1. Hanley Ramirez FLA
Hanley has established himself as one of the top players both in real life and in fantasy. He should go in the Top-5 in drafts this year after winning a batting title and reaching the century mark in RBIs for the first time in his career. He is one of the rare fantasy stars who not only helps you in every category, but is at the top of the league in every category. At just 26, Hanley is at the top of my list of keepers. He’ll be a stud for at least five more years.

2. Jimmy Rollins PHI
Just as J-Roll did in 2007, I am going to go out and a limb and make a bold prediction: Rollins will return to form in 2010. OK, so maybe it’s not that bold of a prediction, but there’s not much bold you can say about J-Roll right now. He’s 31 and appears to be on the downslope, but then again, last year was a fluke poor season. His steals will probably continue to decline, but his average and runs will come back to his career norm, while it appears the power and RBIs are here to stay. If he gets hot and stays healthy, it’s not out of the question to see a 30-30 year as well.

3. Jose Reyes NYM
It seems like Reyes has been around forever, but he’s still just only 26 and will turn 27 halfway through the season. And that’s including the fact that he was a non-factor last year, both in real life and fantasy. Chalk that up to his hamstring injury and if he’s back to 100 percent on opening day, he could end up as the No. 2 fantasy shorstop. I don’t see him overtaking Hanley, but a healthy Reyes could put up a season that will make you stop in your tracks. Expect 35 doubles, 15 triples, 15 bombs, 60 or so RBIs, 110 runs and anywhere from 45-80 steals depending on how often he gets the green light and how healthy his legs truly are.

4. Troy Tulowitzki COL
Tulo is just entering his fourth Major League season and yet he has already seen as many ups and downs in his career as Britney Spears has. After an outstanding rookie season in ’07, Troy epitomized “sophomore slump” with a horrendous 2008 season before coming back with a career year in ’09. So, that being said, what do you expect from Tulo in ’10? He could go two ways. He could be one of those guys who has one season on, one season off and vice versa, kind of like Jason Varitek. Or, ’08 could have really just been a sophomore slump and 2007 or 2009 is the true Troy. However, if it’s the latter option, which season will he have? He stole just seven bases in ’07, but had 20 swipes last year. He hit 32 homers last year, but drove in only 92 while he hit just 24 bombs in ’07 with 99 RBIs. His average was the same, but is he going to hit a lot of home runs and steal a lot of bases or drive in runs and just be decent in the other categories? Tulo’s got a lot of questions surrounding him, so draft carefully, but I think he makes 2009 his usual output.

5. Derek Jeter NYY
If intangibles and career winning percentage counted for anything in fantasy circles, Jeter may be the top draft pick every year. The Captain won himself another championship and very well may have won some fantasy championships for his owners in ’09. After two straight seasons of decline in just about every category, the 35-year-old shortstop seemed to be on the decline, but smacked that idea out of the park like Elin Nordegren smacked Tiger’s car. He made himself fantasy relevant again with a .330 season in which he stole 30 bases and even hit 18 homers. You have to assume he will decline one of these days, but he proved he’s still got it, so I’d say it’d serve you well to draft him in the early-mid rounds.

6. Jason Bartlett TB
Bartlett came out of nowhere to have an incredible fantasy season last year. He transformed from an all-field, no-hit shortstop into a viable starting fantasy option at shortstop. He set career highs in every single offensive category despite missing a month to injury and his peripheral numbers prove that it probably isn’t a fluke. He’s a career .287 hitter who has always been pretty good on the bases, but he turned it up another level in both categories. His power numbers may not be as high as they were last year (14 homers, 66 RBIs), but it’s not like he had a Brady Anderson power surge, so don’t be surprised if he parks 15 balls this year. He is a poor man’s Derek Jeter.

7. Elvis Andrus TEX
Andrus may very well end up ranked higher than both Jeter and Bartlett, but I have him ranked lower just because he is really only a plus in one category right now—steals. His average (.267) was solid for his first Major League season, but his power isn’t there yet and he’s not drawing a lot of walks or scoring a lot of runs yet. He probably will improve in all categories (if he avoids that dreaded sophomore slump), but may not be Top-5 fantasy shortstop material for another year or two.

8. Alexei Ramirez CWS
The Cuban Missile had a terribly down season after a highly profiled rookie year in 2008, and considering the fact that he is almost 29 (though you never can tell with Caribbean defectors), his prime time is running out. I’m real down on him after last year, but considering he will help you in pretty much every category, he gets a boost over the following shortstops, who all have a deficiency somewhere in their fantasy game. Expect a rebound from the South Side version of A-Ram, but his ’08 season may be his limit.

9. Yunel Escobar ATL
Escobar helps you a little in average, runs, homers and RBIs, and he’s a pretty solid option in points leagues. But, he’s not worth a pick higher than the 12th or 13th round and that might even be a stretch. I expect him to hit right around .300 this year, but he probably won’t win any batting titles and I don’t see him ever surpassing 20 homers in a season. Don’t reach for him, but he’s a solid option.

10. Marco Scutaro BOS
I’m sure it comes as a surprise to most people that Scutaro is coming in at No. 10 on this list. Heck, I was surprised when I was ranking it. But, the numbers are there, and he has a better outlet for his skill set now. Boston has a better lineup and ballpark to hit in and he might end up hitting second, so he could easily surpass those 100 runs he scored last year, if he continues to walk at such an incredible pace, that is (90 walks last season). He adds double digit homers and steals with modest average and RBI marks and he does not strike out often, so no matter what format, he shouldn’t hurt you.

11. Miguel Tejada BAL
Miggy’s signing with Baltimore became official just one hour before I wrote this (good timing, I know), but his fantasy value actually probably goes down a little bit than where I had him originally ranked. If Tejada had signed on with Houston again or a place with a better ballpark or better lineup, I would have probably had him in the Top-10 on this list. That’s not to say that Baltimore is a bad lineup or park to hit in, just not as good as he could have done back when he was playing the field. The Orioles boast an up-and-coming lineup, but I worry that they will jump too much on Tejada’s back when the team is struggling to score runs and his 45-year-old knees are too old to take that (he says he’s only 35, but he had us thinking he was two years younger for most of his career, so can you really believe what he says his age is now?). He can still hit for average, though his final AVG has been fluctuating the past half decade or so, but his power is almost completely sapped and he is no longer even a slight threat on the bases.

12. Stephen Drew ARI
After a 2008 breakout season in which he had 76 extra-base hits and hit .291 with 91 runs, I was really high on Drew. I thought he was only going to improve on those numbers, especially because he drove in only 67 runs despite all those XBH. Yet, he was worse in every single category that matters for fantasy except steals, where he stole five bases as compared to three the year before (big whoop. Yeah, I’m bringing that back. Deal with it.). So for this year, what do I expect? To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t know which is the real Drew. He doesn’t appear to be as injury prone as his older brother, J.D., but he is so hot and cold that Katy Perry made a song about him (OK, bad joke, but it’s a good pop culture reference), so I really don’t know what to expect. Draft him in the mid rounds and he may end up being your team MVP, or he may end up with the season he had last year, which was more boring and dull than watching tennis.

13. Ryan Theriot CHC
The Riot didn’t have nearly the season he did in ’08, walking 22 times less and striking out nearly twice as much, but he did hit seven home runs and drove in 54, so at least that benefitted fantasy teams. I expect a little cross between ’08 and ’09, with the average better than it was last year, but the power and RBIs better than they were in ’08. He can swipe 20-25 bags as well, but he also gets caught a lot, so don’t draft him in a league where you get penalized for caught stealings.

14. Rafael Furcal LAD
Remember the days when Furcal was a run-scoring machine who could steal 45 bases? Nowadays, fantasy owners are praying for 90 runs and 12 steals, which were his totals last year. There’s no doubt Furcal is on the downswing, but he is still hitting near the top of the order in front of Manny and guys like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and James Loney, so he still carries some fantasy value. Expect a slight increase in his ’09 numbers, but don’t reach for him.

15. Orlando Cabrera FA
The guy’s a winner. He wins everywhere he goes. I can’t think of a year where he wasn’t in the playoffs since he left the dreaded Montreal Expos team (wow, mention of the Expos just sparked some mid-90s memories). Heck, last year, he even was traded from fantasy pitfall Oakland to Minnesota where he helped the Twins take down the Tigers in their 163rd game of the season. Unfortunately, my last tangent about how great a winner O-dogg is doesn’t help you in fantasy as he probably has had the same kind of winning success on fantasy rosters as he has in real life. He doesn’t really steal bases anymore (had only 13 last year) since he’s getting up there in age, and his average won’t help you, but it won’t hurt you, either. He has slight pop and will score and drive in some runs and he’s a steady perfomer no matter where he lands.

16. Alcides Escobar MIL—Super prospect finally getting a chance, but how will he do?
17. Asdrubal Cabrera CLE—Finally seems to be producing fantasy numbers
18. Edgar Renteria SF—No longer what he used to be, but surely better than last year
19. J.J. Hardy MIN—Classic change of scenery move may help him out
20. Erick Aybar LAA—Can swipe a few bags and hit for a good average
21. Evereth Cabrera SD—Worst of Cabrera SS’s, but can help you in steals
22. Macier Izturis LAA—Likely to steal at-bats from Aybar throughout the year
23. Alex Gonzalez TOR—Yes, he’s still around, though he shouldn’t be in fantasy circles
24. Ronny Cedeno PIT—He looks like my cousin, not that any of you care, but it’s proof that you shouldn’t care about him or anybody below him in your fantasy league, no matter how deep your league is
25. Brendan Ryan STL—Scrappy dude, but that only counts in real life
26. Ian Desmond WAS—He’s a prospect in Washington, if that counts for anything
27. Jack Wilson SEA—Smooth fielder and probably pretty smooth with the ladies, but strikes out with the stick
28. Yuniesky Betancourt KC—Is fast but doesn’t steal, so that’s cool, I guess…
29. Adam Everett DET—Prom queen sexy in the field, flag team ugly with the bat
30. Cesar Izturis BAL—Always vultures playing time no matter who’s in front of him