2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

Each fantasy season is a reminder that there never seems to be a “sure thing” when it comes to starting pitchers. Let’s take a quick flashback to last year’s draft and two top-five pitchers. Johan Santana, the first pitcher taken in most drafts, had his season cut short because of elbow surgery and Brandon Webb only managed to pitch four innings before missing the remainder of the year with shoulder surgery.

Santana no longer sits atop the pitcher rankings, and unlike most other positions, there is not a unanimous No. 1 pick this year. Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez, Zack Greinke, and Roy Halladay could all make a case for this year’s top fantasy pitcher and are the closest to a “sure thing” that you’ll find in this year’s draft.

Draft-Day Advice: There are a couple schools of thought when it comes to drafting starting pitchers. Some managers prefer to load up on elite aces early, while some would rather wait until the later rounds, and a large portion fall somewhere in the middle. Whatever your strategy, its inevitable that every season brings surprise late-round gems so do your homework and cross your fingers.

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2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

Each fantasy season is a reminder that there never seems to be a “sure thing” when it comes to starting pitchers. Let’s take a quick flashback to last year’s draft and two top-five pitchers. Johan Santana, the first pitcher taken in most drafts, had his season cut short because of elbow surgery and Brandon Webb only managed to pitch four innings before missing the remainder of the year with shoulder surgery.

Santana no longer sits atop the pitcher rankings, and unlike most other positions, there is not a unanimous No. 1 pick this year. Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez, Zack Greinke, and Roy Halladay could all make a case for this year’s top fantasy pitcher and are the closest to a “sure thing” that you’ll find in this year’s draft.

Draft-Day Advice: There are a couple schools of thought when it comes to drafting starting pitchers. Some managers prefer to load up on elite aces early, while some would rather wait until the later rounds, and a large portion fall somewhere in the middle. Whatever your strategy, its inevitable that every season brings surprise late-round gems so do your homework and cross your fingers.

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2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

The outfield position is filled with talent and offers fantasy owners a variety of speed and power. You can tailor your outfield draft for power only, speed only, hitting only, or a combination of all three and you can find players to bolster these statistics deep into most drafts.

If you’re planning on targeting an outfielder early, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp both offer elite five-category production and will likely be first-round selections. Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury will not be far behind and will be among the league leaders in steals. Justin Upton, Matt Holliday, Grady Sizemore, and Jason Bay all offer nice fantasy production across the board and are a few more options to consider in the earlier rounds. You can still find good value with the first 20 or so outfielders and if you’re looking to add some stolen base depth in the later rounds you could target Nyjer Morgan, Michael Bourn, or Julio Borbon, who is a favorite sleeper pick this season.

Draft-Day Advice: Since outfield offers such a large pool of players with a variety of speed and power, consider position scarcity when making early round picks. We’re not saying to avoid drafting elite outfielders early, just be selective if your thinner positions are still empty.

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After only playing in three full games for the Wizards, Josh Howard's season is over with a torn ACL. (Photo by Keith Allison)

Each week our Fantasy Basketball experts will give fantasy owners their top choices for players to pick up for all leagues, as well as some players to consider in deeper leagues. If you have any Fantasy Basketball questions for our experts feel free to post them in post them in our Fantasy Sports Forum.

Add in all leagues

Andray Blatche Wizards | PF

We thought Blatche should have been added even before the Josh Howard injury, so I am sure you can guess what we think now. He should be owned in all leagues, all formats, and should be a solid player for the rest of the season. (about 70% owned)

Al Thornton Wizards | SF

Thornton should benefit the most with the Josh Howard injury and he will be plugged right into the starting lineup. Thornton should be a good source of points and should give you a decent rebound total as well. (about 55% owned)

Tyrus Thomas Bobcats | PF

Thomas has played very well since he was traded to Charlotte. He has averaged almost a double double with over 4 blocks a game. We doubt he will keep up these monster numbers, but he should be added in all leagues at this point. (about 70% owned)

Boris Diaw Bobcats | PF

Diaw has had an off year, but he has been playing amazingly over the last couple weeks. If he is still available in your league, snag him now and ride out this hot streak. (about 75% owned)

Add in deeper leagues

James Singleton Wizards | PF

With the Josh Howard injury Singleton will now be the first forward off the bench, and he should get about 25 minutes a game. We think he could easily be an 8 and 8 guy and could be a great role player in deeper leagues. (about 5% owned)

Taj Gibson Bulls | PF

With Tyrus Thomas getting traded to Charlotte, Gibson has been getting more minutes and taking full advantage. We expect his minutes and production to be streaky, but he should have good averages at the end of the day.(about 30% owned)

Travis Outlaw Clippers | SF

Outlaw hasn’t played since November and he will more than likely see his minutes limited until he gets back up to speed. However, once Outlaw shakes off the rust, he should see plenty of minutes with his new team. (about 15% owned)

Hakim Warrick Bulls | PF

Warrick was recently traded to Chicago and it looks like he is going to play about 25 minutes off the bench. His production will probably be inconsistent but he could be a decent source of points.(about 15% owned)

Eddie House Knicks | SG

House was recently traded to New York and should see a decent amount of minutes off the bench. He isn’t much more than a 3 point specialist, but if you need a boost in 3’s, he is your man.(about 20% owned)

If you have any Fantasy Basketball questions feel free to post them in post them in our Fantasy Sports Forum.

2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

The outfield position is filled with talent and offers fantasy owners a variety of speed and power. You can tailor your outfield draft for power only, speed only, hitting only, or a combination of all three and you can find players to bolster these statistics deep into most drafts.

If you’re planning on targeting an outfielder early, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp both offer elite five-category production and will likely be first-round selections. Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury will not be far behind and will be among the league leaders in steals. Justin Upton, Matt Holliday, Grady Sizemore, and Jason Bay all offer nice fantasy production across the board and are a few more options to consider in the earlier rounds. You can still find good value with the first 20 or so outfielders and if you’re looking to add some stolen base depth in the later rounds you could target Nyjer Morgan, Michael Bourn, or Julio Borbon, who is a favorite sleeper pick this season.

Draft-Day Advice: Since outfield offers such a large pool of players with a variety of speed and power, consider position scarcity when making early round picks. We’re not saying to avoid drafting elite outfielders early, just be selective if your thinner positions are still empty.

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2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

Relief pitchers have the highest turnover rate in fantasy baseball and account for a large percentage of waiver wire activity during the season. Last year only 12 teams had the same closer the entire year, and for this reason many fantasy owners will pay a high price for an elite “low-risk” closer.

Drafting a top-tier closer certainly has its merits, although some fantasy owners question paying such a high price for a one-category position. If you decide to take the “safe” route, Joe Nathan, Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Broxton, Jonathan Papelbon, and Heath Bell bring very little risk to the table. Remember to look at more than just the saves category when picking a closer. Brian Fuentes was the league-leader with 48 saves last season, but did not help owners in any other categories posting a 3.93 ERA, 1.4 WHIP, and only 46 strikeouts.

Draft-Day Advice: Saves are an unpredictable stat, while talent is more consistent. Look for relief pitchers with a high strikeout rate and low WHIP. In the later rounds, you may actually get better value by selecting top-tier setup men, rather than lower-tier closers.

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2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

First base is the deepest position in fantasy baseball and a great source for power stats from some of the league’s elite talents. Hopefully you don’t need us to tell you that Albert Pujols is not only the best first baseman, but the consensus No.1 overall pick as no other player in the league has better five-category production.

If you don’t have the first or second overall pick you can forget about drafting Pujols, however Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Howard, Mark Teixeira, and Prince Fielder are all worthy of first-round consideration in most leagues. If you don’t land a stud in the earlier rounds, you can get good production at a discounted price in the later rounds with players like Justin Morneau, Joey Votto, Kevin Youkillis, Billy Butler, and Carlos Pena just to name a few.

Draft-Day Advice: Building your team around a quality first basemen is an effective draft-day strategy, but consider the depth at the position before passing on quality players in some of the thinner positions.

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2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

There is no doubt that catcher is the most physically demanding position in baseball that comes with a heightened injury risk. With this risk and limited fantasy production, the catcher position is often overlooked in many drafts. This year however, while still one of the thinner positions, there is a lot more depth and talent than we have seen in recent years.

Joe Mauer, the reigning AL MVP and three-time batting champ, tops our list. Mauer will likely be one of the first 15 overall picks and the first catcher off the board, but if you don’t snag him early there are other suitable alternatives such as Victor Martinez and Brian McCann. Matt Wieters will see his first full season in the majors, Miguel Montero and Kurt Suzuki are coming off breakout seasons, and 2009 busts Russell Martin and Geovany Soto are both looking to have bounce-back years.

Draft-Day Advice: Even if you do snag a top-tier catcher, its a good idea to have a quality backup because of injury-risk and scheduled days off. Taking a chance on a sleeper and finding a late-round gem could pay off big by season’s end.

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2010 Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP | Top 150 | Cheatsheet | Videos

With a valuable combination of speed and power, it should be no surprise that Hanley Ramirez sits atop our shortstop rankings. You could even make the case to pick him No. 1 overall over Albert Pujols since power at the shortstop position is much harder to find than at first base. Either way, Ramirez will likely be gone by the third overall pick.

After Ramirez is off the board the next best shortstops available already come with some uncertainty. Jimmy Rollins is a nice bounce-back candidate after a disappointing 2009 season, Jose Reyes missed most of last year with injuries and could be a bargain in the second round, Derek Jeter, who turned 35 last season, continues to produce, and Troy Tulowitzki is looking to prove that his 2009 rebound was not a fluke. Youngsters like Elvis Andrus, Alexei Ramirez, Jason Bartlett, and Asdrubal Cabrera add some more depth to the position while Alcides Escobar and Everth Cabrera could be potential late round sleeper picks.

Draft-Day Advice: If you are looking for power out of your shortstop then you’ll want to act fast as only a handful of players will top 20 HRs. Fortunately there is a lot of speed available at this position so plan your draft accordingly.

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