By Josh:
Are you looking for power for you fantasy team? There are two positions that you should really focus your attention if you want some great home run numbers. 1st base and 3rd base have been known for putting up power numbers and for good reason. With guys like Votto, Pujols and Fielder at 1st base and Cabrera, Beltre and Wright at 3rd base, home runs seem to be the top stat coming from these positions.
I like drafting 1st and 3rd baseman in the early rounds because I can always use the big number that they can put up, but I also like to do this because as the draft goes on I can pick up an extra player for each of these positions to fit into the utility spots on my team. I know a lot of people don’t draft for the utility spots but I do because if I can get a top tier player and a 2nd tier player and have them both in my lineup despite them playing the same position I’m good with that. Plus there are just not enough strong fantasy players at 2nd and SS to help my team win.
For 1st baseman I like to try and draft a guy who is able to put up solid number in both the home run and batting average categories. RBIs and runs will come along with any player that can hit for power and average. This is why Pujols had been the top pick for a number of years. The great thing about 1st base is that if you don’t get one of the top 10 guys at this position you still have some pretty good players to still pick from.
For this position my late round pick up that I think could be a great find is Kendry Morales. A lot of people will shy away from him because he is in Seattle, but that park is made for a left handed hitter and Morales is going to get plenty of at bats. With all the talk of giving the young guys a chance, that will only go so far and if Morales is hitting no one will block his playing time.
3rd base is pretty similar to 1st base with one real big difference, Miguel Cabrera. Winning the triple crown is not just an amazing accomplishment in the baseball world, but it is a goose that lays golden eggs in fantasy baseball. Any league that doesn’t have Cabrera going in one of the first two picks is a league I want to be in because I would have a real good shot of beating the competition the entire season.
Now I know a lot of people will say that Trout and Braun can both be selected above Cabrera but that is more because of perception of the player then fantasy numbers. Trout did great but will he be able to match his same numbers and a lot of people fail to realize that a lot of his value is also from his defensive skills that are not fantasy baseball related.
My sleeper at 3rd base is one of my favorite players of all time, Michael Young. He did not have a good season last year, but I believe he will rebound this year and show his former team, the Rangers, that he is more than just a good leader, he is a good player.