2008 Fantasy Baseball Duds

I’ve talked a lot about the players that I think you should draft. But, I think it’s about time I listed some “duds.” Just because a player appears on this list, it doesn’t mean that you should avoid him like a hooker with a cold sore. It just means you should only draft him if he falls way below his typical draft position. Or, in hooker terms, don’t pay more than a dollar for that cold-sored hooker. Five, if she has a southern accent. Anyway, these guys represent bad value at the spots they’re currently being drafted. Here they are, your 2008 fantasy baseball duds:

Ichiro Suzuki – Batting average is just so variable. He could hit anywhere between .290 and .360. In the second round, I’d rather have more of a sure thing.

Justin Morneau – A 50-point drop in batting average and a 67-point drop in slugging average worry me. Plus, he’s Canadian. Eww.

Manny Ramirez – A 126-point drop in slugging? Maybe he should spend a little less time admiring his homers and a little more time getting back to the pre-2007 Manny.

Gary Sheffield – He’s old.

Roy Oswalt – His K/9 rate has decreased each of the last three seasons and he posted a career-high 2.6 BB/9 rate last year.

Carlos Zambrano – The decline in K/9 rate worries me. Plus, he’s a crazy mofo and not in a good way.

Fausto Carmona & Chien-Ming Wang – It’s possible that they’ll win a bunch of games and post low ERAs, but the lack of strikeouts prevents them from being elite fantasy pitchers.

Paul Konerko – There are plenty of first basemen with more upside than Konerko. He’s not getting any better.

Dan Uggla – He could hit 31 homers again. But probably not.

Edgar Renteria – PECOTA hates Renteria. I think he could put up some decent numbers in that Detroit offense, but I’m not overly optimistic.

Brad Penny – He got luckier last year than when he was banging Alyssa Milano.

Aaron Rowand – The sad thing is, he’s the best position player on that team.

Dontrelle Willis – A 5.17 ERA in the NL? And now he’s heading to the big boys’ league? Willis may win a bunch of games, but he’s going to give up a ton of runs in the process.

Carlos Delgado – Remember when he was an elite fantasy first baseman? Yeah…those days are gone.

Gary Matthews, Jr. – First of all, his playing time could be limited. Second, he sucks.