Official fantasy baseball sleeper thread

Second that. Alex Gordon is no sleeper to me or anyone else in the leagues that I'm in.

 

Just had my draft Sunday night, and three players I got that I would consider sleepers:

Ryan Shealy, 1B, Royals
Luke Scott, OF, Astros
Dave Bush, P, Brewers

 

Bush a sleeper?

I would term him one of the top dozen starters, rotowise, in the NL.

 

Well, he was the fifth starter I took in the draft and the guys in my league I consider pretty savvy, so I figure he coming in under a lot of people's radars.

 

Sleepers everyone wants as their sleepers, so they're no longer sleepers:

1. Joel Zumaya
2. Ryan Garko
3. Jonathan Broxton

I like Rafael Soriano in certain formats, Ronnie Paulino, Wes Helms, J.J. Hardy.

Also, he's hardly a sleeper but I expect Dontrelle to outperform his roto salaries this year.

 

Gordon has gotten way too much hype to be consided a sleeper any more. The only question was if the Royals would let him open the season in the majors. But Gordon has had a solid spring and Mark Teahen has adjusted very well to the outfield, so that's a done deal.

Shealy is a nice sleeper. Big-time power and that lineup is better than people think.

I agree on Paulino, too. He slipped by a lot of people last year because he is on the Pirates. He had a very good 2006 and he's been hitting well in spring training.

And as a little cross promotion, the SportsJournalists.com money league has some openings. There's a post by lawrenceofalabia explaining the deal for this year. The big bonus is we have a sponsor that contributes $600 to the pot.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/32571/

 

Say it with me...

Michael Cuddyer. OF Twins

Guy was a legit stud in the minors, struggled two years ago, showed a lot of improvement last year.

And will hit fourth between Mauer and Morneau.

 

Here's a couple of rookies I like:

1. Howie Kendrick, 2B, Angels -- He may not be a total sleeper because I saw ESPN had him ranked fairly high, but I've seen this kid play a lot last year and he can hit. He's got 15-20 HR power, will drive in 70 RBI, hit between .300 and .320 and steal 15-20 bases.

2. Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Rockies -- One of the top prospects in baseball, he's great with the bat and, in Colorado, could put up some eye-opening stats as a rookie. I drafted him in the last round and tucked him at the end of my bench. Gotta love the potential at Coors Field.

 

I can't believe I'm agreeing with Zeke, cuz we've clashed on MMA threads before, but he's right on here. I was in desperate need of power in the late rounds and came across Cuddyer's stats. I got paranoid someone else was gonna look them up, too, before it was my turn. Glad I got him.

 

In an AL-only league I'm in, there's one guy I knew I would protect from the start, though others still wonder why ... Ty Wigginton.

Wigginton only went 24-79-.275 last season, and he qualifies at first, second and third base. But because he plays for the Devil Rays and because most owners are convinced he won't match last year's numbers, a lot of people will pass on him, which is fine. I'll take him stash him at second base or middle infield and hope he hits 20 homers again.

 

After watching and covering Phillip Hughes for the last two years, he's pretty damn safe as far as it comes to being a successful major league pitcher, but the Yankees seem like they're holding firm in their plan to gradually bring him up. A guy you should keep your eye on is Brewers right-hander Yovani Gallardo. Big and throws hard, led the minors in strikeouts. Gave up more than three runs in a game just once and had seven 10+ strikeout games. The kid even hit .381 in the Southern League. Definitely someone to follow.

 

gimpy --
Everyone can agree about baseball.

The CW is that much of Cuddyer's struggles two years ago came from playing third base. With him in right or DH'ing, all the right people are predicting a big year. And the dude is a masher.

And you have to like just about anyone's chances hitting between those two.