Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton– According to TampaBay.com , the Rays VP Andrew Friedman plans to be active — and likely will have to be creative — in addressing two main areas: adding a reliever or two, and figuring out the catching tandem. Friedman said the Rays are looking at both right- and left-handed relievers. Whether they acquire one through free agency or trades remains to be seen. Rangers and White Sox have shown interest in CF B.J. Upton, and the Mets and Braves have inquired about All-Star LF Carl Crawford. The Rays have said they’re interested in discussing a long-term deal with Crawford, who is eligible to be a free agent after the 2010 season.

Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez– The Giants are have organizational meetings now that the Arizona Fall League season has been completed to discuss whether Buster Posey is ready to handle the duties. It is looking more like Benjie Molina has seen his last days in a Giants uniform. Also reported in the SF Gate, Freddy Sanchez may be asked to handle third base and then a possibly they may go over a second baseman.

Carl Crawford is in an 0-for-25 slump that has seen has average fall from .287 to .270. Unfortunately, Crawford’s slump extends even further back as he is hitting .231 with only one home run over his last 15 games. This guy is far too talented to continue to struggle like this, even if he does have a sore hamstring. The injury is a concern, especially since speed is such a huge portion of his game, but Crawford appears to be set up for an extended run of success in the second half given his track record, that is if he can get that body of his fixed.

I will begin to look at the NFL season and its upcoming fantasy draft and season that fantasy players are getting excited about. The MLB and NFL will be side by side until I get it figured out.

Remember, shift happens.

MLB

Aviles-KC this team was struggling until he was inserted into the lineup. Grab him while you can.

Glaus- STL – Heating up with the weather. If available in your league, do not wait.

Kershaw LAD- send back to minors. Thought he was a can’t miss and he was a miss. He will return.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

TOP 50 HITTING PROSPECTS
1 Evan Longoria TAM 3B A+ Long term deal ensures he’ll stay in the big leagues. Impressive start gets him #1 spot here.
4 Matt Wieters BAL C A .385 with 4 HRs. So far ahead of the other catching prospects it’s not funny.
5 Mike Moustakas KC SS A Just .193 in the early going, but 9:6 K:BB offers some encouragement. Not worried about his bat.
6 Jacoby Ellsbury BOS OF A- 3 HR already is a surprise and an anomoly, but it’s hard to see Crisp getting a lot of at-bats over him.

7 Travis Snider TOR OF A- We said he could move quickly and he did, getting AA promotion. Team’s LF of the near future.
13 Reid Brignac TAM SS A- .258 overall and just .222 vs. LHP. Probably notthing more than a Sept. callup at this rate.
15 Carlos Gonzalez OAK OF A- .348 with 3 HR and an improved 14:7 K:BB. Might see him by June.
18 Brandon Wood LAA 3B A- Power is there (7 HR), but 26:5 K:BB is the big concern. .325 AVG in last 10 games though.
19 Vladimir Balentien SEA OF A- Making good contact, so .245 AVG will come around. Like Jeff Clement, he’s be an upgrade at DH.
26 Carlos Gomez MIN OF B+ .230 with 24:2 K:BB could have him ticketed for AAA at some point soon.
29 Jose Tabata NYY OF B+ .222 with no homers in 81 at-bats. Age aside, it’s time for him to produce.
30 Austin Jackson NYY OF B+ 0 HR in 85 at-bats, but 10-game hit steak and very impressive 13:14 K:BB.
35 Chris Carter OAK 1B B Just on FIRE. 10-for-20 with six homers in last six games (3-HR game).
36 Carlos Triunfel SEA SS B Awful start, but coming around in last two games perhaps? 4-for-7.
41 Taylor Teagarden TEX C B 21 K in 55 at-bats leaves him below Mendoza line. 1.012 OPS last year more indicative of talent.
45 Beau Mills CLE 1B B LH hitter but hitting .313 vs. lefties and an abyssmal .146 vs. RHP. 13:12 K:BB is encouraging.

TOP 50 PITCHING PROSPECTS
4 Joba Chamberlain NYY SP A Hank Steinbrenner is pushing for Joba in the rotation. Hank really is his father’s son.
5 Rick Porcello DET SP A 1.35 ERA, 16:5 K:BB in 20 innings. Yeah he’s pretty good alright.
6 David Price TAM SP A He’s throwing now and should return in early-to-mid May. Elbow doesn’t seem serious.
7 Wade Davis TAM SP A- 4.09 ERA isn’t awful, but 11:8 K:BB in 22 innings bears watching. 9.6 K/9 last season.
11 Nick Adenhart LAA SP A- 1.17 ERA, but 14:12 K:BB will need work if he wants to see Anaheim before September.
19 Jordan Walden LAA SP B+ 1.90 ERA, 21:6 K:BB in 23.2 innings so far in full season debut. He can be special.
20 Adam Miller CLE SP B+ 2008 debut came Wednesday and it was a success – 5 scorless with 2 K’s.
24 Brett Anderson OAK SP B+ 3 greats starts 1 awful = 2.66, 23:5 K:BB, 20.1 innings. I might be underrating him at this slot.
25 Luke Hochevar KC SP B+ Debut didn’t go so well, so not sure he sticks in the rotation from here on out.
29 Aaron Poreda CHW SP B Far from dominant, but 2.35 ERA gets it done every time. Still may wind up a reliver.
30 Neftali Feliz TEX SP B 8 R and 8 BB in last 9.2 innings covering 3 starts. Inconsistency isn’t a surprise considering age.
32 Eric Hurley TEX SP B 5-5-2-2-2-7 last time out was his best start of the year. 29 H in just 19 2/3 innings is a bit much.
33 Brett Cecil TOR SP B On a strict pitchcount – just 7 1/3 innings in 3 starts, but he’s been sharp.
39 Daniel Cortes KC SP B 1.35 ERA in 13.1 innings, but 9:8 K:BB is far from encouraging and he’s averaging under 5 IP/start.
41 Justin Masterson BOS SP B 0.95 ERA and 23:5 K:BB is a nice start to be sure. Still not convinced he’s a starter long term.
45 Alan Horne NYY SP B Could replace Ian Kennedy at some point if Horne’s strained biceps isn’t serious.
50 Radhames Liz BAL SP B Not sure how a guy with his stuff has a 7.98 ERA. 4 BB in 14 2/3 IP isn’t Daniel Cabrera-like.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

TOP 50 HITTING PROSPECTS
2 Jay Bruce CIN OF A+ Slow start, but 8 hits in last 6 games. Probably a Griffey injury away from the call.
3 Colby Rasmus STL OF A .333 in last six games and has now homered in back-to-back games. We say up by June at the latest.
12 Andy LaRoche LAD 3B A- Began a 20-game rehab assignment on Wednesday, putting him on target for a mid-May return.
14 Andrew McCutcheon PIT OF A- Heating up….341 in last 10 games. 11 of 21 hits are of the XBH variety.
16 Chase Headley SD OF A- 19 K and .234 AVG in 64 at-bats, but he’s probably still mad he opened in AAA.
21 Angel Villalona SF 3B A- Slumping badly…down to .222 with 16:4 K:BB, but not surprised or worried due to his age.
22 Matt Antonelli SD 2B B+ With Iguchi struggling, the opportunity is there, but .228 AVG isn’t helping his cause.
23 Jason Heyward ATL OF B+ .312/.368/.416 is highly impressive for a kid his age (or anyone). Just needs to cut down on the K’s.
28 Fernando Martinez NYM OF B+ Slow start, but four multi-hits games in his last six. 22:5 K:BB bears watching.
33 Ian Stewart COL 3B B Last 3 games – 6 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI. Could be his long-awaited breakout year.
37 Bryan Anderson STL C B LH hitter is 9-for-20 vs. LHP. .369 AVG helps mask 3 BB in 15 games.
40 Neil Walker PIT 3B B 77% CT% is okay, so you have to figure .161 AVG will improve. 13:6 K:BB could be worse.
42 Gerardo Parra ARI OF B 10 SB already and a .393 OBP. Arizona can really crank out the OF prospects.
44 Michael Burgess WAS OF B .303 with 4 HR, but CT% of 64% will eat away at that AVG quickly and soon.

TOP 50 PITCHING PROSPECTS
1 Clayton Kershaw LAD SP A 1.83 ERA, 23 K in 19.2 innings and Dodgers have a hole in the No. 5 slot. Hmmm…
8 Max Scherzer ARI SP A- Big jump, but it’s hard to ignore a 29:3 K:BB. Should be Arizona’s No. 5 starter any day.
10 Homer Bailey CIN SP A 1.03 ERA is great, 16 K in 26.1 innings is surprisingly low. He should rebound though.
14 Jarrod Parker ARI SP A- 4 innings in last start, 11:1 K:BB in 9.2 innings overall. Caution is being exercised here.
17 Manny Parra MIL SP B+ Sticks in the rotation ahead of David Bush, but he’s on a short leash. Tues. was better, but not great.
28 Tommy Hanson ATL SP B 22 scoreless innings and 32 K’s to start the year is a good way to get promoted quickly.
36 Matt Latos SD SP B Sore shoulder plus talk of move to the bullpen gets him bumped down a bit. Should debut any day now.
37 Jeremy Jeffress MIL SP B Love the talent, but couldn’t keep him in the 20s with the drug suspension and all.
42 Jamie Garcia STL SP B 2.35 ERA in 23 innings and 29:9 K:BB is encouraging. Probably a late-season call-up.
46 Tim Alderson SF SP B K’s aren’t there yet (11 in 21 IP), but he doesn’t turn 20 until November.
47 Juan Gutierrez ARI SP B 1 ER in 6 IP in his 08 debut. May get the first injury call-up.
48 Greg Reynolds COL SP B Last start was better, but 6.33 ERA and ugly 7:5 K:BB in 21 1/3 IP is concerning.
49 Madison Bumgarner SF SP B 7.71 ERA will improve as has some encouraging signs – 12:3 K:BB, 9.3 K/9.

Bartolo Colon looked good in a minor league rehab assignment, but the plan is still for him to make at least two more starts to build up his endurance before he joins the Red Sox.  Josh Beckett said his hip was just as much responsible for his DL trip as was his back, but he is still scheduled to start today in Toronto.  Dontrelle Willis’s struggles continued into the regular season; he walked a whopping 7 batters yesterday.  Royals ace Gil Meche has struggled, but the rest of the staff, especially the highly intelligent Brian Bannister, has looked sharp.  Jered Weaver is doing his best impression as a staff ace in the absence of John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar who are not close to returning anytime soon.   Following a so-so minor league outing, Francisco Liriano will make another minor league start on Tuesday, this time at Triple-A.  His status will be reevaluated after that outing, but it is highly unlikely that he will make a big league start next week.  Kevin Slowey is hurt and will at the very least miss his next start (likely to wind up on the DL).  Twin’s manager Ron Gardenhire said he did not have any immediate ideas on how to fill that void, but he did suggest moving Brian Bass out of the bullpen.  Note that the Twins did sign former Giant Jerome Williams.  Andy Pettitte who began the season on the DL (back) had a rough outing versus the Rays yesterday.  Dana Eveland took the hill as the A’s 5^th starter yesterday, and he was great, picking up the win against a talented Cleveland offense.  However, I do not know what his status will be once Chad Gaudin returns to the rotation.  Gaudin will start next Saturday barring any setbacks in another rehab assignment that will take place Monday night.  Scott Kazmir was eligible to come off the DL yesterday, but the Rays want him to build up more endurance before he rejoins the club.  It is unclear exactly when that will happen (some time at the end of the month), but the Rays are wise not to rush the talented but injury-prone Kazmir.

Orioles’ closer George Sherrill saved three games this week.  Even though he is unlikely to keep that pace up, Sherrill is a solid reliever (2.36 ERA), and this is further evidence of why it does not make sense to draft closers early as saves are fairly difficult to predict.  Tiger’s reliever Fernando Rodney was thought to be making progress but had a disappointing bullpen session Friday; it will still be quite some time before he rejoins the Tiger bullpen.  One of the Angels top setup men, Scot Shields, is eligible to come off the DL list today, and all signs point towards that happening.  Francisco Rodriguez has changed his delivery as a result of a sore ankle, and early returns have been a success (3 saves in 3 chances, 0 ER).  Not a good start to the season for Huston Street who has given up 5 ER in under 4 IP.  Brandon Morrow could be called up when eligible on Friday after an encouraging minor league outing in which his fastball was clocked at 96mph.  J.J. Putz has wound up on the DL, but the early prognosis is that his injury is nothing serious.  Mark Lowe appears to be in line for all save opportunities for the time being so don’t be fooled by the fact that starter Miguel Batista registered a save.  The Rangers expect Luis Mendoza to join their rotation on April 12^th.  B.J. Ryan will be back with the Blue Jays in a week or so, but is unclear how he will be used immediately upon his return.  Ryan will definitely regain the closer’s role at some point, but until then it’s Jeremy Accardo’s job (he’s been fantastic).

Although John Smoltz (shoulder) will go on the disabled list, he’s still expected to start April 6 against the Mets, making him fine to have active this week.

The talk about making Kosuke Fukudome the leadoff man against lefties is truly bizarre. It’s obvious that Ryan Theriot, a career .301/.384/462 hitter against lefties and a .267/.325/.327 hitter against righties, should hit high in the order versus southpaws and bat eighth the rest of the time if he absolutely has to play against righties.

It seems like a given now that Corey Patterson will be the primary center fielder (adequate) and leadoff hitter (ugh) on Opening Day.

Scott Podsednik entered Friday’s game with 13 walks in 41 at-bats this spring, or exactly as many as he had in 214 at-bats for the White Sox last year.

The Marlins decided on Rick VandenHurk as their No. 2 starter.

Michael Bourn has more strikeouts than hits this spring, a scary sign for a player the Astros are so heavily counting on him.

Juan Pierre didn’t need a good spring to guarantee that Joe Torre would go forward with him as the everyday left fielder and leadoff hitter, but he’s been positively awful and Andre Ethier, the superior player anyway, has been awesome.

Tony Gwynn Jr.’s strong spring could mean that Gabe Gross won’t have any fantasy value even while Mike Cameron sits out the first 25 games. Gwynn figures to get most of the starts against right-handers, with Gabe Kapler filling in versus lefties.

With no outfield solution acquired, it’s still looking like Angel Pagan will be the Mets’ primary left fielder.

Carlos Ruiz is penciled in as the No. 8 hitter, but he’s making a case to hit ahead of Feliz with his .372/.420/.558 line this spring.

The Pirates officially named Nate McLouth their center fielder and then kept Nyjer Morgan as a backup anyway, something they originally said they wouldn’t do.

Justin Germano was picked as the fifth starter. He’ll make his first two starts at home against the Dodgers and in San Francisco, so he’ll be a nice play in NL-only leagues.

Now Eugenio Velez has gone from interesting sleeper to potential 40-steal guy. Ray Durham figures to start at second base initially, but the Giants would love to dump his contract, making room for Velez as a full-time.

From the group of Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick and Brian Barton, Schumaker figures to get the most playing time in April.

With his salary preventing the Nats from finding a taker, Felipe Lopez likely will begin the year on the team’s bench. He’ll have to be mixed in frequently if the Nationals eventually hope to trade him. Still, it’s clear scouts haven’t liked what they’ve seen of him so far this spring.

Marlins OF Jeremy Hermida has been battling a hamstring injury all spring and hasn’t played in a major league spring training game since Mach 15th. However, he did appear in a minor league game yesterday as a designated hitter. At this point, Hermida is likely to start the year on the disabled list and probably miss the Marlins’ first few games. However, Hermida owners shouldn’t panic yet. Hermida had a great second half of the season in 2007. He posted a .340 batting average and .956 OPS after the break. In addition, Hermida saw a nice jump in his power numbers between 2006 and 2007. His HR/FB% increased from 6.2% in 2006 to 15.7% in 2007. This correlated to 13 more home runs in ‘07 than in ‘06. His fantastic second half combined with his power surge in 2007, make Hermida a nice breakout candidate for 2008.

Rich Hill’s horrid outing on Thursday raises some red flags. Hill’s spring has been littered with control problems, walking 14 batters in just 12 2/3 innings. Such wild control issues for pitchers who don’t usually exhibit control problems can often be indicative of some latent injury concerns. While this is the first thing that comes to my mind whenever I see an extreme lack of control, I’m willing to give Hill a bit more of a pass because he’s working on a new, quicker, delivery to the plate. Hill’s next start comes Tuesday and while he’s guaranteed the #4 spot in the Cubs rotation, I’m going to be paying close attention to Hill’s next start before he’s guaranteed a spot in my starting lineup.

John Smoltz

John Smoltz was scratched from his start on Friday with shoulder stiffness. We haven’t seen much from Smoltz this spring as he had received approval from the Braves to conduct most of his spring preparation on the back fields in simulated games. At this point there’s no indication that Smoltz had planned this program because of any lingering shoulder soreness heading into the spring and Smoltz claims had Friday’s start been a regular season start he would’ve taken the mound. He’s scheduled to start next Wednesday and remains optimistic about his ability to make that start, despite acknowledging another setback could result in a brief DL stint to start the year. Smoltz has been remarkably consistent, eclipsing 200 innings each of the last 3 seasons, and should still be viewed as a tremendous #2 fantasy starter. At 41 there will certainly be lingering concerns surrounding any reported arm troubles, but Smoltz has proven his durability and his abilities to pitch through pain throughout his career.

Pedro Martinez

Pedro’s 2nd outing of the spring was another positive one as he tossed 5 solid innings against the Nationals. Pedro struck out 4 in the 5 innings without walking a batter and only surrendered 5 base-runners and 2 runs. Pedro’s strong spring should alleviate any concerns about Pedro’s ability to come back after last year’s shoulder surgery. Martinez won’t be the fantasy ace of the early portion of this decade, but he should be able to settle into that solid #2-3 fantasy starter. His inability to last deep into games may impact his raw totals in the counting stats, but his ability to control the strike zone and his strong home park should help keep his ratios down.

Aaron Harang

Aaron Harang continued his strong spring on Friday shutting the Pirates out for 6 innings. Harang struck out 5, only allowing 4 base-runners (all hits) during his 6 shutout innings. Harang’s been a bit undervalued in the drafts I’ve seen this year as he tends to sit towards the bottom of the 2nd tier of fantasy aces despite consecutive 200+ K, 16 Win seasons. Harang pitches in a difficult ballpark, but gets the benefit of facing the NL Central opponents all season and should have improved bullpen support this year with Francisco Cordero behind him, hopefully boosting his win totals. Harang’s similar to Smoltz in my mind that he’s an undervalued anchor to your staff that you can still land in the middle rounds. Look for Harang to put together another 200+ K season with another 15-19 wins with solid ratios.

Yovani Gallardo

Its official, Yovani Gallardo will be starting the season on the DL. The Brewers officially placed Gallardo on the DL on Friday making sure that he’ll miss the first two weeks of the season. Gallardo was originally scheduled to miss up to the first month of the season, but based on his throwing schedule it looks like the minimum stint on the DL remains possible.

Randy Johnson

Johnson’s 3rd start of the spring yielded mixed results. While reports on his velocity continued to remain strong, his performance was sub-par. Johnson gave up 5 hits and 2 BB’s in his 3 2/3 innings while yielding 2 earned runs. Johnson did strike out three, raising his total to 9 in 11 2/3 innings this spring, but he also served up another HR to Andruw Jones and a 2B to Chan Ho Park. Johnson continues to focus on his health rather than the results, which should be your focus heading into draft day as well. I maintain Johnson as one of the better sleeper candidates because of the incredible dominance he showed last year. Johnson’s 72 K’s in 57 innings along with his 1.15 WHIP last year show ace-level dominance and even if that only comes in 15-25 starts this year, his current average draft position is giving owners strong value.

Chris Snyder

It’s been widely publicized how incredibly thin the catching position is this year so any potential “sleeper” deserves some attention. So if I had a player that hit .284/.366/.503 in the 2nd half of last season and was hitting .355/.436/.912 this spring would that be something you’d be interested in? Well, let me introduce you to Chris Snyder, the Diamondbacks catcher who appears to be grabbing the reigns as the full-time catching option with Miguel Montero’s injury. Snyder’s main drawback has been his need to split time with Montero, but with Montero likely to start the season on the DL, Snyder has an opportunity to assert himself as an everyday option. Keep him in mind as a 2nd catching option with some upside as our current projection of .259-40-14-51 is limited by the 342 AB’s. If he can get closer to 450 AB’s and his 2nd half from last season carries over at all we could be looking at a Ramon Hernandez in his prime type season, which would likely put him just outside the clear cut Top 5 fantasy options (Martinez, Martin, Mauer, McCann, Posada).

Alex Gordon

Trey Hillman announced on Friday that Alex Gordon is still in the running for the #3 slot in the batting order. It was thought that Gordon was destined for the 7th spot in the lineup, but this latest news could be a nice boost to the youngster’s value. Gordon hit another HR on Friday and has put together a solid spring hitting over .350 and slugging over .500. As Schuyler mentioned in a previous spring blurb, Gordon’s getting vastly overlooked in drafts this year and seems to be offering great value in drafts. As much as we love to clamor over Ryan Braun’s 2007, Gordon was universally considered the better prospect heading into the season. Maybe some of this is because Gordon’s superior glove-work but the bats aren’t that far off, as Gordon’s AA OPS of over 1.000 in his first pro season would suggest. If Gordon bats 3rd he’ll likely see an additional 80-100 plate appearances and could result in a significant increase in both his Run and RBI numbers.

Daric Barton, 1B, Oakland

Daric excels at getting a good pitch to hit. His zone command and contact skills are outstanding (120 walks/106 Ks in his last 735 AB over the last two seasons). The problem is that he looks too much like Sean Casey … without the power.

His career high SLG% above AA was .438 before he hit the majors last season where he posted 4 homers and 9 doubles in 72 ABs. His 4 HRs were nearly half of the number he hit (9) in 516 AAA last year. He is not going to SLG .639 over a full season but that was a welcome flash of power.

Daric is also struggling a bit with LHP but he has a skill set that will allow him to make gains there. If he cannot make power gains however, his value will be cramped and he plays in a position that demands power production. Despite what we saw in his short tour with the A’s last season, in the long run, it is unlikely he will develop enough power to be competitive in a starting 1B slot.

Projections:
.278/74 R/21 HR/70 RBI

Clay Buchholz, RHP, Boston
Clay, like rookie teammate Jacoby Ellsbury is simply a special player, and a dream pitching prospect by most any standards. He brings a mid-nineties fastball when he needs it, a hard slider, a plus-plus vertical curve and it is all set up by a change up that is probably the best pitch of the bunch.

He was ludicrous in AA last year (7-2, 1.77, 116 Ks/22 BBs in 86.2 IP) and posted 193Ks/ 45 walks in 148+ IP between there, AAA, and Boston.

The Red Sox will limit his innings again this year, to probably something around 180. That will dampen his statistical potential and probably cause him to miss some starts as the Sox aim him at September and beyond, but Clay is a top-of-the-rotation prospect with multiple All-Star games and possibly a Cy in his future.

Projections:

152 IP / 1.19 WHIP/3.37 ERA/ 12 W / 134 K 

Joba Chamberlain, RHP, NY Yankees
Like Clay Buchholz, the Yankees will work very hard to limit Joba Chamberlains innings this year, and their target number for Joba is a low 140 IP. Instead of last year’s “Joba Rules”, the Yanks will pitch Joba in relief to start the year with the intention of moving him to starter’s role in the summer.

The good news is that his starting in the bullpen will suppress his value in most leagues on draft day and you may be able to get a bargain on this high-level prospect. The bad news is that this may very well postpone his ascension to a top-half-of-the-rotation starter for a year.
Joba rose three levels last season starting one game in AAA. His seven starts in AA yielded a 4-2 record with a 3.37 ERA, allowing just 32 hits on 40.1 IP with just 15 walks against 66 Ks. Overall he had 135 Ks and 27 walks over 88.1 ML IP. Ya … that’s pretty good and those AA IP came at 22 years old. I like this kid very nearly as much as I like Buchholz. He has #1 starter potential.

Projections;

150 IP / 1.27 WHIP/3.41 ERA/ 12 W / 136 K 

Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Boston
The “other” Red Sox prospect would be a once-in-a-GM’s-lifetime prospect in most organizations.

After ripping up the AA Eastern League to the tune of a .452 AVG. over 73 ABs, Jacoby went to Pawtucket where he hit “just” .298 in 363 ABs as a part of a brutally bad offense.  Then in Boston Jacoby hit .353 in 116 ABs.

His numbers with the Red Sox had some quirks. He fanned 15 times and walked 6, which is a different zone command animal from his 38 walks and 54 K in 436 ABs between AA and AAA.  On the other hand, he hit 3 HRs in Boston, which is more than he hit all season in the minors, and he slugged .509 in the majors.

I do not see him repeating that level of power production this season but that is not why you should be seeking Ellsbury. He will hit for average and score runs in a potent offense, especially if he can hang in the lead off position. He will also steal bases, quite probably 30 or more this year.

Do not let his slow start this spring dissuade you too much, he is the centerfielder of choice among the Red Sox brass. Jacoby is 24 years old so it is hard to project a lot more physical growth, but he may have a little growth left in his power game. That being said he will forever be an AVG., Runs, SB guy, and not much more.

His spectacular finish to last year and his performance in the World Series will pump his price and there will be someone in your league who will believe he’s realistically capable of 15 HRs and 70 Rbi … That’s unlikely, in 2008 or frankly, beyond, so don’t pay for it.

Ellsbury is going to be one of those players who are more valuable to his MLB team than his fantasy owner. It will be easy to overpay, so stay calm.

 Projections: .283/ 63 R / 14 HR / 57 RBI / 28 SB