Fantasy

With Opening Day for the 2013 MLB season starting at the beginning of the week, fantasy baseball lovers will have a bevy of two-start pitchers to choose from.

It's all about matchups, home/road starts and previous performances that makes the decision of who to start in your fantasy league a difficult one.

In fantasy football, it’s usually a good idea to own both a team’s starting running back and his backup. If the starter gets hurt, you won’t have to scour the waiver wire for someone else you know will get regular carries. You already have him. 

Depending on your league, you may have the ability to stash guys on your bench that don’t necessarily have a lot of value, but could potentially be the best option available if the inevitable happens and one of your key players gets injured.

In this day and age where most pitchers can’t go a few years, much less one, without having some sort of elbow or shoulder trouble pop up, it’s very difficult to decide which ones are more at risk than others. 

With Opening Day just five days away, fantasy baseball players are busy studying mock drafts and figuring out who they should select with their picks. However, there are certain players that look good to the eye, but who simply cannot be trusted to perform well on your fantasy team. 

SP James Shields

Quality starting pitching is important in Major League Baseball's biggest games, and it's important to figure out how to get good value outside of the aces on your fantasy squad.

This trio of right-handed starters will command the hill in 2013 as some of the premier sleepers that are worth a shot in the latter stages of fantasy drafts.

Shortly after creating MLBDepthCharts.com, I quickly realized just how important it was for fantasy baseball players to find the guy who was “next in line” for saves. Even if it’s just to give the regular closer a break after a few consecutive days of work, saves are valuable for fantasy geeks. 

A fantasy baseball draft is supposed to be fun. If you're not ready, though, participating in a draft can be a bit like taking a test without studying.

Whether you simply forgot to prep or just didn't have time to, you'd still prefer to avoid walking away from your draft feeling like a high-schooler who just failed a calc' final. Consider this five-minute guide your quick-and-dirty study session to help you cram for—and pass—that fast-approaching draft.

Here’s the 2013 LestersLegends Catcher Rankings for NL-only leagues.



1. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

Posey led the Majors with a .336 batting average. He led all catchers with 103 RBI. I’m not sure there is much he can’t do. Last year, he finished with a .336-78-24-103-1 line.



2. Miguel Montero, Arizona Diamondbacks

Here’s the 2013 LestersLegends Third Base Rankings for NL-Only Leagues.



1. David Wright, New York Mets
Wright returned to form with a stellar .306-91-21-93-15. He has alternated good and bad years since 2008. Hopefully, he can buck that trend.



2. Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers

Hanley has not been the same force as earlier in his career, but his .257-79-24-92-21 line was solid. He’s only 29 and should be even better in an improved offense.

Here’s the 2013 LestersLegends Second Base Rankings for AL-Only Leagues.



1. Robinson Cano, New York Yankees

Cano was tops among second basemen in runs, home runs, RBI and batting average. He has as much of a stranglehold on the position as any player in the league.



2. Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers