'Passed Out ...' is FanHouse's way of not saying that stupid, sexy "s" word that everyone gets so caught up on. Regardless of what they're called, though, you still want to draft and/or own these players.
Here's the deal. I hate the word "sleeper," especially this day and age. There are too many resources in and around fantasy sports and too many people are aware of which players are likely to break out. It's that sort of mentality that gets folks really overhyped. However, that doesn't mean great value will be missing on draft day. I have effectively culled that value to provide a list of folks who will vastly outproduce their draft position.
Shin-Soo Choo, OF, Indians -- His average draft position is 293. That's deep, folks. He doesn't get much respect because he has been injured and didn't receive full playing time last season. He's only 26 and he's going give you a 20/20 season this year.
Okay, maybe that's an optimistic prognostication, but he's going to get a full season of at-bats, and if he keeps up his second-half pace from last season (12 taters, 50 RBI, three swipes and a .970 OPS), which I think he will, you're going to be very, very happy when you steal him late.
Alex Gordon, 3B, Royals -- I'm fairly certain that I have defended Gordon since the beginning of time. Or, at least, since he came up to the majors; he obviously hasn't returned the favor. But this is the year he finally does. Outside of stolen bases and triples, pretty much every single statistic on Gordon's board took a jump in 2008, despite less at-bats, from his highly-touted and severely disappointing rookie year.
Additionally, his swipes and OBP/SLG numbers all saw a huge jump in the second half of the season last year, despite an injury. Only a fool would say he's gonna crank 30 and swipe 15, but it's entirely possible. I expect 25/20 and people wondering why they weren't more patient. Added bonus: he's getting drafted in the 170th pick range. And you wonder why you don't draft Chipper Jones.
Andre Ethier, OF, Dodgers -- It's surprising to see Matt Kemp going as a top-40 pick in mock drafts while Ethier is lasting until the 110-range. Yes, I know Kemp brings mad steals. But Ethier has a cooking blog, ya'll! Seriously, I'm not saying to avoid Kemp. I'm just saying to take a look at Ethier's second-half stats last year:270 AB, .337/.415/.593, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 4 SB
Yeah, that's decent, I'd say. He might not keep that up for the entire season, but don't forget that his entire first half of the season (and everyone's for that matter) was spent wondering why the hell Joe Torre kept playing Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. Once Ethier got the burn, he flat-out produced. Sure, the average was somewhat driven by a high BABIP and he saw a spike in percentage of fly balls that became taters, but he has the skills, he has the opportunity and he's apparently not going to cost you very much.
Lastings Milledge, OF, Nationals -- The best part about drafting players from the Nationals is that usually, people don't pay attention to them. So they plummet down draft boards. Such is the case with Milledge, who's being taken around the 135 mark, making him the 38th outfielder taken on average. That means, of course, that in a 12-team league which only starts three outfielders, you could even be picking him up for your bench.
Or, alternately, you could hold off on sinking your earlier pick into old dudes like Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez and Vernon Wells, and instead grab onto a guy like Milledge, who shredded after the break last year. He raised his average 54 points and boosted his OBP by another 50 as well. Additionally, he matched his pre-break total with seven home runs and swiped 11 bases after the break (13 before). The catch? He did it in 81 less at-bats. He'll get run in D.C. and he's going to produce. Nothing like a 20/20 guy late.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Rockies -- Colorado is still a wonderful place for hitters, even if they're either aging (Todd Helton) or getting shipped out (Matt Holliday). As a result of Tulo's horrible 2008 (caused by injury and early poor performance), though, he's hardly getting any of the love that made him a top-50 pick last season.
That's probably because not enough people noticed his six-homer, 32 RBI, .321/.387/.475 second half in just 240 at-bats. Now, he's still being drafted as a top-10 shortstop, but considering you can pick up him somewhere in the 8th to 10th round, he's going to be a pretty superb option, not to mention an absolute steal.
