note: the number next to the player is their rank against other players of their position

#26 Mike Redmond

Redmond has never played in more than 89 games in his six seasons in the big leagues, but unless Ramon Castro has a big spring, he might get that chance in 2004. Redmond hit better than .300 in four of his first five years, but he dropped to .240 with zero homers and 11 RBIs last season as a backup to Pudge Rodriguez. Power is not his strength, but he rarely strikes out. For now, he's a $1 pick in NL-only leagues.

#41 Ramon Castro

Castro has never played in more than 54 games in any of his five years in the big leagues, but he hit five homers in 52 at-bats with the Marlins last season. If Mike Redmond struggles early in 2004, Castro could see his playing time -- and his numbers -- increase significantly. Monitor his progress this March and April before adding him to your roster.

 

#20 Hee Seop Choi

Choi was disappointing in 2003, especially when you consider that the biggest impact he made was when he collided with Kerry Wood on national television. This means his price will drop, so he could turn out to be one of the better steals of the draft this year. Florida is an ideal situation for Choi; Conine will bat against lefties, enabling the 24-year-old Korean to develop some confidence at the plate. The power might take a little while to come around,

 

#6 Luis Castillo

Castillo's main value in his fantasy career has been steals. Last year he had 12 steals on May 21. The rest of the season he stole only nine bases, and he played every day, tallying over 450 plate appearances over that span. So in other words, Castillo stole a base once every 50 or so at-bats in the season's final 4 1/2 months. Castillo is a consistent .300 hitter, but without the speed, he drops from the top tier of fantasy second basemen. Since he decided to stay in Florida with Jack McKeon, don't expect his stolen-base totals to reach the 40-50 range.

 

#11 Alex Gonzalez

Last year was a breakout season for Gonzalez, a pivotal player in the Marlins' World Series run. Only 26 years old, there's no reason to believe he won't repeat or better his 18 homers and 77 RBIs from 2003. With a couple of free-agent departures, Gonzalez will slide up towards the middle of the order, and earn more RBI chances. A really solid option for NL-only, Gonzalez is still a safe pick in a mixed league.

 

#3 Mike Lowell

This is the Mike Lowell we have expected since he came through the Yankees farm system. Despite missing nearly all of last September with a broken hand, Lowell set career highs in homers (32) and RBIs (105). Lowell's batting average has remained consistent. He has batted .276 the past two seasons after batting a career-high .283 in 2001. With Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo hitting in front of him, expect Lowell to drive in more runs in 2004.

 

#10 Juan Pierre

ierre found heaven in Miami, igniting the Go-Go Marlins from the leadoff spot and leading the NL in stolen bases. That's where his value lies, of course, but with stolen bases nearing extinction, it makes him very valuable to fantasy owners. He has no power and won't drive in many runs, but his batting average is sure to be healthy and he'll score plenty of runs. A repeat of 2003 would be no surprise.

 

#60Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera, who enjoyed an Andruw Jones-in-1996 kind of postseason, has the talent to make this ranking seem foolishly low. But questions remain with the youngster. He struggled mightily for much of the 2003 season before finding his groove late. His skills are apparent and impressive, but he still might have a way to go on the learning curve before he becomes a star.

 

#73 Jeff Conine

Conine was welcome addition to the Marlins during the stretch run of what turned out to be a championship season. Conine had one of the best seasons of his career, driving in as many as 90 RBIs for just the second time in the past seven seasons. A similar season is doubtful, but he can still be valuable as a fourth fantasy outfielder.

 

#147 Brian Banks

With Todd Hollandsworth moving on to the Cubs and Juan Encarnacion traded to Los Angeles, Banks becomes the de facto fourth outfielder in Florida. He's not a bad late-round flyer or $1 pick in deep leagues as a result.

 

#9 Josh Beckett

Anyone who watched the 2003 postseason saw a young pitcher come into his own. Whether that carries over into 2004 remains to be seen, but the only thing keeping Beckett from becoming an elite fantasy starter is health. An elbow injury kept him out for nearly two months. He still put up good ERA and K numbers, and his walk rate dropped in the second half, good news for those worried about his WHIP. Remember, he's only 23, so he could be just scratching the surface. If he's on the board in the second round, nab him, and don't be afraid to go the extra dollar or two in auction drafts.

 

#27 Dontrelle Willis

One thing is certain. Everyone knows who Dontrelle Willis is now, and for that reason alone, he'll probably be over-valued come draft day. That's not to say you shouldn't take the 21-year-old who created such a buzz in 2003, but don't over-pay. It'll be awfully difficult for D-Train to live up to the hype, and his second-half fade is a bit of a concern. Still, surrounded by a bunch of young, talented colleagues, Willis should be a decent, middle-rounds, $12-15 pitcher in 2004.

 

#50 Brad Penny

Penny's name has been mentioned for so long as a pitching prospect, it's hard to believe he'll be just 26 this May. Perhaps he'll never be the stud some hoped for, but he's a very serviceable starter, but there's still room for growth. Often a radar gun watcher, Penny is finally learning how to pitch and the fact his ERA was a full run lower in the second half shows the lessons are sinking in. He could take a nice step up in 2004, provid

 

#73 Brad Penny

Pavano has long been the kind of pitcher to tantalize with his talent, only to fall short in terms of performance or because of injury. He made it through 2003 unscathed and put up decent ERA and WHIP numbers for a guy who probably was a fantasy fill-in. The real question is whether his postseason -- a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 IP -- will carry over and mean Pavano is poised to finally put it all together in 2004. He likely won't be that good, but could be a nice end-of-draft sleeper to take a flier on.

 

#85 AJ Burnett

Burnett was ready to become the next great fantasy pitcher after a terrific 2002 until he blew out his elbow and required Tommy John surgery. He'll miss the first couple months of the season, but Burnett still has sleeper written all over him. Pitchers return from TJ more quickly now, and a guy like Burnett should put up some good numbers when he returns, especially with all the attention on Beckett, Willis et al. Grab him late on the cheap, stash him on the DL and reap the benefits later.

 

#13 Armando Benitez

Now that Benitez has moved from the Shea pressure-cooker to South Florida as the Marlins' closer, not much changes with regard to his value to fantasy owners. You take the good with the occasional bad, and that's mostly good for you. In fact, allow us to just recycle what we wrote about him here last year: So maybe Benitez isn't the guy you want on the mound in the ninth inning of a crucial ballgame. So what? It matters not for the fantasy player. Truth is, for all of Benitez's shortcomings, he's fairly bankable in

 

#52 Chad Fox

What a 2003 postseason this guy had, absolutely coming into his own. He no doubt has the respect of Dusty Baker and Joe Torre, among others. The Marlins acquired him from Boston as pennant-drive insurance, and he became a lot more than insurance. Armando Benitez is in as closer and Braden Looper and Ugueth Urbina are out. Do the math and that means Fox's role will grow, presumably factoring into some save situations to go along with megaholds.

 

well there ya have it..... thats what the boys over at mlb.com have to say

Wow. They don't know much...

Wow. They don't know much...

and they didnt know much last year either

There is a lot wrong with those rankings...

There is a lot wrong with those rankings...

My point exactly.

 

but unless Ramon Castro has a big spring, he might get that chance in 2004.

 

:blink:

 

I think it's the other way around.

aside from scott rolen....what third baseman could be higher ranked than lowell?

 

 

glaus i presume?

 

 

if it is glaus he is far too inconsistent.

 

 

its widely known that rolen and lowell are the cream of the crop in terms of third basemen in this league.

Dwilly sure got a favorable ranking. They seem to be saying he could be the #1 starter on a few teams with that number.

aside from scott rolen....what third baseman could be higher ranked than lowell?

 

 

glaus i presume?

 

 

if it is glaus he is far too inconsistent.

 

 

its widely known that rolen and lowell are the cream of the crop in terms of third basemen in this league.

Chaves was ahead of Mikey

Miguel's #60 out of ALL outfielders, right? :confused

Miguel's #60 out of ALL outfielders, right? :confused

yea

 

but what do you expect?

aside from scott rolen....what third baseman could be higher ranked than lowell?

 

 

glaus i presume?

 

 

if it is glaus he is far too inconsistent.

 

 

its widely known that rolen and lowell are the cream of the crop in terms of third basemen in this league.

MLB has Eric Chavez ranked as the #1 3rd Baseman, followed by Rolen, Lowell, Hank Blalock, Aramis Ramirez, Glaus, Morgan Ensberg, Bill Mueller (wtf? Could these guys blow Boston any more??), Shea Hillenbrand and Corey Koskie.

bill mueller did win a batting title and he always was good at getting on base...

 

and honestly beckett isn't the ninth best starter in the majors.

and honestly beckett isn't the ninth best starter in the majors.

He's probably top ten.

:confused I just went through some of these assassanine ratings in full and I'm even more baffled at some of them..

 

For example, how in God's Holy Name is Cabrera ranked lower than the unemployed Raul Mondesi???

 

Also, Schmidt ahead of Halladay is a bit of a stretch as well IMO.

Schmidt was the best starter in the majors last year, because he pitched more innings than Pedro. However, for the sake of career statistics, PEdro is of course better.

 

Top Ten Starters (not fantasy rankings, actual ability for next season)

 

1. Pedro Martinez (1st ERA+, 1st WHIP, 4.38 K/BB)

2. Mark Prior (2nd ERA+, 3rd WHIP, 4.90 K/BB)

3. Jason Schmidt (1st ERA+, 1st WHIP, 4.52 K/BB)

4. Tim Hudson (2nd ERA+, 3rd WHIP, 2.66 K/BB)

5. Kevin brown (3rd ERA+, 5th WHIP, 3.30 K/BB)

6. Curt Schilling (5th ERA+, 2nd WHIP, 6.06 K/BB)

7. Roy Halladay (4th ERA+, 2nd WHIP, 6.38 K/BB)

8. Javier Vazquez (7th ERA+, 4th WHIP, 4.23 K/BB)

9. Mike Mussina (7th ERA+, 4th WHIP, 4.85 K/BB)

10. Roy Oswalt (149 ERA+ (8th), 1.13 WHIP (5th), 3.72 K/BB)

This isn't actual baseball though. ERA+ means nothing, in fact in fantasy baseball ballpark factors are a key strategy. This is why Beckett is ranked so high. Also the reason why of the Yanks only Mussina ranks in the top 10 (as #10, btw) is because their bad defense. Wins are great in your standard fantasy league, but more complex leagues value WHIP and hits allowed greatly, and this is where the Yankees won't be nearly as good.

Which brings us to another key point - the Marlins defense is still among the best in the game. The only ?s are going to be 1B and C. But Fudge lived mostly on his reputation (with throwing out runners) and I dont see us losing too much there but teams wil run on us more to try and beat us on our terms.

 

Given our park's dimensions and the defense our starters have a very good chance to be very strong this season.