Carl Crawford, Rays
Average position ranking on other popular fantasy baseball sites: 3
Why he's liked: He's Willie Gault in spikes. In his five full seasons, Crawford has stolen 268 bases and batted .299.
Why you should be wary: Don't misinterpret this: Crawford is a very good player. But I don't understand why seemingly everyone would select him over Magglio Ordonez, who did everything last season - .363 average, 28 homers, 139 RBI, 117 runs, .434 on-base percentage - except steal a lot of bases. Crawford has a low OBP for a leadoff hitter (.331 career) and he doesn't hit for power or score the amount of runs you might think (an average of 93 the last five years).
Juan Pierre, Dodgers
Average position ranking on other popular fantasy baseball sites: 30
Why he's liked: Do we even have to tell you? One stat and one stat only: A combined 179 steals the last three seasons.
Why you should be wary: Why he would be anything more than a fourth outfielder in fantasy is beyond me. In that three-season span, Pierre has averaged two homers, 43 RBI, 93 runs and batted .287.
Adam Dunn, Reds
Average position ranking on other popular fantasy baseball sites: 19
Why he's liked: Finally, the anti-Crawford. Dunn is all pop and no sizzle. In the last four seasons, his home run and RBI totals read like this: 46-40-40-40 and 102-101-92-106.
Why you should be wary: He's a .248 career batter who is a liability in points leagues that penalize players for strikeouts. His strikeout totals from the last four seasons are every bit as impressive as his power numbers: 195-168-194-165.
