Fantasy Baseball Advice

Here’s what’s gonna happen.  You’re gonna be out at a family BBQ for Memorial Day.  Your weird uncle that has coke bottle glasses is going to ask your girlfriend if she’ll pass the potato salad just so he can get a glimpse of her bra when she moves her arm, and then your friend is going to text you, “Anthony Rizzo called up!  I grabbed him… Lqqk who sucks –> You!  Say hello to your mother for me.”  First thing you’re gonna think is, why are you friends with this guy?  Bad enough he’s an ass, but he uses Q’s for O’s.  Second thing you’re gonna think is, why you didn’t grab Rizzo and stash him a week ago?  He is absolutely raking in Triple-A:  .359 average, 13 homers in 37 games.  LaHair’s obviously not getting benched, but he can slide into the outfield and Rizzo will be playing 1st base for the Cubs by June 5th.  You can wait until June 4th if your league needs Nerf to supply the balls, but, in most leagues, you better grab him soon.  In the meantime, let’s start calling Rizzo “The Scer.”  You know, if Phil Rizzuto was The Scooter.  Okay, maybe that doesn’t work.  Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:

BUY

Dale Thayer – Street’s closed, use alternate route.  I’d consider going down Thayer.  Street’s supposed to open again in a few weeks, but city planners and construction have already closed this Street 15 times in the last few years from just wear and tear.  Chances are it’s up and running again are never definite.

Brian Fuentes – I understand people’s hesitation about picking up a guy that’s lost closer jobs before.  How about when you lost the job at Buffalo Wild Wings because you didn’t do the Dracula sneeze and sprayed the wings?  You still landed on your feet at Pita Palace and they didn’t judge you, right?

Addison Reed – Imagine a scenario where you have to go to the bathroom, but to get to the restroom you have to stand on line behind a fat kid trying to pick out an ice cream flavor at a shoppe with 50 flavors.  That fat kid is Robin Ventura.

Casey Janssen – Sergio Santos’s return is imminent.  And so is Lohan’s acting career, if you believe her manager.  Take closer news at face value, then pick up the guy who is currently getting saves and rub it in the face of the ‘imminent’ closer.

Christian Friedrich – Christian sounds like such a handsome guy’s name.  I wonder if it’s a self-hating Jew thing.  Any the hoo!  I don’t know how long Friedrich is going to be worthwhile.  King of the Obvious, “He pitches his home games in Coors and he’s raw,” but his next start is vs. the M’s.

Wei-Yin Chen – Wow, this week’s starters aren’t looking good, but if you own Wei-Yin and Bruce Chen, you can change your team name to “I Got More Chens Than Yo Momma.”

Alex Cobb – I’d go by Al Cobb, if I were him.  I wish I could shortened my name.  Gr?  What the eff is a Gr?  That’s a Lisa Simpson sound effect.  Gre seems pointless.  Gr-Al?  What am I, Superman’s home planet?  Actually, I am.  Don’t touch my crystals!  I wouldn’t go near Cobb in most leagues, but in AL-Only he’s fine.  Shoot, in Al-Only leagues, he’s a first round pick.  Especially with the injury to Al Albuquerque.

Trevor Bauer – Tyler Skaggs could’ve been here too.  This is the time to grab rookies that might see a June 1st call-up.  In my heart of hearts (which is a second baboon heart that I have located inside my human heart), I don’t think we see Bauer until July-ish, but he’s worth the speculative add.

Bud Norris – He’s over my arbitrary 50% owned cutoff (65%), but that’s why it’s arbitrary.

Welington Castillo – I just went over him this morning.  Scroll down.  No, your other down.  Since that morning’s post was written, Soto’s headed to the DL.  Don’t shed any tears for Soto, his knee already did that.

Danny Espinosa – You know what these Buy/Sells are?  They’re player groupings (ploupings?) of all the guys I’ve told you to grab throughout the week.  What I think some other sites do for their weekly Buy/Sell is see who I’m touting all week and then list them.  I’m not bragging when I say this.  I’m fact checking, snitches!

Everth Cabrera – Called up by the Padres to take O-Dog’s spot.  If you need 20+ steals from your MI, EverCab is the man (he’s also available for bar mitzvahs).

Brian Dozier – Hey, he’s hitting!  (Okay, I got nothing else nice to say about him, but he is hitting right now — it’s all I got!)

Elliot Johnson – See what I said about Dozier but Find and Replace ‘hitting’ with ‘stealing.’

Freddy Galvis – Freddy is okay; he’s okay, Freddy!  Freddy is okay; he’s okay, Freddy!  Now steal some bases, you Smooth Criminal.

Todd Frazier – I just went over my Todd Frazier fantasy.  I wrote it while performing “Stairway to Heaven, Mon” with Dread Zeppelin.

Nolan Arenado – If you missed out on Frazier in deep leagues, you’re gonna miss out on Arenando too and you’re gonna be waiting for Danny Valencia to get recalled and then cry to sleep.  You wanna cry to sleep?  C’mon, do a headstand with that frown!

Josh Bell – He’s another third baseman that should be playing for his major league team right now.  He’s hitting crazy good in the PCL (almost .400, 4 homers in 22 games), but, as we know, hitting in the PCL is like hitting on the moon with an aluminum bat.  For now, Bell’s a solid stash in deep NL-Only leagues.

Yonder Alonso – He’s hitting for average, but he has 1 homer and 1 steal.  BWAHAHAHAHA!  I mean, c’mon.  Move the fences in, Petco overseers!  (And the bases to forty feet apart from each other.)

Chris Heisey – Dusty Baker said he likes Heisey to play every day (if Ludwick wasn’t on the Reds).  Heisey could get 20 homers and 10 steals (if Ludwick wasn’t on the Reds).  I’d grab Heisey in all mixed leagues (if Ludwick wasn’t on the Reds).  Can’t we get Dusty a team where he has no options?  Could someone tape Ludwick and Bailey’s mouths shut, put them in a gorilla suit and ship them to Africa?

Xavier Avery – SAGNOF for Xavery!

Gregor Blanco – There was a legion of Blanco fans (The Whiteys?) that came out of the woodwork the other day when I didn’t mention he was starting for the Giants.  He’s basically a steals guy that might hit a handful of homers, if you had a woodcutting accident and only have 4 fingers.

SELL

David Wright – If you look at our BABIP vs. AVG chart, you’ll find Wright, um, right, there towards the top.  There was one other year he had an inflated BABIP.  The year was 2009.  It was during that year we saw MTV announce it would play more music from 3 AM to 4 AM, The Weather Channel began airing weather-related movies leaving the elderly to wonder where the tornado was and why Bill Paxton was reporting weather and, finally, Al Gore invented running water because he got bored of the Internet.  Also, that year, David Wright had a BABIP of .394, by far his highest BABIP year, and hit .307.  That year he also hit 10 homers.  Now, I’m not saying he’s only going to hit 6 more homers this year or that he’s going to hit .307.  But he’s most definitely not hitting .400, and 20 homers or 20 steals look around his ceiling.  The counting stats will be there, and I don’t think you should trade him for a Fairly OddParents DVD, but his value is high, and may not get higher.

The Royals physician diagnosed Danny Duffy with a torn UCL, which would mean Tommy John surgery.  In related news, Dr. James Andrews is filing a trademark lawsuit, saying he’s the only doctor that can shut down pitchers for longer than 60 days.  In sorta related news, Francisco Liriano is still waiting to come back.  In unrelated news, when Dr. James Andrews opens his milk, it goes bad immediately, then is good again in 280 to 360 days.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Dee Gordon – 1-for-4 as he hits .212.  I’m not pointing any fingers, but the ‘perts over at Yahoo owe some of you an apology for how high they ranked Gordon.  Tell them Grey, the ‘pert who told you to avoid Grandy and the .400 hitting Wright, sent you for an apology.  Write it in blood, Pianowski!  Elian Herrera was called up to replace the recently DL’d Juan Uribe.  In the minors, Elian was returned to Cuba to live with his father and now he feeds Castro grapes.  *checking notes*  Totally wrong Elian, mea culpa, my Latin American friends!  Herrera has crazy speed (33 steals in Double-A last year; 9 steals in 28 games this year).  He just ran into your room, tied your shoes together and ran out without you knowing.  Look down.  See?  For now, Herrera will play all around the field, but there’s rumors that he will take some playing time away from Gordon.  Mattingly said he doesn’t think Gordon needs to be sent down to the minors.  Okay, but it’s not good when it’s being discussed that a player might be sent down.  For now, I’d only grab Elian in NL-Only leagues, but it’s worth monitoring.  I’d continue to hold Gordon, but you might have to start figuring out a contingency plan.  Like standing outside of Dale Sveum’s house reciting reasons why Campana should get shortstop eligibility.  That would be one contingency plan.  Here’s your thinking.  Here’s the box.  Your thinking is not in the box, is it?

Matt Kemp – Headed to the DL with a hamstring strain.  Here’s some shorthand for, y’all.  When a player says under no uncertain terms that he will not land on the DL, petition your league manager to make him DL-eligible.  Kemp shouldn’t miss more than 15 days.  Yesterday, Bobby Abreu hit 3rd for the Dodgers in Kemp’s absence.  Lineups don’t get much ethier than that.  Lisper!

Desmond Jennings – On May 6th, he left a game with knee soreness.  The Rays said it wasn’t a big deal.  On May 7th, I said it was a big deal when a player needed to be lifted mid-game.  Now, over a week later, the Rays are putting Jennings on the DL after using him as a pinch hitter on Friday.  So he’ll be out another two weeks.  Is it too much to ask a team to not pinch hit a guy when he might need to go on the DL?  How is this ever a good idea?   Rhetorical!

Jeff Niemann – He’ll be out a few months after a comebacker fractured his fibula.  No lie.

Miguel Batista – 7 shutout innings against the Brewers.  Look who learned something at Dave Duncan sleepaway camp!

Brad Lincoln – 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 3 Ks with his third win as he outpitched Anibal Sanchez (7 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks).  FMFBBL!  Lincoln hasn’t been good for ellipse ever.   His K-rate is inflated because he was working in the bullpen and he’s on the Pirates.  Outside of NL-Only leagues, I wouldn’t go near him.

Daniel Nava – 1-for-2 with a homer.  He’s now 5 for his last 10 with 5 runs, 5 RBIs and a steal.  Here’s a short refresher about Nava.  He didn’t make his college team, worked as their equipment manager, finally played college ball, going undrafted in the major league draft then was cut by the Chico Outlaws, which I believe is the minor league affiliate for Chico’s Bail Bonds.  Maybe it’s all a ruse and Nava is a great prospect, who’s in the Witness Protection Program.  Just to be safe, he should have Marlon Byrd start his car for him.  For now, I’d grab him because he’s swinging a hot bat, but I wouldn’t expect much, even if that would make the perfect Nava script.

Brandon Morrow – 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 7 Ks and 5 unearned runs.  Holy ticker shock!

Bryce Harper – 1-for-4 as he hit his first homer.  After the homer, the Padres skipper tried to get it reversed, arguing there was too much pine tar under Harper’s eyes.

Ross Detwiler – 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 3 Ks vs. the Padres.  Ross, I would’ve been impressed with less runs.  I don’t know why the pitchers I stream can’t put on their big boy pants.  I should’ve went with Brad Lincoln.  It’s all about the Lincolns!

Henry Rodriguez – 1/3 IP, 3 BBs.  Before yesterday’s game, Davey Johnson said HanK-Rod is still the Nats closer.  After the game, Davey didn’t have to say anything.  Clippard could see some saves, Burnett might see a situational save or two, and Rodriguez, well, it was an okay run.

Bryan LaHair – 3-for-4 with a slam (#9) and legs (#1).  Shhh, don’t tell him that this is all a dream.  Just glad someone benefited from the movie, Inception.

Josh Reddick – 1-for-4 with his 9th homer, and 5th homer in the last ten games.  His last name sounds like an STD and he’s burning hot.

Elliot Johnson – 1-for-2 with his 6th steal.  Member how we were all excited about Jed Lowrie a few weeks ago?  Well, here’s your newest MI hot schmotato.

Allen Craig – 2-for-4 as he hit cleanup.  Can we just assume he gets two hits in every game so I don’t have to keep writing about him?  Thank you.

Tim Stauffer – 5 IP, 3 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks.  Returned from the DL after a month plus of a sore elbow.  Someone forgot to read the explicit directions on his elbows.  Don’t feed after midnight.  Don’t get wet and don’t, under any circumstances, pitch in away games.

Yonder Alonso – 2-for-4 to raise his average to .300.  He’s hitting cleanup and he has 7 runs and 10 RBIs and 1 homer on the year, so the average is pretty empty.  At least the average is good though, I’m farting in your general direction Aramis Ramirez.

J.J. Hardy – 2-for-5, 3 RBIs with his 9th homer.  From the comments, I noticed something about Hardy.  People can’t wait for him to cool off so they can drop him.  To the point where they’ll drop him even if he’s still hot.  Just get J.J. off people’s teams!  Sigh.  I wish I had him on all my teams.

David Robertson – Missed out on the save because of sore ribs that have lingered since Friday.  When Fred Flintstone had ‘saur ribs, he was only out of commission for a day (after uprighting his car).

Christian Friedrich – 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 10 Ks.  Okay, it was against the Ain’ts in San Fran, but that would be a great start even against the Mariners.  Speaking of which, he gets them next.  Don’t mind if I do!

Troy Tulowitzki – Dexter Fowler hit a line drive that nailed Tulo in the leg.  Wait until Tulo finds out Dexter was using one of Ubaldo’s old bats.  Tulo stayed in the game, but then was lifted when he seemed to be favoring his leg.  As of this writing, it’s not known how long Tulo will be out.  Once someone tells me in the comments, I will let you all know.

Nelson Cruz – 1-for-4 with his 2nd homer in as many games.  Hang on, Cruz owners, because he’s about to go into turbo and hit 10 homers over the next 12 days and then pull a hamstring.

Eric Hosmer – 0-for-4 to lower his average to .174.  I’ll be organizing a pray circle for Hosmer’s owners at 4 PM at the Reseda Kiwanis Club.  After we meet there, we will be tracking down all Adam Dunn owners demanding they give us his stats.

Freddie Freeman – Threw in the towel in the 7th with blurred vision in his right eye.  He needed Bobby Cox in his corner to tell him to piss lightning and crap thunder.

Randall Delgado – 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks.  A few solid starts ago, I said monitor him.  Then a couple of solid starts ago, I said I’d pick him up in deeper mixed leagues.  Now, no more quantifying.  Pick him up.

Drew Smyly – 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks.  Uh-oh, this might be the beginning of the end for his fantasy usefulness.  Sad emoticon.

Addison Reed – He got the save yesterday because it was getting too predictable the other way around.

Frank Francisco – 1 IP, 1 ER and the save.  The Mets decided to stick with their beleaguered closer and he rewarded their generosity by closing the door (after allowing a run).  Let’s see if you can guess what owning closers are similar to getting checked for:  Closers are completely nuts and after you grab them, they cough up runs.

David Wright – 1-for-3 with a run.  His average just dipped down below .400.  He’s a very good baseball player and I apologize I didn’t appropriately tout him during draft season.  May your piss and vinegar rain on my head.  Or if you looked at my slightly old draft sheet where I did tout him prior to his injury concerns, you’re welcome.

Yovani Gallardo – Still in the running for the most frustrating SP in the world.  Gives up only 2 hits in 6 IP vs the Mets and loses.  6 BB don’t help.  His ERA is still above 5, but it’ll be down sooner than his owners’ blood pressure.  Stay thirsty, Yovani.

Torii Hunter – Out for an unspecified amount of time as he deals with his son’s alleged sexual assault charges.  His son hopes to get this all cleared up and attend Penn State in the fall.

Even if you draft one or two outfielders in the top 100 (which you should), you’ll still need to identify some late bargains.   The top 20, 40, 60 and 80 outfielders for 2012 fantasy baseball can be found under the 2012 fantasy baseball rankings.  This is by no means all the outfielders I’d draft for one of my teams.  This is a list of guys that will go after the top 200 and could provide some healthy returns.  Where applicable, click on the player’s name to read more about them and to see their 2012 projections.  Anyway, here’s some outfielders to target for 2012 fantasy baseball:

Bryce Harper – More of a keeper pick.  Not yet a stud, but should be a stud for many years to come, assuming the league doesn’t disallow every home run he hits because of too much pine tar under his eyes.

Brandon Belt – Bruce Bochy’s big head + Belt’s playing time = Suzanne Somers.  Hmm, my math is probably off there.  If Belt gets 500 ABs, he could be a top 50 player.  I’m not even playing.  Not even half playing.  Or a quarter.

Colby Rasmus – Wow, I have Rasmus way earlier in my rankings than he’s being drafted.  Like way way earlier.  Actually, that might be way way way earlier.  It’s early, let’s leave it at that.  So I’m drafting Rasmus this year, now the question is will I hate his guts by May or love him?

Mike Trout – Before their Pujols’ acquisition, the Angels were less bloated, though it sounds like the opposite should be true.  If you click that Trout-linkie-ma-who, it’s a whole post dedicated to Trout pre-Pujols.  Yeah, things get dated like raps about al-Qaeda.  If you want to know why I think you should still take a last round flyer on Trout, read the Harper post but find and replace his name with Trout.

Alex Rios – Yes, I wrote an Alex Rios sleeper post.  It kinda makes me chuckle every time I think about how lame that is.  It’s such a move ESPN would pull.  Next up, Todd Helton… Huge sleeper!  Eh, what do you want?  I’m lame, deal with it or move on dot org.  Before you do that though, remember a guy going after 200 overall that could give you 20/20 isn’t as terrible as you might think, even if you kinda want to abandon your team right after drafting him.

Lorenzo Cain – Finally, it’s his turn to run down the white lines.  Cain… Sugar!  Melky is rejected, Royals are corrected… Gordons, Crows and Butlers are thoroughly respected… The revenue gets divided… Bill James gets excited… Now Glass ain’t broke and it’s no joke… It’s hard as hell to fight it, Royals are contenders?  Don’t buy it!  Freeze!  Rock!  Raines!  Cain’s drafted a little higher, baby… A little higher, baby…

Delmon Young – Maybe it’s the whole too many times I’ve been burned thing, but I trust Delmon Young about as far as I can throw him, which is nowhere near as far as he can throw a bat.

Dexter Fowler – He’s very fast, but his stolen base percentage makes me think he’s a stoned teenager.  Dude, where’s 2nd base?

Jason Bourgeois – He doesn’t have a starting job right now, but he’s a must own if you need steals because he will see at bats – though Bourgeois resents the implication that ‘owning’ him means he’s part of the proletariat.  You’ve been Marxed!

Tony Campana – What’s the take away from this outfielders to target post?  There are lots of cheap steals.  SAGNOF!

Jose Tabata – For those who keep clicking on the names and going to the top 60 outfielders post and keep wondering why I didn’t just say look at the top 60 outfielders post, I hear ya.

Yonder Alonso – For the next time you’re playing “Would you rather” here’s a good one.  Would you rather Yonder get everyday playing time for the Padres or 350 ABs for the Reds?  BTW, that’s assuming you’re playing “Would you rather” and there’s no girls within 100 feet.

Dayan Viciedo -  Could he breakout and have a huge year?  Sure, but he’d also have to have a BABIP over .350 and a HR/FB over 20%.  A cliché that doesn’t exist that I just made up right now says, “Possible and probable only share a few letters.”

Alex Presley – These outfielders are in no particular order.  If they were in order with the best guy first, Presley would be on top.  (Or maybe last if I were to build suspense until the top guy.  Anyhoo!)  I kinda want Presley on all of my teams.  After someone drafts Victorino, tell them you’re gonna take him too, only 10 rounds later in the form of Presley.  Only tell them with your inner monologue so no one else hears you and drafts Presley first.

Nolan Reimold – Now if these were in order and Reimold had 550 ABs coming his way, then he’d be on the top of the list.  I think the O’s have Endy Chavez, Wilson Betemit and Chris Davis in their potential everyday lineup because they want to be contracted.  How about the Astros and Orioles combine forces?  The O’stros?  Anyone?

Chris Heisey – Now if Heisey was guaranteed everyday playing time, didn’t play for Dusty and Reimold was still without a starting job, Heisey would be on the top of my list (if these were in order and I started with the top guy first.  This isn’t getting confusing, is it?  No?  Good!)

Carlos Gomez – Haven’t mentioned him anywhere this offseason.  That’s just plain wrong!  No, actually it’s not.  He’s terrible.  He sucks, at ya know, baseball.  If the ex-Marlin, I-can’t-hit-so-I’ll-bunt-and-take-PEDs Alex Sanchez had a twin sister and they had a baby together, it would be Carlos Gomez.  Gomez could steal 30 bases if he can get 400 ABs.  Remember, Corey Hart is already hurt and Nyjer Mogan is one thorough psychological evaluation away from ending up in a mental asylum.

We’re a few weeks from Opening Day, and the outlook on prospects for 2012 is taking shape.  As usual, it’s important to take a prudent approach with these guys.  Prospect-happy drafting is not wise.  Most of these names won’t make major impacts for another year or two – if ever.  Even so, it’s a good idea to get to know ‘em.  I tried to limit this list to guys I thought would contribute this year.  Rankings are weighted heavily in terms of realistic 2012 playing time, but I’m factoring each player’s projectable ceiling as well.  I’ll be following this post with my Top 25 Fantasy Prospects for 2013 & Beyond.  That one will run on Sunday.  For now, this:

1. Matt Moore | SP, Rays:  Immediate fantasy ace potential.  Read Grey’s Matt Moore outlook here.

2. Yu Darvish | SP, Rangers:  An argument could be made for Darvish to lead this list.  He’s a safer option than Moore to pitch a full season, but I believe Yu’s upside falls a bit short.  Check out my Rangers Minor League Review for more on Darvish.

3. Yoenis Cespedes | OF, Athletics:  He’s already impressing folks in the Cactus League.  Grey projects him at 65/20/80/.250/12.

4. Jesus Montero | C, Mariners:  Miguel Olivo is still in the picture, but Montero should take over full-time duties before long.  Grey has him as a top-10 catcher option.  I definitely agree.

5. Devin Mesoraco | C, Reds:  Like the Montero-Olivo situation, Mesoraco still needs to beat out Ryan Hanigan for the regular role behind the plate.  Nice upside here. 

6. Bryce Harper | OF, Nationals:  Baseball’s best prospect likely arrives this season.  Grey already went over Harper’s sleeper status:  he might be worth most as trade bait.

7. Zack Cozart | SS, Reds:  Cozart has the starting shortstop role effectively locked down in Cincy.  For more on both him and Mesoraco, check out my Reds post from last week.

8. Yonder Alonso | 1B, Padres:  Yes, the move to Petco hurts his value significantly.  Even so, he should be starting at first all year, making him useful in deep leagues or NL-Only.  More on Alonso in my San Diego post, here.

9. Trevor Bauer | SP, Diamondbacks:  Tim Lincecum 2.0?  He hasn’t blown anybody away this spring, but I’m excited about Bauer’s potential and I was tempted to rank him higher.  Read more on Bauer in my D-Backs post from earlier this offseason.

10. Julio Teheran | SP, Braves:  Teheran was pummeled in his spring debut, but bounced back nicely.  He has outstanding stuff and the Braves haven’t ruled him out of the opening day rotation just yet.

11. Addison Reed | RP, White Sox:  The White Sox have uncertainty surrounding the closer role and Reed could be the guy to step into that position this year.  R.J. wrote earlier this week that he expects Matt Thornton to be used in high-leverage setup situations.  That would seemingly leave Reed to collect the save opps.

12. Mike Trout | OF, Angels:  If he truly had a shot at playing this year he’d rank top five.  He doesn’t.  Still, he deserves to be mentioned here because he’s absolutely ready if there is a need.

13. Anthony Rizzo | 1B, Cubs:  The new Cubs front office has been adamant about letting Rizzo marinate for another year in Triple-A.  If that’s indeed the plan, then I should probably be saving Rizzo for my Top 25 Fantasy Prospects for 2013 & Beyond post.  Clearly that’s not what I’ve done.  I doubt Bryan LaHair can cut it in the bigs – not even on the Cubs.  I expect to see Rizzo manning first base at Wrigley for the second half of 2012.

14. Brad Peacock | SP, Athletics:  Big upside guy with a good shot at making the A’s rotation.  Grey & Rudy took him in the 22nd round of the inaugural LABR Mixed league draft.

15. Jarrod Parker | SP, Athletics:  Grey wrote about Parker after he was traded to the A’s in December.  He should be stronger than ever now, a season-and-a-half removed from Tommy John.  He and Peacock could be an exciting backend to the Oakland rotation.

16. Drew Pomeranz | SP, Rockies:  Pomeranz left yesterday’s spring start with tightness in his hip.  This isn’t good.  Two days ago he seemed like a lock to earn a role in the Colorado rotation.  Now, not so much.  The injury might be minor – certainly a situation to monitor.  See my Rockies post for more on Promeranz.

17. Jacob Turner | SP, Tigers:  Turner has struggled with control thus far in camp.  Looks like he’ll be opening the season in Triple-A, but it shouldn’t be long ’til he’s making an impact with Detroit.  Read more on Turner in my Tigers post.

18. Leonys Martin | OF, Rangers:  The toolsy outfielder is battling for a starting role in camp, and he’s been impressive so far.  He might have an edge on the competition thanks to his defense, but his offense is still a work in progress.  Read more on Martin in my Rangers post.

19. Shelby Miller | SP, Cardinals:  With Chris Carpenter’s health in question, the Cardinals are holding auditions for the fifth spot in their rotation.  After two poor outings this spring, though, it seems Miller won’t make the cut.  Should the Cards’ injury problems persist, however, Miller could be up and he could be extremely effective this year.  More likely, though, he makes his impact in 2013.  More about Miller, here.

20. Danny Hultzen | SP, Mariners: The M’s have optioned Hultzen to Triple-A, but he’s still a good bet to crack their rotation at some point this year.  The #2 overall pick last June should be added in all formats upon arrival.  Grey & Rudy recently drafted him, so you know he’s good.

21. Tyler Skaggs | SP, Diamondbacks:  Skaggs is dealing with a sore shoulder issue in camp, but he made his last appearance without issue.  The 20-year-old likely begins 2012 in Triple-A, but he’s certainly a candidate for a mid-season call up.  See my D’backs post for more on Skaggs.

22. Hisashi Iwakuma | SP, Mariners:  At 30 years old, he’s hardly a prospect in the typical sense.  Iwakuma is pretty well locked into a starting role, however, and that’s certainly valuable considering the Safeco-effect.

23. Brett Jackson | OF, Cubs:  Jackson is off to a exciting start in the Cactus League.  If he can keep it up, he’ll have a shot at arriving in the bigs sooner than I anticipated.

24. Joe Benson | OF, Twins:  The Twins’ best hitting prospect still has a chance to leave camp with the big club.  Check out my Twins post for more on Benson.

25. Lance Lynn | SP, Cardinals:  Lynn looks like the favorite to be take the fifth spot in the St. Louis rotation.  He was fantastic in relief down the stretch last season.  We’ll see if he can carry that momentum into this year as a starter.  More on Lynn in my Cardinals post.

I almost didn’t write this post because I don’t think you should be looking for sleeper 1st basemen.  It’s a no-no that makes my no-no area shrink.  Then I got to thinking and then I started watching Chopped, then I took a nap, then I had a snack, then I remembered I was writing a post about sleeper 1st basemen, but forgot why I didn’t want to write the post in the first place so I wrote it.  Now, you should not target these guys for your 1st base slot, but you could fill your corner infidel or Utility slot with one of these guys.  But, whatever you do, don’t punt 1st base.  This is a supplement to the top 20 1st basemen of 2012 fantasy baseball. These are 1st basemen that I’ll be setting the ol’ crosshairs on at my 2012 fantasy drafts after the top options are gone.  These are guys that are currently being drafted after the top 200.  Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2012 projections.  Anyway, here’s some 1st basemen to target for 2012 fantasy baseball:

Sike!  Before we get into the post, we have a big announcement about the RCLs.  Okay, maybe not that big.  But kinda big.  No, we didn’t sell out to Kotex and will now be bringing you all the latest and greatest Kotex news.  Though I do hear Kotex makes a great product!  What, you like to be wet?  No, this isn’t about our podcast that will be arriving shortly.  (Our theme song is bizzonkers, seriously.  Like seriously, seriously.)  Our announcement is Rudy and I and a group of fantasy baseball ‘perts will be taking part in this year’s Razzball Commenter League (The RCL).  Funston — check!  Behrens — check!  Pianowski — yeah, we got more than just Yahoo bloggers.  Also, in the league are Eric Mack from SI.com, Dalton Del Don from Rotowire, Eno Sarris from Fangraphs, Brad Evans (okay, so we got a bunch of Yahoo guys), Tim Dierkes from MLB Trade Rumors and many, many more (well, maybe two more).

For what it’s Wuertz, we asked everyone at ESPN (whose email we had, which is quite a few) to participate but they all said no.  If you want to take to the streets and ‘occupy’ them, go bug the crap out of Matthew Berry on Twitter telling him to take part.  Mention how we’re sending them 40-plus leagues to ESPN that will all be going to Yahoo next year if they don’t pony up one ‘pert.

So, yes, you will be competing against the likes of us, and them and the other them that were already playing in The RCL.  If Rudy or I by some chance in H-E double hockey sticks were to win the whole thing, we’ll give the prize — A MEMBER’S ONLY JACKET! — to the runner up.  But if, say, Funston wins the jacket, I think he wants it.  Anyway, time is of the essence, if you want to compete against us, them and the other thems.  Sign up here.  Not in this post.

Mike Carp – You may ask yourself where is that upside 1st baseman?  And you may ask yourself where is the 30 homer potential?  And you may find yourself drafting Mike Carp.  And you may tell yourself this is not my beautiful 1st baseman, 30-homer upside potential!  And the days go by, wishing for more home runs.

Brandon Belt – I have Belt down for some astronomic projections.  Brandon Belt is my Chris Davis and I am his Bill James.  My projections buckle if Belt doesn’t get enough play. (I think that’s a pun point!)

Chris Davis – Speaking of the devil, I don’t have Chris Davis listed anywhere in my projections because I think he’ll probably cause more damage with his K-rate than he’s worth.  You know who has him projected for 20 homers and a .265 average?  Oh, c’mon, you don’t even have to ask.  Bill James’s sun rises and falls on his love for Chris Davis.  If Davis can get 450 ABs, he could hit 25 homers and .240.  To get 450 ABs, a lot would have to break right for him and he’d actually have to produce to force his way into the lineup on a regular basis.

Yonder Alonso – Yonder’s upside is Gaby Sanchez.  That’s not me giving him a compliment.  If he gives you that, then he’ll be a valuable late round flyer in NL-Only leagues while fluctuating between serviceable and yawnstipating in mixed leagues.

Bryan LaHair – He sounds like a wrestling jobber, and it’s not far off from his current value as a major leaguer either.  He’s a placeholder for Anthony Rizzo.  His best chance for fantasy value is having one Baha Man season before disappearing into oblivion.

Garrett Jones – Robot Jones didn’t make it in my top 300 for 2012 fantasy baseball.  If we were an NL-Only site, I’d talk about the beauty of The Robot.  But since I brought it up, what the hey!  If you’re in a deep daily league, you take someone like Jones, who does damage against righties and platoon him in and out of your lineup.  Last year, in 355 ABs vs. righties, he hit 14 homers, .262 with 5 steals while against lefties he had only 2 homers and hit .147.  Garrett Jones is the new Matt Diaz!

Lucas Duda – What’s the highest tone your voice can reach?  It should crack your voice a little Peter Brady-style you’re going so high.  Okay, now take that highest tone and say, “It’s Duda’s day.”  Now say it again and again until when asked any question by anyone you reply, “It’s Duda’s day.”  Now you’re crazy.  Sorry, but it shouldn’t have been that easy to make you crazy.  Duda has next to no speed, but might have an outside chance for 25 homers.  Don’t find yourself in September looking at him, mumbling to yourself shoulda coulda Duda.