This article was originally published by Ian Youhanna over at Fake Teams.
Fantasy Baseball: Top 5 Cleveland Indians for 2010
The Indians are in rebuilding mode after dealing ace starting pitcher Cliff Lee and All-Star catched Victor Martinez, and are looking for a bounce back season from Grady Sizemore and a breakout from Matt Laporta.
1. Grady Sizemore- Sizemore missed a good chunk of time in 2009 due to elbow surgery and when he wasn't missing time, he was playing with a sore elbow. Sizemore should start spring training healthy after elbow and lower abdomen surgery and should come at a good value in the third rounds. Draft him and don't be surprised to see another 30/30 year out of him.
2. Shin Soo-Choo- One of my favorite sleepers pre-2009, Choo erupted onto the scene, going 20/20 with a .300 average tossed in there. If he continues to improve, we could see better RBI totals and having a healthy Sizemore sure doesn’t hurt. P.S. I’d like to know who thought differently of scrapping his player photo on SBnation.
3. Asdrubal Cabrera- He may not do anything extraordinarily well, but he should be a good bet to finish the season with double digit steals, near .300 with 90+ run upside. If I were a betting man, I would take the under on the runs, but look how well that worked out for my Colts pick.The dual eligibility at SS and 2B makes him worth owning as a bench option at least.
4. Matt LaPorta- Coming into 2009, LaPorta was one of the players who probably didn't live up to his ADP. He might struggle to hit for a decent average in 2010, but LaPorta could put up 18+ home runs and middle of the order type of runs and RBI numbers. Just remember that this is the Indians middle of the order.
5. Kerry Wood- I don't really have much to say about Wood here. He's probably a good bet to land you 25+ saves and at least a K per inning. Whether he gives you 60 innings or 20 innings is big question. On the bright side, for where he'll be drafted, he's not going to ruin your season if he stinks.
Sleeper alert. Chris Perez- Brought over in the Mark DeRosa trade, Perez will likely take over 8th inning duties and should provide you with you sufficient strikeout totals. Perez's value lies mainly in Kerry Wood's future, however. Wood is a free agent at season's end and if the Indians feel like they've fallen out of contention enough, Wood could be on the move, thus opening a spot for Chris Perez to take the job.
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