Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2012: Yu Darvish and Players Casual Fans Won't Pick

What is a casual fan? People can have their own opinion, but I think it's somebody who doesn't pay attention to the sport until it matters most.

Just like college basketball. People won't watch it during the season, but will pay attention come tournament time.

The same can be said about fantasy sports. Those casual fans will play, some better than others, but will only be drawn in by players they know.

Pure baseball fans will reap the benefits because casual fans won't reach out for sleepers. Yu Darvish and several others are sleeper players casual fans won't pick because of who they are.

Here are three perfect examples. 

Yu Darvish

Baseball fans know him as a guy who dominated in Japan with several pitches in his arsenal. The casual fan will most likely stay away from Darvish in a draft because of the unknown.

Casual fans want results. They know the players they pick, generally, and that's how they draft. 

Darvish will make fantasy owners extremely happy this season.

Nobody has seen this guy in live, regular season game action. The unknown factor in baseball from a batter's perspective is something that makes hitters uncomfortable at the plate.

You can watch all the game film you want on pitchers, but nothing is like seeing it for yourself.

Darvish is going to feature pitches that have plenty of movement. He throws a slider, two-seam fastball and a straight curveball to throw hitters off.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was great in his first two seasons in Major League Baseball. He recorded 33 wins to only 15 losses during that time.

Batters didn't know what to expect from him.

Expect the same results against Darvish.  

Emilio Bonifacio 

The reason why casual fans will sleep on Emilio Bonifacio is because he's not well known. In fact, Bonifacio hasn't had an unbelievable career so far, but he's only 26 years old, he's coming off his best season and he's surrounded by talented players for the Miami Marlins.

He will have another quality year in 2012. 

Bonifacio hit .296 last season with five home runs and 36 RBI. Doesn't sound like great numbers, I know, but what he brings to the field is priceless.

He's a guy who can play multiple positions for your fantasy team when your starters have days off. He also stole 40 bases last season, a career high.

Most of his production is because of his new-found patience at the plate. He recorded 59 walks last season which was easily his career high.

Expect the patience and confidence to continue to grow in 2012.

Sean Marshall 

According to Ken Rosenthal, Ryan Madson will miss the 2012 to repair his elbow; Sean Marshall is expected to close.

Casual fans might not know the happenings of this situation. You could capitalize on not picking a closer to the very end and still get a guy expecting to be a full-time closer.

Marshall has seven saves in his career but he has a sub-4 ERA. He's a capable closer in the MLB and he'll prove it when he finally gets his chance.