Fantasy Baseball Rankings 2012: Mid-Round Players That'll Make Leap to Elite

There are a few players that are ready to post returns that massively outweigh their draft position. Pinpointing these players can be the foundation to a championship-worthy fantasy season. 

Grab just a couple of mid-round guys that produce in a big way, and your team is almost guaranteed to be potent and deep. 

Here are three guys that fit the bill. 

Michael Pineda, P, Yankees

The hard-throwing Pineda is a strikeout machine. He had 173 of them in just 171 innings last year. 

That number is sure to rise as his workload increases. Pineda was in his first year at the major league level last year, and the Mariners kept close tabs on his inning count. He will be stretched out more this year, and he will produce. 

Pineda's mid-90s fastball and hard slider are the stuff of strikeout dreams. 

He is also in a position to pick up way more than his nine wins last season, as he goes from a Mariners team ranked 30th in runs scored to the potent Yankees lineup. 

JD Martinez, OF, Astros

Twenty-four-year-old Martinez is ready to become the heart of the a weak Astros lineup. He could very well end up hitting in the third spot, and he will produce. 

Last season, in his first taste of the majors, Martinez played in 53 games and hit six home runs and 35 RBIs. 

He is now ready to pick up where he left off and will have plenty of opportunities to produce. Even if he slumps, the Astros don't exactly have a wealth of bats ready to replace him in the lineup. 

Martinez is going to get a ton of at-bats in the heart of the lineup. This is going to produce RBIs and runs. 

Rafael Furcal, SS, Cardinals

Shortstop is the hardest position to fill in a fantasy lineup. Furcal has the potential to be a real steal. 

The big concern here is health. He has struggled with injuries and played in just 87 games last year. 

He also suffered through an uncharacteristically rough year at the plate. He ended up hitting just .231 and had a BABIP of .240. Those numbers are the worst of his career, and it's not even close. 

Furcal will be able to bounce back from that. We are talking about a career .282 hitter. While he is getting up in age at 34, he is not at the age where you expect that kind of drop-off in production to persist.