the years of control are the same.

Dotel has a historical advantage over Capps, as well as having pitched far better in 2009. He also comes from a league with superior hitting and a ballpark where a looping liner somehow carries over the left-field fence.

Capps has the advantage of having pitched as a closer the past two years, while Dotel was a setup man.

So, there it is."