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 ...
Team desperately needing a bat in the middle of the order. It's too bad money is so tight right now, because the Giants could certainly use a certain eccentric slugger in the middle of their order. They still aren't altogether out of the running for Manny Ramirez, but I believe he's staying put in Los Angeles. Too bad they wasted all that money on Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.
The Breakout
He better make good on this, because the Giants really need it. Remember that void in the middle of the lineup? You should, because I just mentioned it in the previous paragraph. Well, a dude named Pablo Sandoval is the only viable in-house solution.
The 22 year-old Venezuelan switch-hitter made quite the splash last season in his limited action. He hit .345 and drove home 24 runs in only 145 at-bats. Before that, he had destroyed high-A and double-A pitching through 112 games (.350 average, 20 homers, 96 RBI). He'll slide into third base this season for the Giants, as they look to find their three-hole for the foreseeable future. Bonus points if you play in a league where he can still be used at catcher (his original minor league position).
The Bust
There aren't many overvalued fantasy guys in this clubhouse. You have young up-and-comers like Sandoval, guys who won't disappoint you (Lincecum, Wilson), and underrated veterans (Winn, Molina). I can't exactly call Zito a bust because everyone knows he sucks by now. At gunpoint, I'm going to have to say Randy Johnson.
I'm a fan of the Big Unit, but he's 45 years-old, and he's an old 45 due to the 4,000+ innings he tossed over the course of his illustrious career. He's heading to a very nice pitcher's park, and his name carries a ton of weight. I'd be wary of taking him as an SP3, because he can't consistently handle the workload he used to. Plus, you aren't paying for the strikeout machine anymore. He hasn't struck out more than a man per inning since 2004, and he used to do that with his eyes closed.
The Lineup
1. Randy Winn, RF
2. Fred Lewis, LF
3. Pablo Sandoval, 3B
4. Bengie Molina, C
5. Aaron Rowand, CF
6. Edgar Renteria, SS
7. Travis Ishikawa, 1B
8. Juan Uribe, 2B
There's a lot to be sorted out in camp. Kevin Frandsen, Emmanuel Burriss and Eugenio Velez are in the mix at second base. Rich Aurilia and John Bowker are possibilities at first base, and the entire batting order is up in the air.
The Rotation
1. Tim Lincecum
2. Randy Johnson
3. Matt Cain
4. Jonathan Sanchez
5. Barry Zito
The Bullpen
CL - Brian Wilson
SU - Bob Howry
SU - Jeremy Affeldt
The Skinny
• As I said in the bust section, there's good value available on this team -- but you have to play in deep leagues for much of it to be worthwhile. The only definites in shallow leagues are Lincecum and Molina. Tiny Tim is arguably the top pitcher, and Molina is a cheap option at catcher (seriously, he had 95 freaking RBI last year).
As for the deep league players, here you go:
• Winn is a very underrated fantasy player. He's gonna hit around .300 with 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases, while scoring a respectable amount of runs. He's a quality outfielder in NL-only leagues.
• Lewis is a good source of cheap speed. He stole 21 bases last year in only 133 games.
• Last year was a bad season for Renteria. The good news, though, is that his four best seasons (OPS+) came in four of his last five National League seasons. This year, he's back in the comfortable NL. He's not a great option, but you can expect an average around .300 with modest power and double-digits in steals.
• Wilson houses great value. He's currently the 18th ranked reliever in ADP. He saved 41 games last season for a very bad Giants team. He put together a studly K-rate. The problem was that his ERA and WHIP were brutal. Of course, it was his first full season in the league, and he's still a bit young. He'll learn the ropes and improve in those areas. In the meantime, he'll continue missing bats and closing games.
• Cain has never had good fortune in the bigs, thus, he's gone sour in the minds of many-a-fantasy owner. Over the past two seasons, he's gone 15-30, but his ERA has been significantly better than league average. His teammates barely score more than three runs a game for him. We also need to keep in mind he's only 24 years-old. I really like Cain's chances of a big season this year.
