With St. Patrick’s Day in the rearview mirror and the green beer hangovers slowly dissipating, many baseball fans will now turn their attention to their fantasy baseball drafts, which likely occurs one of the next three weekends. To help everyone prepare to demolish their competition and secure bragging rights over your friends for eternity, the next three days here at NatsGM.com I will provide a Fantasy Baseball Preview.
Today in Part-1 I highlight a few hitters that I believe are being significantly undervalued in drafts and attempt to convince you to gobble them up like electronics on Black Friday. The names on this list each are going outside the top-5 rounds in traditional 12-team leagues according to ESPN’s Average Draft Position (thanks ESPN!) and should provide excellent value for your team this season.
1) Jason Heyward OF (83.8 ADP)
Heyward is my sleeper pick for 2015 National League MVP, as I expect the 25-year-old to have a breakout season for St. Louis while playing for a free agent contract at the end of the season. Last season Heyward hit .271 with 11 home runs and 20 stolen bases – in 2015 I am expecting a 20-20 season from him with 25-25 not out of the question. Draft Heyward confidently as your #1 or #2 outfielder.
2) Ryan Zimmerman 1B/3B/OF (109.2 ADP)
While the new defensive responsibilities of moving to first base could cause a slow start to the season, 2015 is the year Zimmerman stays healthy for 150+ games and produces like a down-ballot MVP candidate. Furthermore, because he played games at third base and the outfield last season, Zimmerman will have multi-position versatility, a major plus when injuries arise to your roster during the season. Allow others to overlook Zimmerman and scoop him up in Round 7 or 8 expecting a monster season for the Z-man.
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3) Jay Bruce OF (101.2 ADP)
Prior to last season, Jay Bruce had established himself as one of the most consistent hitters in baseball, virtually improving his offensive statistics five consecutive seasons from 2008-2013. In 2014 Bruce suffered a knee injury in May and seemingly rushed back from surgery, hitting only .201/.241/.327 after the All-Star break which caused his subpar .217-18-66 numbers.
Now fully healthy after an offseason to rest and recover, Bruce should return to his career norms of .250-25-80 per season, with upside for more. Your league-mates will let Bruce slide as they will remember being burned by him last season, but allow this outlier year to provide you with an outstanding value on draft day.
4) Brian McCann Catcher (161.0 ADP)
He cannot possibly be that bad again, can he – That’s the question fantasy owners must ask, as McCann struggled in New York last year hitting only .232 with 23 home runs. Much of the decrease in batting average is attributable to a momentous drop in his BABIP last season, going from a career .283 to a woeful .231. In addition, he played 140 games for the first time since 2010 and his defensive numbers continued to look solid, indicating he has probably not “lost it” physically. Assuming some normalization to his 2015 BABIP and better seasons from his Yankee teammates, McCann should post a .270-22-85 batting line, which would be outstanding value compared to his current 14th round price tag.
5) Xander Boegarts SS (173.7 ADP)
It was only 18 months ago the then 21-year-old Boegarts was the toast of the baseball world, as his performance in the 2013 World Series had fantasy players salivating to secure his services last spring. Unfortunately like most of the Red Sox roster in 2014, Boegarts struggled at the plate, hitting only .240 with 12 home runs. Now only 22-years-old and shortstop eligible, Boegarts finds himself sliding into the Rounds 13-16 in most fantasy drafts, a complete joke compared to his offensive potential. Let others in your league overdraft shiny new toys Javier Baez and Kris Bryant and take advantage of their ignorance to secure the services of this post-hype sleeper.