Those of you who play in seasonal fantasy baseball leagues don’t have the luxury (usually) of waiting around for a player to start to perform before rostering him like the daily players do. Its alright, hopefully we can pin point a few guys that might be worth taking a late round (ie. mainly last round) flier pick on this season. Be advised, that their are other players you could take a flier on later in the draft but these are some of the ones that we recommend you take a pretty good look at going in to the 2012 MLB season.
Adam Dunn – Chicago White Sox
Anyone who drafted Dunn last season was supremely disappointed and now its time we start to wonder if that was last go or if it was just a bad season. For the year he finished with just 11 home runs, 42 RBI’s and an abysmal .159 batting average. This is after three straight seasons of 35+ home runs, and if you take out the one year he played for Arizona wherein he only managed to suit up for 44 games because of injury then he hasn’t hit less than 32 home runs since 2004. With history like that I’m going to go ahead and chalk up last season to a combination of bad luck/bad timing. While we could point to age, 32 years old is hardly over the hill and I have a feeling we’re going to see the resurgence of Dunn this season so don’t be afraid to take a flier on him late in your draft this season.
Raul Ibanez – New York Yankees
After sending A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh the Yankees turned their sights to signing the aging Ibanez who’ll be the Yankees designated hitter against right handed pitchers. The 39 year old is in the twilight of his career and this may very well end up being the last season he ever plays in the major leagues. Still, I have a feeling he’ll be able to grind it out long enough to be a strong enough player for you at the DH spot when he’s in the Yankees lineup. In all likelihood he should be able to avoid injury now that he’s no longer playing in the outfield and thus he’s worth a flier in the last round. Daily players should keep an eye on him as well being that his price should be relatively low and thus he should provide a solid bang for your buck.
Johan Santana – New York Mets
Santana is still working his way back from a shoulder surgery that has kept him out of baseball since 2010. For the Mets, the only chance they’ll have at winning the east this season is if he is healthy. For fantasy players, this might be one of the best opportunities for your team this season. While its a stretch to think that a player who’s undergone such a procedure can return to the same form that he left with, it stands to reason that Johan will be able enough to add solid depth to your rotation. Don’t be afraid to snag him late.
Todd Helton – Colorado Rockies
Helton was one of my favorite players to take on both FanDuel and Draft Street last year, but the issue with this 38 year old is the fact that while his numbers are still decent, he’s not playing everyday and being a west coast player he’ll force you to make tough decisions on a daily basis. I don’t love him for seasonal leagues, so be wary but when he’s in the lineup behind Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez he’s got a chance to make things happen so the upside is still there.
Grady Sizemore – Cleveland Indians
Here comes the injury train, or at least thats what previous owners of Sizemore have said. Sizemore went from being one of the top center fielders in all of baseball to playing just 210 games TOTAL since 2009. If he can stay healthy the guy will bolster your lineup but thats to big of an if to take him any higher than the last 2-3 rounds of your draft.
Who is one guy that you’re going to take a flier on this season? Agree with our flier picks? Disagree? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or the comment section below.
Related posts:
Would you consider Jason Hayward to be a flier pick? I think he will have a breakout season this year for the Braves.