All of these rookies are worth grabbing at the right spot, but I wouldn’t reach for any of them. Sorry if that sounds boring, but sometimes Grey needs to instill some right-wing fantasy baseball conservatism into the equation. Longoria, Soto, Tulowitzki, Braun, Michael J. Fox in the first year of Family Ties, etc. panned out. But for every time you scored with rookie nookie, there was a time when you struckout, Adam Jones, Johnny Cueto, Fukudome, Towles, Hughes, Parra, Justin Upton, Brian Bonsall, etc. If you click on the links on the players below, you’ll see I covered all of these rookies for 2009 fantasy baseball back in November/December. (These fantasy sleeper, rookie doodes are in no particular order. Well… Technically, I did wrote them down in an order so they are in some order…) Anyway, here’s some rookies for 2009 fantasy baseball:
David Price – I think he hits 150 innings and makes a huge difference for the teams who own him. I’d pursue him like a third or fourth fantasy starter.
Matt Wieters – He’s been discussed ad nauseum since I discussed him way back in November. I won’t have him in any league.
Cameron Maybin – I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’s a top 30 outfielder at the end of the year. That’s a hunch more than anything. What, I can’t have crushes?
Colby Rasmus – I like him in NL-Only leagues if he leaves spring training with a gig.
Travis Snider – Cheap source of 20 homer power.
Elvis Andrus – Liked him a whole lot more before Omar “I Will One Day Die At The Hands Of Jose Mesa” Vizquel joined the team.
Andrew McCutchen – Keep your eye on him in NL-Only keepers. He might be a doughy bagel as soon as 2010.
Carlos Carrasco – I like him more than most, but he needs an injury to someone else to see some RT (that’s Rotation Time. Acronyms don’t work as well when I have to explain them.)
Brett Gardner – I loved him back in November. Now I’m a bit lukewarm. If he can find legitimate PT, he swipes 30 bags. Two things are going in his favor 1) Melky’s his main competition. 2) See Number One.
Kenshin Kawakami – Two parts Kuroda, one part Hideki Irabu.
Jason Heyward – Keep Heyward in mind in NL-Only keeper leagues. He’s my early frontrunner for NL ROY for 2010.
Chris Dickerson – Dusty Baker is talking of playing veterans. Oh, Dusty. You card!
Mat Gamel – If he leaves camp with a full-time gig, he will be worth owning in mixed leagues.
Taylor Teagarden – I’d like him more if the Rangers didn’t have Saltymochachino in front of him. Yet, I still like him. I like Salty too. To quote your Mom’s favorite movie title, “Something’s Gotta Give.”
James McDonald – If McDonald gets the fifth starter job in The Los Angeles City of Los Angeles (<–required by Anaheim law), he could be a great NL-Only sleeper. James McDonald is a fantasy sleeper?! That’ll be a big seller in Google searches.
