Top 51 Fantasy Players in Baseball Right Now...

Why 51? Well, why stop at 50? There's always some poor schmo who has to come in at 51, just missing the cut in your typical to 50 countdown. But we here at Waaay Back! believe in schmoes all over the world, especially in regards to fantasy baseball, and we honor Mr. 51. Screw the guy who comes in at 52 on our list --- he wasn't close enough to crack the top 50 to begin with, so he needs to work a bit harder. We cheer the top 51 for this week, the week of March 28th, 2005...

1. Albert Pujols - 1B: He's younger than Arod, and other than SBs, he'll beat Arod in just about every category, including BA by a mile. That's why he qualifies #1 with us.
2. Alex Rodriguez - 3B
3. Vlad Guerrero - OF: Just a beast...just a beast...
4. Carlos Beltran - OF: We're still slightly -- slightly - worried about him playing at Shea and with the Mets.
5. Miguel Tejada - SS
6. Johan Santana - SP: Why is he ahead of Mr. Porn Star Name (Randy Johnson)? Because he had as good a season last year as Mr. Porn Star Name while in a tougher league, he's younger, and he's not going to have to get used to the AL again like Johnson is going to have to.
7. Randy Johnson - SP: Still, we like him.
8. Alfonso Soriano - 2B : If he were an outfielder, he'd probably be down in the 40s, but since 2B is so thin, he's by far as good as it gets there, and you have to value that. Hamstring seems healthy for now, so he stays top 10.
9. Bobby Abreu - OF: We'd love to see him duplicate last season...and he can do it.
10. Manny Ramirez - OF: Just a beast...just a beast...We said that somewhere up ahead, didn't we?
11. Ichiro Suzuki - OF: Oh, no! We included his last name again!!! Shame on us. Anyway, he's having another freak spring training. Don't believe the hype that he'll hit .400, because it's not likely. But another batting title seems likely.
12. Carl Crawford - OF
13. Scott Rolen - 3B
14. David Ortiz - 1B: Why ahead of Helton? Because he's a couple years younger, in a much better lineup, and Fenway is no sluch of a hitter's park to Coor's.
15. Todd Helton - 1B: Still, we like him.
16. Jason Schmidt - SP: Most likely the third best starter available to start the year, but with Bonds gone for a little while at least, Giants will find it harder to score some runs...and therefore wins for their starters.
17. Jim Thome - 1B
18. Gary Sheffield - OF: We'd follow the same suit we gave to Vlad and Manny and call Sheff a beat as well, but age and that shoulder will always cause some doubts for us.
19. Mark Teixeira - 1B: Don't let him slide too far in your draft. A bit undervalued, though not much.
20. Adrian Beltre - 3B: We're worried about a slide back this season. Contract years the previous year and a swap of leagues will always do that.
21. Miguel Cabrera - OF
22. Curt Schilling - SP: Will probably make acouple starts at AAA to get his training in, but the ankle's healthy. Don't be scared off.
23. Ben Sheets - SP
24. Nomar Garciaparra - SS: Making a surge in the rankings with a hot spring. Always a worry over health, but if he can be healthy...oh, we swoon.
25. Jim Edmonds - OF
26. Juan Pierre - OF: Injury questions already rising. He's starting to fall a bit in the standings here.
27. Aramis Ramirez - 3B
28. Derek Jeter - SS: Same ol', same ol' from Mr. Dependable. (We've forgotten about last April.)
29. Carlos Zambrano - SP: Ace of the Cubs in our minds. Why? Oh....because he doesn't spend half his time with that evil mistress, the Disabled List like some Cubs pitchers we know.
30. Roy Oswalt - SP: Remember how last year Oswalt was practically forgotten by many fantasy leaguers because of an injury-filled 2003? Don't you feel like a dope for passing on him in so many rounds in last year's draft?
31. Adam Dunn - 1B/OF: Call us high on glue, but we believe he'll steal a good amount of bases this year and make us forget his .260 or so average. Oh, and the massive amount of HRs won't hurt either.
32. Victor Martinez - C: Why so high? Because only one catcher had more than 100RBI last year, and he was it. He's on the upswing in his career, as opposed to 95% of all the other quality catchers out there.
33. Jake Peavy - SP
34. Pedro Martinez - SP: Back tightness this spring, bad 2004, iffy Mets team...hmmm. Something to keep an eye on.
35. Eric Gagne - RP: Brad Lidge is looming right behind him for best closer title. Iffy spring and offy for opener doesn't help cause.
36. Brad Lidge - RP
37. Marcus Giles - 2B
38. Eric Chavez - 3B: Better eye than Hank Blalock is only reason he'll crack top 51 over Hank for now. We're still high on Hank, though. Undervalued if you ask us.
39. Oliver Perez - SP: Could regress a little this year from phenomenal 2004, but still a freak. Can't beat those Ks either.
40. Roger Clemens - SP: Is age catching up with him? Or is it the curse of the stolen Hummer?
41. Rafael Furcal - SS
42. Aubrey Huff - OF/1B/3B: If he qualifies at three positions in your league, you have to understand what a God-send that is to your team when a player on your squad at one of those positions gets injured, and you can move Huff and his stats right over to vill that void. Hugely undervalued in many circles.
43. Michael Young - SS
44. Jimmy Rollins - SS: Can pass young any given week with a solid season. Especially if he's stealing bases like Winona Ryder "shopping" in a clothing store.
45. Tim Hudson - SP
46. Carlos Delgado - 1B: Wretched spring after mediocre 2004 and he's changing leagues. He's on the verge of falling out of the top 51, which we're sure will just devestate the entire Delgado family.
47. Hideki Matsui - OF: Watch out, people. Godzilla might have the best season of any Yankee hitter in 2005.
48. Carlos Lee - OF: Don't disrespect. Nice spring too.
49. Keith Foulke - RP
50. Joe Nathan - RP: Why ahead of Rivera and no Rivera on this list? Nathan's younger and proven he can post equal if not better numbers.
And Mr. 51 for this week is.....
51. Melvin Mora - 3B: We aren't exactly his biggest fans here, but we'll show him some love this week.

EXCLUDED THIS WEEK: ((((great shame))))
Mark Prior (get healthy first before you get on our list)...
Mariano Rivera
Francisco Rodriguez
Travis Hafner
Johnny Damon (get that beard grown back, man)
Hank Blalock
Barry Bonds (see ya later pal...try a new steroid, and we'll see you in August maybe...with a different kid as a prop)