Finding 2009 Fantasy Baseball Stars Buried in The Rankings

More than just looking at the various positions you need to fill out on your fantasy baseball rosters, owners need to know where to look for players who may slip by some of your fellow owners.  

Web-based drafts, specifically, have a fatal flaw. Default rankings tend to put players that were hurt in the prior year too low than they otherwise might be if they had played a full season. Even if said site's experts deem players should be drafted higher, that doesn't mean the system will put them there. 

Every year, some players go later in drafts because the owners don't necessarily always think to look for them. Moreover, less experienced players don't pre-rank their own players, relying on the website to do that job for them. 

How do you get them? Know that there are going to be at least a few people in your league very much aware of the same fact. They'll wait as long as possible, then strike. You need to just be thinking one round ahead of them. Not easy, but it makes the game that much more fun. 

That's a tough proposition, but one that can be taken advantage of. The players listed here could very well be listed much lower on lists than you might expect, and will be steals if you can take advantage of that fact.

John Lackey

Lackey spent the early part of last season on the DL, but came off to pitch some remarkable baseball in the latter portion to the year. He likely missed at least ten starts, yet still managed to win 12 games. He struggled after the All-Star break, but posted a 6-1 record with a very low ERA between May and June.

Lackey's an 18-game winner who is being found in the early middle rounds of most drafts, yet outside the top-100. Look for him to provide a boost for your rotation, a 1.20 WHIP, 175-185 strikeouts, and a 3.40 ERA this season.

Mike Lowell

You can argue that Lowell's injury should only have impacted his final month or two of the season, but that was enough to bring him well down off of his outstanding 2007 campaign. Is he a .324 hitter? No, but he's closer to .290 than he is to .275. Lowell should increase his home run total to around 25 and drive in close to 90 runs.

Orlando Hudson

He's in limbo right now because of not having signed with a team. Add to that, a wrist injury shortened his 2008 campaign. Hudson was hitting over .300, and has averaged has inched up every year since becoming a starter in 2003. No, he doesn't have much power, but second base is a very thin position this year. He could help a fantasy team out later in drafts if you know where to look.

Chien-Ming Wang 

He was an afterthought when he went down early last season, but Wang has won 19 games twice in his career already. He still throws a heavy sinker that keeps batters down.

As long as he's fully recovered, expect another solid season. Especially where he has C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to take some of the pressure away from him. I'm going to lobby to call the guy C.M. Wang so he fits in with the letters group here.

Brad Penny

I'll admit I'm skeptical when it comes to putting Penny on this list. He was a complete disaster in 2008, falling off the face of the earth. The Dodgers seemed to believe that it was largely the result of a shoulder injury. If that's the case, and he isn't just awful, the Red Sox will help him win games.

Penny gives up a lot of home runs, but remember that was Schilling's concern in coming to Boston as well as a flyball pitcher. It's not as tough as you might think. Penny has won 16 games multiple times, and he'll have a solid offense and defense playing for him.

Ben Sheets

Another guy that we have to wait to see where he signs. If he goes to Texas, I'm taking bets off the table. Sheets has the stuff, but he also has problems keeping himself on the mound.

When you look later in a draft, I'd rather have the upside of Sheets than a safety net in a player like Jaime Moyer or a complete unknown. Sheets could win 18. He could also miss half the season. Keep an eye on him, though, as his name is buried.

Ryan Zimmerman

Zimmerman is coming off a rough year battling injury. After struggling before the break, he came on to hit .310 following the All-Star game. Most of his time was concentrated in the season's final two months. His being there late in the game represents the true depth we have at the corners this year. He will be a later-round steal for a team filling the corner spots or utility. If you expect .280/28/90, you won't be disappointed.

Justin Verlander 

Another pitcher that did everything wrong last season. Verlander gave owners that drafted him highly nothing but headaches. There is good news, though. This year couldn't POSSIBLY be worse. Verlander has been working with new coaches in the Tiger organization to refine his point of release and delivery. That could cause initial growing pains, but Verlander has too much talent to be another disappointment.

Temper expectations by drafting him after the mid-way point in your draft and you won't suffer too much pain. 15 wins with an ERA just south of 4.00 seems right. His WHIP may still suffer if he struggles early, and I don't expect that to break the 1.25 mark.

Hideki Matsui

It's a crowded outfield in New York right now. Xavier Nady, Johnny Damon, Matsui, and a few others are all trying to claim just a couple spots in the lineup. Matsui struggled to crack a logjam when he returned last season, but without Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi, things open up, if only slightly. As a fourth or extra outfielder, Matsui will provide adequate numbers, but with limited upside in most formats.

Jorge Posada 

Why talk about a 37-year-old catcher coming off shoulder surgery? When that catcher is expected to spend some time at first base to spell Mark Teixeira and at DH to rest his shoulder and knees, that means less wear on the body and a better opportunity to see some offense.

Posada is much better with his bat than with his glove, and could still provide 15-20 home runs. He's always been good for average, and a number close to .280 shouldn't surprise.

Others to watch

Jason Schmidt, John Smoltz, Carl Pavano, Kelvim Escobar (midseason), Mike Hampton

Escobar is expected to be out until the All-Star break. Schmidt and Hampton are complete injury risks in every sense. Pavano and Smoltz could surprise slightly, and will certainly be given the chance to prove they can still pitch.

The list is by far means not exclusive. Each team has players that were felt to be on track for one type of year but fell off for one reason or another. These ten are simply being slightly overlooked in early drafts.

Players like Victor Martinez and David Ortiz may be going lower than they did at the same time last season, but they are still being given an appropriate level of both respect and hype. Including them on this list would be a disservice to the others that have seen a much larger decline in their draft position.

Another category are those rookies that were called up mid-way through last season and did not get the benefit of a full year of at-bats. They belong in another category as well. There are plenty of people that are looking at Mike Aviles, Alexei Ramirez, and many others as steady picks. We'll cover these sophomores at another time.

As drafts get later, it's important to know that there are still players available that can fit a need and be a pleasant surprise. Keep these ten names in mind to steal when the players start flying off the board.