Ignore this Fantasy Primer, Part I: Nationals Worth Owning

There is no such thing as a “sleeper” in fantasy baseball in 2010. We can all pretend as though no one is hyping Julio Borbon, Alcidies Escobar, or David Price, but sweet, sweet Lord, they are not sleepers. Overemphasis on their “sleepiness,” if that might be such a way to describe it, seeps into us by the hydra that is the Fantasy Baseball Industrial Complex. My point here, and I do have one, is that if you are even slightly into fantasy baseball, you understand there are no secret players. You have to draft well, trade well, and dredge the waiver wire for the Next Big Thing.

That being said, and since I have the floor here – and fantasy season is but a March Madness away – I thought it time to discuss three Nationals worth pursuing in your league. I do not pretend for this to appear particularly serious – ain’t no VORP to see here…

1B/OF Adam Dunn:  the Big Donkey himself, everyone’s favorite DH-living-a-lie. Mercifully moved to first base for the 2010 season, he might be fantasy’s best bet for 40 HR and 100 RBI outside of the rarefied Pujols-Fielder-Howard air. Projection systems differ on Dunn’s 2010 slash line – I like Bill James’ line of .251/.371/.578 with 40 HR and 103 RBI for the Washington first baseman. Dunn is a good value pick if you do not get a chance to draft one of the top flight gentlemen at first base this season. However, I would rather use his OF eligibility while it lasts.

OF Nyjer Morgan: the guy who would be covering Dunn’s miscues in the outfield is like Willy Taveras with a bat instead of a toothpick in the box. Time will tell if the Nationals got the better end of the trade with Pittsburgh, but Morgan stole 42 bases before an August injury ended his season in 2009. Detractors will note catchers gunned Morgan down 17 times, tied for most in the league. Fangraphs (to me) seems to have the most realistic projection of a full season of Morgan: .295/.356/.375 with 89 R and 44 SB. Given his value in arguably three categories, it seems he is worth consideration as a bench bat – in the same manner you might look at Michael Bourn or Rajai Davis.

3B Ryan Zimmerman: is more than likely the only Nationals player your disinterested significant other recognizes as a player on the Nationals. He had an unquestionably stellar season in 2009, batting .292/.364/.525 with 33 HR, 106 RBI, and 110 R, and he seems poised to get even better. There are certainly third basemen valued higher, especially in mixed leagues – Alex Rodriguez, Evan Longoria, and David Wright come to mind. Deciding between Zimmerman’s college teammate Mark Reynolds and Pablo Sandoval might be a little more challenging. Per FanGraphs, Zimmerman’s .293/.364/.514 line  with 29 HR, 103 RBI, and 93 R looks fairly enticing.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s installment of Ignore this Fantasy Primer, in which I run down three Nationals you should make someone else’s problem.