TheBaseballStars

Fantasy baseball drafts are all about hype. As fantasy baseballers we feed off of it. When Jose Reyes, David Wright, Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Braun all have big seasons forever changing the fantasy landscape, we want to be the ones that said we saw it coming and that we told you so. That’s why Parrish was at this top of this post before the video becam no longer available seeing how his solo career was so successful. We all remember when Parrish Smith broke off from EPMD and the Green-Eyed Bandit. Yeah, that was successful. But guess what sweethearts, like a lot of solo careers, you can’t win by the rule of “I saw it comin” without solid producers — the value guys that keep on churning 180-plus hits, 30 or more homers, 100 RBI or 100 runs season after season. Your own Green-Eyed Bandit so to speak. What a weak piece of writing that last paragraph was. Videos no longer available sucks.

But still, we have humps out there saying Wright will drop 40 bombs along with Ryan Braun because they are under 26. Screw that. Let the other guys grab the sexy picks of Jose Reyes, David Wright, Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Braun, while you grab the sure things that are four-to five category studs. Get results, not predictions. Get value not teenage fandom. Here are the top 5 value picks in the draft:

Purple Lips: Yeah, no brainer right? Well, you would be surprised how many people
want to trade the Yankees third baseman. The Jon doesn’t understand why someone with the first pick in the draft would take Purple Lips only to trade him for 10 cents on the dollar, because that is what the value one would get for any Purple Lips trade. Like 183 hits, 56 homers, 143 runs, 156 RBI and 20 stolen bases aren’t enough because Magglio Ordonez, Brandon Webb, Corey Hart and Rick Ankiel can be had!

Please.

Matt Holliday: Normally this spot is reserved for Albert Pujols, but since Pujols has the exploding arm trick this season, Holliday becomes the second most reliable guy in the game. He has logged in two seasons of

• 196 and 215 hits
• 34 and 36 homers
• 119 and 120 runs
• 114 and 137 RBI

Yeah, there is a little bit of prospecting with Holliday because he hasn’t done it for three seasons, but would you really feel nervous selecting him second or third? Holliday plays on a scrappy-hit offense with the Rockies that wear opposing pitchers down. A Holliday facing a National league bullpen in the fifth inning is a good Holliday.

Chase Utley: Utley takes care of everybody from the number crunchers, the position scarcity pundits and The Next Big Thing! followers. Take a look at his stats over the past two seasons. Keep in mind that last season he was easily heading to 200 hits and 28-plus homers before being plunked in the hand. He hits in a hitter’s park, has Jimmy Rollins in front of him and Ryan Howard behind him. He will get his numbers. Since there is such a huge gap between Utley and the rest of second base, his owners will have big advantage in their offense with his production to go along with the deep position of outfield that of course any manager would stock up on if they had Utley. Go run-on sentences.

Vladimir Guerrero: Guerrero invented the 180-plus hits, 30 or more homers, 100 RBI or 100 runs rule. He has been doing this since 1999. It is funny how prolonged greatness gets to be boring to fantasy baseballers. Squash that. Guerrero carries offenses. He gets 8 to 10 hits a week to go along with any RBI, run or homer stats for that week. Guerrero did not have one hot stretch last season and he still managed 186 hits and was fifth in the league in RBI with 125 on an Angels team with no protection. He is Ichiro Suzuki with power who would be on this list if this was a top 6 countdown. Guerrero is the most reliable guy of this bunch — The Jon’s top 3 (two championships) finishes for the last 5 season attests to that.

Albert Pujols: If Pujols was healthy, he would be a strong case for No. 1 on this list. There is nobody that is a better hitter than Pujols. He easily collects 190-hit and 40-homer seasons.

A perfect blend of power and average, Pujols is the most feared hitter in fantasy baseball, espescially in in head to head leagues. If he only manages 10 hits, 3 homers and 8 RBI, consider yourself lucky. But alas, greatness comes with a caveat and will be one of the biggest fantasy stories this year. Exploding arms suck.