Fantasy Baseball 1998 Preview, Part 3(of 3)

This is the final installment of my Fantasy Baseball Preview, of the most valuable fantasy players at their positions. This last section covers Relief Pitchers, and Outfielders.

Relief Pitchers:

The Best of the Best:

    1. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees ( 1.88 ERA, 43 saves): The premier closer in the game. A brutal fastball, biting slider, throws them at different speeds, and is seldom wild, which is a problem with most closers with 96 mph fastballs.
    2. Randy Myers, Toronto Blue Jays (1.51 ERA, 45 saves): Had a career year last year, everything went right for him, however he is still arguably better than Rivera, but I feel his numbers will go down a little bit this year. Still a fearsome closer. Toronto is just not as good as Baltimore.
    3. Jeff Shaw, Cinncinnati Reds (2.38 ERA, 42 saves): One of the bright spots on an otherwise dismal team. He has quickly risen to elite closer status. Imagine if Cinncinnati could actually win some games this year…

Surprise Reliever of the Year:

    1. Billy Wagner, Houston Astros (2.85 ERA, 23 saves): Talk about gas! How does 106 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings sound? Talk about sick. He has an erratic curveball, but if he masters it this year he’ll be simply untouchable.

Crash and Burn Reliever of the Year:

    1. Heathcliff Slocoumb, Seattle Mariners (5.16 ERA, 27 saves): What happened to this guy? He’s lucky Seattle has no bullpen. He’s the best of the worst. He wouldn’t make some rosters. He might get 20 saves this year, but the rest of his stats will be awful, just like last year.

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      Outfielders:

      The Best of the Best:

      1. Ken Griffey, Jr., Seattle Mariners (.304, 56 HR, 147 RBI): We forgot to mention he scored 125 runs, stole 15 bases, and also had a .646 slugging percentage last year. And he DOESN’T play in Colorado.
      2. Larry Walker, Colorado Rockies (.366, 49 HR, 130 RBI): 33 steals, slugging percentage of .720. Truly nuts. Hits to all fields with power, and has become disciplined at the plate. Eager to prove last season wasn’t a fluke.
      3. Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants(.291, 40 HR, 101 RBI): Drew a remarkable 145 walks last year, and made opposing teams pay by stealing 37 bases. He is only one of three men to be in the 40/40 club in major league history(along with his father and Jose Canseco).
      4. Juan Gonzalez, Texas Rangers (.296, 42 HR, 131 RBI): Has more home runs at age 28 then Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron(256). Missed 28 games last year to injury, or else we’re looking at 46-47 HRs and maybe 150 RBIs. Scored 87 runs last year as well.
      5. Ray Lankford, St. Louis Cardinals (.295, 31 HR, 98 RBI): Gets ranked over Justice simply because he has 21 stolen bases last year, plus he missed 28 games last year due to injury. Justice is a slightly better pure hitter, but Lankford has the better overall package.
      6. Dave Justice, Cleveland Indians (.329, 33 HR, 101 RBI): A polished hitter with a good eye(had more walks then strikeouts last year). Missed 22 games due to injury last year. Has a deep lineup full of power hitters, which takes all the pressure off of to produce.

        7. Surprise Players of the Year:

        1. Ron Gant, St. Louis Cardinals (.229, 17 HR, 62 RBI): has hit 29 or more home runs in 5 of the last 6 years before last year. Struck out a remarkable 162 times last year, almost double from the previous year. Gant will bounce back with a more typical Gant year, 30 HR’s, 100 RBI, 20 steals, and hit a modest .260.
        2. Eric Davis, Baltimore Orioles (.304, 8 HR, 25 RBI): Persevered through cancer last year, stats came from 158 at bats. A healthy Davis still has good speed, should be good for 20-25 steals this year to go with solid power numbers( We’re guessing 28 HR, 100 RBIs and a .280 BA).

          3. Crash and Burn Player of the Year:

          1. Moises Alou, Houston Astros (.292, 23 HR, 115 RBI): Was a complementary piece in a loaded Florida lineup(well, it was until this off season) is not the classic cleanup hitter he is going to be masquerading as with Houston. With only Bagwell for opposing teams to contend with besides Alou, he wont see as many good pitches as he did last year.

This concludes my preview of the Fantasy Baseball 1998 season. If you have any comments on this review, feel free to email me from my main page, or fill out my gueestbook. Thanks for reading, and hope this imparts on you the knowledge necessary to come in first place in your league, or second if you are in one of the three leagues I am in ;)

Tim Mason

 

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