Newbies of the Week...

This week we're including some old Newbies from days gone by who might finally be reasserting themselves as Born-Again Newbies. And for that, we start with...

Mogran Ensberg. Starting the season with a .381 average/1HR/2RBI/3runs, he seems to have grabbed the starting third base job from Mike Lamb for the Astros. Going into 2004, Ensberg was a hot sleeper in many leagues, as everyone was swooning over 25HRs in just 385 ABs in 2003. For all that adoration, he ended up tanking. It was if he was the poor man's Pat Burrell last year. Burrell was a hot commodity going into 2004, and ended up letting many managers down, and to a lesser extent Ensberg followed suit. So who's to say Ensberg doesn't have it in him to bounce back to levels he approached in 2003? In his career, Ensberg only has around 950 ABs; Pat Burrell has over 2500 ABs --- but Burrell is only one year younger than Ensberg. So why does everyone assume Burrell has a bounce-back left in him, but not Ensberg? Listen, Burrell has a much higher ceiling in his talent level. He has the ability - the ability - to put up MVP type numbers. But Ensberg has the talent to post very solid numbers --- close to a .300/20+HRs/90+RBI in a full-time gig, assuming he doesn't starting over-thinking his at-bats as he did the first half of last season.

Newbie #2 this week we mentioned in our "Top Fives" column under the "Hey There" section. Chad Tracy's flying under the radar in many leagues, but he's already proven he has the ability to maintain a quality average throughout a season, as he did in 2004. As we said earlier, he's possibly this year's Lyle Overbay - a guy who needs to turn a few of his doubles into homers. He's only 24 years old (25 in May), and at 6'2" and 200lbs, he's not some shrinking violet slap hitter. He has the phyical shape to hammer out 20+ HRs, and very well could do that this year. By qualifying at both first base and third base, it allows you to use him in an emergency at two positions on your roster. If you have a shallow bench or a mediocre first baseman/third baseman, then taking a flyer on Tracy can't hurt.

Brad Halsey seems to finally be getting his chance to shine a bit with the D-Backs as well with Chad Tracy, though on the mound. Once a prized prospect with the Yankees when they actually had a farm system with talent, they of course traded him. In 10.0IP this season, he has 9 Ks (great ratio so far) and a 1.80 ERA with one victory. There's a reason he was so highly valued as a prospect and why he commanded such a high price --- and playing in the relative anonymity of Arizona (as opposed to New York) should allow him to adjust to the majors at his own pace. He's a pitcher who has solid strikeout ability and is still only just 24 years old, so if you're desperate for some pitching, he's an option to keep an eye on.

Another young pitcher looking to turn the corner on his career is Erik Bedard of the Orioles. Going into the 2004 season he was looked at as a deep sleeper, and struggled with his command --- which we swear is a rite of passage for young pitchers, that they all have to struggle with their command. But it says something that the Orioles didn't trade him in the off-season (while they did other young pitchers of their's). He has a strong inning-to-K ratio, and was dominant in his first start of the season for the O's. Only 26 years old, he might be at that age where he turns that corner and puts up very respectable numbers this year. Like many young picthers, he'll still have his bad days, but he's someone you need to pay attention to for the time being.