Fantasy Baseball

One of the more important storylines in baseball this spring training is the health and bounce-back ability of San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey.

Catcher is perhaps the hardest position to draft.  This year is perhaps one of the worst, with many of the big names having problems with injuries (Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, Buster Posey) or stretches of mediocrity (Mauer again, Carlos Santana, Geovany Soto). 

Yesterday brought on some rather surprising news as the Yankees signed Andy Pettitte to a minor league contract. They already had six starting pitchers for five rotation spots, which had brought on questions as to who was going to be in and who was going to be out. 

The questions just got much more plentiful.

Here’s the 2012 LestersLegends shortstop rankings for NL-only leagues.

1. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies 

My top-ranked shortstop last year holds onto the top spot thanks to a .302-81-30-105-9 line. I’d like to see 100 runs, but given his other numbers, it’s hard to complain.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Miami Marlins 

If you haven't looked at it yet, just know that the starting pitching pool is pretty deep this season. Fantasy junkies everywhere should be looking forward to their draft, if they haven't drafted already, of course.

There are some pretty good sleepers in the pool. I'm a big fan of Brandon Morrow and Brandon Beachy, and I'm of the mind that Madison Bumgarner could contend for the National League Cy Young this year. 

If you want to win in fantasy baseball, you need to take some risks during the draft. 

There are a lot of players with boom-or-bust potential, but if you pick the right ones, it can create a huge payoff for your team as the season progresses.

Ike Davis, 1B New York Mets

Ike Davis was on his way to a breakout sophomore season last year, but an ankle injury caused the first basemen to end his season in mid-May.

Closers are to fantasy baseball what kickers are to fantasy football. They can put up good points and may ultimately help your team out a lot, but at the same time, there are very few worth taking early and too much of their production relies on chance.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, taking a closer early means passing up on players who are in a much better position to help out fantasy teams.

Several players, like Matt Kemp and Jacoby Ellsbury, had huge years in 2011, leading many fantasy teams to league championships.

But, don’t count on these guys to put up similar numbers in 2012.

Some players simply aren't capable of matching last season's production again.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't draft them. It just means you shouldn't draft them as high as they are being projected.

Let's take a look at five of these players now.

When looking at the National League second base options, you almost feel like you are deprived of the best talent, don’t you?  It’s a running trend (we felt the same way when looking at the NL first baseman, which you can view by clicking here).  This time it is three best options who reside in the AL, as well as the most promising youngsters.  What is there actually to draft in the NL?  Let’s take a look:

The Missing Links

Need a Hamburger Helper-like hand with your research for the upcoming baseball drafts? Are you curious to find out why the Kansas City Royals, led by Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain and Billy Butler, could be the Next Big Thing in baseball? Check out these great supplemental sites for background information: