Fantasy

Coming off a historic season, the Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera is clearly the top fantasy third baseman and arguably the top player in fantasy baseball in 2013.

Here's my early top-60 listing of outfielders heading into exhibition play, with an emphasis on 5x5 roto leagues.

This position will likely produce baseball's largest number of four- and five-category studs by season's end.

But that star power still cannot obscure the uncertainty of taking inexperienced young players or injury-riddled veterans later in the draft, or household names that will invariably fall short of last year's amped-up stats.

Hopefully, this listing will eliminate some of the draft-day doubt and consternation that come with the territory.

One of my most tried and true draft strategies is to wait as long as possible before drafting my fantasy catcher.

Without question, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey will be the first backstop drafted this year. In fact, he's a borderline first-round pick using average draft position (ADP) data from Mock Draft Central, as he's currently the 13th overall pick, on average, in their mock drafts.

The fate of fantasy baseball teams can change with a few good sleeper picks.

One of those picks for many owners (including myself) last season was Chris Sale—the relief pitcher turned ace. Before the season started it was unclear if Sale would even be in the rotation, but he finished in the Cy Young conversation when the book closed on 2012.

All it takes is one pick in the later round to strike fantasy gold. Here are three pitchers who are poised to shine and are under the radar of most fantasy owners.

The following countdown details my early top 35 first basemen heading into exhibition play, with an emphasis on 5x5 roto leagues.

Generally speaking, I favor power-average-speed guys over one-dimensional sluggers who rely on their immense but sporadic power to get through a given season.

I'm also a sucker for positional versatility, which may explain why Joe Mauer, Buster Posey and Victor Martinez warrant special mention here.

Enjoy the show!

Fantasy Baseball's No. 1 overall pick is as highly coveted as it is debated.

Though Mike Trout's flash-fried jump to elite status has further clouded the debate for the first pick, for all intents and purposes, it's a three-man race between Trout, Ryan Braun and Miguel Cabrera.

While there's really no wrong choice, the question of the right choice still remains.

We all know guys like Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout will be the most sought-after fantasy baseball players in 2013, but as most successful fantasy owners know, it's the unheralded, under-the-radar finds that usually culminate in a league championship.

Whether the reason is a change of scenery, more experience in the big leagues or finally getting healthy, the following three players are poised for monster seasons in 2013.

Let's meet the candidates.

With spring training officially underway, it's time to begin pre-draft preparations for 2013 fantasy baseball leagues.

If you're like me, you've already done a draft or two to see where certain players are being taken and how to pick out the diamonds in the rough that slip to later rounds.

If you're not like me, well, it's time to start preparing.

Last season was a big year for breakout fantasy stars. Several guys came from seemingly nowhere to produce big numbers and be weekly starters on their manager's fantasy rosters.

The population of third basemen in Major League Baseball is talented and getting increasingly young, and with the promotion of Manny Machado and impending ascension of top prospects Anthony Rendon, Nick Castellanos and Mike Olt (if he stays at 3B), the position is getting deeper and becoming even younger.. 

In baseball we chronicle seasons according to memorable storylines that unfold during that time. 1998 was the year of the home run, as Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. put on a show for the ages. Sadly, that entire decade, and parts of the 2000's, have now be re-branded as the steroid era. Almost on cue, 2001 was the year of BALCo and Barry Bonds, so there's that. When Sid Bream crossed home plate in the NLCS, 1992 became the year Sid slid. 1994 was the year of the strike.