Today's Fantasy Rx

Prior to this season, we presented three prospects lists for each league: a Top 150 prospects list for Ultra leagues, a Top 42 prospects list meant for traditional roto leagues with three-round minor league drafts, and a new Top 25 prospects list, intended exclusively for owners in extremely deep leagues who desire the best prospect trade bait.

With a month of player evaluations now in our archive, we decided to present initial 2004 prospect lists for each league. We plan to update the lists every few weeks as players change teams, but these lists should give you some names to target in off-season trade talks.

As always, Rotohelp prospect lists remain specifically geared towards fantasy baseball, foregoing serious consideration of "peak" or "long-term potential" other than what a player will contribute in standard 4x4 and 5x5 leagues.

I projected four values for each prospect discussed over the last month: his likely value in 2004, his 2004 roto upside, his likely 2005 value, and his likely long-term upside considering the prospect's tools, skills, and age. After averaging these values, weighted heavily towards potential 2004 considerations as well as adjusting the relative value of pitchers downward due to the greater volatility in projecting pitcher development, we arrived at a rough ranking of the prospects in each league.

A few players on the first list will be minor league veterans who only need a chance to succeed in the majors. I designated these players with an asterisk for those of you only interested in acquiring more traditional prospects.

Every player remains listed with the MLB organization for which he last played in 2003.

Note: We employed MLB rookie guidelines, so no one here has exceeded 130 MLB AB or 50 MLB IP, or has accumulated 45 days on an MLB roster prior to September 1st of any season.

* - denotes players not on a 40-man roster nor considered a traditional prospect due to age

Rotohelp's Top 150 AL Ultra Fantasy Prospects for 2004
1. Bobby Crosby, SS, OAK
2. David DeJesus, OF, KC
3. Jeremy Reed, OF, CHW
4. Graham Koonce, 1B, OAK
5. Jamal Strong, OF, SEA
6. Ramon Nivar, OF, TEX
7. Cody Ross, OF, DET
8. Gerald Laird, C, TEX
9. Alfredo Amezaga, SS, ANA
10. Robb Quinlan, 1B, ANA
11. Gabe Gross, OF, TOR
12. Mike Restovich, OF, MIN
13. Aaron Miles, 2B, CHW
14. Mike Ryan, OF, MIN
15. Joe Mauer, C, MIN
16. Justin Duchscherer, SP, OAK
17. Jesse Crain, RP, MIN
18. Ross Gload, 1B, CHW
19. B.J. Upton, SS, TB
20. Jon Rauch, SP, CHW
21. Doug Waechter, SP, TB
22. Grant Balfour, SP, MIN
23. Joe Borchard, OF, CHW
24. Chris Snelling, OF, SEA
25. Dallas McPherson, 3B, ANA
26. Alexis Rios, OF, TOR
27. Matt Riley, SP, BAL
28. Jose Lopez, SS, SEA
29. Grady Sizemore, OF, CLE
30. Jeremy Guthrie, SP, CLE
31. Kevin Gregg, SP, ANA
32. Tim Raines, Jr., OF, BAL
33. Jason Arnold, SP, TOR
34. Rob Bowen, C, MIN
35. Dan Johnson, 1B, OAK
36. Jason Bartlett, SS, MIN
37. Guillermo Quiroz, C, TOR
38. Mike Fontenot, 2B, BAL
39. Kevin Youkilis, 3B, BOS
40. Pete LaForest, DH/C, TB
41. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, TEX
42. Mike Nakamura, RP, MIN
43. Russ Adams, SS, TOR
44. Luis Rodriguez, 2B, MIN*
45. Matt Diaz, OF, TB
46. Andy Abad, 1B, BOS
47. Jeff Mathis, C, ANA
48. Justin Leone, 3B, SEA
49. Zach Greinke, SP, KC
50. Nook Logan, OF, DET
51. Alexis Gomez, OF, KC
52. Esteban German, 2B, OAK
53. Byron Gettis, OF, KC
54. Kelly Shoppach, C, BOS
55. Dustin McGowan, SP, TOR
56. Kevin Cash, C, TOR
57. John Maine, SP, BAL
58. Ervin Santana, SP, ANA
59. Scott Proctor, RP, NYY
60. Jorge DePaula, SP, NYY
61. Brian Sweeney, SP, SEA
62. Rett Johnson, SP, SEA
63. Brad Thomas, SP, MIN
64. Aaron Looper, RP, SEA
65. Maicer Izturis, SS, CLE
66. Jonny Gomes, OF, TB
67. Dioner Navarro, C, NYY
68. Andy Dominique, C, BOS
69. Michel Hernandez, C, NYY
70. Chris Bootcheck, SP, ANA
71. Juan Dominguez, SP, TEX
72. Barry Wesson, OF, ANA
73. Greg Jones, RP, ANA
74. Clint Nageotte, SP, SEA
75. J.D. Durbin, SP, MIN
76. Joe Blanton, SP, OAK
77. Delmon Young, OF, TB
78. Casey Kotchman, 1B, ANA
79. Travis Blackley, SP, SEA
80. Chad Gaudin, SP, TB
81. Neal Cotts, SP, CHW
82. Erik Bedard, SP, BAL
83. Jorge de la Rosa, SP, BOS
84. Aaron Taylor, RP, SEA
85. Bubba Crosby, OF, NYY
86. Greg LaRocca, 3B, CLE
87. Denny Bautista, SP, BAL
88. Nick Swisher, OF, OAK
89. Rob Henkel, SP, DET
90. Fernando Cabrera, RP, CLE
91. Mike Wood, SP, OAK
92. Talley Haines, RP, TB
93. Brent Hoard, SP, MIN
94. Kazuhito Tadano, RP, CLE
95. Eric Schmitt, SP, NYY
96. Anton French, OF, BOS*
97. Darnell McDonald, OF, BAL
98. Jason Grabowski, OF, OAK
99. Mike Edwards, OF, OAK
100. Jeff Pickler, 2B, TEX
101. Joey Gathright, OF, TB
102. Adam Riggs, 1B/UT, ANA*
103. Joey Hammond, UT, BAL
104. Shane Loux, SP, DET
105. Bobby Madritsch, SP, SEA
106. Rich Fischer, SP, ANA
107. J.J. Putz, RP, SEA
108. Evan Rust, RP, TB
109. Josh Stewart, SP, CHW
110. Jim Serrano, RP, KC
111. Colter Bean, RP, NYY
112. Juan Padilla, RP, MIN
113. Jamie Brown, RP, BOS
114. Jorge Vazquez, RP, KC
115. Corey Smith, 3B, CLE
116. Terry Tiffee, 3B, MIN
117. Francisco Cruceta, SP, CLE
118. Cha Seung Baek, SP, SEA
119. John Birtwell, RP, DET
120. Kyle Denney, SP, CLE
121. Anastacio Martinez, RP, BOS
122. Pedro Swann, OF, BAL*
123. Simon Pond, 3B, TOR
124. Mike Rose, C, OAK
125. Jason Jones, OF, TEX
126. Erick Almonte, SS, NYY
127. Jose Flores, OF, OAK
128. Ryan Hankins, 3B, NYY
129. Bryan Hebson, RP, BOS
130. Aaron Rakers, RP, BAL
131. Drew Henson, 3B, NYY
132. David Bush, SP, TOR
133. Bobby Jenks, SP, ANA
134. Alberto Callaspo, 2B, ANA
135. Jeromy Palki, RP, MIN*
136. Jermaine Clark, OF, TEX*
137. Mike Curry, OF, SEA*
138. Angel Santos, 2B, CLE*
139. Alex Graman, SP, NYY
140. Jon Adkins, SP, CHW
141. Bartolome Fortunato, RP, TB
142. Gary Majewski, RP, CHW
143. Jeremy Brown, C, OAK
144. Mike Rouse, SS, OAK
145. Kris Honel, SP, CHW
146. John Rheinecker, SP, OAK
147. Kenny Baugh, SP, DET
148. Marios Ramos, SP, OAK
149. Jeff Heavelo, SP, SEA
150. Adam Peterson, RP, TOR

Rotohelp's Top 42 AL Fantasy Prospects for 2004…
who should merit keeping at $10 in 2005 per traditional rules
1. Bobby Crosby, SS, OAK
2. Jeremy Reed, OF, CHW
3. B.J. Upton, SS, TB
4. Dallas McPherson, 3B, ANA
5. Jamal Strong, OF, SEA
6. David DeJesus, OF, KC
7. Graham Koonce, 1B, OAK
8. Ramon Nivar, OF, TEX
9. Cody Ross, OF, DET
10. Gerald Laird, C, TEX
11. Alfredo Amezaga, SS, ANA
12. Gabe Gross, OF, TOR
13. Mike Restovich, OF, MIN
14. Aaron Miles, 2B, CHW
15. Joe Mauer, C, MIN
16. Justin Duchscherer, SP, OAK
17. Jesse Crain, RP, MIN
18. Jon Rauch, SP, CHW
19. Doug Waechter, SP, TB
20. Grant Balfour, SP, MIN
21. Joe Borchard, OF, CHW
22. Chris Snelling, OF, SEA
23. Alexis Rios, OF, TOR
24. Matt Riley, SP, BAL
25. Jose Lopez, SS, SEA
26. Grady Sizemore, OF, CLE
27. Jeremy Guthrie, SP, CLE
28. Jason Arnold, SP, TOR
29. Dan Johnson, 1B, OAK
30. Jason Bartlett, SS, MIN
31. Mike Fontenot, 2B, BAL
32. Kevin Youkilis, 3B, BOS
33. Guillermo Quiroz, C, TOR
34. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, TEX
35. Russ Adams, SS, TOR
36. Jeff Mathis, C, ANA
37. Justin Leone, 3B, SEA
38. Zach Greinke, SP, KC
39. Kevin Cash, C, TOR
40. Dustin McGowan, SP, TOR
41. John Maine, SP, BAL
42. Ervin Santana, SP, ANA

Rotohelp's Top 25 2004 AL Fantasy Prospects for Long-term Leagues
1. B.J. Upton, SS, TB
2. Bobby Crosby, SS, OAK
3. Joe Mauer, C, MIN
4. Alexis Rios, OF, TOR
5. Delmon Young, OF, TB
6. Jeremy Reed, OF, CHW
7. Mike Restovich, OF, MIN
8. Jose Lopez, SS, SEA
9. Grady Sizemore, OF, CLE
10. Dan Johnson, 1B, OAK
11. Dioner Navarro, C, NYY
12. Casey Kotchman, 1B, ANA
13. Dallas McPherson, 3B, ANA
14. David DeJesus, OF, KC
15. Graham Koonce, 1B, OAK
16. Jamal Strong, OF, SEA
17. Cody Ross, OF, DET
18. Jon Rauch, SP, CHW
19. Matt Riley, SP, BAL
20. Zach Greinke, SP, KC
21. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, TEX
22. Dustin McGowan, SP, TOR
23. John Maine, SP, BAL
24. Ervin Santana, SP, ANA
25. Clint Nageotte, SP, TOR

Today's Fantasy Rx: The 2004 American League rookies who currently possess the best chances to earn double-digit roto value next season are Bobby Crosby, David DeJesus, and as long as he breaks camp in the majors as expected, Jamal Strong. For owners building for the long-term future in leagues that allow you to keep players essentially forever, the best long-term fantasy prospects in the American League are B.J. Upton, Joe Mauer, and Bobby Crosby.