Even though many pitchers and catchers have reported, there are still some big names on the free agent market. Others in your fantasy baseball league could be deterred from selecting these players based on the fact that they have not signed a contract with a team yet. Take advantage of that mistake and draft one of these players in the later rounds of your draft.
Nelson Cruz - Outfield
Cruz was suspended last year for his involvement in Biogenesis last year, which could lead some teams and fantasy owners to be wary of what he could do this season. There are a lot of questions surrounding Cruz, such as: how much have his numbers been inflated by PEDs? Unfortunately, we will never know the exact answer.
Despite only playing in 109 games last year, he still hammered 27 home runs and drove in 76 runs. While he has been mediocre in terms of hitting for average (has hit in the .260s the past three years), he has been consistent in terms of power numbers. He has hit at least at least 22 home runs in each of the past four seasons. Again, we may never know if those numbers were inflated by PEDs, but there is no doubt that Cruz has showed consistency and can give you some above-average power numbers if he plays like he has in recent years.
The Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners appear to be favorites to sign Cruz.
Ubaldo Jimenez - Starting Pitcher
Jimenez may have peaked in 2010, going 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA and 214 strikeouts, but he struggled the next two years with ERAs of 4.68 and 5.40, respectively.
2013, however, was a bounceback year. He was a major reason why the Cleveland Indians grabbed the top Wild Card spot in the American League. He went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA and struck out 194 batters: easily hit best statistics since 2010.
His surprisingly 2013 would lead some to believe that he could be one of the more sought-after free agents, but he is still looking for a home.
The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays are in need of another starter and could go after Jimenez.
Ervin Santana - Starting Pitcher
Santana rebounded from his disastrous 2012 season with a stellar 2013 in his first year with the Kansas City Royals. Despite pitching in nearly the same amount of games as the previous season, he dropped his ERA from 5.16 to 3.24, his WHIP from 1.27 to 1.14, gave up thirteen less home runs and increased his strikeouts from 133 to 161.
In fact, 2013 may have arguably been the best season of his nine-year career; one in which he seemingly peaked in 2008.
Santana's resurgence could give him more confidence and also suggests that a change of scenery could have been all he needed to start pitching well again. There is definitely reason to believe that he could put up some impressive numbers again in 2014.
The Orioles and Blue Jays would be good fits for Santana as well, but he could also return to Kansas City.