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If you are in a keeper league and are looking for players to target in the late rounds that could have a decent year this year but also have a bright future for years to come, then look no further.  Keeper leagues are great because they combine the draft (obviously the best part about fantasy sports) with the feeling of being a GM having to decide who is worth resigning and who you need to let go of in favor of cheaper players.  I am currently in a keeper league that uses a tier system that looks like this:

Rounds

1-3: Tier one

4-7: Tier two

8-11: Tier three

12-15: Tier four

16-24: Tier five

Free agent/waiver acquisitions: Tier five

 I was able to keep José Bautista as my tier 5 keeper this year since I picked him up off waivers at the beginning of the year.  Buster Posey, David Price and Mike Stanton were also kept as tier 5 guys by other managers in my league.  Now, while these guys are all overrated compared to where they are being drafted, they are all substantial values where they are being kept.  In other words, I wouldn’t pay Bautista’s current price of a top 50 player but I love him as my final keeper. 

 Hopefully I can help you identify those guys that are going to have good value this year with major upside for future years.  Here they are in order of what rounds to target them in.

1)  Chris Sale(11-14)- He has the stuff to be a stud closer and has a chance to close this year if Matt Thornton doesn’t succeed or sustains an injury.

2)  J.P. Arencibia (13-16)- This guy mashes the ball with major power upside.  He’ll likely be a BA liability but at such a thin position (C) he will be a great value later in the draft when the top catchers are gone.

3)  Freddie Freeman (17-21)- Think James Loney with a little more pop and potential for even more pop in his bat.

4)  Jeremy Hellickson (19-24)- Someone will take him earlier than this but they will not be happy with the value in return.  Hellickson’s true value will be next year and for years to come.  Don’t reach for him but if he falls to you, don’t be afraid to pull the trigger.

The rest of the players are guys to target in rounds 20-25.

5)  Aroldis Chapman- He has the stuff to close but has someone firmly in front of him in Francisco Cordero and the stuff to be a Dominant Starting Pitcher but may lack enough control.  Either way he a great source of Ks especially for those of you in leagues with Innings caps like the one I’m in.  He also has the potential close this year or next.

6)  Domonic Brown-  His stock has dropped considerably since his Spring Training injury that will take up to 4-6 weeks to heal.  But, he is a guy that will be back in the mix later in the year and the future for the Phillies.  They let Jayson Werth go because they believe in Brown so much.  Don’t let the injury scare you away if you can pick him up in the last round of your draft.  Plus you can always put on the DL (if your league allows DL spots) as soon as rosters are set and pick up someone else like Kyle Drabek or Desmond Jennings.

Here are a few quick tips to remember for draft day.  These should help keep you out of trouble for the most part.  Just remember these tips and you shouldn’t get yourself in too much trouble.

1)  Don’t reach for a catcher.  While Joe Mauer is by far the best catcher in the draft, you don’t have to pay second round fees for him.  Instead, target players like Mike Napoli, Geovany Soto, Carlos Santana or J.P. Arencibia in the tenth or later rounds.  Spend that second round pick on a player like Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton or Kevin Youkilis.

2)  There is a ton of very good Starting Pitchers out there so you don’t need to break the bank on SP during the early rounds.  Feel free to pick up one stud Pitcher early on to anchor your staff but you do not need to use more than one pick in the first 3-4 rounds on Starting Pitchers.  Jered Weaver is available in round 7, Max Scherzer can be had in the ninth round and the same goes for Colby Lewis.  The point is that you can get quality Starting Pitching late in the draft.  Jaime García can be had in round nineteen.

3)  Every pick you make after your first pick should be a direct result of your previous pick.  Let’s say you pick Carl Crawford with your first pick.  You are instantly ahead in steals and sitting pretty in BA and Runs.  Your next pick should be someone who is going to help you out in HR and RBI like Ryan Howard or Mark Teixeira.  Follow that up with a player like Shin-Soo Choo who will get you 20+ HR and Steals to go with a .300 BA and decent Runs and RBI and you are looking pretty good so far.  In fact, I might have just set my own first three picks in my own drafts.

4)  Do not pay for a career year.  Sure, José Bautista had a monster season last year, David Price was practically unhittable last year and Nick Swisher had a career high BA, but does anyone really expect any of that to happen again this year?  Instead look for a player that steadily gets better every year or has a track record for a high level of performance.  Save your “tremendous upside” picks for the later rounds.

5)  Read as many draft day starategies that you can.  I’m not going to sit here and say that my rankings are the only rankings you should trust.  The more info you take in, the better choices you can make for yourself on draft day.

6)  If you miss out on one of the top 2 SS, don’t freak out.  SS is pretty thin but there are good players available later in the draft such as Alexei Ramírez or Mike Aviles that will give you serviceable stats.  So, there is no need to jump on Jimmy Rollins or Derek Jeter ahead of their ADP.

7)  DO NOT PAY FOR SAVES!!!

Stick with these tips and you should do just fine in your draft.

Baseball is almost upon us.  Well, the games that count are.  I don’t know about you but I can’t wait for the regular season to start.  This is the time of year when every team and their fanbase has hope.  Even the Royals’ fanbase has hope.  They have one of the best farm systems in baseball, if not the best.  The Yankees will always be in the hunt, as will the Red Sox. 

Being an A’s fan my entire life, I’ve seen every possible up or down a team can throw at a fan. I have attended three different World Series (’88, ’89, ’90) and I have also seen the days of rebuilding. This is the way it is. Or should I quote every single professional athlete in the history of sports, “it is what it is”. But, this is what I love about sports and being a fan. I’m talking about real fans, not fair weather fans. I mean the fans that are there day in and day out. The fans that know what they are talking about and can back it up with facts that go back further than last year.

Then you have the fans that call themselves “fans of the game”. This group usually consists of older fans that have seen the game go through a lot of changes, such as the addition of the DH. Fantasy baseball (as well as all fantasy sports) was started by this type of fan. It seems as though everyone is playing some version of fantasy sports nowadays. Whether it be baseball, football, basketball or some other sport (Yahoo! actually has fantasy golf, Nascar and hockey) we have the “fans of the game” to thank.

I know things about every MLB, NFL and NBA team now that I never would have even cared to know thanks to fantasy sport. It has actually turned me into a “fan of the game”. It always cracks me up when I hear about a player being traded from the American League to the National League or vice versa, and one of his new teammates says something like this:

I haven’t seen him play much but everyone tells me that he is a pretty good player.

And that player turns out to be someone like Matt Holliday.  It happens all the time with free agents and traded players and it cracks me up because I can’t believe that a professional baseball player doesn’t know about other players the way I do.  I know that they don’t have time to play fantasy sports but it still trips me out when that happens.  Fantasy sports have turned me into a “fan of the game” and I am truly grateful for that.  I used to hate basketball ever since I was cut from the team my Freshman year.  The Golden State Warriors were terrible and I had no reason to care about basketball.  Then one day my friend convinced me to join his fantasy basketball league and it was all over after that.  I was hooked and now I love basketball.

I just want to say thanks to the original “fans of the game” for giving us a wat to connect to more than just our own local teams.   Everyone from little leaguers to Pro sports affiliations benefit from you.  Thanks again.

Here is my annual preseason rankings for the TOP 100 fantasy baseball players.  As always these rankings are for a standard 5X5 category league using Runs, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, RBI and Batting Average for hitters while using Wins, Saves, K’s, ERA and WHIP for pitchers.  The past (previous stats), present (where they play and with whom) and future (predictions based on the past and present) have all been taken into account for these rankings.  I hope this can help you on your way to a Championship Fantasy Season.  Good luck.

Here is my annual preseason rankings for the SP position.  As always these rankings are for a standard 5X5 category league using Runs, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, RBI and Batting Average for hitters while using Wins, Saves, K’s, ERA and WHIP for pitchers.  The past (previous stats), present (where they play and with whom) and future (predictions based on the past and present) have all been taken into account for these rankings.  I hope this can help you on your way to a Championship Fantasy Season.  Good luck.

Here is my annual preseason rankings for the OF position.  As always these rankings are for a standard 5X5 category league using Runs, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, RBI and Batting Average for hitters while using Wins, Saves, K’s, ERA and WHIP for pitchers.  The past (previous stats), present (where they play and with whom) and future (predictions based on the past and present) have all been taken into account for these rankings.  I hope this can help you on your way to a Championship Fantasy Season.  Good luck. 

Here is my annual preseason rankings for the RP position.  As always these rankings are for a standard 5X5 category league using Runs, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, RBI and Batting Average for hitters while using Wins, Saves, K’s, ERA and WHIP for pitchers.  The past (previous stats), present (where they play and with whom) and future (predictions based on the past and present) have all been taken into account for these rankings.  I hope this can help you on your way to a Championship Fantasy Season.  Good luck. 

Here is my annual preseason rankings for the SS position.  As always these rankings are for a standard 5X5 category league using Runs, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, RBI and Batting Average for hitters while using Wins, Saves, K’s, ERA and WHIP for pitchers.  The past (previous stats), present (where they play and with whom) and future (predictions based on the past and present) have all been taken into account for these rankings.  I hope this can help you on your way to a Championship Fantasy Season.  Good luck.