The guys who will exceed your expectations and turn late round picks into fantasy gems.
C—J.R. Towles, HOU—Towles logged some pretty impressive numbers for a catcher
during his short stay in the minor leagues, including a .317 average with 12 jacks, 55 ribbies, and 13 steals in just 81 games in 2006. Towles needs to surpass 125-year veteran Brad Ausmus on the depth…
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All Breakout Team
The guys who have the best chance of far surpassing last year’s numbers
C-Jarrod Saltalamacchia, TEX—The Rangers knew what they were getting when they brought in Saltalamacchia as the key part of the Mark Teixeira trade. After some internal discussion on where he would play, it has been settled that “Salty” will spend at least this season behind the plate. You can expect that starting this…
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Continuing the series of guys who will rise to superstardom, we present the pitchers who will exceed expectations, even after being successful in 2007. They will not be among the first group of pitchers taken, but they will perform similar to that group.
Justin Verlander—DET—It is hard to go too much farther up from where Verlander already has been. He was 11-2 in his only 20 starts in the…
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These are the guys who had very solid campaigns in 2007, who will take the next step and join the elite during 2008. You won’t have to draft these guys in the first two rounds of your draft, but you should expect 1st to 2nd round performance from them.
BJ Upton, 2B/CF—TB—Upton will be playing centerfield for the Rays, but in many of your leagues he will still qualify…
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1. Evan Longoria, TB—3B—Let’s get the funny stuff out of the way quick. Ha, ha, his name is really close to Eva Longoria. Ok, now that is over, Longoria is going to be a real stud. Even though publicly they state different, the Rays have paved the way for him to take over the starting third base job this season. Barring a complete collapse during the spring, Evan will…
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1. Jay Bruce—CIN—The crown jewel of the Reds’ minor league system, Bruce has a real shot to open the season in CF for Cincinnati. Bruce made a stop at all three levels of the minors last year, and excelled at each one. For the season he hit roughly .319, 26 HRs and 89 RBI on his way to Minor League Player of the Year. The Reds traded last…
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It was a day of “I’m sorry’s” for a couple of pitchers named in the Mitchell Report today. Andy Pettitte sat in front of a sea of reporters, as well as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada and poured out an apology. Pettitte appeared to be quite up front and frank, and answered every question asked of him. Given his reputation, you can’t help but believe what he…
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The “Chance of losing job” scale is from 1 to 5, with one being nearly impossible to five being just keeping the seat warm
NL East
New York Mets—Billy Wagner—Once one of the most feared closers in the game, Wagner becomes a little more ordinary every year. He still strikes out more than a batter an inning, but his ERA continues to rise, and his 34 saves last year were…
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Chance of losing job scale is 1-5 with 1 being almost impossible, to 5 being just keeping the seat warm.
AL East
Boston Red Sox—Jonathan Papelbon—One of the top closers in baseball, seems to have gotten past his arm issues of previous years. Strikes out batters at a crazy rate.
Chance of losing his job: 1
Next in line: Hideki Okajima
New York Yankees—Mariano Rivera—Quite possibly the best closer of all times.
came into the league, and last year was no exception. He has had 40+ saves for the last three seasons, while nearing 100 K’s in each of those years. His funky delivery makes you think he is either going to blow out his elbow, or take a come backer in the head. However, he
