A Tale of Two Fantasy Man Crushes

At the onset of each season, I take a look at a guy who is the year’s fantasy man-crush. A fantasy man-crush is a guy who had a tremendous one or two months the previous season, is high on everyone’s draft board come draft day, and then goes about three to four rounds higher than he should have because that person thinks that player is going to be the breakout star of that season.

The 2009 fantasy man crush was Texas Rangers’ 1B Chris Davis. In 2008, Davis hit .285 with 17 HR in just 80 games for the Rangers and was on everyone’s radar come draft day of 2009.

Davis was a huge disappointment last season

Unfortunately, everyone who drafted Davis in 2009 was disappointed because he was a complete flop. Davis hit just .202 and was sent to the minors in the second half. He never lived up to the hype and ruined many fantasy seasons last year.

On the other hand, Colorado Rockies’ OF Carlos Gonzalez was this year’s fantasy man- crush; he has exceeded expectations and then some. Gonzalez hit .285 with 13 HR  and 16 SB in 89 games for the Rockies last year. Fantasy owners were eying him for 2010 based on those numbers, but when he had his national coming-out party in the playoffs, everyone really started to take notice.

He hit .588 in the four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies and was really a one-man wrecking crew. His talents were on display for the world to see and everyone wanted him on draft day.

To say Gonzalez has exceeded expectations is the understatement of the century. “Cargo” is going for the Triple Crown in the National League, hitting .340 with 32 HR and 100 RBI in 124 games. He has also added 23 SB and eight triples to boot.

So who are the candidates to be next year’s man-crush and potentially the next Cargo? Here are some candidates:

Logan Morrison: .318/.426/.493 in 38 games. Will be the Florida Marlins’ full-time right fielder next year.

Domonic Brown: .214/.242/.375 in 30 games. Doesn’t have the numbers, but will most likely replace the departing Jayson Werth and will be hitting in a solid lineup and in a hitter’s ballpark.

Mitch Moreland: .253/.349/.451 in 29 games. A first baseman in the deep Rangers’ lineup should produce. Then again, that’s what we said about Davis.

Seth Smith: .259/.320/.497 with 17 HR in 116 games. With Brad Hawpe gone, Smith could find himself in a full-time role in 2011. A regular in Coors Field is always enticing.

Carlos Santana: .260/.401/.467 with six HRs in 46 games. Santana was off to a fast start in Cleveland before getting run over and blowing out his knee at home plate in a game against the Boston Red Sox. With Santana expected to make a full recovery and the catcher position thin offensively, he will be on the radar of every fantasy owner next season.

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