Troy at Roto Savants, however, posted his top 20 2B rankings with no sign of Young. I’m hoping he just didn’t have him qualifying at 2B.

The second name on my list of SB sleepers was Julio Borbon — and Grey at Razzball just posted his own piece hyping the new Rangers centerfielder: Julio Borbon, 2010 Fantasy Sleeper.

I also broke down some of 2010′s interesting names that qualify at multiple positions. Razzball took a slightly different approach at communicating some of that same information, detailing games played by position and whether that eligibility helped anyone.

• RotoAuthority posted some reader-submitted SGPs for Pitching. SGP stands for Standings Gained Points, an idea developed by Alex Patton about two decades ago, and recently popularized by the re-release of Art McGee’s How to Value Players For Rotisserie Baseball. I should probably write a critique of the SGP method at some point, by I can summarize here: If you take the time to customize them for your league, they work pretty well (i.e. about as well as the Price Guide). For anything else, my evaluation shows the Price Guide giving much more accurate rankings/dollar values.

• I have been quite caught up with AGP this week, so of course it was interesting to see Crooked Pitch‘s analysis of risers and fallers in the ADP Report. I think that some of the movement might just be noise, but it’s also amazing at how quickly drafters react to various bits of news.

• In the last couple of years, fantasy players have been watching for a dramatic increase in IP as a warning sign for pitcher injuries (i.e. the Verducci Effect). Razzball has examined several different factors to come up with 20 Risky Pitchers for 2009. A rise in workload is considered, but Rudy also finds risk in pitchers who throw a high ratio of curves to sliders. (Yesterday’s topic of discussion, Javier Vazquez, is featured on the list.)

• Last but not least was THT‘s look at designing a perfect keeper league. Michael does an excellent job discussing how a keeper system should reward good decisions, but avoid being frustrating for others.

  I play in several keeper leagues, each with different rules. Although I like the long-term strategy it adds, I have also witnessed how much luck can be involved in getting good keepers. I actually think I’m becoming a greater fan of redraft leagues.

Since judging prospects for fantasy requires a bit of research, let’s take a look at what’s being said about each of Dexter Fowler, Cameron Maybin, Andrew McCutchen, and Colby Rasmus. The dollar values are what I get from the CHONE projections in the Price Guide for a standard NL league, assuming everyone qualified in the OF.

Dexter Fowler $8
Fowler’s high standing comes not just from his raw abilities, but also from CHONE recognizing a favorable park situation. Despite the best projection of the bunch, he seems to still be flying under the radar a bit.

Is Dexter Fowler A Sleeper? (Crooked Pitch)
Prospects in Proper Context, Pt. 4: AA Texas League (FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball)

Cameron Maybin $1
He got a lot of attention last year as part of the package that brought Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit. Not much happened in 2008, but there’s still plenty of hype for 2009:

A look at Cameron Maybin (Rotoprofessor)
Cameron Maybin 2009 (The Waiver Wire)
Prospects in Proper Context, Pt. 5: AA Southern League (FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball)
Minor League Talents – Cameron Maybin (Roto Savants)
Maybin? Maybe Not. (FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball)
Cameron Maybin, Keeper (Razzball)

Andrew McCutchen $0
With Nate McLouth’s breakout in 2008, the Pirates are now in the situation of having a “Gold Glove” CF blocking one of their top prospects. That might give McCutchen a little more time in the minors until they decide to put one of them in a corner.

Andrew McCutchen, 2009 Fantasy Outlook (Razzball)
What to Make of McCutchen (FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball)
All Or Nothing For Andrew McCutchen (Crooked Pitch)
Minor League Talents – Andrew McCutchen (Roto Savants)

Colby Rasmus -$2
Rasmus has to deal with an outfield crowded with decent-ish players in St. Louis. He didn’t impress in AAA last year, but still has a high ceiling.

Prospect Watch: Colby Rasmus (Rotoprofessor)
Colby Rasmus, 2009 Fantasy Outlook (Razzball)
Making Room For Colby (FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball)
Minor League Talents – Colby Rasmus (Roto Savants)

So, until I saw a post at Advanced Fantasy Baseball this week, I had no idea that Mastersball.com had returned.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Mastersball was a great fantasy baseball site with an active, intelligent forum. I say it was a great site, because a while back it became FantasyBaseball.com, which for some reason just wasn’t quite as good. When the free forums moved, I pretty much stopped checking. (For what it’s worth, Todd Zola gives a full account.)

Now the Mastersball forums are back, and Todd has been posting his thoughts on a new blog. His blog is focused on fantasy strategy — obviously one of my interests as well.

One last item: I seem to remember an archive of free article at the old Mastersball that was a treasure trove of valuable information…. I don’t know if it has been locked up somewhere as premium content, but I would love to see some of that find the light of day again.

However, I took a few minutes to look at what software is currently available. Everything I found offers the same basic functionality–projections, custom rankings, etc. They are also all Windows only.

Here’s what I found, sorted by price:

Diamond Draft – $34.95

Fantistics Insider Baseball – $39.95

RotoWire – $39.99

Rhino Baseball Draft Magic – $59.95

RotoLab – $69.00

I’m actually a little surprised by the prices. I’ll pay $8 for a magazine just to have some light reading, and I’ve even shelled out for the Baseball Forecaster in the past. But I don’t see myself paying $40 for what amounts to the Price Guide + in-draft adjustments.

Which also makes me wonder how the Price Guide’s valuation method stacks up against what is in these programs… From the comparisons I’ve made so far, I think the Price Guide is the best at what it does. You would think that the non-free options would be a step above what’s freely available.

So I’m curious: For those who have tried out these programs, what do you think about them? (And is RotoLab really that much better than the competition?) Am I missing something valuable here?

Keep in mind that Mock Draft Central currently has the Top 5 ranked Hanley Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, and David Wright.

The BFG league (as I’m calling it) drafted this week (see the results). Chris McDonnell opted for Hanley Ramirez with the #1 pick.

I don’t know if any other “expert” leagues have drafted, so what about mock drafts? Guess who the number one selection was at Mock Draft Central’s Live Expert Mock Draft? Hanley Ramirez, of course.

Last November the 2009 Behind The Plate Expert Mock Draft 1 was held. Troy of Roto Savants also took Hanley first.

The League of Champions over at CBS Sportsline had Jose Reyes going first.

There was also the Early Expert Mock Draft, which featured Todd of Roto Think Tank taking Hanley Ramirez with the first selection.

Did I miss any other mocks? My tally stands at Ramirez 4, Reyes 1, and 0 for everyone else.

Reading through what others have written, I see four main issues being brought up regarding Holliday’s 2009 value:

How much does leaving Coors Field hurt?
THT Fantasy Focus thinks he’s a .285 hitter in Oakland; Fantasy Baseball Dugout says “at least .280.” Rotoprofessor puts him down for a more optimistic .317. I don’t see anyone expecting another .340 season out of him.

How does the A’s lineup compare to the Rockies?
Crooked Pitch thinks that Oakland’s lineup doesn’t provide the protection Holliday had in Colorado, and Rotoprofessor brings up a similar point in its article.

Will he still steal bases?
What happens to Holliday’s decent SB totals and fantastic success rate (28 SB and 2 CS in 2008) when he joins a team that is not known for stealing lots of bases?

The best treatment of this that I saw was over at Fangraphs Fantasy Baseball with Don’t Be Silly, The A’s Don’t Steal Bases. R.J. argues that Holliday’s SB opportunities might not change much in Oakland.

What about playing in a contract year?
MVN’s Fantasy Outsider brings up a key point that Holliday stands to be a free agent after 2009. Will that be enough to overcome the other negative factors?

All in all, there’s a mix of positives and negatives, but most people are expecting at least some decline. (RotoAuthority drops him to the late 1st round, RazzBall says 3rd round.)

Next week I’ll examine where Holliday shows up in the Price Guide using some of the projection systems.

Tim looks at some of The Biggest Losers and The Biggest Gainers, players who have seen their average draft position radically changed from 2008 to 2009. It’s a good reminder of just how much changes between draft day and the end of the year. (RotoAuthority)

In a similar vein, Victor talks about some Forgotten Players, guys with a solid track record that may be undervalued after disappointing 2008 seasons. (THT Fantasy Focus)

David mentions some names of young pitchers who saw a significant increase in their workload last year (the Verducci Effect), something that could cause problems for them in 2009. (Fangraphs Fantasy Baseball)

While it wasn’t quite during this past week, Rudy announced the addition of Marcel projections for their 2009 Point Shares. I hope to be taking a closer look at the Point Shares methodology soon. (Razzball)