2010 Fantasy Baseball Advice: Five Players You May Not Want To Draft

We all love draft day, don’t we? The majority of our time in the offseason has been spent siphoning any tidbit of news we can get in an effort to keep ourselves one step ahead of the pending competition.

We spent the past couple of months—most of us anyway—developing a detailed manifesto, filled, with what we believe to be the keys to winning.

• An elaborate collection of player news equipped with the latest updates, and overall projections.
• A sleeper list that seemingly never ends.
• And our ‘première qualité’. A draft plan so well thought out, so precisely mapped, there couldn’t possibly be any discrepancies to worry about…right?

Yes, we certainly love draft day.

But more often than not, reality tends to sink in very early on draft day, and it is very easy to find yourself trading prudence for impetuousness.

One of the ways we get caught in that trap is remembering who to forget. We all make watch lists, sleeper lists, and even detailed player sheets, but how many of us actually have a list of players to stay away from?

Here are five players to risky to be targeted in your draft this year.

Ryan Franklin-Cardinals-RHP

Ryan Franklin looks to be—for now—the starting closer in St. Louis, but picking him up in the draft for any reason would be futile And a waste of a pick.

Franklin is known to be a versatile pitcher with good command but horrible at throwing strikes, and it is because of that command (and a lack of true heat) that will always leave him right where he is: worthless in fantasy.

There are far better options for you to consider even for your bench; Franklin isn’t one of them.

Alex Gordon - Royals - 3B

Alex Gordon is being viewed as a potential sleeper coming into this year, but to be honest, I can’t for the life of me understand why.

The guy is 25 coming off of hip surgery, and even when he was healthy Gordon wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire.

His strikeout rate is very high, his RBI count is very low and I don’t see Gordon being any better than a lifetime .250 hitter.

When your digging around and you see the pro-Gordon pieces, remember there are much better options out there at third, especially ones that can provide at a .800 OPS; something Gordon cannot do.

Ryan Theriot - Cubs - SS

Ryan Theriot is going to be one of those guys who winds up having as sudden of an end to his Fantasy relevance, as he had to his importance.

Theriot hit .284 with 7 HR and 54 RBI last year with a dismal .712 OPS and it looks as if the Cubs aren’t entirely trusting “The Riot” can bounce back—nor am I.

The other issue with Theriot is he is 30 now, and rookie sensation Starlin Castro is licking his chops at a chance to usurp the job.

Shortstop isn’t very deep this year but be aware that Theriot isn’t even a late round steal so I would recommend building SS early (if possible) to avoid this situation altogether.

Placido Polanco - Phillies - 3B

Placido Polanco is old, over paid, and declining in dramatic fashion, there I said it. But apparently the Phillies disagree, which shows in the three year 18 million dollar contract they forked over.

Call it nostalgia or stupidity on their part, but Polanco has been steadily dropping in OPS—amongst other categories—since 2007, and although he may be an upgrade over Feliz in regard to offense, he won’t be on defense.

The Phillies could use him in the two hole in front of Victorino, but if Polanco doesn’t produce he will be the bust of the year for both the Phillies and Fantasy owners who take a chance on him.

Just keep shopping.

Javier Vazquez - Yankees (again) - SP

Javier Vazquez had what most are considering a banner year last year posting a respectable 2.87 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP with a 238/44 K/BB ratio.

But there are so many factors to consider when looking at Vazquez:

• He’s 33 and has over 1,000 innings pitched since 2004.
• How will he re-adjust to the American League?
• Will he be another Fantasy disappointment in a Yankees uniform again?

Vazquez has already stated that he isn’t going to play to 40 and that he “…doesn’t have much playing time left.” which points to a guy who is ready to hang things up and enjoy looking back on a fine career.

With guys like Jon Lester, Chris Carpenter, and the emerging Josh Johnson ahead of him I believe Vazquez would only be a consideration late if he is still around.

What do you think? Have any thoughts to share? If you enjoyed this piece, make sure to check out this analysis on the Fantasy impact being offered by the San Francisco Giants below.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/329539-are-the-giants-a-better-team-in-2010-a-fantasy-look-and-more