Getting the Most Attention This Week

There are many reasons to date as to why these particular players have been added so frequently in the past week. We had injuries, unexpected performances, position flexibility, and multi category enhancements.

PLAYER	% CHANGE
JORDAN SCHAFER	41
LANCE LYNN	32
SANTIAGO CASILLA	31
JD MARTINEZ	29
BARRY ZITO	29
DANNY DUFFY	28
KYLE DRABEK	28
OMAR INFANTE	27
ADAM LAROCHE	25
FERNANDO RODNEY	25

JORDAN SCHAFER may finally be living up to his potential as a true lead-off man with some pop to his bat. I had him projected at 80/3/45/.277/38 on the season. He may even hit closer to 10 HR by the end of the year.

LANCE LYNN is a former 1^st round pick and pitched pretty well last year in relief. He is hot now and may get you a few more starts but as soon as Carpenter is healthy he will be the odd man out.

SANTIAGO CASILLA may get the majority of the saves since Wilson is done. He is worth a pick up if you are in need of saves. Personally I like Romo better as the closer, it is really and a wait and see issue.

JD MARTINEZ was typically the last 3 hole hitter off the board come draft day. I had him projected at 65/16/71/.291/0 and I personally drafted him in 2 leagues this year. He is now owned in over 90% of leagues.

BARRY ZITO virtually went undrafted this year. I did not have him in my top 300 but he has changed his delivery somewhat this spring and it may have helped. I picked him up in a 16 team league last week just trying to catch some lightning in a bottle. Pick up at your own risk.

DANNY DUFFY see Barry Zito.

KYLE DRABEK has pitched well in his two starts but may get bumped when McGowan returns from his foot injury unless he can continue to pitch well. Remember he has not pitched ion the road as of yet. They may be the true test.

OMAR INFANTE is year in and year out one of the most picked up and dropped players in fantasy. Yes I like his position flexibility especially in daily leagues but his OPS is 50% higher at the moment than his career OPS…it is unsustainable.

ADAM LAROCHE is getting more playing time than most suspected due to the Morse injury. As long as there is an opening at 1B in Washington LaRoche is a solid option at CI for most fantasy teams.

FERNANDO RODNEY is the Closer in TB at the moment. As long as Farnsworth is hurt and Peralta struggles he is the man. All I ask is you adjust your cap Fernando.

Top 50 SP

Today we look at the top 50 SP for fantasy baseball. Many think the last few years have been the “year of the pitcher” at first look that may be true but what we are really seeing is that the top SP come draft day seem to hold their value come the end of the season. What I mean is this. Of the top 8 SP drafted last year in all formats 6 finished in the top 10 at their position. Of the top 8 hitters drafted only 3 finished among the top 10 hitters.

 There are aces on the mound and there are studs at the plate. What you should do come draft day is get yourself a stud from the top 15 or so ranked SP and then sprinkle in other SPs after you have solidified your 5 best hitters. So while position players have more variance between each ranking, SP tend to be grouped much closer together. Missing out on top ranked SP is now where near the same as missing out on the number one ranked shortstop or 2^nd baseman.

So to recap get a stud to anchor your team then if throughout your draft value presents itself in the way of SP grab. If you are on the fence between pitching and hitting for your pick…grab the hitter. Remember names like Ian Kennedy, Doug Fister were available in the late teen rounds last year.

Roy Halladay

Clayton Kershaw

Justin Verlander

CC Sabathia

Tim Lincecum

Cliff Lee

Felix Hernandez

Stephen Strasburg

Jered Weaver

Zach Greinke

Cole Hamels

Yovani Gallardo

Dan Haren

David Price

Mat Latos

Chris Carpenter

Yu Darvish

James Shields

Ian Kennedy

Brandon Beachy

C.J. Wilson

Matt Cain

Matt Moore

Josh Johnson

Daniel Hudson

Madison Bumgarner

Michael Pineda

Tim Hudson

Adam Wainwright

Doug Fister

Jordan Zimmermann

Tommy Hanson

Jon Lester

Shaun Marcum

Gio Gonzalez

Jamie Garcia

Cory Luebke

Matt Garza

Anibal Sanchez

Max Scherzer

Brandon Morrow

Josh Beckett

John Danks

Ervin Santana

Ubaldo Jimenez

Jhoulys Chacin

Ricky Romero

Roy Oswalt

Colby Lewis

Wandy Rodriguez

Top 60 OF

I have been waiting on the Braun decision before releasing my top 60 OF for 2012. Sounds to me he was guilty and won on a technicality. That technicality was chain of evidence, it was somehow compromised. For someone who has testified frequently on chain of custody issues in court he was very, very lucky to win this dispute. Anyway his win is Fantasy baseball’s win too.

Has anyone heard Kemp’s comment about possibly having a 50/50 season? 50 HR in the post PED era is something that will not happen more than a couple times a decade from here on out. My bet is Stanton will be the next to hit over 50. As far as the top 60 go after the top tier it is a compilation of similar talents. Some will look to be as consistent as ever, some are looking to bounce back, Rios and Choo in particular.  Most of baseball’s 20/20 guys will come from the OF position. Many will have a year where they flirt with 25/25.

Personally when drafting this year I will tend to fill my infield spots and then draft OF with 20/20 potential, Young, Pence, Gordon, Upton, Heyward, and Stubbs ECT. From there I will go with BA and speed guys like Jennings, Gardner, Bourne, and Crisp. My one true sleeper in the OF this year is de Aza for the Pale Hose. He could be a 20/20 guy and bat .300 from the lead-off spot and go late in most drafts.

With Crawford expected to miss a few weeks to start the season I would be worried. Wrist injuries are notorious for hitter coming back. It has been rumored Ichiro could move to the 3rd hole to start the season…forget about it…it’s a ploy to sell season ticket.

One of my boldest projections this year is that 12 OF get over 40 SB this year. Make sure you draft speed or you will be chasing in that category all year.

                                                           

Anyway here are my top 60 OF. Do you agree, disagree, or want to kick me in the knee? Remeber complete projections for over 300+ players coming very soon.

Matt Kemp

Jose Bautista

Ryan Braun

Jacoby Ellsbury

Justin Upton

Carlos Gonzalez

Josh Hamilton

Mike Stanton

Curtis Granderson

Andrew McCutchen

Hunter Pence

Matt Holliday

Shin-Soo Choo

Nelson Cruz

Jay Bruce

Alex Gordon

B.J. Upton

Lance Berkman

Adam Jones

Michael Morse

Desmond Jennings

Ben Zobrist

Chris Young

Drew Stubbs

Brett Gardner

Carlos Beltran

Nick Markakis

Logan Morrison

Jason Heyward

Torii Hunter

Jose Tabata

Corey Hart

Andre Ethier

Howard Kendrick

Alejandro de Aza

Yonder Alonso

Jeff Francoeur

Carlos Lee

Jayson Werth

Carl Crawford

Michael Bourn

Adam Lind

Shane Victorino

Ichiro Suzuki

Nick Swisher

Mike Carp

Coco Crisp

Martin Prado

Chris Heisey

Melky Cabrera

Brandon Belt

Michael Cuddyer

Peter Bourjos

Austin Jackson

Yoenis Cespedes

Alex Rios

Jordan Schafer

Matt Joyce

Carlos Quentin

Cameron Maybin

Top 20 SS

Shortstop is the one position in Fantasy Baseball with a clear number 1. All other positions have debatable overall No.1s at their respective positions. 1B has Pujols, Cabrera, Votto, Gonzalez, and Fielder. 2B has Cano, Pedroia, or Kinsler. 3B the debate is Bautista or Longoria. OF has Bautista again, Kemp or Ellsbury. At SP there is Kershaw, Verlander and Halladay. But at SS it is Colorado’s clean-up slugger Tulowitzki. Tulo has the consistent ability to put up 30HR power with over 100 RBI, not to mention 80+ Runs and double digit SB.

Yes, Reyes and Ramírez have been awesome fantasy players but they do not compare to what Tulo gives at all the counting stats for hitters. Though the top 3 have had recent injury plagued seasons they still are the elite at the position. This could be Hanley’s last year with SS eligibility unless he gets traded.

After the top 3 it’s a pick which counting stats you would like to have. Castro will give you BA, R, and SB but not power (as of yet). Asdrubal should regress slightly from his power filled 2011. I see Alexi Ramirez to be the Asdrubal of 2011. Look for increases in power and SB for Alexi. If you want strictly speed from your SS you have to go with Elvis. He could hit 40 SB this season. If your league uses OPS as a counting stat and miss out on the top 3 you must pick up Hardy and his .801 OPS from last year and his 25 HRs.

The others really should only be taken if they drop past their current ADPs. Rollins and Jeter are getting older, Peralta should bat much lower in Detroit’s line-up this year, and Gordon has lightning speed but may end up batting 8^th if he struggles getting on base. Furcal is an injury waiting to happen, with Lowrie a mystery in Houston who could bat anywhere from 2^nd to 7^th in the order. One of my favorite late round picks in Nunez in the Bronx. Great source of SBs with multi-position eligibility and a must have in daily leagues.

Troy Tulowitzki

Jose Reyes

Hanley Ramirez

Starlin Castro

Asdrubal Cabrera

Alexei Ramirez

Elvis Andrus

J.J. Hardy

Jhonny Peralta

Dee Gordon

Jimmy Rollins

Stephen Drew

Rafael Furcal

Derek Jeter

Jed Lowrie

Erick Aybar

Yunel Escobar

Alex Gonzales

Eduardo Nunez

Tyler Pastornick