What if I told you there were two players in baseball with the following lines in the past month:
Player A: 31 Innings, 3-1, 27 Strikeouts, 2.90 ERA, .97 WHIP
Player B: 41.1 Innings, 2-2, 33 Strikeouts, 2.61 ERA, .99 WHIP
You wouldn't be surprised that Player B is Cole Hamels, by all accounts an elite starting pitcher in the National League. What might come as a bit of a shock is that Player A, a pitcher who has achieved similar success in the past month, is Kevin Slowey. Let it sink in. Kevin Slowey.
Let's be serious, it's probably too late in your fantasy league for trades anyway, and if someone offered me Cole Hamels for Kevin Slowey I would accept the trade in approximately 2 seconds, but the fact remains that these two have been performing at a comparable level for the past four weeks. Look, no one is ever going to mistake Kevin Slowey for Cole Hamels, Mark Hamill, or Cole Trickle (yes I just went "Days of Thunder" on you), but you cannot overlook the importance of finding players capable of achieving similar success without the fanfare, and as a result, the fantasy respect, of today's superstars.
As your football draft date approaches, consider this: Antonio Gates is a name associated with fantasy dominance at the TE position. This is not an accident, the guy is an athletic freak who appears to be the favorite target of San Diego gunslingers. But Owen Daniels, the Texans TE, is probably not THAT far behind him. How about Randy McMichael or Chris Cooley? Are they sure things? No. But sport, and for the purposes of this site, fantasy sport, is not about sure things. It is about finding the best value in the best spot, maximizing team output, and capitalizing on the propensity of your competitors to do exactly what you aren't going to do - play it safe by overpaying for familiarity.
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Kevin Slowey has been one of the Twins top prospects for the past few years now. You're going to see a few of those young guys make the jump every year. Cole Hamels made a similar type leap from his first year to the second. I think the better point to make to drafting a good fantasy team is identifying those young players that have shown promise, but haven't put it all together yet. Kevin Slowey is underrated, no doubt about it, but his season, and even his last month, shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone that heard of him before this year. But going with your theme - how about Ty Wigginton? 5th best fantasy player in the last month. Similar numbers to Matt Holliday. There's a surprise!
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