锘? In every fantasy baseball league jordan 7 retro italia , there's always one guy who makes a surprise pick or two during the draft. He's usually the guy who's done his homework on Fantasy Baseball Sleeper Prospects. He's the guy who reads Fantasy Baseball Dugout. Fantasy Baseball Dugout is proud to present its 2008 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper Prospects. The criteria for qualifying as a sleeper prospect is that the player was not a regular for the 2007 season and that the season was his first in The Show. Most fantasy baseball sleeper players were September call-ups to The Bigs, but some you probably would not have heard of unless you were an avid minor league fan. #1 -- Joba Chamberlain, Starting Pitcher, New York Yankees. Once a hefty 272 pound pitcher at D-II Nebraska-Kearney, Chamberlain lost weight and was simply dominating at every professional level in 2007. He's an interesting guy--a Native American member of the Winnebago tribe. A hamstring injury hampered Chamberlain and he did not make his pro debut until May. He then made it all look easy. Chamberlain started at Hi-A Tampa where he went 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 40 innings while holding hitters to a microscopic .181 average. He was promoted to AA Trenton where he went 4-2 in seven starts with a 3.35 ERA and a massive 66 K's in 40 IP's. After three appearances at AAA ScrantonWilkes Barre where he fanned 18 in 8 innings, Chamberlain was promoted to the Yanks. You would think that Chamberlain's meteoric rise would have been too much to put up similar numbers with the Bronx Bombers. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Chamberlain worked out of the bullpen and appeared in 19 games. In 24 IP's air jordan 6 italia , he fanned 34 while walking just 6 and giving up 12 hits. Opponents were nearly invisible against Chamberlain at the plate with a .145 BA. Chamberlain's ERA in the bigs: 0.38. Chamberlain has the makings of a closer or a #1 starter. Manager Joe Girardi is going to be hard pressed to not move him quickly into that #1 starter role in 2008. Watch his status closely during Grapefruit League games. You could end up with a mid-round steal in Chamberlain. Fantasy Baseball Dugout considers Chamberlain to be a top 20 pick among all pitchers in the 2008 fantasy baseball draft. He will win at least 15 games in pinstripes and will be a dominant strikeout machine with enormous upside potential in future years. # 2 -- Clay Bucholz, Starting Pitcher, Boston Red Sox Bucholz is the best home grown pitcher from the Sox farm system since Roger Clemens. This guy is certainly no surprise given the fact that he tossed a no-no in just his second major league start last season against the Orioles. He likely would have made the Red Sox post-season roster had Boston not shut him down with a tired arm. Bucholz was simply dominant in the minors last year and is another strikeout machine for leagues who take whiffs into account. Bucholz averaged 12.3 strikeouts per 9 IP last year in the minors with AA Portland and AAA Pawtucket. All this despite the fact that Bucholz was not a full time pitcher until 2005 when he was picked in the first round supplemental draft by the Sox. Several teams stayed away from Bucholz because of an April 2004 theft arrest. The right hander tops out at 95 MPH with his fastball and has a 12-6 curve to go along with an effective change. Most scouts would like to see him rely on his fastball more and it remains to be seen if he can hold up for an entire season as he pitched a career high 149 IP's last year and was gassed at the end of the season. Fantasy Baseball Dugout projects Bucholz as the # 4 starter this year for Boston behind Beckett, Matsuzaka, and Lester. He'll get his chances to impress and will probably be the Sox # 2 man by next season. # 3 -- Jacoby Ellsbury, Outfielder air jordan 5 retro nere , Boston Red Sox Ellsbury is another guy who is already well known, yet still qualifies as a rookie. Ellsbury relieved a slumping Coco Crisp in the World Series last year and hit a sizzling .438 in the Fall Classic. This was after hitting .361 in September while playing for the injured Manny Ramirez. Not to mention, a Pawtucket record of a 25-game hitting streak. Ellsbury hit .353 last year in just 116 AB's. He won't hit for much power, but is a force at the top of the lineup for a Red Sox team that will score a lot of runs. And, Ellsbury will help your all important stolen base totals. He swiped 9 in the Bigs last year and a total of 50 overall with his three clubs. The ceiling is high for Ellsbury, but there's no guarantee he will be with the club when the Sox break camp. While it is rumored that Boston is trying to move Crisp air jordan 4 retro rosse , Ellsbury may have to wait for a mid-season call up to break the starting lineup if the Red Sox can't move Crisp. # 4 -- Ian Kennedy, Starting Pitcher, New York Yankees Kennedy is another Yankee who benefited from exposure in a September call up. He started three games and had a sparkling 1.89 ERA while holding opponents to a .191 BA. Kennedy rose through the Yank's farm system like a torpedo last year moving from Hi A Tampa to AA Trenton to AAA ScrantonWilkes Barre, before joining the pinstripers in September. His combined record was 13-3 with 178 strikeouts in 166 IP. Kennedy's best pitch is his changeup which has a nice run to it. He can hit 92 MPH, but is often criticized for a too slow curveball which can bottom out at a middle-schoolish 69. Fantasy Baseball Dugout sees Kennedy as the # 5 starter in the Yankees rotation in a crowded pitching corpse that includes Wang, Petitte air jordan 4 italia , Chamberlain, Hughes, and Mussina. Kennedy should win at least 12 games in 2008. # 5 -- Evan Longoria, third baseman, Tampa Bay Devil Rays Another name you've heard of, but more likely because of its similarity to many men's fantasy jordan 11 shop italia , and I'm not talking baseball at all here. Longoria was the third overall pick by the Devil Rays in 2006 out of a stellar All-American care锘?.