1. Albert Pujols STL

No surprise here. Pujols is the best player in baseball and the best fantasy player, period. He keeps getting smarter and he keeps getting better. With Matt Holliday providing lineup support for an entire season, Pujols could be primed to have the best year of his career. Pitchers beware.

2. Ryan Howard PHI

Luckily, most fantasy leagues don’t penalize strikeouts. Thank God. If you happen to be in one of those leagues, the King of Whiff needs to move down a few slots. For most of you, though, welcome the 50 homers and 140 RBIs Howard is pretty much guaranteed to get you. Assume that his average will stay around the .280 mark (he’d have to cut down his K’s to get it any higher than that) and hope that his stolen bases (eight last season) stick around, and you have yourself a monster fantasy player.

3. Mark Teixeira NYY

Big Tex absolutely took off once A-Rod returned to the lineup in May, finishing the season with MVP-caliber numbers. Assuming A-Rod is healthy and in the lineup on opening day, Tex may get off to a fast start and if so, his numbers would see a healthy spike. It may even be enough to get him his first MVP award. Either way, he’ll be a fantasy MVP.

4. Prince Fielder MIL

He may be no king, but he is fantasy royalty nonetheless, especially after the season he had last year. Prince set career highs in just about every category last year and he did it all at just 25 years old. With a little bit more knowledge of the game and veteran seasoning, his upcoming prime years will be real special to watch. First round draft pick, especially in keeper leagues.

5. Justin Morneau MIN

He was hampered by a back issue most of the season, eventually knocking him out for the last month, but he still managed 30 bombs and 100 RBIs. With Mauer’s newfound power, these two could create a 1-2 punch that would rival Muhammed Ali’s. With Mauer and Denard Span hitting in front of him, Morneau will have plenty of RBI opportunities and assuming he’s healthy, Morneau could have a career year if he parks the ball at the same rate he did last year.

6. Adrian Gonzalez SD

Yo Adrian! Find a new team! The Padres are killing you. This guys is one of the best pure hitters in the game and with even a little bit of lineup support, A-Gon would impersonate A-Rod. He was the only offensive threat the Padres had last year, so pitchers clearly pitched around him and he had very few opportunities, but he still hit a career-high 40 home runs. His average has steadily declined the past four seasons, but I wouldn’t worry about that too much. Any owner who drafts him better hope that by the trade deadline he’s A-Gone from the SD.

7. Miguel Cabrera DET

Cabrera continues to flirt with superstardom, but just can’t seem to get over that hump. His numbers across the board are very solid and he still teases baseball fans with the potential of winning a batting title or an MVP sometime in his career, which is why he continues to go first round in most leagues. I wouldn’t say that’s a bad choice, as you can’t go wrong with .320, 100, 30, 100, but I’m still waiting for the year that he just flat-out explodes.  Hey, it could be this year. He will be turning 27 in the season’s third week, and they say 27 is the start of a player’s prime.

8. Kendry Morales LAA

The Defector. That would be his boxing name if he had one (had to stick with the boxing theme). Morales, a runaway from Cuba, finally got an extended look in the Majors and the 26-year-old ran with it from Day One. The Angels let Teixeira leave for a fat paycheck in New York to give Morales a shot and all he did was turn in a very similar season to Big Tex, but for a good $10 million or so less. He’s slightly unproven, since he has had just one successful year, but he’s worth a third-round pick. He’s still flying under the radar, so I would recommend waiting, but don’t wait too long. He could be something real special.

9. Derrek Lee CHC

D-Lee hit .335 with 46 homers four years ago but managed just 107 RBIs and that was in 158 games and with Aramis Ramirez in the lineup for support most of the season. Last year, with Ramirez missing almost two months with a shoulder injury, Lee drove in 111 runs with less extra base hits and 17 less games played. He also got off to a horrendous start in April. My point: Lee quietly had a superior year last year and has turned into one of the game’s elite run producers now that his wrist is finally healed. Assuming Alfonso Soriano and the rest of the Cubs’ lineup is healthy and performing at least at their normal level, Lee should set another career high in RBIs.

10. Kevin Youkilis BOS

Youk isn’t the heavyweight champion the Red Sox are looking for in their order, and the same goes for fantasy owners. He’s not a pure basher at a position that boasts a lot of them. His unorthodox batting stance helps him to hit for a high average while drawing plenty of walks and scoring plenty of runs. He is an RBI threat and a power threat, but isn’t exactly a hitter that strikes fear into opponents’ coaching staffs the same way a guy like Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols does. Don’t be as naive. His under-the-radar status makes him arguably as important as either of those two, as he is a points-league prince and a roto ruler, and one you can get in the middle rounds to boot. Whatever way you look at it, Youk will help your fantasy team more in a less flashy way than even guys like Pena or Dunn will.

11. Adam Dunn WAS

The bad news: Dunn is the most hapless outfielder in the game today, looking like he had hung out with David Wells a bit too much before taking the field. The good news: Dunn is now playing first full-time for the Nationals and fielding doesn’t play a factor in fantasy. Thank God. The other saving grace for potential Dunn owners is his incredible consistency. You could set your watch to 40 homers, 100 RBIS, nearly 100 runs and 110 walks each year. If your league penalizes for strikeouts, however, don’t say we didn’t warn you. He’s never whiffed less than 164 times in a full season.

12. Carlos Pena TB

Pena has had a reawakening of sorts in his time at Tampa Bay, rejuvenating his career in ’07 with 46 homers and 121 RBIs. He has since declined in RBIs, walks and average in the two seasons since, but only slightly in the first two categories. Nobody’s looking to draft him for a boost in the average department; his .282 AVG in ’07 was a fluke. He is an old-fashioned basher, one with lots of strikeouts, lots of walks and more homers than doubles. Expect nothing less again this year.

13. Joey Votto CIN

He’s the truest up-and-comer at this position. Despite a season in which he battled physical and mental issues, Votto still managed to improve in nearly every offensive category and at just 26, is primed to break out in homer-friendly Great American Ballpark. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits 35 bombs and drives in 110 while boasting a .325-.330 average. Those are inflated numbers based on his potential and he won’t necessarily reach his full potential in ’10. Wouldn’t it be worth a mid-round pick to find out, though?

14. Lance Berkman HOU

Berkman has had an inconsistent career as his year-to-year numbers have more peaks and valleys than Britney Spears’ career. That’s the bad news. The good news is that he’s been the most inconsistent, consistent performer in sports. How, you ask? Well, simple. He has a superstar-worthy year, then comes crashing down to earth with a pedestrian year, only to pick up his star qualities the following year, only to fall back down to reality the next season. The good news is that last year, he was walking the earth with us regular folk. This year, despite his advanced age (he will be 34 at the start of the season), you can expect his numbers to once again rival star status.

15. Billy Butler KC

For those of you that just went, “who?!” need to take another look at season-ending box scores and forget about prematurely leaving fantasy baseball seasons just because fantasy football starts. Butler was a highly-touted prospect. You know, one of those guys who was all promise, no punch. That is, until he turned in a season last year (.301, 78, 21, 93) that was enough to earn him a Royals Player of the Year nod at season’s end. At first glance, that doesn’t seem to be that rewarding. After all, they are the Royals. But, think about who else was impressive on the Royals. It’s coming to you…be patient…alright, I’m talking about Zack Greinke. He had a Cy Young-caliber year, and yet Butler was voted Royals Player of the Year? Impressive. KC has taken notice. Now, it’s about time fantasy owners start to as well. He’ll be only 24 this year, so he’s just going to keep getting better and better. Grab him now, while he’s still under the radar.

16. Todd Helton COL—Still got some juice left, will hit for high AVG

17. James Loney LAD—Looking for some of that power that was promised

18. Paul Konerko CHW—Nothing special, just a consistent performer

19. Russell Branyan FA—Depending on where he signs on, has power for days

20. Adam LaRoche ARI—Can drive the ball and drive in runs

21. Chris Davis TEX—He can hit the longball, but can he hit above .200?

22. Matt LaPorta CLE—Star prospect, should finally get a chance to shine

23. Aubrey Huff SF—Veteran, middle-of-the-lineup guy should give Panda protection

24. Carlos Delgado FA—Where will he go? Wherever it is, he will hit bombs

25. Troy Glaus ATL—How much power does he have left?

26. Daniel Murphy NYM—Not much power at a power position, that’s never good

27. Jake Fox OAK—May finally get a chance to play full-time

28. Lyle Overbay TOR—Line drive, doubles hitter, solid player but nowhere near flashy

29. Jeff Clement PIT—Catcher-turned-1B, can he hit in the Majors?

30. Michael Aubrey BAL—Who? Yeah, I couldn’t tell you who this 28-year-old is, either