Yu Darvish has reportedly officially inked a long-term deal with the Texas Rangers. Now that all of the speculation and assumption has come to fruition, we can officially focus on what this means for your fantasy team. There have been a number of pitchers who have come over from Japan to pitch in the major leagues, so we have a decent sample size of data on such transitions.

Unfortunately, Darvish is far from any pitcher that has been imported from Japan. He is, in many ways, in a class of his own.

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Key Stats: The Atlanta Braves have a history of churning out quality pitchers and Hanson is no exception. He doesn't have the win total you would expect from an ace pitcher, but at 25, and not yet having pitched 3 full seasons in the majors, you have to be blown away at the other numbers Hanson has put up. His career 3.28 ERA is backed up by a career 3.46 FIP. His K/9 each season (8.18, 7.68, 9.83) has never been bouyed by an obscenely high BABIP. Even his walk 2011 walk rate, which was almost 2% higher than his 2010 number, wasn't outside the norms of his major and minor league careers. There is just one thing...

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2012 is well underway and FB365 is poised and ready to be your number one source of fantasy baseball analysis as we have been all year round since 2008. You’ll see many sites pop up over the next couple of months, some will re-launch in hopes of putting together enough content to satisfy the draft-prep crowd, but here at FB365, we’ve never slowed down, shut down, re-launched or succumb to any mode of complacency. We’ve been here for you non-stop since 2008. This is who we are: fantasy baseball, all year long.

As you may have noticed we have three new and extremely talented writers on board, all of which have years of experience both playing and writing about fantasy baseball. Between the four of us we have written for or been published by many baseball outlets including: ESPN.com, FoxSports.com, CBSSports.com, TheHardballTimes.com, ProjectProspect.com, FantasyPros911.com, FantasyBaseball.com and more.

We’re currently cranking out player projections, prospect and keeper rankings as well as chiming in on any breaking hot stove news. Come February, we will begin pouring out our comprehensive positional rankings, providing multiple mock draft analysis articles and begin to look at some in-depth draft day strategy.

In other words: we’ve got it covered.

Thanks for reading, whether you’ve been along for the ride since the beginning, come on board a bit later or are just checking us out for the first time. Draft day is right around the corner and we couldn't be more excited about the 2012 season! no comments

Key Stats: There is no disputing that Josh Johnson is a star when healthy. A career 2.98 ERA (3.15 FIP!) and 8.28 K/9 with a 48-23 record turn heads. But health has been the problem. Four starts in 2007 then in 2008 he didn't pitch until July, healthy 2009 and 2010 led to 2011, where he made 9 starts then missed the rest of the season. The good news? He didn't need shoulder surgery. The bad news? We don't know if the problem is behind him.

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The somewhat surprising National League West Champions in 2011 have done some moving and shaking this offseason. Even after dealing Jarrod Parker, the team is brimming with high ceiling arms. The bulk of those arms aren't far from making their major league debuts. no comments

If Theo Epstein hopes to become the ultimate curse buster, he and General Manager Jed Hoyer will need to build the Cubs from the ground up with a strong farm system. The team has infused the minor league system with talent through trade and the draft in the last 12 months. There is talent here, but most of it has warts of one form or another. no comments

Before last season, I had touted Seth Smith as somewhat of an undervalued asset to fantasy baseball players. He was on many of my teams in which the league stretched to 14-plus teams and, for a good part of the season, he was a borderline top 100 fantasy player. He had too really bad months, July and September, which unfortunately brought his overall numbers down.

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Key Stats: C.J. Wilson was a top 50 player in fantasy baseball last year playing in the worst pitcher's park in all of baseball according to ESPN Park Factors. Now he goes to the OC and the park that was 27th in all of baseball in terms of runs by Park Factors. In three starts at Angel Stadium last year, Wilson had an 0.53 ERA. During the last two seasons his ERA has been significantly worse at home than it has been on the road. This switch was perfect. 

Skeptics Say: He is coming off of a contract year in which he got a really big contract. Between finding a new house and finding a way to spend his new found wealth, how much time did he spend getting in shape for a season? There's a reason that players typically dip after a contract year and Wilson could be another example of that this season. 

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Key Stats: Freddie Freeman would have been the Rookie of the Year last season were it not for his teammate being the best closer in all of baseball. Freeman played in 157 games last year and given his youth injuries are unlikely to crop up again this season. He was inconsistent at times which is often a negative word, but in fantasy baseball inconsistent can also mean that he carries teams for stretches of time. That was the case last July when Freeman was the 13th best player in that month and had a .433 OBP. That said his September was not nearly as good. That could have been caused by a number of factors including hitting the rookie wall, the pressure of avoiding a historic collapse, and the lineup around him fading. 

Skeptics Say: Freeman doesn't hit lefties very well. The difference in average against lefties was about 50 points last season. Situational lefties will get their work in against him late in games, so hopefully he isn't bunched in the lineup with another lefty such as Jason Heyward so teams have to pick their spots of when they have guys face Freeman. 

Freeman also doesn't have the best plate discipline. It is hardly unusual for a 21-year-old, but it's worth noting that he had the 21st best strikeout to walk rate among first basemen last season.  no comments

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

First base is a deep fantasy position and features a nice group of young up-and-comers that should see their spot on these rankings increase with each passing season. Here are our top 34 first base keepers…

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