Mound Talk

1. Alfonso Soriano. After a 40/40 season with no one except Ryan Zimmerman on his team, Soriano moves to a team with Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee.

2. Carl Crawford. Power to hit 20 home runs, speed to steal 50 bases. Crawford is an excellent player.

3. Carlos Beltran. Part of the great Mets lineup, Beltran will have a great season producing in five categories.

4. Vlad Guerrero. Vlad is still one of the best pure hitters in the game. His speed has fallen off but his power is still there.

5. Grady Sizemore. Sizemore produces in all five categories and with Martinez and Hafner hitting behind him, he’ll score plenty of runs.

6. Matt Holliday. Holliday, Atkins and Helton provide the foundation of the Rockies offense this year and, though he doesn’t steal many bases, more than makes up for it with his average and power numbers.

7. Manny Ramirez. Ramirez and Ortiz are still the most feared duo in baseball and he’s in line for another big year if he can stay healthy.

8. Lance Berkman. Berkman finally gets some lineup protection, for whatever that’s worth, and should see some improvement in his numbers.

9. Carlos Lee. ‘El Caballo’ moves to Houston and should see an improvement in his power numbers this year.

10. Vernon Wells. He is a great young player that will produce in five categories.

11. Bobby Abreu. Like every other Yankee, he benefits tremendously from the great lineup around him.

12. Jason Bay. Despite being on one of the worst offenses in baseball, Bay put up decent numbers last year.

13. Ichiro Suzuki. The Mariner’s slap hitter is good for runs, stolen bases and average. That’s all.

14. Jermaine Dye. Dye had a huge year last year. Much of his value will depend on Thome and Konerko replicating last season’s power numbers.

15. Johnny Damon. Damon benefits from the incredible lineup in New York again this year. He’s a five category producer.

16. Juan Pierre. Pierre will hit second behind Raphael Furcal and that ought to give him more of an opportunity to drive in some runs.

17. Andruw Jones. Huge power numbers but a low batting average. He won’t steal so he’s really only a 3 category producer.

18. Nick Swisher. Showed his power last year but lacks a great batting average.

19. Alex Rios. He should be a good producer in all five categories. Toronto has an upgraded offense filled with young, budding stars and Rios will be at the center of this.

20. Hideki Matsui. He’s productive when healthy and last year was just a freak injury. The only concern for him is a little regression as he’ll be 33 this year.

21. Raul Ibanez. Ibanez had a career year last year. He’s got good power and will score plenty of runs if he can keep it up.

22. Adam Dunn. 40 home runs should be no problem for Dunn. Hitting above .250 will be.

23. Torii Hunter. Hunter is a little older, a little slower and it’s no longer Torii’s Twins, but he’s still a good option.

24. Chone Figgins. Figgins average dipped last year but still showed great speed. The biggest problem for Figgins fantasy owners will be where he bats. Reports have him batting 9^th with the newly acquired Gary Matthews Jr. leading off.

25. Gary Sheffield. Sheffield was unhappy in New York (big surprise) and bitched his way out. He winds up in Detroit this year. He’s a risk for sure.

26. Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli has suffered injuries over the past few seasons that have hurt his production. If he’s healthy, he will be a great player this year. But if he slips in the draft, he’s a good upside player.

27. Corey Patterson. Last year Patterson finally began to show all that the scouts and Cubs had always hoped for. Expect the Orioles outfield, and Patterson to show more improvement this season.

28. Magglio Ordonez. The Tigers outfielder has been injured much of the last three seasons but when he’s healthy, he’s good.

29. Mike Cameron. Cameron is pretty average. He’ll do well for you in all five categories except batting average.

30. Nick Markakis. The Baltimore outfielder has been a big time sleeper candidate for some time.