Key Stats: Michael Bourn has been one of the most consistent outfielders of the past three seasons and had been doing it under the radar - until last season that is. Heading into the 2011 season, Bourn was not ranked in the top 30 outfielders by ESPN, CBS, or Yahoo - despite being the only player to top 50 steals in both 2009 and 2010. Now Bourn is the only player in baseball that has 50 steals each of the last three years, and in fact he was the only player that topped 50 last season. 

Skeptics Say: Unfortunately the secret is out, and Bourn might be more of a reach based on where he's going in the early going this season. Let's remember that in 2010, he was ranked outside the top 100 overall, and that for all that his wheels will provide he lacks any production in two out of the major five categories. Spending a fifth round pick as Tristan Cockcroft and Mock Draft Central early drafters are doing in mixed leagues is a heavy price to pay in home runs and RBI early in a draft.  no comments

The AL-only catcher scene actually looks pretty good. While there is a lack of elite talent, there should be plenty of useful numbers available in the later rounds on draft day as well as a few sleepers to consider.

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Key Stats: This is probably the easiest player to write about every year. I could just same what I said last year. Or the year before. Or the year before that. It just doesn’t change with Mariano Rivera. He doesn’t age.

He’s had 9 straight seasons with at least 30 saves and since turning 40 he’s saved 77 games. His WHIP has been below 1.13 for 14 straight seasons and since turning 40 his WHIP has not been above 0.90. He had 7.5 strikeouts for every one walk last year.

Skeptics Say: I’d love to say age is going to catch up with him, but it won’t. We will tell stories to our grandkids about him and they’ll tell us to be quiet because they want to listen to the broadcasters analyze his cutter for the billionth time as he’s closing it out as an eighty-year-old. Seriously his ERA has been below 2.00 for four straight years. This is as safe a 42-year-old pick as we may ever see again (unless steroids make a comeback). no comments

Not all moves are of the big impact variety, but they still can hold fantasy relevance nonetheless. Whether they have a chance to contribute to 12-team mixed leagues or maybe deeper formats, these three players are worth keeping tabs on.

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Compared to recent years, the Giants farm system is lackluster. For the first time in recent memory, it lacks a high ceiling pitcher thanks to a deal bringing Carlos Beltran to San Francisco. They also graduated their top hitting prospect, Brandon Belt, through an exhaustive yo-yo process that saw him start the year in the majors, get demoted to Triple-A, and serve as a bench bat/part-time player. That leaves the organization with some good prospects, but ones that lack the allure of previous incarnations of the Giants. no comments

Key Stats: Jimmy Rollins has been ranked in the top 90 five out of the last six years. Only Hanley Ramirez has been a more steady force at that position during that time. Rollins has averaged 18 home runs, 96 runs scored, 70 RBI, 34 steals, and a .271 average during that time. He’s also managed to stay healthy over that time with almost 4,000 plate appearances during that stretch. In three out of the six seasons he led the NL in plate appearances.

Skeptics Say: You can play with the numbers in so many ways. Over the last two years, Rollins has only made just over 1,000 plate appearances and missed 96 games. And last year he had the motivation of a contract to play for. This year he’ll be 33 and could be heading down in a number of categories especially steals. no comments

Key Stats: Paul Konkero has averaged 33 HR's a year since 2004. His worst season in that span (2008) he appeared in only 122 games, and still produced 22 bombs. That was also the only time in that span his ISO has been below .200 (it was .199). He has appeared in 149 games each of the last two seasons, and has batted .300 in both of them. There has been no noticeable, consistent decline in any of Konerko's peripheral numbers to suggest anything other than another season of lots of HR's, RBI's and solid batting average. His walk rate has gone up each of the last three years, leading to some nice OBP numbers.

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Our 2012 keeper rankings focus on leagues that must gage the value of players for at least the next 3-5 years.

C – 1B – 2B – 3B – SS – OF – DH – SP – CL

The third base keeper ranks feature some very solid talent toward the top, but some of the sophomores on this list should be taken with caution for various reasons.

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Scott Boras is damn good at what he does. Today he landed Prince Fielder a nine year $214 million deal with the Tigers. The fantasy ripples will be big in Detroit. Flying under the radar was that the Rays have officially inked one time Tiger first baseman Carlos Pena to a one year deal, and the Blue Jays signed Francisco Cordero to further revamp their bullpen. no comments

Key Stats: Yu Darvish's 1.44 ERA last season was almost a full run lower than that of Daisuke Matsuzaka's in his age 24 season as Charlie pointed out last week. More on Dice-K in the Peer Comparison, but that's a very low ERA. Zips believes he will strikeout 169 and have a 3.62 ERA while Oliver has him perhaps contending for the Cy Young with a 2.40 ERA and 223 strikeouts. 

Skeptics Say: Hey come to Arlington! Wouldn't you like to have the great Nolan Ryan as your boss? With him in town this place is where all the pitchers want to come. Ok it's not like the Rangers had to sell him on this since he was sold to the Rangers, but the ballpark is less than ideal. It's also not an entirely ideal situation in terms of what's expected of him. The Rangers have been knocking on the doorstep of a championship the last couple of seasons, and obviously now fans will expect that he is going to be the guy that puts them over the top.  no comments