Ten Fantasy Auction Strategies for Keeper Leagues

The Counselor is IN:

An auction keeper league is a very different creature than a straight draft league. Because of the differences, the strategies are vastly unique.


Here are Ten strategies to consider:

1) Know the other owners and their draft tendencies, if this is a live auction (my favorite style). It is important to know who will bluff you to drive up the price on a player and who will drop out when they hit their ceiling price. You need to note who is a fan of a team because some of these fans will desperately attempt to get players from his team to the point of over paying for them. Some players will typically spend their money very fast to get the top players and then pick up dollar players and some will horde their money to the end in an attempt to pick up the late auction sleepers.

2) Don't draft like a fan. It is fun to have players from your favorite team on your fantasy team but do not overspend for them. If other owners know you are a fan of a team, they will intentionally throw out players for you to overspend on. Do take advantage of the other fans in your league but do not let yourself be abused with it.

3) Know what players were kept and what players let go from last season. A team will let a player go from their team for a couple of reasons. They either did not like the player for the salary which they had them at (or at all) or they did not have room for them on the keeper list. In my keeper auction league, some teams just miss that a player is a future stud and they will let him go. But other owners have so many good players that they can not keep them all. If a team does not know how good a player is, it is a good chance they will not bid on them so you might be able to get a deal on the player at the end of the draft. If a team lets a player go because of they did not have room for them, it is a good chance that they will attempt to get this player back so you can throw that player out early in an attempt to get this team to overbid for him.

4) Know the positions that are short on quality players and the teams that need them and know the positions that have an abundance of quality players for the teams that need them. If most of the good 2nd basemen were kept but there are several teams that still need that position then you should adapt the projected price for those players even if you must overpay for them. If there are 20 quality Outfielders and only 15 Outfield positions left, then you can wait and pay below market value for your needs.

5) Mix up the players that you throw out for bidding. During the auction, teams take turns throwing out players. A common strategy is to throw out players that you do not want. This is a sound strategy to keep those players hidden that you want but it can bite you if you get stuck with the player that you throw out. Other teams will notice if you do not bid on any of the players that you throw out. You should mix it up and throw out some players that you really would like at different stages in the draft. If the player is sleeper, then do not throw them out. If you throw out a stud pitcher like CC Sabathia and bid high on him, then you will not lose much because the salary is always going to be high for a Top Tier player.

6) Spend some of your money early, in the middle rounds, and some for sleepers. You need to be able to spend some of your money for those studs if you want to win but you do not want to run yourself down to a dollar a player after just bidding on 2 players (I have seen this). You need a balance approach to how you spend money. It is not bad to have a few positions left with $1 max but you do not want a lot of them.

7) Never bid an extra dollar on a player that you are not happy with. I completely understand the desire to bid of a team up. But if you bid out of your comfort zone, you are playing a game of Russian roulette with your auction money and may get stuck with a player that you do not want.

8) Stay focused even with distractions. An auction is a much longer type of draft than a straight draft. You have to prepare for the marathon and be ready for it.

This time of the year there are lots of distractions on the TV during an auction (or even a draft). Between the Final Four Tournament, NBA games, MLB Pre-Season, and NFL Draft discussion, it is easy to get your mind off of the auction. Use this to your advantage over those not paying attention and do not get caught up in it. If you have to watch the big game, DVR the game. This time is for the auction only.

9) Know how much money each of Owners have and how many positions they will need at all times. As the draft goes on, you should know who can out bid you on certain players and if they have a need for that player or if you can steamroll for a certain player.

10) Have a good time and relax. There is no reason to join a fantasy league unless you are doing it for the pleasure. The auction is a huge part of fun. Don't be so relax that you overly consume adult beverages (recipe for a disastrous draft) but you do not want to be so tense that you miss the very reason you joined the league. Have FUN!


The Counselor is OUT:

Quiet Superstars

The Counselor is IN: by Michael Kaplan

There is a subtle distinction between “Sleepers” and “Quiet Superstars”. When an expert is talking about sleepers, he usually mentions players drafted anywhere from the 9th round and beyond. Quiet Superstars are those players that slipped down to about the 3rd to 6th rounds in the draft. Those rounds, in my mind, are the most important part of the draft. In those rounds you are selecting players from pick 25 to 72 and you are hopeful that they will perform in the top 15 in fantasy players. If you can perfect those rounds and get 4 quiet superstars to add to your first two obvious superstars, you will have a winning fantasy team. Here are some of my picks for quiet superstars that can lead your team.

Jason Bay- Jason Bay was an incredibly impressive hitter on a mediocre team getting mediocre stats for the last couple of years, until he joined the Boston Red Sox for the last 49 games of the season. Bay had big shoes to fill coming in after Manny Ramirez and this is a classic example of a fresh start on a powerful offense that lights a fire under a hitter. In those 49 games for the Sox, he got 54 hits, 39 runs, 37 RBIs, and 9 homers with a .293 batting average. If he can keep up those stats over 160 games next season, he will get about 176 hits, 127 runs, 121 RBIs, and 29 homers. This is a player that can be drafted at around the 3rd or 4th round, but he could definitely be a top 10 player.

Roy Halladay- Roy Halladay is referred to as a rubber arm. This means that he can pitch all game long, all season long. There are tons of fantasy leagues that have complete games as a stat, and Halladay managed to get 9 complete games in the 246 innings he pitched last year. This was all while he was keeping up a 2.78 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, racking up 20 wins and 206 Ks. If you can grab him close to the end of the 3rd round or beyond, he will perform way better than his Yahoo ranking if he does anything close to his season last year.

Adrian Gonzalez- Adrian Gonzalez is a young and rising first baseman ready to have a great year. He is located in the middle of a less than ideal situation on the struggling offense of the San Diego Padres. However, Gonzalez has averaged 30 homers, 100 RBIs, and a .288 batting average in the last three seasons. Last season he had 36 home runs and 119 RBIs playing in all 162 games. Check to make sure your league has walks because less and less pitchers are going to want to pitch to him in the Padres lineup. And remember; don’t be afraid to take a second 1B early in the draft even if you already took one, because you always have that utility spot to put him in.

Dan Uggla- Dan Uggla does not exactly fall into this category as well, but he is a quiet superstar. He is one because of how hard it is to find a good 2B this year. If you take one as early Ian Kinsler, Brandon Phillips, or Dustin Pedroia will go in the draft, you don’t get enough bang for your buck. Then, the class of 2B just drops off the table and you won’t find a decent one. Uggla is basically the only one in the middle and he got 97 runs, 92 RBIs, and 34 homers last year. This could easily turn into the 100 runs, 100 RBIs, and 35 home run season on the improving Marlins offense. This will probably escalate him to one of the top 3 2B next year. Caution: make sure that you are in a league without offensive Ks, because Uggla’s a free swinger.

Some other quiet superstars to think about are David Ortiz, Derek Lee, Jake Peavy, and Vladimir Guerrero. These players need to go back to their old selves and they could be in the top 25 at least. Check out more of Michael’s help at http://www.bestfantasysportshelp.com/.

The Counselor is OUT:

Accolades for Michael

The Counselor is IN:

A couple of weeks ago, Michael Kaplan agreed to join the staff of the Fantasy Sports Counselor. In just a few days, he was receiving notice from sites like Cowboys Pride, Sports Jabber, and the Bleacher Report. His wonderful article "A Closing Conundrum" has grabbed even more attention. I just received notice that Fox Sports has picked up his article. Congratulations Michael and keep up the fan... (wait for it) tastic job!

The Counselor is OUT:

A Closing Conundrum

The Counselor is IN: by Michael Kaplan

This article is dedicated to the people who are just like I was at the beginning of the season; very confused about closers. Many players moved to different teams, were good setup men and inherited the closing role, or are fighting during spring training for the spot. The next five minutes will sort out this mind boggling conundrum.

First there are solid closers who kept their jobs on their respective teams. These players include George Sherrill, Bobby Jenks, Jonathan Papelbon, Joakim Soria, Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, Troy Percival, B.J. Ryan, Francisco Cordero, Jose Valverde, Brad Lidge, and Brian Wilson. These are reliable closers, barring a few injury risks, whose teams did not even have to think about making a change. Some other players that came into the closing role late in the year and kept it during the off season are Mike Gonzalez and Matt Capps. There are two good strategies for how to deal with this group of closers. One is to pick one of these players to have a consistently dominant closer on your team, which could be a smart move. Using the other strategy, it would not be vital to a fantasy team to have one of these closers if none are open at good times in the draft. The strategy is to take lesser closers in order to not waste high draft picks. Lesser closers with a consistent role and higher ERA will still get your team saves.

Another group of closers are the ones on new teams such as Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes, Brandon Lyon, Trevor Hoffman, and Francisco Rodriguez. Some of these players are great closer picks because they are in the next tier down, but could still be the number one closer on your team. My personal favorite for the top closer pick is Brian Fuentes because he has always had a good ERA is a hitter’s ballpark in Colorado. Now he is on a team in which last year’s closing pitcher racked up a whopping 62 saves. He would be a great pick to be your top closer. Make sure you keep Scot Shields or Jose Arredondo close in mind because one of them could try to steal the spot from Fuentes and they will probably perform just as well for your team. You should probably take one closer from one of the last two categories to be the top closer on your team.

The third category is the closers that inherited a closing role after being a strong RP last year, including Joey Devine, Frank Francisco, Chad Qualls, Matt Lindstrom, Jonathan Broxton, Heath Bell, and Joel Hanrahan. Some of the draft’s best sleepers come out of this category. This year’s top closing pitcher strategy is to take one player from one of the first to groups, except maybe Brandon Lyon and Trevor Hoffman because they are too risky, and then take two players from the third group. My two favorites are Joey Devine and Matt Lindstrom because they are both players with impressive ERAs last year and are both from talented rising teams that produce great pitchers. Fuentes, Devine, and Lindstrom could be the best closing staff in your league without wasting many draft picks.

The final group of closers are the one’s fighting for the closing role, such as Miguel Batista and David Aardsma in Seattle, Kevin Gregg and Carlos Marmol in Chicago, Manny Corpas and Huston Street in Colorado, and Jason Motte and Chris Perez in St. Louis. These players could all be late steals and might even go undrafted in some leagues. Keep your eye on some of these players after the draft and if they win the role, you could pick one up and trade a different closer for a position on your team that needs to be filled. The Cubs spot is probably the most important right now because they will most likely have the most save opportunities. Marmol is a very risky early pick because he could just end up starting the season as a setup man, which has low fantasy value in most leagues. Gregg is low risk, high reward because he goes late in drafts and could be the Cubs closer.

I hope this article helped you sort out your closers for the draft and gave you the knowledge to have the best closers in your league. Check out more of Michael Kaplan’s help at http://www.bestfantasysportshelp.com.



The Counselor is OUT:

The Draft: Position Strategies (Part 2)

The Counselor is IN:

Last post I discussed position strategies for all offensive positions players except catchers. This post I am reviewing strategies for pitchers and catchers.

Catchers- The catchers are tricky this year because the cream of the crop are a little overrated and many other catchers in the league could perform just as well as the top players. For this reason, I would definitely recommend you take a catcher late in the draft. Pablo Sandoval could potentially have season that will almost match Russell Martin. The many rounds in between those two players are not worth the small difference I anticipate in their stats. Since I think it is so important to grab catchers late in the draft, here are a couple of sleepers who may be available: Chris Iannetta, Pablo Sandoval, Mike Napoli, Jorge Posada, and Victor Martinez. There are many other good late steals, but I chose to focus on these players. I chose Iannetta because he has been playing great for the USA in the WBC, Sandoval because he will start at 3B this season (3B generally perform better than catchers) even though he has catcher status, and Posada and Martinez because they can both come back from injury and play like they used to.

Starters- My philosophy on SP is very much like catchers. The ones that are taken earliest are not good enough to justify using up the draft pick. I would want to take Manny Ramirez, who is going to play for me every day, rather than Johan Santana, who will go once every five days, without a doubt. The best pitchers at the very top such as Santana, Tim Lincecum, and C.C. Sabathia are not worth their rank in the draft. SPs are also very unpredictable during the season. I picked up Cliff Lee last year after his first start and he won the Cy Young. Be ready to pick up someone good when the season starts and have solid pitching from the draft to back it up. You should  take your first pitcher, the ace of your staff, around the 5th or 6th round. Try to get one of the top second tier starters like Dan Haren, Francisco Liriano, Roy Oswalt, or even Dice-K. It would be best if you could designate two early picks, such as 5th and 6th or 7th to this quality of pitcher. If you were going to get any pitcher in the league before that, take Roy Halladay in about the 4th round. There are tons of good and risky sleepers with pitchers, and I will leave that for a future article. A few good choices are Chris Carpenter, Mark Buehrle, John Smoltz, Oliver Perez, and Aaron Cook. I will almost guarantee that the best SP sleeper in the draft this season will not be drafted. So remember to stay on your toes and be ready to pick up the next potential Cy Young winner. 

Relief Pitchers- If there are not Holds in your league's stat categories, my philosophy is to only take closers as your RPs. Setup men do not help very much. They are like starters in that you should probably take one good one early, and then try to take two that have the closing job secure later. The huge difference between the two positions is that there are only about thirty good closers in the league, compared to almost a hundred good SPs. Stay tuned for next week's article, A Closing Conundrum, in which I will analyze which closers to take early and late, who has the closing role, and who is fighting for one.

Get more of Michael's help at http://www.bestfantasysportshelp.com.  

The Counselor is OUT:

The Draft: Position Strategies

The Counselor is IN:

It’s great to write here as a Fantasy Sports Counselor and I hope to help you with your fantasy baseball leagues. My first couple of articles will be about strategies and ideas for the draft. It is a good idea to have some strategies in place when you begin your fantasy baseball draft. Remember that it is a marathon and not a sprint.

First and Third Basemen- These two positions are very similar in the draft because some of the best fantasy picks play either 1B or 3B. You will see that many 1B and 3B go very early in the draft, such as Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Howard, David Wright, and more. The crucial strategy for this position is simple: you have to get them early. You need to watch out for those great 1B and 3B early in the draft and take them because it is tough to get someone good at those positions in later rounds. However, don’t panic if you miss drafting one of these players early, because you can pull a trick out of your sleeve late, but it is important to have a dominant player in one of these two positions. Some examples of middle of the draft (around 5th to 8th round) players who could be good at these positions are Adrian Gonzalez, Adam Dunn, and Chipper Jones (even though he is a risk). Some examples of late round (around 9th and later) players who could be good at these positions are Aubrey Huff, Carlos Delgado, Mark DeRosa, Hank Blalock, Paul Konerko, and Adrian Beltre.

Second Baseman and Shortstop- These two positions also pair up in draft strategy. With 2B and SS there are only a couple of greats, including Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, Ian Kinsler, and Chase Utley. With the exception of Hanley Ramirez, these players don’t really have the actual value that they are typically given in the draft. I recommend you do not take any of those top players besides Ramirez. You will have the opportunity for a couple of late steals at this position. I would strongly suggest going for one of the great sleepers. Some players who would be both great to pick around the 5th to 8th rounds are Alexei Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, and Dan Uggla. These players will definitely produce for your team. Uggla is a must draft because he is one of the only good 2B late in the draft. For later rounds, you should go for players like Mark DeRosa, Stephen Drew, and Miguel Tejada. Tejada is one of the best steals of the draft because of how much potential he has and I would urge you to wait for him if you don’t get a top SS.

Outfielders- OFs are very tricky because they are massively abundant throughout the draft. You can get a great OF any time from the first three rounds to very late in the draft. The key is to try to balance your OF picks. For example, take two great OFs earlier and then two medium OFs with high potential later. The good ones at the beginning are obvious, but the later picks who could have a lot of upside potential are a little trickier. The first type of late OF picks are the Speedsters, like Coco Crisp, Juan Pierre, Willy Taveras, and Michael Bourn. The second type of late OF picks are the Sluggers, such as Pat Burrell, Rick Ankiel, Milton Bradley, and maybe even Ken Griffey, Jr. Another strategy with OFs is to get the 30-30 players. These are the players who could have 30 home runs and 30 steals such as Alfonso Soriano, Torii Hunter, Chris Young, or Matt Kemp, if he can get a little more power.

Stay tuned for the next post when I review some other position strategies for your fantasy baseball draft. Check out some more of Michael's help at http://www.bestfantasysportshelp.com/index.html.

The Counselor is OUT:

Top Baseball Sleepers

The Counselor is IN:

I received a comment from one of our readers. I thought I would respond to it with a post about prospects.

dodgerfan32 said "...thank for helping me win my league last year. who is your top sleeper?"

Dodgerfan32,

Thank you for reading our posts. I am very excited that we were able to help you win your league last year. I hope you will be able to repeat this year. Here is a list of my top sleepers for this year.

Pitchers
1) David Price (SP) (TB) - I know that Price pitched great in the playoffs last year but most people will still try to avoid Rays pitch because Rays Pitching has historically been terrible. Price is young and his potential is very high.

2) Chris Volstad (SP) (FLA) - This 22 year old had a great partial season last year. He started 14 games and won 6 games. He posted a 2.88 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. I look for a break out year for Volstad.

3) Carlos Marmol (Closer) (CHC)- Marmol has fully transitioned from starter to reliever. He is in competition to be the closer for the Cubs and he has a major inside track. Anytime you can pick up a closer that is under the radar, you should do it. Marmol should be successful closing as he demonstrated with seven saves last year.

Hitters

1) Adam Jones (OF) (BAL)- This young outfielder should be available in the late rounds of the draft or an auction. He has 5 steals already in Spring Training. I think he should easily have double digit homers and 20+ steals this season.

2) Jed Lowrie (SS) (BOS)- Here is a guy that was dropped in a keeper league I am in. I will be trying to pick him up at my auction. It appears that Lowrie has won the starting SS job. He also will qualify for 3B in most leagues (45 games last year). Last year's stats are not impressive but I look for 2009 to be the break out year for this 24 year old.

3) Nelson Cruz (OF) (TEX)- Nelson is a late bloomer of a prospect at 28 years old. He had a great year last year in AAA with 37 Homers, 98 RBI, 24 SB, and a .346 BA. He is competing for the starting job. If he wins a starting job, he could be a steal for you since he should be a late round guy. I would take him even if he does not win the job out of Spring Training. Oh yeah, he will be hitting in the homer friendly "The Ball Park" in Arlington.

4) Chris Davis (1B,3B) (TEX)- Davis is another Ranger's prospect that I love. Davis played 51 games at 1B and 32 games at 3B last year for the Rangers. He should qualify for both positions. In 80 games last year for the Rangers, he hit 17 homers, 55 RBI, 1 SB, and 285 BA. He had another 23 homers in the minors last year. He is only 22 years old.

Rookies
1) Cameron Maybin (OF) (FLA)- Maybin should be the lead of hitter for the Marlins. He has 14 stolen bases in the minors last year and another 3 for the Marlins after he was called up. He also had 12 homers in the minors. Maybin is a 5 tool prospect that should produce decent this year but is a gem in a keeper league.

2) Travis Snider (OF) (TOR)- Snider demonstrate some power in the minors last year with 20 homers. He looks to be a year or two away from a break out year but worth a late round pick in a redraft league and worth an earlier pick in a keeper league.

3) Elvis Andrus (SS) (TEX)- Yes another Ranger on my list but to my defense, Elvis is in the building. I would have to draft this kid just for his name but lucky for me, he can play. This 20 year old is good enough to move All Star Michael Young to 3B. He has already won the job.

The Counselor is OUT:

Fantasy Baseball Rankings- Catcher National League Only

The Counselor is IN:

Rank	Player		Team
1	Brian McCann		Braves
2	Russell Martin		Dodgers
3	Geovany Soto		Cubs
4	Ryan Doumit		Pirates
5	Bengie Molina		Giants
6	Chris Iannetta		Rockies
7	John Baker		Reds
8	Kenji Johjima		Mariners
9	Ramon Hernandez		Reds
10	Yadier Molina		Cardinals
11	Pablo Sandoval		Giants
12	Chris Snyder		D Backs
13	Miguel Montero		D Backs
14	Carlos Ruiz		Phillies
15	Angel Salome		Brewers
16	J.R. Towles		Astros
17	Ivan Rodriguez		F/A
18	Jesus Flores		Nationals
19	Brian Schneider		Mets
20	Nick Hundley		Padres

The Counselor is OUT:

Fantasy Baseball Rankings- Catcher American League Only

The Counselor is IN:

Rank	Player		Team
1	Joe Mauer		Twins
2	Victor Martinez		Indians
3	Mike Napoli		Angels
4	Matt Wieters		Orioles
5	Kelly Shoppach		Indians
6	Jorge Posada		Yankees
7	Jarrod Saltalamacchia		Rangers
8	Dioner Navarro		Rays
9	A.J. Pierzynski		W Sox
10	Gerald Laird		Tigers
11	Jeff Clement		Mariners
12	Kurt Suzuki		A's
13	Kenji Johjima		Mariners
14	Taylor Teagarden		Rangers
15	Jason Varitek		R Sox
16	Miguel Olivo		Royals
17	Max Ramirez		Rangers
18	Ivan Rodriguez		F/A
19	Rod Barajas		B Jays
20	John Buck		Royals
21	Josh Bard		R Sox
22	Gregg Zaun		Orioles

The Counselor is OUT:

Fantasy Baseball Rankings- Catcher Mixed League

The Counselor is IN:

Rank	Player		Team
1	Brian McCann		Braves
2	Russell Martin		Dodgers
3	Joe Mauer		Twins
4	Geovany Soto		Cubs
5	Ryan Doumit		Pirates
6	Victor Martinez		Indians
7	Mike Napoli		Angels
8	Bengie Molina		Giants
9	Chris Iannetta		Rockies
10	Matt Wieters		Orioles
11	Kelly Shoppach		Indians
12	Jorge Posada		Yankees
13	Jarrod Saltalamacchia		Rangers
14	Dioner Navarro		Rays
15	A.J. Pierzynski		W Sox
16	Gerald Laird		Tigers
17	Jeff Clement		Mariners
18	Kurt Suzuki		A's
19	John Baker		Reds
20	Kenji Johjima		Mariners
21	Ramon Hernandez		Reds
22	Taylor Teagarden		Rangers
23	Yadier Molina		Cardinals
24	Jason Varitek		R Sox
25	Pablo Sandoval		Giants
26	Chris Snyder		D Backs
27	Miguel Olivo		Royals
28	Miguel Montero		D Backs
29	Carlos Ruiz		Phillies
30	Max Ramirez		Rangers
31	Angel Salome		Brewers
32	J.R. Towles		Astros
33	Ivan Rodriguez		F/A
34	Jesus Flores		Nationals
35	Rod Barajas		B Jays
36	John Buck		Royals
37	Brian Schneider		Mets
38	Josh Bard		R Sox
39	Gregg Zaun		Orioles
40	Nick Hundley		Padres

The Counselor is OUT:

Welcome Michael

The Counselor is IN:

The Fantasy Sports Counselor is excited to welcome Michael Kaplan as a contributing author. Michael is an expert in Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Football. We are ecstatic to bring his expert opinions and articles to our readers.

The Counselor is OUT:

Fantasy Baseball Rankings- 3rd Base Mixed League

The Counselor is IN:

Rank	Player		Team
1	Alex Rodriguez		Yankees
2	David Wright		Mets
3	Evan Longoria		Rays
4	Aramis Ramirez		Cubs
5	Chris Davis		Rangers
6	Kevin Youkilis		R Sox
7	Garrett Atkins		Rockies
8	Adrian Beltre		Mariners
9	Chipper Jones		Braves
10	Ryan Zimmerman		Nationals
11	Alex Gordon		Royals
12	Aubrey Huff		Orioles
13	Chone Figgins		Angels
14	Ian Stewart		Rockies
15	Edwin Encarnacion		Reds
16	Jorge Cantu		Marlins
17	Hank Blalock		Rangers
18	Mark Reynolds		D Backs
19	Carlos Guillen		Tigers
20	Michael Young		Rangers
21	Kevin Kouzmanoff		Padres
22	Andy LaRoche		Pirates
23	Troy Glaus		Cardinals
24	Melvin Mora		Orioles
25	Casey Blake		Dodgers
26	Dallas McPherson		Marlins
27	Mike Lowell		R Sox
28	Josh Fields		W Sox
29	Mark DeRosa		Indians
30	Mat Gamel		Brewers
31	Scott Rolen		B Jays
32	Bill Hall		Brewers
33	Joe Crede		Twins
34	Ty Wigginton		Orioles
35	Russell Branyan		Mariners
36	Eric Chavez		A's
37	Brandon Wood		Angels
38	Pedro Feliz		Phillies
39	Pablo Sandoval		Giants
40	Martin Prado		Braves
41	Wilson Betemit		W Sox
42	Willy Aybar		Rays
43	Scott Moore		Orioles
44	Rich Aurilia		Giants
45	Jose Bautista		B Jays
46	Brian Buscher		Twins
47	Greg Dobbs		Phillies
48	Mike Lamb		Brewers
49	Jack Hannahan		A's
50	Wes Helms		Marlins
51	Geoff Blum		Astros
52	Robb Quinlan		Angels
53	Travis Metcalf		Rangers
54	Jeff Larish		Tigers
55	Donnie Murphy		Orioles

The Counselor is OUT:

Fantasy Baseball Rankings- 3rd Base American League Only

The Counselor is IN:

Rank	Player		Team
1	Alex Rodriguez		Yankees
2	Evan Longoria		Rays
3	Chris Davis		Rangers
4	Kevin Youkilis		R Sox
5	Adrian Beltre		Mariners
6	Alex Gordon		Royals
7	Aubrey Huff		Orioles
8	Chone Figgins		Angels
9	Hank Blalock		Rangers
10	Carlos Guillen		Tigers
11	Michael Young		Rangers
12	Melvin Mora		Orioles
13	Mike Lowell		R Sox
14	Josh Fields		W Sox
15	Mark DeRosa		Indians
16	Scott Rolen		B Jays
17	Joe Crede		Twins
18	Ty Wigginton		Orioles
19	Russell Branyan		Mariners
20	Eric Chavez		A's
21	Brandon Wood		Angels
22	Wilson Betemit		W Sox
23	Willy Aybar		Rays
24	Scott Moore		Orioles
25	Jose Bautista		B Jays
26	Brian Buscher		Twins
27	Jack Hannahan		A's
28	Robb Quinlan		Angels
29	Travis Metcalf		Rangers
30	Jeff Larish		Tigers
31	Donnie Murphy		Orioles

The Counselor is OUT: