Fantasy

We took a glance at the 10 best outfielders to choose from, and the next 10 are an interesting bunch in that they offer a nice compliment in all categories (power, hits, speed).

While the following players won’t offer as much muscle, the trick is not to overload your team with massive power—despite some saying you should—rather adding a balance of homeruns, hits and speed; something that these guys do in fact offer.

Shopping for an outfielder is sort of like shopping for a BMW. No matter what model you look at, you know it’s gonna be a pretty nice vehicle—I personally don’t own one, but you get the idea.

The outfielder position is as vast as the ocean, and luckily there really isn’t a significant drop in talent until you get to the near bottom.

I know I’m in the minority with my ranking of Robinson Cano (see my 2B rankings here ), but I believe he has the ability to challenge for the batting title. Not to mention he should be among the leaders at second base in runs, HRs, and RBIs.

Cano is a notoriously slow starter, hitting .271 in April and May and .322 the rest of the way. His OPS is also much lower in those two months:

As usual, many pitchers finished the 2009 season with injuries. Injuries, particularly with pitchers, make fantasy owners question whether they should avoid the player at all costs or whether he represents a good "buy low" candidate.

Here is a recap of pitchers coming off injury, and whether they are worth the risk fantasy-wise or not for the 2010 season. We’re giving the Green Light to players not expected to be negatively impacted by their most recent injury woes.

Green Light

It’s been a roller coaster ride for Jason Bay and fantasy owners over the past few years.  In 2007, it seemed like his days as a stud fantasy outfielder were over (.247, 21 HR, 84 RBI), but a year and a half spent in Boston has clearly reinvigorated his value.

You don’t have to look further than his 2009 campaign for proof:

531 At Bats
.267 Batting Average (142 Hits)
36 Home Runs
119 RBI
103 Runs
13 Stolen Bases
.384 On Base Percentage
.537 Slugging Percentage
.318 Batting Average on Balls in Play

1. Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves (.281 average, 21 homers, 94 RBI, 63 runs)

Few players have been as consistently dominant as Twins' closer Joe Nathan the past six seasons.

His ERA has never been above 2.70, and last year’s 2.10 was the second highest of the stretch. His WHIP has never been above 1.02. Only once was his BAA above .187. Only once did he record fewer than 77 strikeouts. He has had at least 36 saves every year. He’s just consistently been one of the best closers in the league.

I’ve seen multiple places rank David Aardsma as a Top 20 relief pitcher heading into 2010.  Some even have him ranked as a Top 15, borderline Top 10 option.  I have to wonder, why?  Are we talking about the same pitcher here?

I know, he was fantastic in 2010, just look at his line:

3 Wins
71.1 Innings
2.52 ERA
1.16 WHIP
80 Strikeouts (10.09 K/9)
34 Walks (4.29 BB/9)
.271 BABIP

According to George King of the NY Post , the Yankees have set their sights on a Cuban defector, Adeinis Hechavarria , once he becomes eligible to be signed possibly as soon as next week.

Aside from sharing a name with one bad ass Canadian '80s pop singer (kidding), Corey Hart also saw a promising career dry up. Of course, the baseball version can be attributed to injury, and a successful comeback is more than likely.

Hart quietly was one of the better all-around fantasy outfielders in 2007 and 2008 with the following lines: