Fantasy Relevance ‘09 is a breakdown of each M.L.B. team that shows the players with fantasy value from each respective team. There are four categories the players will be broken down into and they are as follows: Studs, Role Players, Keepers and Sleepers. Hopefully this will help you in your quest for Fantasy Baseball dominance.

Studs:

Lance Berkman- Last year, Berkman started the season on a tear giving fantasy owners one of the best first couple months anyone had seen in a long time. He batted .303 in April, .471 in May and .319 in June only to fall off after the All-Star break. His overall numbers averaged out to right around his career numbers or slightly higher. Berkman is a very good player and one of only a few good players on the Astros’ roster. If you have to own an Astros player, you can’t go wrong with Berkman.

Roy Oswalt- His ERA has risen each year for the past 3 years and I don’t see that trend changing. Once one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, Oswalt has shown that he does have weaknesses. I don’t expect him to have an Aaron Harang type of season but I would say that he will probably have a season that will mirror last year where he will have 15+ wins, 150+ Ks with an ERA in the mid 3s. I know this doesn’t really constitute a fantasy stud but he could easily return to his old form and dominate a rather weak NL Central.

Jose Valverde- One of the better Closers in baseball, he had a slightly elevated ERA last year with the Astros but that is to be expected playing at Minute Maid Park. The last two seasons he has combined for 91 Saves, 161 Ks and only 49 BBs in 136.1 IP. He won’t have an ERA in the low 2s but he will get you saves and Ks and that is always a good thing.

Carlos Lee- In 115 games last year, Lee was batting .314 with 28 HRs and 100 RBI before succumbing to injury. He was phenomenal and it is sad that his season was cut short. He should be on everybody’s radar this year and should help Berkman stay steady throughout the entire season also. I expect Lee to continue right where he left off last season and I will absolutely be targeting him in all of my leagues.

Role Players:

Miguel Tejada- It wasn’t that long ago that Tejada was a fantasy stud but in recent years, allegations of steroid abuse and faulty birth certificates seem to have taken a toll on this once top 3 SS. He is no longer a must have SS but that doesn’t mean that he is useless. With the SS position being so scarce of high quality players, don’t feel bad if you wind up with Tejada on your roster if you miss out on one of the top 3 (Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes or Jimmy Rollins). Just make sure that you don’t take him too early in the draft. He is considered more of a decent option with the off-chance that he could have a comeback player type of season.

Kazuo Matsui- He isn’t a household name but if he can stay healthy, he is a decent source of BA and steals from the 2B position. The problem with Kaz is heath. In the last 3 seasons, he has only played in 232 games out of a possible 486. Consider taking a flier on him in the final rounds of your draft if you need steals but don’t expect him to be around for the entire season because history shows that he won’t play the entire year. But, on the other hand, if he does somehow manage to 140+ games, you could potentially have a guy that will bat around .300, get 30+ SB and score 80+ runs.

Keepers:

Hunter Pence- I know, everyone thinks that this guy is the future of the organization but I am not completely sold on him just yet. He has the potential (and showed it in his rookie season) to be a fantasy stud for years to come but, he didn’t do so well in his second season (first full season). Some will chalk this up to the dreaded sophomore slump and say that now that the pitchers have made their adjustments to Pence, it is now his turn to make adjustments to pitchers. The real question is will he make those adjustments? There is a strong chance that he will make those adjustments and that is why I am putting him in the Keeper category. I would love to see him return to his Rookie form and mash the ball like he did in ‘07. I don’t think he will go as high as he did in drafts last year but someone will take him early so don’t wait too long to grab or you might be kicking yourself come the All-Star Break when you see that he is starting for the NL.

Sleepers:

Michael Bourn- Usually the Sleeper tag is put on a player that has low expectations but could succeed in the right situation. Bourn was a Sleeper candidate last year but did not perform up to what fantasy owners had hoped. In fact, the only category that made him worth owning was SB. He finished the year with 41 SB in 138 games which is extremely impressive considering that he he had a total of 107 hits. The amazing part is that out of those 107 hits, 10 were doubles, 4 were triples and 5 were HR. That leaves 88 singles, and if you throw in the 37 walks, he started on first base only 125 times (not counting reaching base on an error or fielder’s choice). If he could only cut down on his Ks and learn some plate discipline, he might be worth taking a flier on in deeper leagues if you need SB.