Fantasy

2011 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers Include Blue Jays Slugging Second Baseman

Coming into the 2010 season, few second basemen were as highly regarded in fantasy circles as Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill, and with good reason. He was fresh off a breakout campaign in which he hit .286 with 36 home runs and 108 RBI, as well as scoring an impressive 103 runs. 

We're barely 24 hours away from the start of the 2011 fantasy baseball season, and that means it's time to take a look at some potential sleepers!

A sleeper is a player picked well beneath where his level of potential production dictates he should be taken. It doesn't mean just late-round players who could result in high production, but guys who have slipped beyond where they should in most drafts. 

Mark Teixeira is a notorious slow starter. His lifetime batting average in March and April is .235. He’s a .294 hitter in the other months. He hits a home run every 27 at-bats in March and April. He homers every 15.8 at-bats in the other months. His early batting averages the past two years have been dreadful.

2010:  .136, two HRs

Our top three fantasy outfielders in 2011 are the same top three fantasy outfielders that most other sites have in their top three. However, I've seen all three in the top spot at a relatively even split. In an ideal world, I'd like to get my No. 1 outfielder as the third outfielder off the board.

Here are our top 50 outfielders in fantasy baseball for 2011:

Several experts are out there providing just enough fantasy baseball advice for you to make a bunch of mistakes.

I'll give you advice from the mouth of a proven champion and former college player.

Within this presentation, you’ll find the information to make you a title contender all fantasy baseball season long.

Without a long introduction, let’s proceed with tonight’s entertainment…

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Heading into the season, while many felt the Yankees' best arrangement would be with Brett Gardner sitting atop the lineup, the constant chatter was that Derek Jeter would remain the Yankees leadoff hitter. 

For or better or worse, the Yankees legend was getting the limelight, despite a .348 OBP in the leadoff spot in ’10, while Gardner would be hitting ninth.

However, all of that changed yesterday.  Jack Curry of the YES Network posted on Twitter:

Third base isn't exceptionally deep, but a couple of solid options (Boston's Kevin Youkilis and Seattle's Chone Figgins) will earn eligibility at the position in April.

Here are our top 15 fantasy third basemen for 2011:

Winning fantasy baseball championships is what I do virtually every year. 

Always finishing in the money—with a trophy—the resume speaks for itself.  I'm here to give you my advice and will continue to do so throughout the season.

I'll be playing in fantasy baseball leagues again this year, so stay tuned.

Like we always do about this time, here we go with what you tuned in for...

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The top two fantasy shortstops are among the best options in all of fantasy baseball, regardless of position. After the Florida Marlins' Hanley Ramirez and Colorado Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki are gone, however, major question marks exist with many of the rest.

Here are our top 15 fantasy shortstops for 2011:

Long before July brings the yearly whirlwind trade speculation and months before the first crop of premier prospects debut in the ides of May, there is Opening Day. This is a date that clears the slate for last year’s underachievers, the injured and the belittled, and opens the door to another year. 

Don't forget to check out The Fantasy Fix 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit!