Empty the Bench

A quick heads up for you fantasy MLB players out there who haven’t drafted yet, and a nod to the good folks over at Rotoworld. They have posted their Stay-Away List for the 2007 fantasy season. There are a few no-brainers on the list, such as Nick Johnson (he could miss the entire season), Mark Prior (he’s been optioned to Triple-A Iowa) and Juan Encarnacion (he’ll begin this campaign on the DL, and is unlikely to regain his starting job when he returns). But it’s always good to make sure on those guys, especially for players in extremely deep leagues.

There are also some pretty interesting picks. I had Anibal Sanchez high on my ’sleeper’ list, even though his no-no last season got so much attention. However, as Aaron Gleeman points out, “Sanchez’s 72-to-46 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 114.1 innings suggests that the 2.83 ERA was due largely to luck.” NL Batting Champ Freddy Sanchez? He may not start the season on time with a lingering knee injury, and history suggests he’s in line for some major regressing to the mean. Chien-Ming Wang had 19 wins and a 3.63 ERA last season, but his “historically low strikeout rate,” combined with the fact that he’ll start the season on the DL with a dreaded hamstring injury, makes him a prime candidate to be a bust this season.