Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2012: Secrets Everyone Should Know Before Draft Day

Fantasy baseball drafts are supposed to be a fun time, but, sadly, the competitive juices take over and it becomes all about finding that edge. You will do anything and everything to beat your opponents. 

When you try too hard, you start making mistakes. 

That is why it is so important that you follow a few simple rules to make sure that you don't over-think this process. Have fun with the draft, and remember these pointers in your war room. 

Don't Get Sucked into Spring Training Hype

Sports fans, as a general rule, love to overreact to every little thing they see. Spring training is the most recent sample that we have to judge players by, so there could be a temptation to presume that they will be an MVP candidate because they hit five homers in 12 games. 

Ignore that at all costs. 

Spring training stats are pointless. Players are just focused on staying healthy and getting ready for the season. Any numbers that get put up are nice for the stat sheets but do nothing to tell you what will happen when the real games begin. 

Rookies Are the Best Late-Round Steals

There are always going to be sleeper players that you want to go after late, especially a once-hot prospect that has had problems in his first few seasons. 

Instead of hoping that player puts all their tools together, you should be focused on rookies who will make their debut this season. 

We have seen the impact that first-year players have, with names like Evan Longoria, Craig Kimbrel and Buster Posey having immediate success. 

If you have a chance to grab someone like Yonder Alonso, Devin Mesoraco or Trevor Bauer in the later rounds, jump on it. 

Avoid Buying High on a Player Coming off a Career Year

When you are going over which players to draft and you come across someone who saw a serious spike in one area that deviates far from anything they did in their major or minor league career, odds are good that they won't do it again. 

Obviously, there will always be some exceptions to the rule. Jose Bautista did okay for himself last year after his breakout 2010. But those are more exceptions to the rule than the rule itself. 

Someone like Jacoby Ellsbury, who has never had, nor was he expected to have, a lot of power, suddenly hits 33 home runs. He was a steal for owners last season, but he is going to get overrated this year by players expecting him to do it again. 

Let your opponents buy into that one-year high, while you can study the numbers and careers of these players to make informed decisions. 

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