Fantasy Baseball

Spring training is upon us and the first games of the exhibition season are almost here. While the best position players and pitchers in baseball will use this next month to get back into the swing of things and work on their golf game, others will be competing for a job.

Without a doubt, the most interesting battles of the spring come out of the rotation. Because they play every day, the jobs of position players are less secure and the backup shortstop is much more likely to make the team - and play - then the odd man out of the starting rotation.

David Wright will set the tone for third basemen during the 2011 Fantasy Baseball season, but he'll have some competition for the top spot from Alex Rodriguez, Evan Longoria and Ryan Zimmerman.

The biggest story to watch is Jose Bautista. Can he repeat his Major League leading 54 home runs from 2010?

If he shows that last year wasn't a fluke, he'll vault into the ranks of the other "elite" third basemen.

We all want to win the league championship this season.

Sure, we play for fun, but we also want to win. Some of us are in leagues with cash prizes, and others just play for trophies. Ultimately the goal is the same ... VICTORY!

But what are we doing today to take home the trophy tomorrow?

I offer you all a little appetizer to get the ball rolling and help you realize that championship potential inside you. Every great endeavor, no matter how small, begins with the first step.

Most pitching coaches and baseball aficionados would agree that it takes a few years for a starting pitcher to learn what it takes to be a successful big league pitcher. As Tom Glavine explained to John Feinstein in Living on the Black, “Young pitchers know how to throw hard, but very few know how to pitch”.

When looking for a young pitcher to target late in fantasy drafts, owners should identify players who have yet to produce top level fantasy stats despite having gifted arms and a collection of filthy pitches. 

Let’s take a look at a few tidbits regarding some of the top prospects in the game:

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Tier 1 – Joe Mauer

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made a significant move in the offseason by signing to what should be considered to be an overly inflated contract and an incredibly bone-headed move.

What makes this move bone-headed is the simple fact that the Angels not only gave up two wonderful players in Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli, but also the fact that the Halos are hoping Vernon Wells will duplicate his 2010 performance, which isn’t likely.

2009 was a disaster for the New York Mets. It seemed that if something could go wrong, it did. 2010 wasn’t much better for the Mets, but at least David Wright (.283-87-29-103-19) and Jose Reyes (.282-83-11-54-30) rebounded.

No doubt that all of us who have been playing fantasy baseball for at least a few years have heard of position scarcity.

Over the last several seasons, I think the popularity of this theory has become even greater.