Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2012: Adam Dunn and Duds Who Will Bounce Back

Every season, fantasy baseball owners are forced to make tough decisions on players who didn't live up to expectations the previous year. Were those lackluster numbers a sign of things to come or simply a bump in the road, leading to a bounce-back season? It's always hard to say.

Here are three players who left owners disappointed in 2011, but will be well worth the investment this time around. They are solid sleeper options in the middle-to-late rounds.

Kevin Youkilis

After three straight seasons with a batting average above .300, Youkilis plummeted to .258 last season and killed a boatload of fantasy averages in the process. Aside from a little bad luck on balls in play, it's tough to pinpoint why he struggled so much.

He suffered through several nagging injuries, but that always seems like the case for him. It's more likely a case of a good hitter getting into some bad habits and the entire situation snowballing until it was too late to save it.

Youkilis had the entire offseason to get things back on track. Look for him to return to the .290 range with 20 home runs and 85 runs batted in.

Adam Dunn

There wasn't a bigger fantasy disappointment last year than Dunn. He was coming off two of the best offensive seasons of his career and moving to one of the league's best parks for hitters. It set up perfectly for him to have monster numbers.

Instead, he hit 41 points below the Mendoza line and popped just 11 home runs. Every time light would appear at the end of the tunnel, he'd fall into another deep slump. He worked all offseason to avoid another disaster, and his surroundings are still promising.

It's hard to believe a premier power threat could become totally useless in the span of one year, but he's going undrafted in a bunch of leagues, so people have clearly lost faith. Snag him late and expect him to be a cheap source of about 30 home runs in a utility spot.

Jason Heyward

Heyward fell victim to the dreaded sophomore slump. A mix of injuries, poor swing mechanics and a lack of offensive firepower around him led to a frustrating season for the former top prospect. He still has all the tools to become a superstar, however.

He worked with new Braves hitting coach Greg Walker and veteran Chipper Jones to get his swing straightened out. The most important thing for him will be to stop hitting so many ground balls. Those need to become line drives and fly balls.

His results in spring training have been mixed, but it's crucial to remember that he's only 22. It's only a matter of time until everything clicks and he breaks out. Count on much better season across the board, including more than 20 homers, for Heyward.