April 4, 2010

Fantasy Focus

Pre-season Fantasy Predictions

by Baseball Prospectus

the archives are now free. All Baseball Prospectus Premium and Fantasy articles more than a year old are now free as a thank you to the entire Internet for making our work possible. Not a subscriber? Get exclusive content like this delivered hot to your inbox every weekday. Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or use the buttons to the right to subscribe and get instant access to the best baseball content on the web.

Subscribe for $4.95 per month Recurring subscription - cancel anytime. Subscribe for $39.95 for one year a 33% savings over the monthly price! Purchase a $39.95 gift subscription a 33% savings over the monthly price! Already a subscriber? Click here and use the blue login bar to log in.

Since we're the fantasy crew here at Baseball Prospectus, we wanted to give you some more fantasy-focused predictions for the upcoming year. This is the perfect opportunity for us to claim that the things we predicted that came true make us brilliant, and also gives us adequate time to come up with excuses for the things that did not turn out the way we planned. It's a flawless plot, and we hope that you take part with your own predictions in the comments. Here we are, in alphabetical order, because alphabetical by height was too daunting a task:

Bill Baer

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Hanley Ramirez
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Tim Lincecum
Sleeper (Hitter): Adrian Beltre
Sleeper (Pitcher): Brad Penny
Impact Prospect, Non-Strasburg/Heyward Division: Austin Jackson
Sophomore Slump: J.A. Happ
Sophomore Breakout: Andrew McCutchen
Most likely to disappoint: Jake Peavy
Most Overrated: Chris Carpenter
Best $1 Pitcher: Wade Davis
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Chipper Jones
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Adrian Gonzalez
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Mike Lowell

Craig Brown

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Hanley Ramirez
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Roy Halladay
Sleeper (Hitter): Drew Stubbs
Sleeper (Pitcher): Clayton Richard
Impact Prospect, Non-Strasburg/Heyward Division: Desmond Jennings
Sophomore Slump: Chris Coghlan
Sophomore Breakout: Andrew McCutchen
Most likely to disappoint: Ian Kinsler
Most Overrated: Carlos Lee
Best $1 Pitcher: Brandon Morrow
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Sean Rodriguez
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Adrian Gonzalez
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Carl Crawford

Michael Jong

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Hanley Ramirez
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Roy Halladay
Sleeper (Hitter): Carlos Gonzalez
Sleeper (Pitcher): Jonathan Sanchez
Impact Prospect: Brian Matusz
Sophomore Slump: Chris Coghlan
Sophomore Breakout: Tommy Hanson
Most Likely to Disappoint: Jair Jurrjens
Most Overrated: Nelson Cruz
Best $1 Pitcher: Brian Matusz
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Jose Reyes
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Adrian Gonzalez
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Cliff Lee

Rob McQuown

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Albert Pujols
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Tim Lincecum
Sleeper (Hitter): Carlos Gonzalez
Sleeper (Pitcher): Francisco Liriano
Impact Prospect, Non-Strasburg/Heyward Division: Desmond Jennings
Sophomore Slump: Andrew McCutchen
Sophomore Breakout: Mat Latos
Most likely to disappoint: Matt Kemp
Most Overrated: B.J. Upton
Best $1 Pitcher: Chris Young
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Asdrubal Cabrera
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Adrian Gonzalez
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Bobby Jenks

Marc Normandin

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Albert Pujols
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Justin Verlander
Sleeper (Hitter): Carlos Gonzalez
Sleeper (Pitcher): Mat Latos
Impact Prospect, Non-Strasburg/Heyward Division: Aroldis Chapman
Sophomore Slump: Chris Coghlan
Sophomore Breakout: Brett Anderson
Most likely to disappoint: Raul Ibanez
Most Overrated: Scott Feldman
Best $1 Pitcher: Homer Bailey
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Andy LaRoche
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Heath Bell
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Mike Gonzalez

Lee Panas

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Albert Pujols
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Roy Halladay
Sleeper (Hitter): Delmon Young
Sleeper (Pitcher): Brett Anderson
Impact Prospect, Non-Strasburg/Heyward Division: Brian Matusz
Sophomore Slump: Chris Coghlan
Sophomore Breakout: Colby Rasmus
Most likely to disappoint: Javier Vazquez
Most Overrated: Jacoby Ellsbury
Best $1 Pitcher: C.J. Wilson
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Scott Sizemore
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Heath Bell
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Bobby Jenks

Michael Street

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Albert Pujols
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Tim Lincecum
Sleeper (Hitter): Kyle Blanks
Sleeper (Pitcher): Colby Lewis
Impact Prospect, Non-Strasburg/Heyward Division: Brian Matusz
Sophomore Slump: Randy Wells
Sophomore Breakout: Matt LaPorta
Most likely to disappoint: Jacoby Ellsbury
Most Overrated: David Aardsma
Best $1 Pitcher: Bronson Arroyo
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Pablo Sandoval
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking Hearts of NL-only owners: Heath Bell
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: J.J. Putz

 So we're all in agreement—the Padres will trade someone that makes money to the American League. Happy Easter and happy season, folks!