Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over. Meet the ...
Defending World Series champions. I know, right? Repeating it doesn't make it any less bizarre. But that's what the Phillies are, at least for this year. For fantasy folks, though, they might be a little less than "championship" material. That's meant with all due respect, of course, because the Phillies play in a fantastic hitters' park and they do have a number of elite fantasy options.
The Breakout
Dude. Look. There are tons of reasons why you should hate Brett Myers. He has spousal abuse issues. He got sent to the minors. (Yes, I realize one is worse than the other.) There are probably more. But, from a fantasy perspective, you should ignore those and focus on two things: his post-break numbers last year (simply stellar) and his draft average (very low). Those two factors alone should indicate "value." Myers suffered before the break as a result of allowing too many home runs, but he shredded after returning from the minors. Should happen again this year.
The Bust
There's a point when "consistency" and "underratedness" becomes "overrated." (Yes, I've been reading too much Hipster Runoff, thanks for asking.) And when that happens, someone like Raul Ibanez suddenly becomes not nearly as valuable as he used to be.
The Lineup
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Shane Victorino, CF
3. Chase Utley, 2B
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Raul Ibanez, LF
6. Jayson Werth, RF
7. Pedro Feliz, 3B
8. Carlos Ruiz, C
The Rotation
1. Cole Hamels
2. Brett Myers
3. Joe Blanton
4. Jamie Moyer
5. Kyle Kendrick
The Bullpen
CL - Brad Lidge
SU - Ryan Madson
SU - Chad Durbin
The Skinny
• You're not going to be unhappy with Howard or Utley, provided you don't overpay for either of them. J-Roll should be a decent value after a "down" year ... but he's still going in the first round. You could certainly do worse, but you could also get better value.
•I heart Hamels and won't ever speak ill of him; this year, I don't need to. I believe he'll be elite and stay healthy. Myers is going to be a great value pick. I want nothing to do with Blanton, Moyer or Kendrick, though.
• Lidge is an elite closer but he's also very expensive. That makes him dangerous in the draft, particularly given his history of melting down. Victorino is a nice source of steals. Werth is a fantastic late-round outfield play that should equal super value.
