Fantasy Baseball 2012: AL West Sleepers

Throughout the next 10 days, we'll take a division-by-division look at eight underrated candidates, or sleepers, for fantasy glory in 2012 -- some rookies, some veterans...but all 26-and-under talents. The AL West leads off:

1B Mark Trumbo, Angels

Skinny: If Albert Pujols had never signed with the Angels for $240 million, Trumbo would be the club's entrenched starter at first base (or at least battling with Kendrys Morales for the job).

But with sudden change comes great opportunity for the second-year Trumbo (29 HRs, 87 RBIs, 9 steals last year), who may log starts at first base, third base, DH and the outfield this season, bolstering his fantasy attractiveness.

Best-Case Scenario: Trumbo (65 HRs in 2010-11) can currently be had for the absurdly low draft price of Round 20 or 21 in 12-team leagues, a reflection of his positional uncertainty. But there are no worries here for a three-category dynamo who's already batting .455 with two HRs in 11 Cactus League at-bats. Trumbo is a tremendous buy on draft day.

2B Dustin Ackley, Mariners

Skinny: Ackley has been everything the Mariners could have hoped for entering his first full season in the bigs. Through seven games of Cactus League play, Ackley has been a stat-sheet stuffer, collecting one homer, two triples, three doubles, five runs and five RBIs, good for a .333 batting average, .810 slugging mark and team-high 1.185 OPS.

Best-Case Scenario: Universally undervalued as the No. 14 second baseman in fantasy during the preseason, Ackley has the skill set to become an immediate three-category factor, allowing time for home-run power to develop.

There's a reason why Ackley was the No. 2 overall pick in 2009 (behind Stephen Strasburg and ahead of Drew Storen, Jacob Turner, Aaron Crow and Zack Wheeler): He'll be an All-Star sooner rather than later.

SP Yu Darvish, Rangers

Skinny: There's little chance of Darvish enjoying a low-key rookie season with the Rangers, not after the franchise invested more than $100 million to lure the Japanese league star to America.

Expectations are high for the 25-year-old (76 wins/1,083 Ks/1.72 ERA from 2007-11) to surpass the contributions of Hideo Nomo and Daisuke Matsuzaka, but Darvish apparently has the makeup (and seven-pitch repertoire) to exceed the hype. Through just five spring innings, Yu has six strikeouts and a 3.60 ERA.

Best-Case Scenario: Darvish could realistically pitch 180-200 innings in 2012, allowing him to be a significant factor in wins, strikeouts and ERA. That's a big payoff for a Round 12 pick. Target Darvish at Round 10 or 11and watch him develop into a top-35 starter.

OF Mike Trout, Angels

Skinny: A lengthy illness during spring training has dramatically decreased Trout's chances of making the big club. But this isn't the worst news for all parties.

Trout gets to regain his body strength in a low-pressure environment like Triple-A Salt Lake City, while the Angels stand to benefit from delaying their next star's full-time arrival to the majors until June 1 or so. And from all reports, Trout (a top-three prospect in baseball) is a can't-miss, five-tool stud.

Best-Case Scenario: Fantasy GMs of mixed and AL-only leagues can confidently wait until Round 25 to draft and stash Trout (.338 BA, 121 RBIs, 102 steals in 266 minor league games), who could be a five-category factor for the stretch drive, health permitting. Trout might evolve into another Grady Sizemore (before the injuries).

SP Neftali Feliz, Rangers

Skinny: Feliz, one of baseball's most prolific closers of 2010-11, will make the contingency-free leap to the starting rotation this season, and I couldn't be happier! As an advocate of front-loading drafts with proven hitters in 12-team leagues, I will likely need Feliz as a No. 4-6 starter in the latter rounds; and rest assured, he will be on the board after the first 145 picks.

The closer-to-starter transformation may not bear immediate fruit, but I have faith in Feliz assimilating to the change by mid-May. In 80 minor league appearances (54 starts), he had 328 strikeouts (277 IP), a 10.7 K/9 rate, 3.02 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

Best-Case Scenario: GMs should gladly pay a Round 12/13 price for Feliz with the goal of 165 innings. From May-July, he's likely to be a factor in strikeouts, ERA and WHIP.

SP Jarrod Parker, Athletics

Skinny: The A's hopefully see Parker (324 Ks, 3.49 ERA in the minors) as a No. 1 or No. 2 starter for the next few years. Otherwise, why else would they have shipped Trevor Cahill to Arizona for Parker, reliever Ryan Cook and outfielder Collin Cowgill (another blue-chip prospect)?

In Cactus action, Parker has racked up a team-high nine strikeouts (7.1 innings), while holding opposing batters to a .185 average.

Best-Case Scenario: The 23-year-old Parker becomes Oakland's No. 4 or No. 5 starter and garners AL-only respect with ERA and strikeouts.

SP Blake Beavan, Mariners

Skinny: The Mariners obviously coveted Jesus Montero's bat in the Michael Pineda trade, but they might have also been anxious to dangle rotation slots to Hector Noesi, Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, Japanese import Hisashi Iwakuma and the aforementioned Beavan, who has a 2.38 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in three successful spring starts.

Beavan, who came to Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade of 2010, is a former blue-chipper for the Rangers (38 wins, 3.73 ERA, 323 Ks in the minors).

Best-Case Scenario: The 6-foot-7 Beavan emerges from camp as the Mariners' No. 4 starter and builds a career resume reminiscent of another tall righty, Doug Fister.

3B Eric Sogard, Athletics

Skinny: A fantasy afterthought just three weeks ago, the 25-year-old Sogard has seemingly taken the reins in the Athletics' open competition at third base (in the wake of Scott Sizemore's season-ending knee injury), collecting two HRs, two steals, six RBIs, 10 runs and 12 hits in 11 Cactus games, prompting a 1.135 OPS.

At the moment, the A's Web site lists Josh Donaldson as the No. 1 third baseman, but that might be a moot issue if Sogard's torrid spring carries over to Opening Day.

Best-Case Scenario: Sogard wins the 3B job and becomes a four-category contributor, although he lacks the HR power of a classic corner infielder.

Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.