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Pink's Picks the SLEEPERS
by Brian Benson

    Webster defines sleep as..."the natural, recurring rest for the body, during which there is little or no conscious thought." Sleeper is defined as ..."one who sleeps." It is obvious that Mr. Webster never played fantasy baseball, nor had it in mind when he gave definition to sleeper. In the area of fantasy sports, a sleeper has come to mean any player who performs at a level totally unexpected of them. Others define the sleeper as any player that can be obtained at a bargain price, and produce similar or better fantasy numbers than a higher priced player. Whatever your definition, the sleeper presents the fantasy owner with a real challenge that cannot always be represented in any statistical model. A good example might be veteran pitcher Esteban Loaiza of the Chicago White Sox. Last year, not many fantasy experts, if any, picked him to have a great season. His usual mo was to have a decent first month of the season, then go into the tank. I don't know anyone that thought he would have the career year he did: 21-9/2.90 ERA/200+IP/207 K's. In his entire career, he averaged slightly over six wins per season, most of these wins coming early in the year. Last year, Loaiza awoke from his slumber and produced an unbelievable season. I happened to be one of the owners that got him for zero on draft day, got my six wins out of him, and quickly traded him away as a filler in a 4-player deal, thinking I had pulled the coup of the year. As fate would have it, I ended up trading him to the owner I would meet in the playoffs. Hmm, bold move. Each season, I spend numerous hours pouring over stats, listening to out-of-town broadcasts, watching spring games, studying major and minor league scouting reports, in an attempt to get the edge in the sleeper sweepstakes. Last year's 2nd-place vote-getter for NL Rookie of the Year, Scott Posednik, was a third-string outfielder for the Brewers. Few, if any, knew his name till his hits and stolen bases started to pile up and produce fantasy points in mid-May. These fantasy producers do anything but sleep, and we fantasy team owners spend many hours without it, trying to figure out the best sleeper picks each season.

     All that being said, here I go on the precarious limb once again, armed with minor/major league scouting reports (along with some stats) predicting who I believe will be this year's unexpected fantasy baseball suprises. This is the one area where I sometimes go with the dreaded gut instinct; the last thing I recommend any fantasy baseball owner to do. Never make a decision without doing your homework. Yet sometimes all the homework in the world can't prepare you to predict who will be this year's Dontrelle Willis, or 2001's Albert Pujols among the young stars coming into the league. On the other hand, what veteran will produce huge numbers far-and-above those predictions on the internet and the fantasy magazines? Maybe that player, or players, are on this list. If so, just remember where you heard it. La back, relax and sssssshhhh!! cause Pink is picking this year's sleepers.

PRIME CUT
1. Joe Mauer
2. Justin Morneau
3. Kevin Mench
4. Eric Munson
5. Alex Cintron

CHOICE
1. Jack Cust
2. Danny Kolb
3. Laynce Nix
4. Jason Bay
5. Edwin Jackson

GROUND CHUCK
1. Kevin Corriea
2. Fernando Vina
3. Johnny Estrada
4. Freddy Sanchez
5. Grant Balfour

COLD
1. Adam LaRoche
2. Bobby Crosby
3. Khalil Greene
4. Cliff Lee
5. Graham Koonce