Sleepers - 1B

[Panzram]

Mike Jacobs 1B Florida Marlins
This is Jacobs second appearance on this page as his stock has risen since the Delgado trade that brought him from NY to Florida. The 25-year-old Jacobs should be an every day player with the Marlins, as he'll get an opportunity to show that his 11 HR in 100 AB from 2005 with the Mets were legitimate. The numbers point to a break out season for Jacobs in 2006 as he hit .321 with 25 HR and 93 RBI in 433 AA at bats in 2005 before posting that impressive .710 SLG in 100 major league AB. I consider Jacobs amongst the favorites for 2006 NL ROY.

Conor Jackson 1B Arizona Diamondbacks
Jackson most likely will begin the 2006 season platooning with Tony Clark at 1B, getting the less frequent AB as the right hand side of the platoon. Depending if Clark can continue his surprise production from 2005, Jackson could become the D'Backs regular 1B sometime in 2006. The 23-year-old hit .354 in 333 AAA at bats in 2005 with 8 HR and 73 RBI. He's known for his plus strike zone judgement, remarkable 69 to 32 BB to K ratio in those 333 AAA at bats. Jackson hit .200 with 0 HR in 85 major league AB in 2005, yet has a high upside offensively with potential production in 2006.

AL
Chris Shelton 1B Detroit Tigers
This former minor league catcher had a surprise rookie campaign this past season with 18 HR and 59 RBI in 388 AB with a .299 BA. The 25-year-old could double that production in 2006 if given the opportunity to play every day. Shelton was a productive hitter in the minor leagues and was drafted away from Pittsburgh in the Rule V draft prior to the 2004 season.

NL
Prince Fielder 1B Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers are expected to trade Lyle Overbay this off-season to make room for Fielder in 2006. Fielder is a top hitting prospect with 3-hole hitting potential. The 21-year-old hit 2 HR with 10 RBI in 59 trial AB this past season in the majors. Fielder had 28 HR & 86 RBI in 378 AAA AB with a .291 BA and is a strong 2006 NL ROY candidate, assuming Overbay is dealt.

AL
Casey Kotchman 1B/DH LA Angels of Anaheim
Kotchman is a former top prospect that has yet to get a chance to consistently play in the major leagues. That chance may come in 2006 for the 22-year-old, who has the potential to hit for average and power as a three hole type hitter. He hit .278 in 2005 with 7 HR and 22 RBI in 126 AB in the majors.

Mike Jacobs 1B New York Mets
Jacobs hit a surprise 11 HR with a .310 BA in 100 AB in the second half of 2005. The 25-year-old was never a top prospect, but he did hit 25 HR with a .321 BA in 433 AA AB before his power surge in the majors. The Mets could still fill their 1B hole via free agency, but I think it's more likely they see what Jacobs and his .710 SLG from those 100 AB this past year could do in a more expanded opportunity.

[Panzram]

Dan Johnson, Athletics
Perhaps because he spent a lot of time in the minors, Johnson looked perfectly comfortable in the A's lineup in his rookie season in 2005. After getting his feet wet with a couple homers and 13 RBI in June, Johnson erupted with a .364 average, four homers, and 12 RBI in July, then clubbed six more dingers in August before cooling down at the end of the year. Overall, his .275 – 15 – 58 line doesn't look all that impressive, but the late-bloomer has plenty of power potential, as evidenced by his 56 homers and 225 RBI in his last two full minor league seasons. I'd feel a bit better about Johnson's potential to get 550 at-bats if the A's hadn't signed the Big Skirt to play DH, but Johnson should be able to lock down the first base job this spring and provide plenty of pop in the later rounds of your fantasy drafts.

Justin Morneau, Twins
I'll catch a lot of grief as the office's resident homer for touting Morneau, but, despite the fact he single-handedly destroyed more than one of my own fantasy squads a year ago, I'm still a believer. The Twins were a trendy World Series pick last preseason, primarily because of a great pitching staff and an improving offense that was supposed to be led by Morneau and Joe Mauer. While preseason prognosticators were touting Morneau's potential, he was battling appendicitis, chicken pox, pneumonia, lupus, arthritis, mumps, measles, and the Bubonic plague. Predictably, Morneau struggled badly in 2005, flailing at off-speed offerings and pounding the ball into the ground instead of lofting it with his patented uppercut swing. Still, despite his season-long struggles, I can't get past the idea that it was Morneau's first full major league season. The dude was practically a rookie, and he got blasted for not becoming the first Twins player since 1987 to drop 30 bombs. Talk about high expectations. Taking a look at his first "year" of major league action, from July of 2004 to July of 2005, Justin belted 27 homers and drove in 94 runs. Despite his second-half struggles a year ago, after a healthy offseason (those pesky bone spurs in his elbow aside), Morneau still has some serious upside, and will be undervalued on draft day.

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There has been talk about possable rookie of year from both Prince Fielder and Conor Jackson.

So look for them to possablty of being the best picks here.