2012 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Top Players Destined to Disappoint This Season

If you believe your league's rankings with these players, you will be left disappointed. If you want to put these guys on your team, be prepared to deal with a lot of frustration and inconsistency. You're better off looking elsewhere to fill these positions. 

Lance Berkman, 1B/OF, St. Louis Cardinals

Berkman saw some pitches in 2011 and had some golden opportunities to thump. That is what batting either right before or right after Albert Pujols will tend to do.

Now, Pujols is gone and Berkman's numbers will drop. 

Also, even in 2011, he missed 17 games.

As a matter of fact, Berkman hasn't played in more than 150 since 2008. He is now 36, which does not indicate that his best years are still to come. 

Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Colorado Rockies

There is nothing to trust about Gonzalez when he's not hitting at Coors Field. This has been a consistent struggle throughout his career in Colorado and will continue to be in 2012. 

The National League West features some of baseball's best pitchers, who ply their craft in the top pitching parks in the league. 

Quite frankly, you don't ever want to reach for a guy who will only bring you consistency in half of the games.

Let Gonzalez fall to you.

Look at his projections in your league, and add two rounds to them.

If he falls, great. If not, let someone else deal with the frustration. 

Stephen Strasburg, SP, Washington Nationals

Hear this out.

Strasburg is going to be kept on an extremely tight pitch count this year, which will impact his numbers across the board. The Nationals aren't going to be concerned with wins and losses, strikeouts or any other personal statistic. 

The early part of the year will yield limited pitches, which will bring few wins and strikeouts.

Also, if he ever has a bad start, things like ERA and WHIP will be hard to come down. 

He has a lot of appeal, but you have to look past it.

Remember that Strasburg hurt himself early on in 2010, forcing him to miss nearly all of 2012. They will be careful with the franchise arm. 

Dixon's 2012 Mock Draft with Season Projections

Pick	Player	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG.	W	K	ERA	WHIP
1.	Matt Kemp, OF	98	34	103	41	.304
2.	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	108	34	114	2	.328
3.	Albert Pujols, 1B	102	41	111	7	.317
4.	Robinson Cano, 2B	107	29	108	6	.324
5.	Jacoby Ellsbury, OF	118	26	91	39	.319
6.	Jose Bautista, 3B/OF	107	42	103	6	.292
7.	Troy Tulowitzki, SS	93	31	98	9	.303
8.	Adrian Gonzalez, 1B	107	36	115	1	.309
9.	Joey Votto, 1B	109	35	107	6	.312
10.	Ryan Braun, OF	98	29	107	37	.317
11.	Prince Fielder, 1B	110	41	121	2	.289
12.	Roy Halladay, SP						22	212	2.13	1.08
13.	Dustin Pedroia, 2B	112	23	82	23	.316
14.	Justin Verlander, SP						21	226	2.21	1.04
15.	Evan Longoria, 3B	95	33	97	8	.280
16.	Justin Upton, OF	103	36	105	38	.278
17.	Ryan Zimmerman, 3B	89	25	89	4	.312
18.	Clayton Kershaw, SP						15	216	2.33	1.10
19.	Jose Reyes, SS	101	13	61	37	.309
20.	Andrew McCutchen, OF	91	27	92	37	.293
21.	Ian Kinsler, 2B	101	28	74	31	.281
22.	Felix Hernandez, SP						14	223	2.12	1.01
21.	Hanley Ramirez, SS	91	25	92	29	.295
22.	David Wright, 3B	82	24	86	14	.294
23.	Mark Teixeira, 1B	101	39	104	5	.261
24.	Matt Holliday, OF	93	26	92	13	.320
25.	Cliff Lee, SP						18	202	2.37	1.12
26.	Mike Stanton, OF	87	44	106	6	.261
27.	Alex Rodriguez, 3B	94	28	92	5	.287
28.	Jered Weaver, SP						19	211	2.46	1.18
29.	Adrian Beltre, 3B	84	27	91	7	.283
30.	Jay Bruce, OF	93	34	101	14	.278

Note: Saves are also a category in standard fantasy leagues, but no closer is included in the Top 30, so they are omitted from the projections. 

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