2015 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Late-Round Targets For Your Draft

Sleepers aren't what they used to be. The idea of grabbing a sleeper that could take your baseball league by surprise has become as outmoded as newspapers. The wealth of information available on the internet at the click of mouse means any player with a shot at a major league roster is well vetted by any diligent researcher.

Still, digging up value, especially in the later rounds of your draft, will always be the key to giving yourself a real shot at taking home your championship. Value can come in many forms on draft day, and today I want to look a few players who fall into several categories.

View image | gettyimages.com

Here are our four players to target late in your fantasy baseball drafts:

Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco Giants

Belt falls into the forgotten by injury category. Last year, Belt's breakout was cut short by injuries. First a broken hand, then a concussion sustained in batting practice served to hide a transformation that had begun the previous season. From August 1, 2013 though his injury on May 9, 2014, Belt hit .300+ with 16 HR, 46 runs scored and 52 RBI across just 352 plate appearances. Entering his age 27 season and his physical prime, the projections of 20 home runs may well be selling him short. With Pablo Sandoval in Boston and Hunter Pence injured, Belt will be given every opportunity to be the focal point of the Giants offense in 2015 and accrue the counting stats needed. Last year, just six qualified first basemen managed to hit at least .270 and launch 20-plus home runs. With an ADP around 200 and as the 28th first baseman, Belt is more than likely being drafted far too low for the production he will provide.

Danny Salazar, SP, Cleveland Indians

Salazar falls into the post-hype sleeper category. Last year Salazar was touted as sleeper after coming off a fantastic finish to the 2013 season. Salazar got off to a rough start. While he piled up strikeouts in bunches (47 in 40.2 innings), his 1-4 record and 5.53 ERA were harsh enough to sour most owners and even the Indians on him. After a stint in the minors, Salazar came back and posted the numbers people thought he was due for with five wins, a 3.50 ERA and 73 Ks in 69.1 IP across 12 starts, but by that point, he was overshadowed by Cleveland's Cy Young pitcher Corey Kluber. While his first-half numbers looked ugly, they were heavily influenced by a .369 BABIP and 14.8 HR/FB ratio, two numbers that should, and did, regress in the second half. Last year's 9.82 K/9 would have ranked sixth among qualified pitchers and his 3.52 FIP was 33rd. With an ADP of 241, the 2.83 FIP he posted in the second half of last year would have ranked 11th among qualified starters and could be the sign of a big year in 2015.

Steven Souza, OF, Tampa Bay Rays

Souza is the free-at-last prospect. With Bryce Harper and Jason Werth manning the corner outfield spots, Souza was finding playing time scarce in Washington despite two fantastic seasons in the high minors. With the deal that sent him to Tampa Bay, he has cleared the first hurdle to fantasy success and that is playing time. While projections don't see him maintaining the .300+ average he sported in the minors, the speed and power threat is real. Souza is projected to hit 22 HRs and steal 24 bases in 600 plate appearances, last year only four players managed to have more than 20 in each of those categories. With and ADP of 243, Souza can provide plenty value at the tail end of a roster.

Torii Hunter, OF, Detroit Tigers

Hunter is the old and boring pick. Hunter continues to to be a reliable even entering his age 39 season. There aren't a whole lot of projections, and number squinting to see what he has done. It's been a decade since he has failed to record 70 runs or 80 RBI. He's also logged at least 140 games in eight of the last nine years. Projections once again see a solid, unspectacular year from Hunter, but many times the certainty you can get by. Consistent production out of a guy with an ADP of 259 can help smooth over some misses on high-upside youngsters.

Have fantasy baseball drafts coming up? Prepare with our free fantasy baseball mock simulator.

Max Scherzer rejects "substantial, long-term" offer from Tigers

Detroit Tigers starter Max Scherzer rejected a "substantial, long-term contract offer" from the team, according to team's Twitter feed.

In addition, the Tigers official statement indicates there will be "no further in-season negotiations" with Scherzer, who is due to become a free agent after the 2014 season.

Tigers Statement on Max Scherzer pic.twitter.com/kTUpgtO1ZV
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) March 23, 2014

Last year, Scherzer won the A.L. Cy Young award with a 21-3 record, 2.90 ERA and 240 strikeouts in 214.1 innings. Scherzer led the league in wins and WHIP (0.970) and finished second in K/9 (10.078) behind Yu Darvish (11.890) after leading the league in 2012 with an 11.1 K/9 rate.

Scherzer is my SP7 in my 2014 fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings.

MLB Midseason Awards: A.L. MVP Award

Last year, it was a two-man race between Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout.

This year?

It's more of the same, but with one other player in the mix.

Mike Trout is not going to be mentioned in most people's midseason MVPs, but I just can't leave him out.  After hitting just .261 for the month of April, Trout is up to hitting .322 with 119 hits, 15 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases.

We are slightly more than halfway through the season, but Trout is on pace to hit .322 with over 200 hits, close to 30 home runs, over 100 runs batted in, and 40 stolen bases.  His season may be overshadowed by the top two contenders, but I feel Trout is worth mentioning, as a hot second half could easily put him in the discussion.

Chris Davis is leading the league in home runs with 37, and is hitting a solid .315 at the plate.  He's got an OPS of 1.109, and is a huge reason why the Orioles are having the kind of success they are having.  In a tough AL East, the O's are 10 games over .500, and are right in the mix, both in the division, and for a wild card spot.

Davis has been exciting to watch, and some early mutterings of 62 home runs has begun.  Davis is my number two for midseason AL MVP.

Top honors has to go to Miguel Cabrera.  No player in the history of baseball has ever had 30 home runs and 90 RBIs at the All Star break, until this year.  Cabrera is hitting an incredible .365 with 30 home runs, 95 RBIs, and a 1.132 OPS.  He is putting up video game numbers so far in the first half of the season, and has actually elevated himself after an MVP and triple-crown winning season.

If Davis cools off a bit, Cabrera may actually win back-to-back triple crowns.  Color me impressed.

Also, check out: AL Midseason Cy Young Winner (Leader)

[Editor's note: This post is by John Trifone (@JohnnyT0122), who also contributes at our NFL site: Eat, Drink and Sleep Football (see John's archives).]

MLB Midseason Awards: A.L. Cy Young Award

Now that we are at the midway point (or a little past it), I will post my choices as midseason leader for Cy Young and MVP in both leagues at the All-Star Break.

The perennial choices for AL Cy Young are either Justin Verlander or Felix Hernandez, who have consistently been two of the game's top pitchers over the last several years.

A couple of other guys like David Price (last year's winner) or Jered Weaver are usually in the discussion as well, along with a surprise or two that pop up every year.  Last year, Chris Sale was the guy who emerged, and was the favorite to win the award heading into the second half of last season.

This year, Bartolo Colon makes a strong case at 12-3 with an ERA of 2.70, currently third in the AL.  Colon's connection with PEDs, however, may be what largely accounts for his return to the dominance of his prime at the age of 40.  Nonetheless, he has not yet been suspended, and has a legitimate claim to the midseason AL Cy Young award.

I'm going to go another way, though.  Max Scherzer, who is not even the best pitcher on his own team, is leading the pack at the midway point.  With an ERA just a shade over three (3.19 at the moment), Scherzer is an incredible 13-1 in 19 starts.  He is averaging more than a strikeout per inning (10.55 K/9), and has a WHIP under one (0.98).

I'll take Scherzer for my midseason AL Cy Young award winner/leader.

[Editor's note: This post is by John Trifone (@JohnnyT0122), who also contributes at our NFL site: Eat, Drink and Sleep Football (see John's archives).]

2013 Fantasy Baseball Rankings - Top 20 Third Basemen

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

Not only did Miggy set career highs in home runs (44) and runs batted in (139), but he became the first player to win the triple crown since Carl Yastrzemski won it more than 40 years ago.  He led all of baseball in homers and RBIs and was second in batting average (.330) behind only San Francisco's Buster Posey, who won the NL batting title with a .336 average.

As a lifetime .318 hitter, Cabrera has hit .320-plus in seven of the past eight seasons with the exception being 2008 when he hit just .292.

With the exception of his rookie season (2003) when he played only 87 games, Cabrera has driven in 100-plus runs every year and has at least 125 RBIs in three of the his five seasons in Detroit.  He also has scored at least 109 runs in each of the past three seasons.

While he's unlikely to repeat as a triple crown winner, Cabrera is one of the most dangerous and consistent hitters in the game and should continue to put up MVP-caliber numbers that fantasy owners can take to the bank.

Monster Second Half for Headley

San Diego's Chase Headley has been a consistent source of stolen bases at a position that typically lacks speedsters.  With double-digit steals in the past four seasons, Headley tied his career high with 17 steals last year.  Of all third base-eligible players, only Hanley Ramirez had more steals (21).

It was Headley's power production, however, that was noteworthy.

Headley, who turns 29 this season, hit nearly as many home runs in 2012 as he had hit in the rest of his career combined.  Before last season's career-high 31 home runs, Headley had never hit more than 12 in any season.

In addition to shattering his career high in homers, Headley drove in an NL-high 115 runs, which is more than 50 RBIs higher than his previous career high (64) set in 2009 as well.

While he had a solid first half, Headley was as dominant as any hitter in the second half.  In 75 games after the All-Star Break, he hit .308 with 23 home runs and 73 runs batted in.

Can he carry that type of momentum over into the 2013 season?

Breakout Year for Alvarez

After a solid debut for Pittsburgh Pirates third base prospect Pedro Alvarez in 2010, he could not have frustrated fantasy owners much more than he did in 2011.

As a rookie, Alvarez, the second overall pick in the 2008 draft, hit 16 home runs with 64 runs batted in with a fair (but not great) .256 average in 95 games.

Not only did he hit below the Mendoza Line in his second season (.191), but the slugger hit a mere four home runs in 262 big-league at-bats in 2011.  He spent 42 games in the minors that season.

From a batting average standpoint, Alvarez hit much better from June to October (.259) last year than he did in March through May (.205).

While he will never win any batting titles, Alvarez had the type of power production last year that many expected in 2011.  He finished the year with 30 home runs and 85 runs batted in, both of which were career highs.

Some More Third Basemen Notes:

After an injury-shortened 2011 campaign, New York Mets third baseman David Wright played 156 games and had a strong all-around season in 2012.  Hitting above .300 for the first time since 2009, Wright hit 21 home runs, stole 15 bases, scored 91 runs and drove in 93 runs.  As much as any other third baseman, he's a strong contributor in all five roto categories.

Baltimore's Manny Machado is one of the game's top young players and won't turn 21 until early July.  With tremendous promise, Machado played 51 games last season and should be the Orioles everyday third baseman in 2013.  Unless you're in a deep or AL-only league and need to start Machado, he provides plenty of upside as a bench guy.

Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria is my second-ranked third baseman, but the obvious concern is durability with Longoria.  Playing a total of only 207 games in the past two years combined, his 162-game pace over that span is for 37.57 home runs and 120.52 runs batted in.  Of course, the question is how many of those 162 games will he miss?

In his first season with the Brewers, Aramis Ramirez hit 27 home runs, scored 92 runs to go along with 105 runs batted in, all of which are four-year highs.  In addition, he hit .300 for a second consecutive season.  After stealing a total of nine bases from 2003 to 2011, Ramirez stole a career-high nine bases last season alone.

Here are my third basemen rankings for the 2013 fantasy baseball season (based on Yahoo! eligibility):

1. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
2. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
3. David Wright, New York Mets
4. Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers
5. Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers
6. Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals
7. Chase Headley, San Diego Padres
8. Aramis Ramirez, Milwaukee Brewers
9. Brett Lawrie, Toronto Blue Jays
10. Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants
11. Mark Trumbo, Los Angeles Angels
12. David Freese, St. Louis Cardinals
13. Martin Prado, Arizona Diamondbacks
14. Pedro Alvarez, Pittsburgh Pirates
15. Will Middlebrooks, Boston Red Sox
16. Mike Moustakas, Kansas City Royals
17. Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners
18. Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
19. Todd Frazier, Cincinnati Reds
20. Marco Scutaro, San Francisco Giants

For a second opinion, check out Duncan Sanford's third basemen rankings. (Or view our consensus third basemen rankings here.)

Other positions: C - 1B - 2B - 3B - SS - OF - SP - RP

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Justin Verlander no-hits the Blue Jays

Earlier in the week, Minnesota's Francisco Liriano threw the first no-hitter of the 2011 season.

Today, Detroit's Justin Verlander threw the second no-hitter of the season as well as the second of his career.

It was the seventh no-hitter in franchise history and the last Tiger to throw a no-no before Verlander was Jack Morris in 1984.

Nearly perfect, Verlander allowed only one walk, which came to J.P. Arencibia in the eighth inning. Despite entering today's game with 51 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched, Verlander tied his season low of four strikeouts today.

The low walk and strikeout totals allowed Verlander to complete the game in only 108 pitches.

Verlander improved to 3-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.16. In all eight of his starts this season, Verlander has allowed three earned runs or less.

Tigers place Victor Martinez on the disabled list

The Detroit Tigers have placed catcher/designated hitter on the 15-day disabled list (DL), per John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press.

Martinez, who strained his right groin in Saturday's game, aggravated the injury in Monday's win over the Mariners.

The Tigers called up catcher Omir Santos from Triple-A to take V-Mart's roster spot.

In his past three games, Martinez has five hits in ten at-bats. On the season, Martinez is hitting .250 with two home runs and nine runs batted in.

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Starting Pitcher Rankings

How early should you draft starting pitchers in fantasy baseball?

The answer you get to that question will probably vary quite a bit from person to person, but there is a fairly consistent strategy I've used in drafting my teams. Typically, I will look to add one elite pitcher, a top-five (or so) starter, within the first five rounds. After I draft my "ace," I will look to find one or two solid values in the 10-12 round range (or so) and then a few guys with lots of upside late in the draft.

Here are my top 40 starting pitchers for fantasy baseball in 2011:

1. Roy Halladay, Phillies: In the past three seasons, Halladay has posted sub-3.00 ERAs, struck out 200-plus batters and thrown nine complete games each season. During that span, Halladay has won 58 games, which doesn't include a post-season no-hitter in his first ever post-season start last year.

2. Tim Lincecum, Giants: Through four seasons, Lincecum has struck out 907 batters in 811 innings pitched. That's a career K/9 rate of 10.07. Lincecum, who's averaged 252.3 strikeouts per year over the past three seasons, is 248 away from tying Tom Seaver's record for most strikeouts in a pitcher's first five years during the modern era.

3. Felix Hernandez, Mariners: "King" Felix, who is more like a 2(a) in these rankings, won the A.L. Cy Young last year despite finishing with a 13-12 record due to poor run support. Hernandez struck out 232 batters and posted a 2.27 ERA in 249.2 innings last year.

4. Cliff Lee, Phillies: In 2010, Lee walked a total of 18 batters in 212.1 innings pitched, which was a league-best 0.76 walks per nine innings. Not surprisingly, Lee, who struck out 185 batters, led baseball in K/BB ratio (10.28) last year as well. In fact, Halladay, his new teammate, finished second in the category (7.30) while Jered Weaver finished third (4.31).

5. Jon Lester, Red Sox: Similar to Lincecum and Hernandez, Lester and Yankees' ace C.C. Sabathia are 5 and 5(a) in these rankings. In the past three seasons, Lester has posted an ERA under 3.50 each year while compiling a record of 50-23 during that span. In addition, he has struck out 450 batters in 411.1 innings over the past two seasons.

6. C.C. Sabathia, Yankees: By limiting the Cap'n Crunch this off-season, Sabathia was able to shed 25 pounds. Regardless, Sabathia has a 40-15 record in his two seasons in the Bronx with ERAs of 3.37 and 3.18, respectively.

7. Justin Verlander, Tigers: With the exception of 2008 (11-17 and 4.84 ERA), Verlander has won 17-plus games with a sub-4.00 ERA every year since 2006. He has 488 strikeouts in the past two seasons and posted a career-best ERA of 3.37 in 2010.

8. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: Kershaw, who just turned 23 years old earlier this month, has finished with a sub-3.00 ERA for two consecutive seasons in addition to setting career highs in wins (13) and strikeouts (212) last year. The sky's the limit for the former high school teammate of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.

9. Tommy Hanson, Braves: Hanson, who is only 24 years old, has put up solid back-to-back seasons. In his first full season, Hanson struggled a bit in the first half last year, but he finished strong (2.51 ERA after the All-Star break).

10. Chris Carpenter, Cardinals: While 2007 and 2008 were wiped out due to injury, Carpenter has finished with an ERA under 3.50 in his other five seasons with the Cardinals. In the past two seasons, Carpenter has compiled a record of 33-13 and finished with ERAs of 2.24 and 3.22, respectively.

11. Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies: In his first 14 starts last year, Jimenez allowed more than two earned runs only once (three earned runs vs. the Blue Jays on June 11th). Before the All-Star break, Jimenez won 15 of his 18 starts and posted an ERA of only 2.20. After the break, he finished with a record of 4-7 and 3.80 ERA. That said, he made year-over-year improvements in strikeouts, wins and ERA in the past two seasons.

12. Josh Johnson, Marlins: Johnson led all of baseball in home runs allowed per nine innings with a ratio of 0.34. Johnson only started 28 games, however, because he was shut down for the last month of the 2010 season. That said, he posted career bests in ERA (2.30), K/9 (9.11) and BB/9 (2.35).

13. Cole Hamels, Phillies: Hamels bounced back nicely in 2010 by posting a career high in strikeouts (211) and a career low in ERA (3.06). And he was even better after the All-Star break (2.23 ERA and 9.68 K/9) and in the post-season (1.20 ERA and 10.20 K/9).

14. Dan Haren, Angels: Haren actually had better splits after he was traded to the American League last year. In 14 starts with the Angels, Haren finished with an ERA of 2.87 and a WHIP of 1.16 (versus 4.60 and 1.35, respectively, with the Diamondbacks). That said, his K/9 rate dropped from 9.00 in Arizona to 7.18 with Los Angeles.

15. Francisco Liriano, Twins: Last year, Liriano bounced back with career highs in wins (14) and strikeouts (201). While switching to Target Field may not be a welcome move for the team's hitters, it helped Liriano set a career low in HR/9 of 0.42, which was the fourth lowest in baseball.

16. Jered Weaver, Angels: Last year, Weaver finished sixth in baseball in K/9 ratio (a career-high 9.35) among qualified leaders. Weaver also set career bests in innings (224.1), strikeouts (233), BB/9 ratio (2.17) and HR/9 ratio (0.92).

17. Yovani Gallardo, Brewers: Gallardo, who turned 25 in February, has recorded 200-plus strikeouts and sub-4.00 ERAs in back-to-back seasons.

18. Roy Oswalt, Phillies: After Oswalt was acquired from the Astros, he was 7-1 with an ERA of 1.74 and WHIP of 0.90. While his peripherals were good before the trade (3.42 ERA and 1.11 WHIP), Oswalt was only 6-12 in 20 starts with Houston.

19. Matt Cain, Giants: Who was the "dark horse" candidate for N.L. Cy Young by Yahoo!'s Steve Henson? Considering where I'm asking this question, you surely know the answer (whether you or I agree with Henson or not). Despite having a career ERA of 3.45, however, Cain has an all-time record of 57-62 and has yet to win more than 14 games or strike out more than 186 batters in a season. In other words, I can see Cain finishing with about 15 wins, 180 strikeouts and and ERA of 3.25 (but no Cy Young).

20. Zack Greinke, Brewers: The good news is Greinke should have much better run support when he pitches in 2011 in addition to getting the opportunity to pitch to pitchers (and boost his strikeout rate). That said, we will have to wait to see that as Greinke, who will begin the season on the disabled list, might be out for all of April.

21. David Price, Rays
22. Mat Latos, Padres
23. Max Scherzer, Tigers
24. Brett Anderson, A's
25. Chad Billingsley, Dodgers
26. Wandy Rodriguez, Astros
27. Jonathan Sanchez, Giants
28. Matt Garza, Cubs
29. Tim Hudson, Braves
30. Shaun Marcum, Brewers
31. Brandon Morrow, Blue Jays
32. Gio Gonzalez, A's
33. Ted Lilly, Dodgers
34. Madison Bumgarner, Giants
35. Clay Buchholz, Red Sox
36. Brett Myers, Astros
37. Jeremy Hellickson, Rays
38. Ricky Nolasco, Marlins
39. Daniel Hudson, Diamondbacks
40. John Danks, White Sox

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

See our fantasy rankings for everyday players: C - 1B - 2B - SS - 3B - OF

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Shortstop Rankings

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

Here are our top 15 fantasy shortstops for 2011:

1. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins: Ramirez has hit .300-plus and 20-plus home runs in each of the past four seasons. In addition, HanRam has stolen 30-plus bases in four of five seasons. The ceiling? A season of .342-125-33-106-51 (BA-R-HR-RBI-SB) would tie all of his career highs.

2. Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies: Tulowitzki is one season removed from a 30-20 season. Despite missing one-quarter of last season, Tulo still managed to hit 27 home runs with 95 runs batted in while hitting .315. While he's the second-rated shortstop on our list, Tulowitzki could be one of the top three or four overall players selected in your draft based on average draft position from Mock Draft Central.

3. Jose Reyes, Mets: From 2005 to 2008, Reyes stole 58-plus bases per season while missing only 15 games during that four-year span. Over the last two seasons, Reyes has stolen 41 bases in 169 games. With a new contract on the line, how many steals and games will we see from Reyes in 2011?

4. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies: Over the past three seasons, Rollins has missed 106 games. While he likely won't duplicate his 2009 numbers (21 homers and 31 steals), it wouldn't surprise me to see Rollins finish with 15 home runs and 25 steals (or better).

5. Derek Jeter, Yankees: The good news? Jeter posted double-digit homers and steals for the 15th consecutive season. The bad news? Jeter hit only .270, his lowest average during that 15-year span, and only ten home runs, which ties a low during that span. Jeter will likely score more runs and hit for a higher average than Rollins while Rollins will likely hit more home runs and steal more bases.

6. Alexei Ramirez, White Sox: Through his first three seasons, Ramirez has been remarkably consistent in the five standard categories in 5x5 leagues. Career lows for Ramirez: .277 average, 65 runs, 15 home runs, 68 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases. Career highs: .290 average, 83 runs, 21 home runs, 77 runs batted in and 14 stolen bases.

7. Elvis Andrus, Rangers: In each of his first two seasons, Andrus has stolen 30-plus bases. But hamstring issues slowed him down last year as he had 18 of his 32 steals in the first two months of the season.

8. Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks: At a position with a scarcity of power, Drew is one of a handful of shortstops with 20-homer potential and he had double-digit steals last year. If you're league rewards for triples, Drew has finished in the top three in the category in each of the past three seasons.

9. Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: Over the past three seasons, Furcal has missed a total of 203 games including 65 of them in 2010. On a positive note, Furcal stole 22 bases, which is his highest output since 2007 (25 steals) and he enters a walk year.

10. Starlin Castro, Cubs: As a 20-year-old, Castro hit exactly .300 in his rookie season. Through 20 spring games, Castro is hitting .344 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in. Although he has four homers this spring, he hit only three in 125 games (463 at bats) last season.

11. Ian Desmond, Nationals: In his first full season with the Nationals, Desmond had double-digit home runs and steals with ten and 17, respectively. Desmond hit higher after the All-Star break (.283) than before it (.255) so a season with a .280 average, 15 home runs and 20 steals seems reasonable.

12. Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: Cabrera failed to play 100 games last season due to a broken forearm, but he's having a great spring, for what it's worth. Through 17 spring games, Cabrera it hitting .385 with three home runs, 12 runs and four steals. He won't help in homers, but when he played 131 games in 2009, he hit .308 with 81 runs scored, 68 runs batted in and 17 steals.

13. Erick Aybar, Angels: Aybar won't help much at all in the power categories, but he stole a career-high 22 bases last year and hit a career-high .312 the year before that. If he hits .300 with 20-plus steals, he's a solid value at this spot.

14. Yunel Escobar, Blue Jays: Escobar entered 2010 as a career .301 hitter while coming off career highs in runs (89), home runs (14) and runs batted in (76). However, last season was mostly a year that Escobar would like to forget as he posted career lows in batting average (.256) and home runs (four) while driving in only 35 runs. Perhaps a higher post-trade average in Toronto (.275) over his average in Atlanta (.238) bodes well for a bounce-back in 2011.

15. Jhonny Peralta, Tigers: Although Peralta is struggling this spring (.206 with no home runs or runs batted in through 21 games), you can do worse than get 15 homers and 81 runs batted in from a late-round shortstop as he put up last season. In addition to shortstop, he's eligible at third base, another talent-scarce position. Since 2005, Peralta has driven in 68-plus runs every season with 81-plus in each of the past three. During that same span, he has belted 20-plus homers three times.

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 First Basemen Rankings

Without question, first base is the deepest position for everyday players. The top seven or eight first basemen will likely be drafted in the first two rounds of your 12-team league.

Some players on our list played 10-19 games at first base in 2010, which means the player may or may not qualify as a first baseman in your league. For example, Yahoo! leagues require a player to appear in at least ten games at that position in the previous year. For ESPN leagues, the requirement is 20-plus games.

Based on lower eligibility requirements, first base is even deeper for participants in Yahoo! leagues than those participating in ESPN leagues.

Here are the top 20 fantasy first basemen for 2011:

1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals: Through ten seasons, Pujols has had career lows of .312 batting average (2010), 32 home runs (2007) and 103 runs batted in (2007). While that is the worst-case scenario, a typical (average) season for the career .331 hitter is 41 home runs and 123 runs batted in.

2. Joey Votto, Reds: While first base is loaded with talent, Votto finished no lower than top-five in all five standard rotisserie categories. The reigning N.L. MVP set career-highs in runs scored (106), home runs (37), runs batted in (113), steals (17) and batting average (.324) as well.

3. Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox: During his five years as a Padre, Gonzalez hit .267 and 57 home runs (one per 24.7 at bats) with 201 runs batted in at home. On the road, however, Gonzalez hit .307 and 104 home runs (one per 15.1 at bats) with 300 runs batted in. The change of scenery can only do Gonzalez some good despite finishing 2010 with an average of .298, 31 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

4. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: Over the past three seasons, only two first basemen have hit over .300 with 100 home runs and 350 runs batted in: Cabrera and Pujols. If it weren't for his alcohol problems highlighted by his run-in with the law in February, Cabrera would have been ranked ahead of all first basemen not named Albert Pujols.

5. Mark Teixeira, Yankees: Teixeira, who hit a career-low .256 in 2010, hit .280-plus every season and over .300 three times from 2004 to 2009. With seven consecutive seasons of 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBIs, you know what you'll get in the power department from Teixeira. But will Teixeira hit .256, .280 or .300?

6. Prince Fielder, Brewers: Last year, Fielder set a four-year low in home runs (32) and runs batted in (83) while hitting a career-worse .261. The year before, Fielder set career highs in runs batted in (141) and average (.299) while posting the second-highest homer total (46) of his career. Splitting the difference would be 39 home runs, 112 runs batted in and a .280 average. Sounds good to me.

7. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox: Over the past five seasons, Youkilis has not played more than 147 games in any year. Provided he stays healthy for a full season, Youkilis could/should put up around or more than 100 runs, 100 runs batted in, 30 homers while hitting .300. His bigger value will come once he gains eligibility at the much more talent-scarce position of third base.

8. Ryan Howard, Phillies: Over the past five years, no player has more home runs (229) or runs batted in (680) than Howard. In addition, Howard leads the majors in strikeouts (922) during that span.

9. Adam Dunn, White Sox: From 2004 to 2010, Dunn has hit 38-plus home runs and driven in 100-plus runs six times (the 'off' season of 2006 was 92 RBIs). Trading in a half-season of games in Washington for U.S. Cellular Field can't hurt Dunn's power production and it wouldn't surprise me to see Dunn lead baseball in home runs. However, will he hit .260-plus for a third straight season?

10. Justin Morneau, Twins: Although he hasn't played a regular-season game since suffering a concussion in July, a full season from a healthy Morneau would make him a huge bargain at this spot. Morneau played exactly one-half of a season (81 games) last year and hit .345 with 18 home runs and 56 runs batted in. Before last season, Morneau drove in 100-plus runs for four straight years and hit 30-plus homers in three of those seasons.

11. Buster Posey, Giants: As one of the top three catchers in our fantasy rankings, however, you will more likely use Posey as your team's catcher despite his eligibility at first base. Manager Bruce Bochy has stated that Posey will get full days off when he's not catching, which means a season of around 135 games. That said, Posey should hit around .300 and 20 home runs in 2011.

12. Billy Butler, Royals: If there's one thing you can bank on from Butler, it's his strong batting average. Whether we see a power surge from Butler remains to be seen, but he's only 24 years old and has hit the most doubles (96) in baseball over the past two years combined. If only he could turn a few of those doubles into homers ...

13. Pablo Sandoval, Giants: With 11 games logged at first base in 2010, Sandoval may be eligible at first base in your league. He disappointed in the follow-up performance to his breakout season of 2009 (.330 average, 25 homers, 90 runs batted in). Sandoval, who is only 24 years old, could be primed for a bounce-back season after losing weight in the off-season and shortening his swing.

14. Paul Konerko, White Sox: It's unlikely that Konerko will duplicate his 2010 numbers (.312 average, 39 home runs and 111 runs batted in). Then again, only five other players hit .300-30-100 or better last season. Three of those other five were first basemen: Pujols, Cabrera and Votto.

15. Kendry Morales, Angels: Morales, who will begin the 2011 season on the disabled list, hasn't played a game since May 29th. In his only full season or close to it (152 games), Morales hit .306 with 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in.

16. Carlos Lee, Astros: Ending a four-year streak of hitting .300-plus, Lee posted a career-low batting average (.246) while hitting only 24 home runs (lowest total since 2001) with 89 runs batted in (lowest since 2002). Considering Lee also had his lowest BABIP (.238) of his career in 2010, an improvement over last season seems reasonable.

17. Aubrey Huff, Giants: Last year, Huff hit .290 with 26 home runs and 86 runs batted in. Huff, who is a career .283 hitter, should hit relatively close to .290 again although I would be surprised to see him exceed his home run total from 2010.

18. Carlos Pena, Cubs: The good news? Pena will go yard in one out of every 13.4 (or so) at bats, which was his average during his four years in Tampa. The bad news? He got a hit in less than every five at bats last season. (Take small consolation in the fact that only Aaron Hill had a lower BABIP in all of baseball than Pena last year.) The moderate news? He was tied for 11th in baseball in walks (87) last year so his on-base percentage isn't horrible if that helps you.

19. Adam Lind, Blue Jays: After a breakout season in 2009 (.305 average, 35 homers, 114 runs batted in), Lind disappointed fantasy owners in 2010 (.237-23-72). Not only did he hit .174 and .156 last May and June, respectively, but he hit only one home run in 90 at bats during June. Perhaps his better second-half performance and solid spring (hitting .341 through 16 games) bodes well for Lind.

20. Adam LaRoche, Nationals: LaRoche is a career .295 hitter that hits a homer every 18.3 at bats. In the second half, that is. LaRoche is notorious for his poor first-half performances (career .252 hitter and homer every 24.8 at bats before the All-Star break) and his (relative) strong performances (noted earlier) after the break.

As we noted above, first base is exceptionally deep. Players outside our top 20, such as Gaby Sanchez (Florida), Ike Davis (Mets), Mitch Moreland (Texas) and Brandon Belt (San Francisco) as a few examples, of players with upside that are viable fantasy options.

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Catcher Rankings

Year in and year out, catcher has often been a talent-scarce position when it comes to fantasy baseball.

In 2011, that's not necessarily the case.

In my opinion, the top four fantasy catchers are head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, but there are plenty of options as you go deeper into the draft that can help (or, at least, won't hurt) your team.

Here are the top 15 catchers for 2011:

1. Joe Mauer, Twins: Although Mauer is the top option at catcher in fantasy baseball, the power he exhibited two seasons ago (28 home runs) was nearly wiped out by the team's move to Target Field. Mauer, the 2009 American League MVP, hit only nine home runs -- even worse, only one in 239 at bats at home -- in 2010. That said, Mauer has won 60 percent of the A.L. Batting Titles over the past five seasons.

In our opinion, who should be the No. 2 fantasy catcher is less clear-cut, which led us to set up this poll question and this discussion thread so let your voice be heard.

2. Victor Martinez, Tigers: Martinez, who was in Boston last year, led all catchers in runs batted in (79) while hitting over .300 (.302, to be precise) in 2010. Now that V-Mart is with Detroit, he is expected to see lots of, um, action as the team's designated hitter, which should boost his number of plate appearances.

3. Buster Posey, Giants: Posey, last year's NL Rookie of the Year, hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 runs batted in. Last season, Posey played 30 games at first base, but manager Bruce Bochy says that Posey will get a "complete day off" when he's not catching in 2011.

4. Brian McCann, Braves: During the span of the past three seasons, McCann leads all catchers in runs batted in (258) and is second in home runs (65) to Mike Napoli. That's the good news. The bad news is his batting average has slid in back-to-back seasons (.301 to .281 to .269).

5. Geovany Soto, Cubs: In the past three seasons, Soto has hit .280-plus twice with a sub-.220 season in between. During that span, Soto has averaged only 116 games per season and has hit one home run per 22.5 at bats. If he stays healthy and gets close to 500 at bats (as he did in 2008), a realistic line for Soto is .275-60-20-75.

6. Carlos Santana, Indians: A top ten prospect by Baseball America in 2010, Santana was called up in June and hit .345 with four homers and 15 runs batted in over 18 games that month. After June and before getting hurt, however, Santana hit only .207 with two home runs and seven runs batted in over 28 games. The sky's the limit for Santana, but there may be some bumps along the way for the young catcher.

7. Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks: Montero missed roughly half the season in 2010 and hit only .222 (35 for 158) from August to October. In the previous season (2009), however, Montero hit .294 with 16 home runs in 128 games.

8. Matt Wieters, Orioles: In many instances, folks overreact to the hype. While Wieters has generally disappointed since being called up, he's still under 25 years old. There is time for him to develop into an elite fantasy catcher and he might actually be somewhat under the radar heading into 2011.

9. Mike Napoli, Rangers: Over the past three seasons, no catcher has hit more home runs (66) than Napoli, who lands in Texas (via Toronto) this off-season. After a couple of seasons with a respectable batting average (.270-plus), Napoli regressed last year to .238 (his lowest average since his rookie season). Although he hit over .300 versus lefties (.305), he hit only .208 against right-handers.

10. Kurt Suzuki, Athletics: Last season, Suzuki hit a career-low .242 although he ranked fourth amongst catchers in runs batted in (71). This off-season, the A's made a few free-agent acquisitions that should help take some pressure off Suzuki and help him bounce back. The question is how much? If it's to 2009 levels (.274 average with 15 home runs and 88 RBI), he's a huge bargain at where he's being drafted.

11. Jorge Posada, Yankees: The addition of Russell Martin will help Posada, who has played only 282 games over the past three seasons, keep from wearing down in 2011 as he's expected to mostly be the team's designated hitter. I expect his batting average to bounce back closer to his career average (.275) and excluding the 2008 season when he played only 51 games, Posada has hit 18-plus homers every year since 2000.

12. Yadier Molina, Cardinals: It's not too often that you get (nor do you look for) stolen bases from your catcher, but Molina has 17 of them over the past two seasons. Molina's batting average declined to .262 last year, but his cumulative batting average over the past three seasons is .286. Molina is a guy that likely won't hurt your roster while giving you something that you would least expect from this position.

13. Chris Iannetta, Rockies: Iannetta is the anti-Mauer. He's not going to win a batting title anytime soon, but he's close to a lock to provide you with 20-plus homers from the catcher position with the full-time job, which he now has. In 154 games over the past two seasons combined, Iannetta has hit only .216 but he also hit 25 home runs (in 477 at bats). That's one home run per every 19 at bats.

14. J.P. Arencibia, Blue Jays: Arencibia is another guy that will likely hurt you in batting average but help you in the power categories. Between Triple-A and a few games with the Jays last year, Arencibia hit a total of 34 home runs in 496 at bats.

15. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies: Ruiz is the Adam LaRoche of the catcher position. In other words, his splits before and after the All-Star break tell a completely different story. Over the past three years, Ruiz has hit only .237 before the break, but he has hit .285 after the break. The contrast wasn't as great in 2010 (.283 and .316 splits, respectively).

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Miguel Cabrera busted for DUI

If you were about to be arrested for DUI, would you take a drink from your bottle of scotch in front of an officer?

Well, if you were Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, the answer to that question (allegedly) would be yes.

Late Wednesday night, Cabrera was arrested in Ft. Pierce (FL) and charged with DUI and two counts of resisting arrest without violence, per the Detroit Free-Press.

And not only did Cabrera take a swig of scotch in front of the officer, but he then proceeded to use the ever-so-popular line: “Do you know who I am?"

So, Cabrera, who had issues with alcohol in the past, apparently has issues with alcohol in the present as well.

Cabrera, who finished second in AL MVP voting, hit .328 and a career-high 38 home runs while driving in 126 runs last season.

According to Mock Draft Central, Cabrera is the third player, on average, off fantasy baseball draft boards behind Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez. There's a good chance that will soon change, especially with first base being such a deep position.

Perfect...but not really

We nearly saw a third perfect game this season. Well, we did. But not really.

Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out away from throwing the first-ever perfect game in Detroit Tigers history. And he did. Or he didn't.

Galarraga did his part. However, umpire Jim Joyce called Cleveland's Jason Donald safe (when he was clearly out).

Joyce handled it like a man, apologizing to Galarraga saying he "cost that kid a perfect game."

While this error is another reminder of why baseball should have instant replay, Ian O'Connor of ESPN New York recommends that MLB commissioner Bud Selig intervene and reverse the call.

Considering the call happened on the last play (or what should have been the last play) of the game, O'Connor's recommendation makes sense.

It won't impact the outcome from a win-loss standpoint. But it will impact history.

Chad Billingsley wins third straight

In 14 starts after last year's All-Star Break, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley struggled by posting a record of 3-7 and an ERA of 5.20.

And in his first three starts of 2010, Billingsley posted an ERA of 7.07 and allowed 20 hits and seven walks in only 14 innings pitched.

Since then, he's had only one bad outing (four earned runs in six innings versus Milwaukee on May 5th) in six appearances including Friday's 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Or, in other words, Billingsley allowed 11 earned runs in 14 innings in his first three starts compared to only 10 earned runs in 37 2/3 innings in his past six starts.

Twins-Tigers in Tie-breaker on Tuesday

Fighting for their playoff lives, the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins were tied heading into their regular-season finales against the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, respectively.

And after both teams won today, they will face off in a tie-breaker on Tuesday. Detroit beat Chicago 5-3 and Minnesota beat Kansas City 13-4 today.

The tie-breaker will be played at the Metrodome and the Tigers will start 20-year-old Rick Porcello.

"He’s not going to be scared, I know that – and that’s a good thing," [Tigers manager Jim] Leyland said, per MLive.com. "This will be a tremendous experience for him because he’s going to pitch in the toughest place he’s ever pitched in his life with the most at stake."

Scott Baker, who finished the season 15-9 and pitched five shutout innings in Detroit on Thursday, will pitch for the Twins.

The Twins are 15-4 in their final 19 games.

The winner of Tuesday's game will face the Yankees in the American League Divisional Series on Wednesday. The other A.L. series will feature the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox.

Tigers place Joel Zumaya on DL

The Detroit Tigers have placed reliever Joel Zumaya on the 15-day disabled list, per Steve Kornacki of MLive.com.

Zumaya, who gave up the game-winning home run to Mark Teixeira last night, felt pain in his shoulder and is scheduled for an MRI later today.

The Tigers have recalled Ryan Perry, who was their first-round pick in 2008, from Triple-A Toledo to take Zumaya's roster spot.

Perry, who has a 4.28 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, was sent down to improve his control, which he has done. In 13 2/3 innings in Toledo, Perry was 1-0 with an ERA of 2.63, 12 strikeouts and only four walks.

Zumaya, on the other hand, has now blown four save opportunities in his past nine appearances.

Mid-season Awards: A.L. Cy Young

There is a lot of baseball left to be played this year - roughly, half the season.

That being said, I made my pick a couple of weeks ago for N.L. Cy Young based on all the games played (pitched) up to that point. While I may or may not change my choice (see who here), I'm back at it to pick his A.L. counterpart.

Later this weekend, I will pick my Mid-Season A.L. MVP as well. (Click here to see my N.L. MVP.)

Drum roll please ...

A.L. Cy Young: Zack Grienke, Royals - Grienke got the season off to a perfect start with 38 scoreless innings to begin the season. Although Grienke has hit a bit of a rough patch (losing three of last five decisions), he still leads the majors in ERA (2.00) and is one of only five 10-game winners in baseball.

He has five complete games, which also leads the majors. He is second in the American League in strikeouts (120).

The Royals recent slide has knocked them 11 games out of first in the A.L. Central and has put them 13 games under .500. In the games Grienke (10-4) doesn't get the decision, the Royals are 23-42.

Runner-up: Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - It doesn't get much better than Halladay. He began the season with 13 straight starts of 7 innings or more. In addition, Halladay has thrown three complete games trailing only Grienke.

He's one of only five pitchers to win 10 games on the season. He's third in the A.L. in ERA (2.56) and has given up the fewest walks (14) of pitchers who have thrown 100+ innings. Grienke is the only other player with fewer than 20 walks (19)and 100 innings pitched.

Honorable Mention: Edwin Jackson, Felix Hernandez, Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander, Matt Garza, Nick Blackburn (MIN), Jered Weaver, Kevin Millwood, Josh Beckett

Check back later this weekend for my A.L. Mid-Season MVP

Verlander lowers ERA to 0.85 since April 27th

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander pitched another gem as the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 13-1.

In his last six starts, Verlander has been Zack Greinke-like. Greinke has an ERA of 0.82 on the season.

Verlander has improved to 5-0 with an ERA of 0.85 since April 27th after pitching seven scoreless innings today.

Striking out eight batters today, Verlander now leads the A.L. with 85.

Carlos Guillen has MRI on shoulder

According to Steve Kornakci of the MLive.com, Detroit Tigers left fielder Carlos Guillen had an MRI on his shoulder.

And the results should be known on Tuesday.

"Carlos is not throwing or hitting right now," [Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin] Rand said this morning. "He's just conditioning and running."

Although he was initially placed on the DL due to tendinitis in his Achilles, it's Guillen's shoulder (not Achilles) that is troubling him now.

In 24 games, Guillen is hitting only .200 this season with no home runs.

Miguel Cabrera won't be traded in 2009

Despite rumors that the Detroit Tigers could trade Miguel Cabrera in the middle of the season, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski flat out denied the possibility.

"There's nothing that can happen this year that can make us think about trading Miguel Cabrera," Dombrowski said. "...The guy's only 26 and might be battling for the MVP Award."

"It's not going to happen," Dombrowski said. "We have an owner (Mike Ilitch) that would never let that happen. It upsets me."

Cabrera signed an eight-year contract that pays him $153.3 million including $15 million in 2009.

He's off to a hot start this year batting .451 with four homers and 12 RBI's through Tuesday's game against the Angels.

In the 68 games in which he played after the All-Star break, Cabrera hit 21 homeruns and drove in 70 runs.