Fantasy Baseball 2011: Don't Miss out on Michael Pineda

Fantasy Baseball 2011 Just Got Great News Concerning Seattle's Hard-Throwing Rookie

Fantasy baseball junkies everywhere should be rejoicing right about now. The news came out earlier on monday that the Seattle Mariners have decided to insert 22-year-old righthander Michael Pineda into their starting rotation. Pineda is one of the best prospects in all of baseball, and he has all the right tools to turn into a fine co-ace alongside Felix Hernandez.

What are those tools, you ask? Well, his biggest asset is a high-90s fastball, and he's exhibited surprisingly good secondary pitches so far this spring. If you want proof, his 2.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in four spring starts should suffice.

Now, you might be scared off by Pineda's youth. After all, how often do these hot prospects actually pan out, am I right? But the truth is that Pineda has more experience than his age would indicate. He has been in the Mariners organization ever since he was a mere 17 years of age. In five seasons of minor league action, he's posted a 2.49 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and a K/9 of 8.8.

The good news for fantasy owners is that Pineda can certainly be had. CBS Sports has his average draft position at around 226th overall (though he should jump now that he's in the rotation), and he's only owned in 49 percent of CBS leagues.

However, there is bad news for fantasy owners regarding Pineda. The Mariners offense still sucks, so it's entirely likely that Pineda will have an even tougher time picking up wins than Hernandez, who of course won the AL Cy Young with just 13 wins.

Nevertheless, Pineda could emerge as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate if all goes according to plan. If this does indeed happen, it will be reflected by his low ERA and WHIP, and probably high strikeout totals as well. When it comes to fantasy, you know as well as I do that these things matter far more than wins.

My advice: do whatever you can to draft Pineda. If you need to reach for him in the 12th round when pitchers like Josh Beckett are still available, then so be it. Pineda is a gamble, but the potential payoff is considerable.

For more fantasy baseball goodness, check out our list of The Top 40 Late-Round Draft Steals.

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