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 who finished above the hype-machine Tigers last season. In fact, finishing only 12 games below .500 in a division that was expected to be very strong had to have exceeded expectations in the first year of Trey Hillman's managerial stint. After all, it was the first year since '03 the Royals didn't finish in last. They still have holes, but they also have a good group of young, talented players.
The Breakout
I've said before that Alex Gordon is the type who will explode the second you give up on him. So don't give up. He's not my choice here, though, because I'm just tired of glossing him a breakout candidate. Everyone knows who he is, and frankly, it would be a bit of a lazy pick. Instead, I'm going with Billy Butler.
Butler turns 23 years-old a few weeks into the season, but he's racked up 832 plate appearances to this point in his big league experience. His numbers (.275, 11 homers, 55 RBI) last season were modest, but he's got serious power stored up in that young body. He's 6'1" 240, and once hit 30 bombs in only 121 minor league games (as a 19 year-old). He's been moved back and forth from different levels for the past three seasons, but he's finally ready to stay put in one place this year. That career .977 minor-league OPS will start translating to the majors this season.
I'm expecting .300/25/90 from the power categories. I'd definitely rather have him than Mike Jacobs, who is going four spots higher at first base.
The Bust
I don't think he'd be a terrible pick, but Mike Aviles is going ahead of Yunel Escobar. I wouldn't do that. Again, it's not outrageous, but the Royals just don't have a lot of luster, thus, people aren't drafting their players too high.
You could also file Mike Jacobs here, he's covered down below.
The Lineup
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Mike Aviles, SS
3. David DeJesus, LF
4. Jose Guillen, RF
5. Mike Jacobs, 1B
6. Billy Butler, DH
7. Alex Gordon, 3B
8. Willie Bloomquist / Alberto Callaspo / Mark Teahen, 2B
9. Miguel Olivo, C
The Rotation
1. Zack Greinke
2. Gil Meche
3. Brian Bannister
4. Kyle Davies
5. Horacio Ramirez
Former first overall pick Luke Hochevar is going to figure prominently at some point, but I don't think he wins the job in Spring Training just yet.
The Bullpen
CL - Joakim Soria
SU - Juan Cruz
SU - Kyle Farnsworth
The Skinny
• For a team so maligned in the general public, they're bound to have a lot of players drafted in bigger leagues -- especially AL-only. While no one is worth a high draft pick, eight offensive players (disregard second base, by the way) are worth owning in those varieties. Greinke and Meche should be drafted in most leagues, and Soria is an elite closer. Cruz is one of the better relievers due to his excellent strikeout totals as well.
• Olivo is a nice late catcher in AL-only leagues. If you can get close to 15 homers without seriously damaging your batting average, it's worth the late snag. He's really late in ADP.
• Jacobs would likely have been happy to be freed from Dolphin Stadium -- a terrible hitter's park -- but he's moving to Kauffman Stadium, which is actually a worse home run park. And that's all he does well. He's also moving to a new league with unfamiliar pitchers, and will probably begin to lose at-bats to Butler and Ryan Shealy as the season progresses. I would avoid.
• Keep an eye on Hochevar. He had a humbling experience in the majors last year, racking up a 5.51 ERA in 22 starts, but he's got a lot of natural ability. He was actually rushed, because his 2007 minor league wasn't a great. The Royals promoted him last season after only three solid starts. He needed more seasoning. He's 25 this year, and a nice start in triple-A should propel him to taking a rotation spot from either Bannister, Davies, or Ramirez in May.
• Dare I say it, but I really like the chances for Crisp to become a solid fantasy player. He didn't seem to adjust well to the spotlight in Boston -- especially since he was anointed the heir to Johnny Damon's center-field job. His only two above average OPS seasons were his last two in Cleveland. He's also still not old by any stretch, as he's only 29. I could see him hitting .300 in this division, while stealing close to 30 bases. He has enough power to hit between 10 and 15 home runs as well.
• Finally, Greinke had his breakout season last year, but that doesn't mean he's done taking steps forward. There is a lot of room for upward mobility in fantasy with this kid. He was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball before a personal meltdown in 2006. Since then, he's battled his way back and last year became a really good major league pitcher. He won 13 games with a 3.47 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 183 strikeouts in 202 1/3 innings. The thing is, his stuff -- and performance in the minors pre-meltdown -- show the potential to be much better than this. I'm talking sub-3.00 ERA, a WHIP around 1.00, and 200 Ks. Remember, he's only two years removed from virtually taking a whole season off, and he's only 25 years-old.
