FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume II, Issue VIII

Welcome to our 25th edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. In case you missed it, here are the previous issues: Volume I, Issue I (September 4, 2008), Volume I, Issue II (September 13, 2008), Volume I, Issue III (September 19, 2008), Volume I, Issue IV (September 27, 2008), Volume I, Issue V (October 4, 2008), Volume I, Issue VI (October 11, 2008), Volume I, Issue VII (October 18, 2008), Volume I, Issue VIII (October 25, 2008), Volume I, Issue IX (November 1, 2008), Volume I, Issue X (November 8, 2008), Volume I, Issue XI (November 15, 2008), Volume I, Issue XII (November 21, 2008), Volume 1, Issue XIII (November 30, 2008), Volume 1, Issue XIV (December 7, 2008), Volume I, Issue XV (December 14, 2008), Volume I, Issue XVI (December 20, 2008), Volume I, Issue XVII (December 28, 2008), Volume II, Issue I (January 3, 2009), Volume II, Issue II (January 11, 2009), Volume II, Issue III (January 20, 2009), Volume II, Issue IV (January 24, 2009), Volume II, Issue V (January 29, 2009), Volume II, Issue VI (February 8, 2009), Volume II, Issue VII (February 17, 2009)

This week's issue previews our forthcoming FANTASY BASEBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2009, a joint venture with our good pals at Sportsology. We will serialize the following segments in this issue:

^ 2009 Overvalued Players
^ 2009 Undervalued Players
^ 2009 Players with a Wide Range of Opinion
^ 2009 AL & NL Scarcity
^ 2008 Legitimate Breakthroughs/Reemergence Cases
^ 2009 Sleepers

2009 Overvalued Players
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Conor Jackson, James Loney
2B: none
SS: Derek Jeter, Michael Young
3B: Troy Glaus, Carlos Guillen, Mark Reynolds,
OF: Pat Burrell, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ichiro, Conor Jackson, Randy Winn
DH: none
SP: A.J. Burnett, Ryan Dempster, Brandon Morrow, Ben Sheets, James Shields
RP: Heath Bell, Francisco Cordero, Bobby Jenks, Brian Wilson

2009 Undervalued Players
C: John Baker, Mike Napoli, Matt Wieters
1B: none
2B: Aaron Hill
SS: Mike Aviles, Clint Barmes, Khalil Greene, Alexei Ramirez
3B: none
OF: Carl Crawford, Vernon Wells, Jayson Werth
DH: none
SP: Josh Beckett, Fausto Carmona, Yovani Gallardo, Matt Garza, Jeremy Guthrie, Josh Johnson, Francisco Liriano, Brett Myers, Justin Verlander, Chris Young
RP: Jonathan Broxton, Trevor Hoffman

2009 Players with a Wide Range of Opinion
[NOTE: Our Experts’ Draft Board is a compilation of other draft boards from major magazines and websites in the industry. These players had a wide disparity between their highest and lowest rankings in the survey.]
C: Jeff Clement (14, 21, 24), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (15, 22, 29), Kelly Shoppach (9, 12, 25), Taylor Teagarden (19, 22, not in the Top 30)
1B: Chris Davis (15, 17, not in the Top 30), Mike Jacobs (19, 20, 30), Adam LaRoche (18, 23, 30)
2B: Mike Aviles (14, 18, 27), Clint Barmes (19, 22, not in the Top 30), Mark Ellis (21, 29, not in the Top 30), Freddy Sanchez (17, 18, not in the Top 30), Aaron Hill (17, 19, not in the Top 30)
SS: Mike Aviles (13, 18, 23), Jason Bartlett (17, 27, 30), Asdrubal Cabrera (21, not in the Top 30, not in the Top 30), Bobby Crosby (19, 28, not in the Top 30), Cristian Guzman (12, 18, 26), Jed Lowrie (17, 17, 28)
3B: Adrian Beltre (8, 13, 20), Chone Figgins (6, 14, 19), Carlos Guillen (14, 17, 24), Mike Lowell (16, 19, 27), Melvin Mora (11, 21, 22), Ryan Zimmerman (7, 10, 20)
OF: Carl Crawford (1, 20, 25), Adam Dunn (17, 26, 38), Ichiro (5, 16, 21), Matt Kemp (8, 14, 23), Ryan Ludwick (12, 18, not in the Top 40), Nate McLouth (11, 14, 34),
Manny Ramirez (6, 6, 21), Shane Victorino (16, 28, 31)
DH: none
SP: Erik Bedard (10, 34, 37),
A.J. Burnett (14, 33, 38), John Danks (28, 29, not in the Top 50), Zack Greinke (18, 36, 39), Rich Harden (13, 28, 36), Scott Kazmir (11, 18, 32), Francisco Liriano (15, 23, 42),
Derek Lowe (24, 39, 46), Justin Verlander (25, 25, 45), Adam Wainwright (23, 26, 46), Jered Weaver (30, not in the Top 50, not in the Top 50), Chris Young (22, 24, not in the Top 50)
RP: none

2009 AL & NL Scarcity
[NOTE: The following players are starting-caliber fantasy performers worth more in single-league formats because of a relative scarcity of talent at that position.]
C: Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer, Mike Napoli
1B: Miguel Cabrera, Aubrey Huff, Justin Morneau, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis
2B: Brandon Phillips, Alexei Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Chase Utley
SS: Derek Jeter, Jhonny Peralta, Alexei Ramirez, Michael Young
3B: none (Kevin Youkilis is only worth more at 3B because he also has 1B eligibility and top-level 1B are rarer in the AL).
OF: Carlos Beltran, Milton Bradley, Ryan Braun, Eric Byrnes, Adam Dunn, Andre Ethier, Corey Hart, Brad Hawpe, Raul Ibanez, Matt Kemp, Carlos Lee, Ryan Ludwick, Nate McLouth, Hunter Pence, Manny Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth
SP: none
RP: Brad Lidge, Francisco Rodriguez

2008 Legitimate Breakthroughs/Reemergence Cases
C: Ryan Doumit, Chris Iannetta, Geovany Soto
1B: Jorge Cantu, Aubrey Huff, Joey Votto, Kevin Youkilis
2B: Dustin Pedroia, Alexei Ramirez
SS: Stephen Drew, Alexei Ramirez (not eligible at SS in 20-game leagues in ’08, but will be this year)
3B: Jorge Cantu, Aubrey Huff, Evan Longoria, Kevin Youkilis
OF: Shin-Soo Choo, Ryan Ludwick, Carlos Quentin, Jayson Werth
SP: Chad Billingsley, Matt Garza, Jon Lester, Cliff Lee, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ervin Santana
RP: Matt Capps, Kerry Wood


2009 Sleepers
C: John Baker
1B: Billy Butler, Pablo Sandoval
2B: Mike Aviles, Howie Kendrick, Rickie Weeks
SS: Mike Aviles
3B: Alex Gordon
OF: Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Gonzalez, Hunter Pence, Justin Upton, Chris Young, Delmon Young
DH: none
SP: Matt Cain, Fausto Carmona, Yovani Gallardo, Tommy Hanson, Philip Hughes, Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, Jonathan Sanchez, Jered Weaver
RP: Grant Balfour, Jonathan Broxton, Chad Qualls