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Fantasy Baseball Prep: Outfield

It's Fantasy Baseball Season so it's time to do some Prep Work. Bare in mind that these Preps are as much for me as they are for any other schmuck that happens to read them. If perchance you are in any of my leagues please avoid reading all of this until after our respective drafts. Thanks.

The land of the fantasy outfielder is a plentiful one. In most leagues you need a lot of them, but with some solid research you can find some steals in the latter portion of the draft. Take last year for instance. Shane Victorino and Corey Hart looked like they were finally going to get the opportunity to play every day. Both players were available in the back end of fantasy drafts. Victorino soared to 37 steals in 137 games before getting injured. While Hart who struggled initially to get playing time finished the season with 24 HRs and 23 steals. Both players I identified as late round picks. I only landed Victorino, but he helped catapult me to my championship.

This year is no different. There are always players who turn up and have a full time gig. A full time job that we allow them to blossom. So you want an example right? Here's one. Lastings Milledge. He has always been regarded as a top prospect a player with multiple talents and multiple tools. A player who can hit for power and can steal a base. Yet, with the Mets he could never get consistent playing time. Now with the Nationals he will play every day and should be able to give you close to 20/20 by the end of the season. Yet, because he has no history he will last deep into drafts.

There are always identifiable steals in the outfield at the tail end of the draft. So plan accordingly. Before the draft identify 3 or 4 guys you want to draft in the late rounds. Then while you are going through your draft make sure not to fill up your OF positions and leave yourself open to drafting these guys at the end. If the player doesn't work out, then who cares there's always a semi decent outfield on the waiver wire. Why? Because there are a ton of them.

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