By JIMMY D / Rose Bowl betting | Jimmy's archive

Wise fantasy GMs tread gingerly when it comes to baseball prospects.

Seasoning of young players seems to take longer for the Boys of Summer than for the boys in other major sports. It means you can’t be impatient and stomp around hoping for immediate fantasy production.

But the impatient among us have been rewarded in recent years, particularly in 2005 when there was no waiting at all.

A host of hotshot prospects inked deals, made springtime headlines with their stellar play and then followed it up with immediate goodies in baseball linescores.
Huston Street, Felix Hernandez, Jeff Francouer, Scott Kazmir and Ryan Howard made your draft lists, but they always had an asterisk besides their names. Do you take a chance on the untested rookie here in the fourth round, or take the safe pick of the boring veteran?

You’ll have the same worries this month as you sit down with your pals or go online looking for fantasy baseball glory.
Jimmy takes a peek at just a few names – some of them blasts from the fantasy past – who should make your draft lists.

Prince Fielder – Just like his pappy Cecil (of 1990s Blue Jay fame), Fielder is a 1B. He also shares Dad’s ample posterior (6 foot, 265 pounds) and his penchant for hammering the long ball. But young Fielder bats left and can spray the ball around (he says he models his game after Mo Vaughn, another round-bottomed 1B). Brewer fans who bemoaned the trade of Lyle Overbay to the Blue Jays obviously haven’t been paying attention. You should.

Josh Barfield – Speaking of heyday Blue Jays, Jesse Barfield’s kid is a candidate at 2B for San Diego. He is smart, a solid hitter and reliable fielder who has been clobbering the ball in spring, trying to beat out Mark Bellhorn and Geoff Blum for the starting job.
Padres manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com “He looks like a man on a mission to be on this club.” He is big enough to have some pop and we all know the market for power-hitting infielders.

Francisco Liriano – No, he’s not former Jay Nelson Liriano’s kid, but yes, he’s a dynamite prospect who has a starting spot wrapped up in Minnesota. The lefty struck out 237 in less than 200 innings in the minors last year and is a great pickup for your strikeout category or your keeper league.

Delmon Young – More dips in the gene pool here with the No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft. The younger brother of big-league slugger Dmitri Young is favored by many to win AL rookie honours this year in Tampa. He can run and hit and has a gun for an arm, ensuring he maximizes his at-bats as a rookie.

Jeremy Hermida – Another towering right-fielder who could well be the second ROY in Florida this summer. The Marlins have gutted the roster, meaning many undeserving players and prospects will dot the lineup. Hermida would have been here anyway.

Ryan Zimmerman – Washington 3B scorched the ball during his 2005 callup after mashing the ball during several minor-league stops. Vinny Castilla was allowed to leave, so you might get some hot production from the hot corner this summer.

Matt Cain – With electric stuff, Cain has ace potential. It won’t be this year, but a starting job is his to lose in San Francisco after he was impressive in his 2005 call-up.

Conor Jackson – Arizona has Tony Clark at 1B, but 24-year-old Jackson should get time here. And if he hits anywhere near his .350+ average in the minors last season, then Clark’s fun in the desert sun will be short-lived. He is a real nice keeper-league option.

Do not use this as an exhaustive list. Jimmy can only touch on a few obvious picks and a couple of sleepers in his limited space. And he has to make room to mention March Madness, which will hog this space next week.

Jimmy will weigh in for the third straight year on some of the likely Cinderella stories and will engage the services of some of his Vegas handicapper buddies to give you a fighting chance in your bracket contest.

We will also list a couple of bracket contest options for you, including one that could earn you $15,000 in cash for picking winners. And no, this won’t be one of those bogus $1-million games where you win big but only if you pick every game right.

You think the odds are long winning Lotto 6/49? That’s a piece of cake compared with picking 64 college basketball games right all at the same time.
Give Jimmy a break!

Anyway, stay on top of spring training, keep an eye on that crazy World Baseball Classic to make sure one of your pitchers doesn’t pop his shoulder and start brushing up in advance of the Madness. It starts next week.

In the meantime, stay busy and stay lucky.
Jimmy D