Fantasy Tips: MLB Opening Day!

With MLB Opening Day quickly approaching, many questions must come to mind when preparing for your fantasy draft.

Should I draft A-Rod early and hope for a successful return?

What happens once the top five catchers are picked?

When should I draft a closer?

Who are the biggest sleepers in each position?

Is the draft the most important aspect in regards to winning my league?

We start off with the New York Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez. In any "normal" season, A-rod would be a first pick, first round kind of guy, but this season is different. Rodriguez underwent successful hip surgery, forcing him to miss the start of the MLB season and at least a month after that.

With that in mind, fantasy owners should lay back on drafting A-Rod for the first few rounds on draft day. Take into consideration that Rodriguez could miss more than the estimated time. Beyond that, who know's if he will even be able to put up the same numbers that he has throughout his stellar career.

Drafting A-Rod before the fourth round of your fantasy draft would be an extremely risky move. Your best bet is to let an uneducated fantasy owner pick up the All-Star in the early rounds of your draft, while you get an opportunity to select another top-rated player during that round.

It is the seventh round of your draft and Brian McCann and Russell Martin have already been taken, Geovany Soto was chosen in the fifth round, Victor Martinez was just picked right before your pick, and Joe Mauer has been long gone, drafted by a crazy fantasy owner during the third round of the draft.

What do you do now?

Do not panic! I have a simple answer for you—wait. Depending on how many owners are in your league, the chances are almost half of them have already taken a catcher.

Now your best bet is to wait around till the 10th round, or even later, and select a player like Chris Iannetta, Matt Weiters, Ryan Doumit, Bengie Molina, or Ramon Hernandez. These guys are sure to be around during the 10th round and could contribute solid fantasy numbers for your squad this season.

When you strategize for drafting a closer the first thing that comes to every owner's mind is who had the most saves last season? Is the player on a winning team? Who had the lowest ERA and WHIP?

Now before I explain what you should look for in a closer, let me tell you that it is NOT worth drafting a closer any time earlier than the eighth or ninth round of a fantasy draft.

There are many closers that can give you just as many saves as the most elite pitchers in the league. Closers like Brian Fuentes, Frank Francisco, Carlos Marmol, Joakim Soria, and Jonathon Broxton are extremely solid pitchers who can easily be drafted during late rounds of a fantasy draft (10th-16th round). They will provide your team with a minimum of 30 saves and each can put up an ERA of below three and a WHIP of 1.30 or less.

These kind of pitchers can be of great help for your fantasy team and could save you from drafting a more elite closer like Jonathon Papelbon, K-Rod, or Joe Nathan during the more earlier rounds.

Below is a list of one fantasy sleeper from each position.

Catcher - Matt Weiters (C, BAL) - Weiters is not currently in the MLB, but could be brought up from the minors within weeks. He is the No. 1 catcher prospect and has massive potential to emerge as a serious fantasy player. If Weiters starts for the Orioles, he could become a top-five fantasy catcher.

First Basemen - Hank Blalock (1B, TEX) - Blalock is entering his prime and could be in for a big season if he can remain healthy throughout the season. He has potential to hit 30+ homers and 100+ RBI, and should be drafted during the late rounds of any draft.

Second Basemen - Jose Lopez (2B, SEA) - Lopez is entering his sixth professional season at the young age of 25 and has emerged as one of the best hitters at the second base position. Expect Lopez's numbers to continue to rise and exceed his 08 fantasy numbers this season.

Third Basemen - Edwin Encarnacion (3B, CIN) - Encarnacion hit 26 homers last season and has potential to hit even more this year. At the age of only 26, he has lots of room to still improve his batting average as well as raise his RBI total. Encarnacion could be drafted in the late rounds as a super sleeper.

Shortstop - Mike Aviles (SS, KC) - Avile, batting .325 last season, during his rookie campaign, will look to improve on that this year. He is not much of a power hitter and will not give you many RBI, but his batting average is worthy of being drafted in fantasy.

Outfield - Nelson Cruz (OF, TEX) - Cruz hit a ridiculous 37 home runs last season in the minors and is luckily in a hitting ball park this year. He is a huge sleeper with extreme potential to put up serious fantasy numbers and can be picked during the middle rounds of any draft.

Erik Bedard (SP, SEA) - After coming off of a disappointing season, Bedard will look to rebound and put up 15-18 wins, 200-230 K's, and an ERA between 3.30-3.10. He can be drafted late because of how bad of a season he had last year and could really be a big steal throughout this season.

Frank Francisco (RP, TEX) - Francisco looks to be the closer for the Rangers this season and has potential to put up 30+ saves with a low-three ERA. You can draft him during the late rounds and smile when he becomes a top-15 closer this season.

Your draft is the most important part of the entire fantasy season. Make a list of players that you would like to draft, and have backups just in case they get chosen right before your pick (it happens all the time). Be cool, calm, and collective and follow my fantasy tips throughout the entire season and you will have no problem winning your fantasy league this year! Good luck!