The regular season is about six weeks away. And as spring training kicks into high gear and fantasy baseball drafts begin in full force, I’ll go division-by-division, answering key questions for each team heading into Opening Day.

 

This week: NL East.

 

Atlanta Braves

 

What type of impact with Jason Heyward make this season?

 

Heyward certainly isn’t the first hyped rookie to enter spring training with lofty expectations and the possibility of starting in the Majors when teams head north in April. Most of the time, however, those expectations are just that, and preseason predictions go largely unfulfilled (see Matt Wieters).

 

No one doubts Heyward’s ability. He’s the prototypical right fielder with a great arm and power bat who can also hit for average. He’s the consensus top hitting prospect in baseball who has also been compared to Dave Parker and Dave Winfield. And there is spot wide open for him in the Braves outfield. Heck, even skipper...

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Last week, MLB Network broadcast their list of the top 50 prospects in baseball. I thought it was great. I love hearing/reading about the up-and-coming stars in baseball. But we all know the names by now: Jason Heyward, Stephen Strasburg, Mike Stanton, etc. And there’s a gazillion lists online ranking essentially the same ones in their top 10/25/50 lists. I know about them already. And so does everyone else in my league. I think where the real edge comes – especially if you’re playing in deeper leagues – is getting the tip on that guy who’s not as highly touted, but could claim that fifth-starter’s job the second half of the season. Or that career minor leaguer with some pop who just needs an opportunity … and maybe this is the year he gets it.

 

Case in point last year with the Pirates’ Garrett Jones. No one had him on any preseason prospect projections list that I saw. He had toiled for a few years in the Minors, had a cup of coffee with the Twins, and certainly wasn’t talked about impacting...

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Kerry explains his approach to drafting starting pitchers and offers a few sleeper names to consider for 2010.

In his latest blog, Kerry looks to the American League for potential saves candidates in 2010, dishing out four names worthy of consideration.

Kerry Walls talks about some NL arms with closer potential in San Diego, Atlanta, San Francisco and Pittsburgh.

I’m really excited about the opportunity to write for the World Cup of Fantasy Sports and share my love and passion for fantasy baseball. I’ll try to blog a couple times weekly about topics that I feel need discussing. I won’t go into all of my philosophies about fantasy baseball in this first blog. You’ll get to figure those out as we go. Just know there isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not spending some time thinking or reading about fantasy baseball, and I hope my passion comes out in my writing. I’m always interested in hearing from fans, so don’t hesitate to drop me an email. I’ll try to respond to each one in a timely manner. The hot stove was pretty active in recent days, with a couple deals taking place. First, the Yanks acquired Javy Vazquez and a minor leaguer from the Braves for switch-hitting outfielder Melky Cabrera and two minor leaguers (wow, the rich keep getting richer!). Vazquez returns to the Yankees for a second time, having pitched for them in ’04, and I expect his ERA in...

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