Fantasy Sports Kings

10 Middle Relievers for 2012

Middle reliever is the most unheralded position in baseball. In real life, middle relievers are usually the weakest links of their team’s pitching staff and in fantasy baseball they are usually ignored altogether. In roto leagues you would be very wise to draft one or two middle relievers on your team, especially in deeper mixed leagues and in NL or AL-only leagues. Keep in mind that in head to head points leagues middle relievers are pretty useless. They are not as valuable in head to head roto leagues as either, unless your league allows daily lineup changes.

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2012 Starting Pitching Preview

There’s no need for an intro.  Let’s get right to the players.

Six Starting Pitchers I Love

Zack Greinke, MIL – Greinke is an awesome source of strikeouts (10.5 per nine innings in 2011) and his xFIP (a good estimation of future ERA) was the best in baseball last year at 2.56.

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2012 Outfield Preview

The outfield position has a lot to offer fantasy owners.  10 outfield-eligible players hit 30 or more home runs in 2011 and an additional 24 hit 20 or more.  There are speed specialists (8 stole 40 or more bases) and guys with a nice combo of power and speed (10 went 20/20 or better).  So if you miss out on power at first or third base, or miss out on speed at second or short, the outfield is a nice place to fill in the gaps.

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2012 Shortstop Preview

Shortstop is where you can find plenty of speed.  Five shortstop-eligible players stole 30 or more bases and 13 stole 20 or more.  If you don’t address stolen bases here, you’ll have to make up for it at other positions.

Mixed leaguers shouldn’t have a problem being content with their shortstop but those in AL-Only leagues will find that there is a lack of top-end talent.

Instead of doing 1 through 15 shortstop rankings, I’m just going to talk about some guys I like for the 2012 season.

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2012 Sleepers: Pitchers

In the early rounds of your draft you want to try to just avoid disaster. Owners that drafted Josh Johnson or Ubaldo Jimenez last year had their championship chances hurt big time. You’re not going to turn a huge profit, if any, from your first couple of picks but you should target guys with high floors. Leagues aren’t won in the early rounds but they can be lost then.

In the second half of your draft you can afford to take some risks, especially in mixed leagues where there will be a big free agent pool during the year. Here is where you can turn huge profits and help secure a league championship.

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2012 Third Base Preview

Third base is arguably the deepest position in fantasy baseball in 2012. It will get even deeper two weeks into the season when Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera gain third base eligibility. I would be comfortable starting the top-11 three-baggers in mixed leagues (not counting Ramirez and Cabrera). So this is a position you can wait to fill and still wind up with a great option while getting some top-tier talent at other positions.

Here are the Fantasy Sports Kings third base rankings…

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2012 Sleepers – Hitters

Jason Kipnis

In the early rounds of your draft you want to try to just avoid disaster.  Owners that drafted Hanley Ramirez or David Wright last year probably didn’t win their league.  You’re not going to turn a huge profit, if any, from your first couple of picks but you should target guys with high floors.  Leagues aren’t won in the early rounds but they can be lost then.

In the second half of your draft you can afford to take some risks, especially in mixed leagues where there will be a big free agent pool during the year.  Here is where you can turn huge profits and help secure a league championship.

Here are some hitters that can be drafted late (some won’t be drafted in mixed leagues) that should out-play their draft positions.

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2012 Second Base Preview

Second base is a position full of question marks. Will Ian Kinsler, Rickie Weeks, and Chase Utley stay healthy enough to get 550 to 600 at-bats? Which Dan Uggla will we see in 2012, the 2011 first-half version or the second-half version? Will Danny Espinosa, Jason Kipnis, Dustin Ackley and Jemile Weeks improve in their second season or will they experience the Sophomore Slump? I think it’s a good idea to pick your second baseman early.

Here are the Fantasy Sports Kings composite second base rankings as well as a sleeper and a bust pick for 2012.

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2012 Daytona 500: Rained Out and Time for Change

The 54^th running of the Daytona 500 has been postponed and NASCAR may have to answer to its fans before they’re lost. For the first time in NASCAR history, the Daytona 500 will be run on a Monday and this will sure hurt the attendance at the Great American Race.

The new proposed start date and time for the Daytona 500 will be Monday Feb. 27 at 7 p.m

In the early days of NASCAR, it had been a regional sport in the south east of the country. For years, NASCAR has run its top-series events on a Sunday, and when it was not as popular that was fine. People were not traveling far to attend events, but now its popularity is growing as it expands in the country.

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First Base Throw-Down: Hosmer vs. Freeman

Every year there are sleepers that get so much hype they become overvalued. This year that list includes rookies Matt Moore and Bryce Harper and second-year men Brett Lawrie, Desmond Jennings and Eric Hosmer. In this piece I will try to convince you that you should wait for someone like Freddie Freeman that will give you similar stats instead of overpaying for Eric Hosmer.

I like Hosmer as much as the next guy. He helped me claim a fantasy baseball championship last year. He was Baseball America’s 8th-ranked prospect heading into 2011 and didn’t disappoint when he was promoted in early May. The 22-year-old hit .293 with 19 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 523 at-bats. I think his price tag (ADP of 53 at Mock Draft Central) is high for a first baseman that isn’t going to hit more than 25 home runs. Hosmer never hit more than 20 home runs in the minors, he hits more ground balls than fly balls (1.04 GB/FB in ’11) and he had an inflated 10.1% HR/FB ratio.

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