2008 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers Countdown - #1-10

Here's the next installment of my 2008 MLB sleepers countdown. My qualification for calling someone a sleeper was simple: anyone who is being drafted after the 200th pick, on average. I used Fantasy Gameday's Average Draft Position (ADP) report for data on players' ADP. This list is more or less in order of how excited I am about these guys. For #11-30, see this post and this post.

10. Mark Reynolds (303) – He could very easily hit 30 homers, yet he’s going undrafted in many leagues. Third base is deep, my friends.

9. Billy Butler (316) – You’re going to be 22 years old, buddy. Go by Bill or William or Will. But keep on hitting.

8. Ryan Garko (202) – Power hitter in a good lineup.

7. Kevin Kouzmanoff (246) – A career .332 hitter in the minors, Kouzmanoff got off to a terrible start last year, hitting .113 in April with only 1 homer. After that, he hit .303 and hit 3 or 4 homers every month. He might never hit 30 homers, but a .300 average and 20 homers is a very reasonable expectation.

6. Michael Bourn (242) – He’s a cheaper version of Juan Pierre.

5. Joey Votto (240) – He’s one of the few first basemen who will give you some steals. The only reason he’s not higher on this list is because of the possibility he’ll be forced to share time with Scott Hatteberg.

4. Evan Longoria (234) – It’s still possible he won’t start the year in the majors, but once he gets there, he’ll be productive. Count on it.

3. Clay Buchholz (216) – He’s a stud on a stud team. With Curt Schilling’s injury, it appears that Buchholz has the inside track to a spot in the rotation.

2. J.R. Towles (271) – He has the potential for a Russell Martin-esque season due to his speed. Obviously, he’s in the #2 spot because he’s a catcher.

1. Justin Upton (252) – Yes, he’s really young and inexperienced. Yes, he still has another five or six years before he reaches his peak. But he is so freaking talented, that he could be really good this year. Plus, there aren’t any playing time concerns like there are for Longoria or Jay Bruce.