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I’ve been keeping my eye on this for a week now, but it was Jason from our Crooked Pitch fantasy baseball leagues’ Tigers team that scooped me. Johnny Cueto, the Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher is now, finally, available in Yahoo. Go grab him, if you’d like.

And, here’s why you might like to give him a flier. Especially in deep leagues.

• He had a 170:34 K:BB ratio last season in High-A, AA & AAA ball, pitching 161.1 innings.
• He has a mid 90’s fastball and a plus slider to go along with it.
• He’s a rookie and we all know how Dusty Baker feels about rookies. “He’s like against it… right?” (Can you name the obscure movie reference?)
• You just don’t have enough sleeper picks already on your team.

Thanks for the heads-up Jason. Now, enjoy his services!

If you’ve been paying attention to spring box scores from the San Francisco Giants club, you may have noticed Eugenio Velez, a 26 yeal old rookie who’s hitting .340/.353/.511 with a double, two triples, and a home run. Most importantly he’s stolen 9 bases in 16 games. Velez is turning heads, and causing Giants decision makers to scratch theirs.

Manager Bruce Bochy would agree. After the Giants’ 11-6 exhibition victory over the Diamondbacks, Bochy declared Velez has a real shot of making the 25-man roster. Not only as a bench player but as someone who “might force the issue, too,” meaning get in the lineup on occasion.

“If we want a lineup with speed in there, he gives you another dimension,” Bochy said. “This kid is fun to watch.”

• In 2006 in Single-A Augusta, Velez hit .315 with 14 home runs and 64 stolen bases.
• In 2007 in 114 games of combined AA, AAA and MLB playing time, Velez stole 58 bases while hitting .296.

If Velez makes this club out of Spring Training, but doesn’t earn a starting spot, you should keep an eye on him and see if does earn his way into a starting role. If he surprises and starts from day one, he’s going to be one of those players who could single handedly vault your fantasy team to the top of the stolen base leader board.

Cincinnati Reds rookie first baseman, Joey Votto, has been on the radar of sleeper hunters for a while this pre-season. He’s being drafted in a little over 50% of the mock drafts over at Mock Draft Central, with an Average Draft Position of 274.14 (late 23rd round).

I’m pretty sure that Votto’s ADP would be higher if fantasy GM’s knew he was going to be the Reds starting first baseman, instead of Scott Hatteberg. Manager, Dusty Baker hinted to just that, recently.

“What’s Hatteberg? Thirty-eight?” Baker said. “Votto’s the future here. I talked to Hatteberg about Votto. He thinks he’s going to be a heck of a player. He’s not conceding his position. … I think he understands to be part of the club that Votto might have to be a major part of it. It might be Votto’s time.”

This news, especially if holds up and Votto is the starter, makes Joey Votto more valuable. He’s been a 20/20 performer in the minors and hit .321 with 4 home runs in his 24 game audition last season. If he gets 500 at-bats in 2008, I wouldn’t be surprised with a 15/15 performance, and he could approach 20/20.

I’m coming at this from more of a sim angle, but here are a few Padres to keep your eye on in 2008:

• Kevin Kouzmanoff — His overall numbers (.275/.329/.457) don’t jump out, but bear in mind that he got off to a miserable start. Kouzmanoff hit .309/.362/.511 from May 7 to the end of the season. Although he won’t repeat that performance, at age 26, he’s a good bet to improve on his rookie campaign.
• Brian Giles — Giles played much of the year hurt, and underwent knee surgery after the season. After returning from the disabled list at the end of June, Giles hit .268/.367/.454 the rest of the way. Assuming he’s healthy (risky proposition for a guy who turns 37 in January), expect a slight rebound in ‘08. Also, if he gets traded, his value could jump: 12 of Giles’ 13 home runs last year came away from Petco Park.
• Scott Hairston — Again, his full-season line (.243/.313/.452) doesn’t tell the whole story. Hairston hit .287/.337/.644 in 31 games with San Diego (and darned near was the season’s hero with his dramatic home run that put the Padres ahead late in Game #163). He turns 28 in May and should see a fair amount of playing time in San Diego next year. Keep expectations low and try to snag him late; you could see nice returns.
• Heath Bell — Not really a sleeper after his breakout season, but if Trevor Hoffman should falter, Bell is next in line to close games.

Down on the farm, second baseman Matt Antonelli and third baseman Chase Headley are the best bets to have an impact in 2008. Antonelli has less of a roadblock, while Headley is more big-league ready as a hitter.

Happy hunting!

[tag]Ryan Theriot[/tag] was slated to play a lot of second base for the [tag]Chicago Cubs[/tag] in 2007 until Mark DeRosa came to town in the off season. Now, he’s filling in at third base for the injured Aramis Ramirez. Theriot is putting up some good numbers. The question is, how long will Theriot be kept out of the every day lineup?

“I’m going to play the people who are getting the job done, and he’s hit the ball,” Piniella said of Theriot, who went 8-for-12 (.667) in the Cincinnati series with three RBI.

ZiPS projects Theriot at .275/.335/.356 with 2 home runs and 17 stolen bases if he reaches 400 at bats. He may be ready for picking up in NL only leagues. He’s ok for short term help in deep mixed leagues, but shouldn’t be considered for full time work until we’re sure he’s going to get those 400 AB’s.

There have been some grumblings from the [tag]Minnesota Twins[/tag] crowd about trading head case 2B, Luis Castillo. There are a few reasons the Twins may do this. Castillo isn’t expect to resign with the Twins after 2007, the final year of his current contract. The Twins need to start thinking about money allocation for Santana’s new contract. And finally, the Twins have a major league ready 2B in [tag]Alexi Casilla[/tag].

Casilla, 22, is having a pretty good spring hitting .286 with 4 stolen bases in 35 at bats. But you need to look at his minor league totals from the last 2 years to see his future value.

2005 - Casilla played in A ball, AA and AAA. In 366 at bats he hit .311 with 49 stolen bases.
2006 - Casilla played in high A ball and AA. In 493 at bats he hit .318 with 50 stolen bases.

This kid can obviously run. If he breaks camp with the Twins he an be looked at for a late round pickup in AL only leagues or any keeper league. As soon as Castillo gets traded or if Casilla is announced as the starter at 2B, he should be picked up immediately in any format.

[tag]Yovani Gallardo[/tag] is starting his age 21 season in 2007 and the big question is where. Gallardo enjoyed a huge breakout season last year where he lead all of minor league baseball in strikeouts with 188 (in 155 innings) and ranked 3rd overall in ERA with 1.86. Here’s his 2005 and 2006 minor league numbers.

2005 A West Virgina - 2.74ERA 1.24WHIP 2.15K/BB 121.1IP 7.42H/9 3/78B/9 8.16K/9

2006 A+ Brevard County - 2.09ERA 0.99WHIP 4.48K/BB 77.2IP 6.26H/9 2.67BB/9 11.94K/9

2006 AA Huntsville - 1.63ERA 1.01WHIP 3.03K/BB 77.1IP 5.82H/9 3.26BB/9 9.89K/9

Those numbers are pretty powerful, which may be why Baseball America has Gallardo as #16 on their Top 100 Prospect list and Brewerfan.net has him as #1 on their Power 50.

Right now, Gallardo is ranked 6th on the starting pitching depth chart in Milwaukee. Most people think that he’s headed to AAA to start the season. However, nobody has ruled out Gallardo making the big club out of camp as either the #5 guy or a long reliever. A good spring could solidify just that happening as there really isn’t anything left to prove for him in the minors.

You can take a chance on Gallardo in deep NL only leagues or in very deep mixed keeper leagues if he’s headed back to AAA. If the Brewers announce that he’s made the major league team, you should immediately think about adding him to your fantasy team in any format.