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New MLB Fantasy Update 2007

Best Hitters and Pitchers, Weekly Projections and In-Season Update

Apr 17, 2007

In week 4 of the MLB season, A-Rod, Josh Beckett and Carlos Beltran rose to the top and Albert Pujols finaly broke out. Here's the full report.

Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Hitters

1. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees 3B

New York Yankee fans have been cheering A-Rod so far this 2007 MLB season, and with good reason. The $250 million third baseman is lapping the fantasy baseball field with a .379 batting average, 12 HR, 31 RBI, 20 Runs and a ridicuolously high 1.578 OPS.

2. Carlos Beltran, New York Mets OF

Beltran got very hot last week and picked up his overall numbers. Looking over all of the statistics, only A-Rod has been more impressive so far. Beltran leads the NL in hitting (.389) and Runs Batted In (19). Carlos also has 6 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers and 13 runs scored.

3. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels

Vlad is the terminator of hitting. He just keeps moving forward no matter what you throw at him. After his first week outburst, it seemed that Vlad was going to come back down to earth. He's done anything but: Overall, he's hitting .392 with 5 HR and 15 RBI.

4. Ian Kinsler - Texas Rangers 2B

Kinsler has been an early season dark horse for fantasy baseball owners, hitting .340 with 7 HR, 15 RBI and 14 Runs scored in the first three weeks of the season. He is staying hot, too, which could mean he is going to be for real.

5. David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox DH

Big Papi started the season a bit slowly for Red Sox fans and fantasy owners' tastes, but he has really begun to pick it up, hitting 4 home runs and driving in 13 over his past ten games, while raising his average from .231 to .300. It sure looks like he is going to continue his incredible fantasy run that started back on 2003.

The Next 5

6. Carlos Lee, Houston Astros (.286, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 12 Runs). He's a big bopper, and a damn good ballplayer to boot.

7. Jose Reyes, New York Mets SS (.368, 4 Triples, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 16 Runs, 9 SB). He is the best all-around player in baseball since Rickey Henderson was in his prime.

8. Orlando Hudson, Arizona Diamonbacks (.373, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 13 Runs). Playing over his head, but there is nothing wrong with that.

8. Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants (.348, 6 HR, 12 RBI, 12 Runs, 1 SB, .473 OBP). Whether the public wants it to happen or not, Bonds is going to break Hank Aaron's record; and it seems like he will do it sooner rather than later.

10. Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians (.365, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 9 Runs). This guy can hit a baseball very, very far. He's a future MVP.

Top 5 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitchers

1. Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox (4-0, 2.55 ERA, 25 Ks). Beckett got roughed up by the Yankees on April 21, but his team kept him in the game and assured him the win with a 7-run scoring attack.

2. C.C. Sabathia (3-0, 2.25 ERA, 27 Ks). The Big Man from Cleveland is off to his best-ever start. Sometimes it's hard to believe that C.C. is still only 26 years old. Who says that Glavine and the Unit will be the last 300-game winners ever?

3. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves (3-0 , 0.62 ERA, 19 Ks). It is still a small sample of games, but if April has been any indication of the way Hudson is going to pitch in 2007, fantasy baseball owners who picked him up after a troubled 2006 are going to look just as brilliant as they truly are.

4. Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (3-0, 2.13, 20 Ks). Most draft projections had Jake going high, and for good reason. He'll give fantasy MLB owners 15-17 Wins, an ERA around 3.00, and 200-220 strikeouts.

5. Johann Santana, Minnesota Twins (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 32 Ks). Sure, Santana has looked human at times this season. But he still has three wins and is lapping the field in the strikeout department. Fantasy owners should be very happy with Johann, no matter what he may have cost. Barring serious injury, 18 wins and 250 strikeouts are a lock for the lefty.

Top 5 Fantasy Baseball Relievers

1. Jose Valverde, Arizona Diamondbacks (7 Saves, 1.17 ERA, 9 Ks in 7.2 IP)

2. Todd Jones, Detroit Tigers (7 Saves, 1.93 ERA, 4 Ks in 9.1 IP)

3. Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers (6 Saves, 1.04 ERA, 10 Ks in 8.2 IP)

4. Bobby Jenks, Chicago White Sox (6 Saves, 3.72 ERA, 10 Ks in 9.1 IP)

5. Francisco Cordero, Milwaukee Brewers (6 Saves, 2.35 ERA, 10 Ks in 7.2 IP; One Loss )

The copyright of the article New MLB Fantasy Update 2007 in Baseball is owned by James Lincoln Ray. Permission to republish New MLB Fantasy Update 2007 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.