Fantasy Focus

Pre-season Fantasy Predictions

by Baseball Prospectus

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Since we're the fantasy crew here at Baseball Prospectus, we wanted to give you some more fantasy-focused predictions for the upcoming year. This is the perfect opportunity for us to claim that the things we predicted that came true make us brilliant, and also gives us adequate time to come up with excuses for the things that did not turn out the way we planned. It's a flawless plot, and we hope that you take part with your own predictions in the comments. Here we are, in alphabetical order, which means poor old Bill Baer will be the first to be christened a visionary or insane:

Bill Baer

Fantasy MVP (Hitter):Troy Tulowitzki
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher):Roy Halladay
Sleeper (Hitter): Jimmy Rollins
Sleeper (Pitcher): Mike Minor
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson Division:Freddie Freeman
Sophomore Slump: Jaime Garcia
Sophomore Breakout:Pedro Alvarez
Most likely to disappoint:Robinson Cano
Most Overrated: Ubaldo Jimenez
Best $1 Pitcher:Jordan Zimmermann
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be:Brandon Morrow
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Joe Blanton
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Michael Young

Craig Brown

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Hanley Ramirez
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Felix Hernandez
Sleeper (Hitter): Ryan Raburn
Sleeper (Pitcher): Gio Gonzalez
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson Division: Brandon Belt
Sophomore Slump: Austin Jackson
Sophomore Breakout: Jose Tabata
Most likely to disappoint: Matt Kemp
Most Overrated: Nelson Cruz
Best $1 Pitcher: James McDonald
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Kila Ka'ahuie
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Prince Fielder
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Grady Sizemore

Jason Collette

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Carl Crawford
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Cole Hamels
Sleeper (Hitter): Edwin Encarnacion
Sleeper (Pitcher): Jason Hammel
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson Division: Michael Pineda
Sophomore Slump: Gaby Sanchez
Sophomore Breakout: Brian Matusz
Most likely to disappoint: Elvis Andrus
Most Overrated: Mike Stanton
Best $1 Pitcher: Homer Bailey
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Martin Prado
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Heath Bell
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Joakim Soria

Michael Jong

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Albert Pujols
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Roy Halladay
Sleeper (Hitter): Adam Jones
Sleeper (Pitcher): Edwin Jackson
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson Division: Mike Minor
Sophomore Slump: Logan Morrison
Sophomore Breakout: Mike Stanton
Most likely to disappoint: Ian Kinsler
Most Overrated: Andre Ethier
Best $1 Pitcher: Mike Minor
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Drew Stubbs
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Prince Fielder
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Michael Young

Rob McQuown

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Adrian Gonzalez
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Tim Lincecum
Sleeper (Hitter): Dexter Fowler
Sleeper (Pitcher): Scott Baker
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson: Freddie Freeman
Sophomore Slump: Travis Wood
Sophomore Breakout: Mitch Moreland
Most likely to disappoint: Chase Utley
Most Overrated: Ryan Howard
Best $1 Pitcher: Cory Luebke
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Starlin Castro
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Albert Pujols
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Michael Young

Marc Normandin

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Albert Pujols
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Felix Hernandez
Sleeper (Hitter): Ryan Raburn
Sleeper (Pitcher): Tim Stauffer
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson: Brandon Belt
Sophomore Slump: Chris Johnson
Sophomore Breakout: Jonathon Niese
Most likely to disappoint: Javier Vazquez
Most Overrated: Andre Ethier
Best $1 Pitcher: Homer Bailey
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Kila Ka'ahuie
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Carlos Beltran
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Michael Young

Mike Petriello

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Troy Tulowitzki
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Roy Halladay
Sleeper (Hitter): Mike Morse
Sleeper (Pitcher): Homer Bailey
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson Division: Brandon Belt
Sophomore Slump: Chris Johnson
Sophomore Breakout: Madison Bumgarner
Most likely to disappoint: Chase Utley
Most Overrated: Carlos Gonzalez
Best $1 Pitcher: James McDonald
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Jonathan Broxton
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Heath Bell
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Jonathan Papelbon

Michael Street

Fantasy MVP (Hitter): Albert Pujols
Fantasy MVP (Pitcher): Roy Halladay
Sleeper (Hitter): Alcides Escobar
Sleeper (Pitcher): Ian Kennedy
Impact Prospect, Non-Montero/Hellickson Division: Freddie Freeman
Sophomore Slump: Ike Davis
Sophomore Breakout: Brett Wallace
Most likely to disappoint: Austin Jackson
Most Overrated: Chris Johnson
Best $1 Pitcher: Randy Wolf
Player you won't give up on at any point during the season, no matter how irrational it may be: Pablo Sandoval
Most likely to be traded to AL, breaking hearts of NL-only owners: Prince Fielder
Most likely to be traded to NL, breaking hearts of AL-only owners: Michael Young

It's safe to say we think the Rangers are going to move Michael Young during the season, Chris Johnson is going to be bad, and that there are plenty of inexpensive pitchers who will be productive at drafts this year. Tell us where you disagree and give us your own thoughts in the comments.