Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2012: Joe Mauer and Stars Ready for Bounce-Back Years

Injuries are a part of baseball. They are a sad part of the game, but that doesn't mean we can overlook them.

Fantasy baseball is all about finding opportunity. When you are drafting, you have to find the best value player and determine whether or not there is an inherent risk in taking someone with injury concerns. 

That can be difficult, especially when you see the name of a star player. You want to do anything you can to grab them, because you know if they are healthy, you are going to win your league.

Here are the stars that suffered through injury-plagued seasons last year that will bring you great value in your draft.  

Joe Mauer, C, Minnesota Twins

While the Twins look like they will be a disaster again this year, getting Mauer back in their lineup for 120-130 games is going to help them immensely. 

As long as the team realizes that he should not be playing catcher every day, the $184 million man should get back to being the hitter that we all know and love. 

Even before Mauer got hurt last year, he was having a solid offensive season. He hit .287 with 30 RBI and 38 runs in 82 games. He wasn't hitting for power, but with the exception of his MVP season in 2009, he has never been a big home run hitter. 

Expect him to get back to his 2010 numbers—.327 average, nine home runs, 75 RBI and 88 runs. That would make him one of the top five catchers in fantasy baseball without question. 

Shin-Soo Choo, OF, Cleveland Indians

Before 2011, Choo was one of the most underrated players in baseball. He went 20-20 the previous two seasons and hit .300 while doing it. 

He just had a bad start to the year with his DUI arrest, and everything snowballed on him after that. Choo broke his thumb in the June and strained an oblique shortly after returning. 

With a brand new year approaching and a deeper lineup for the Indians, Choo should get back to being the star that he was in 2009 and 2010. 

Jason Heyward, OF, Atlanta Braves

No one could have predicted what would happen to Heyward in 2011. He messed up his shoulder very early in the year, and he had to change his swing to compensate for it. His strikeouts went up, walks went down and he couldn't hit the ball in the air. 

After hitting just .227 with 14 homers and 42 RBI, Heyward's stock plummeted in the eyes of fantasy owners. 

This is the perfect scenario for you to jump on. He is just one year removed from his outstanding debut season. More important than that, he's only 23 years old. He still has a world of potential that he hasn't even tapped into yet.

Watch him in the spring to see how his shoulder and swing looks. If all is well, he is going to be a steal for your team. 

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