What about Rasmus? It seems a waste to leave him rotting on the bench in StL, but I have my doubts about Chris Duncan and/or Ankiel playing the whole year, though they certain should see the majority of the action during the first month or 2. thoughs?

Also, the entire Minnesota outfield situation seems to be unclear. In addition to Span, Gomez, Delmon Young and Jason Kubel all seem like solid options, but none seems to have their job sewn up, though right now Young is the odd man out. Cuddyer is the one guy there who seems to have it made, and he’s has the least upside of the bunch (it pays to be a vet, I guess.) I agree about holding on to Span, what about Gomez, Kubel and especially Young?

I’d give Span the edge over Gomez due to batting average and on base. they both can steal, but Span, who will get on base a lot more than Gomez, will have more chances to steal. He’s been properly installed as a the leadoff guy. Gomez may have a bit more pop in his bat, but that’s not why you’re putting him on your team, and the difference is negligible.

LOVE THT.  Glad I discovered it this off season.

We could be here all day adding to this list, but I wanted to raise a couple of other names for discussion:

Adam Lind
Could he be in the “without an everyday starting gig” list?  Or, I suppose, he is the everyday DH.  Could we recast “Back to the Future” with the role of “future Travis Snider” being played by Adam Lind?  If only I could find Doc Brown’s DeLorean!  I am very curious about his ultimate ceiling . . . everybody seems to say he’s a 20 HR max guy, but he seems to have a smooth power stroke that could project for more . . .

Neftali Feliz
Would he compare favorably to David Price/Thomas Hanson in the “pitching prospects” list above?

Justin Duchscherer
Could he be considered for the “injured question marks” (a.k.a. the DL All Stars) list?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I like the Rasmus mention and i’ll say Dexter Fowler as well.  He will get the opportunity to get a starting job.

SuperBro,
The Sox have a lot of pitchers, but I do like Buchholz if he can work his way into the rotation.  I can’t see Penny and Smoltz lasting a full year.  He’s definitely worth stashing in an AL-only league; I’m not sure if that’s how deep your league is or not.

The last few players on my list are certainly arguable. Mainly, as far as the offensive guys, I picked players who I expect will establish every-day roles soon enough. At a certain point, say May, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to drop them if they haven’t. That day hasn’t come yet.

The question in my mind, as I formulate this sort of thing, is to try to judge replacement level. What can’t you get off of free agency during the season that might make holding onto these guys worth it? Snider has the potential to be Toronto’s best batter soon, and could hit high in the lineup. There’s a lot of one category speed guys who are available throughout the season, but few who have the on-base ability of Span.

In terms of middle relievers, I picked guys who could contribute in the meantime, even without save opportunities.

In terms of injured and prospect starting pitchers, I tried to identify guys who I believed would be ready from day 1 to contribute to fantasy teams when they make their debut. I like Neftali Feliz, but and I think he’ll eventually be better than Hanson, but I think the latter is much more ready.

To address a few other questions:

I actually like Kubel more than Young. (Great splits by Kubel)

I like Bucholtz as a stashee in deep leagues, but I wouldn’t go too hard on stashing pitchers because the quality of SPs on waiver wire tends to improve as the year goes on.

In fact, the other side of this is who to pick up…

I wrote an article on my blog about spot starting in the early going. Check it out here:

http://tinyurl.com/cmku9s