2012 3B Sleepers

[daullaz]

Mat Gamel, Brewers. The two Princes of the NL Central have fled for the American League, and for the Brewers, that could mean a regular gig for Mat Gamel. He hasn’t impressed in previous chances, but the former top prospect certainly had an explosive 2011 season in the PCL, hitting .310 with 28 HRs in 493 at-bats. He’s rightly drawn the Quad-A label, but this may be the year he shakes it if the team commits to him at 1B for the long haul. He should be eligible at third in your league, and if so, he possesses upside that’s very hard to find at the position. One has to think that with enough ABs, Gamel could deliver at least the value of Mark Reynolds (with a higher average and a few less HRs). That’s certainly nothing to scoff at at the end of a draft.

He won't be 3b eligible at the moment (or shouldn't be).
2011: 3 games started at 3b
2010: 1 game started

He appeared in 20 games at 3b in the minors, but that doesn't usually count.
5 starts is the norm I think.

Yeah, but he didn't start five games anywhere in 2011. Three games at 3B in the bigs actually made it his most frequent position (he had two at 1B and two in OF as well). Three GP in 2010 and just one in the OF. Go back to '09 and he had 27 GP at 3B. That makes it his most likely position, in my eyes.

[Halo Homers]

i'm liking me some Ian Stewart

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Talk about a guy flying completely under the radar. Maybe getting out of Colorado is what he needs. Always had to look over this shoulder. Maybe the change of sceanery is what he needs. Concerned he ends up in a platoon with Jeff Baker; Stewart not very good against LHP. Might be worth taking last round of a draft or watching closely on the waiver wire. They also have Josh Vitters waiting in AAA; would not be surprised if Vitters gets a September call up.

[Garry26]

3B is always a bit tight in the top 4 category players, but recently a 12 team mixed league had enough 3Bs to go around unless an owner got cute or something. The question has been whether you want to grab one early or risk waiting a bit and grab one later on.

Seems to be risk/reward.
Grab one early = more stability & good numbers
Grab one later = Grab a stud earlier instead. In return you risk a flop at 3B.
If your risk pans out you got an extra stud, and the numbers difference between the top 3Bs and yours, aren't that big. If not....

Personally Id go for the best available 3B because it looks like maybe 5-6 3Bs and then the talent drops out bigtime. The fall off is too great for me to be taking any risks. I will grab a 3B in the early rounds and save myself the aggravation.

Edit: The more I think about it, the more I see sly owners grabbing two top 3Bs back to back to hurt other teams. They can put it in a Utl slot, use it for trade, and it probably wouldn't hurt their 1B pick any either.

[reiser]

this is from Rotoworld:

Pablo Sandoval gained 25 pounds during the offseason.
Sandoval claims that it's all muscle, but it doesn't sound like Giants manager Bruce Bochy is buying it. "He knows he's got a few pounds to lose," said Bochy." We had a good talk." Sandoval is coming off a resurgent 2011 campaign, so it's only natural to have some concerns that he's headed in the wrong direction again, but keep in mind that there's still a long way to go before the start of the season.
Source: Henry Schulman on Twitter

[kab21]

Yeah, but he didn't start five games anywhere in 2011. Three games at 3B in the bigs actually made it his most frequent position (he had two at 1B and two in OF as well). Three GP in 2010 and just one in the OF. Go back to '09 and he had 27 GP at 3B. That makes it his most likely position, in my eyes.

This is my understanding as well. One curveball is that he had 10 GP in 2011. 3 GS at 3B, 2 GS at 1B and 2 GP (not started) in the OF. That means he played at least 3 games as PH/DH. If he was moved from 3B/!B to OF in either of his 2 OF games then he would have 4 GP at PH/DH which might make UTIL his most appeared at position and give him no position eligibility. It's likely that every site could be different since he falls into the grey area regarding position eligibility.

but overall he's an outstanding sleeper regardless of position eligibility.

[Ender]

In any other park Stewart would be completely worhtless, you are banking on the fact that a minor league player gains enough value in the majors because of a silly park.