Outfielders are strong point of this year's fantasy draft

I've written about pitchers. I've written about position players. Now it's time for the fun stuff: the outfielders. These are the guys on your team that will come and go with hot streaks and who you'll draft late or not at all, and then, on occasion, turn out to be superstars. Outfielders have the biggest names, the biggest numbers, and the best part is that you can trade them all around the league.

Giving up outfielders is not like losing your coveted shortstop, who is one of five or six good fantasy players at that position. You can trade them without feeling guilty. Trading is the best part of fantasy sports -- if you're in a good league, you will have trade proposals on your screen every time you sign in--and outfielders are a huge part of trading.

So, I will break down my draft advice on outfielders in a different way: trade-style. I'm going to give you my list of outfielders that are non-tradable, then outfielders that you shouldn't trade for anyone other than a star pitcher, a star infielder, or each other. Lastly, I'll go over the guys who should be passed around your league like John Kruk's jock strap. This is the way I look at the outfielders.

The non-tradables: these are the guys who you'll have to get in the first round, and you'll build your whole team around them. They will characterize your team. If you trade them for a handful of lesser players, or even for two other great players, you will regret it. At the top of this list is the best statistical fantasy baseball player in the Majors in Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad is a perennial 40-40 threat who bats .330 and manages all this in one of the poorest line-ups in the NL. If he were on even a decent team, he'd be inhuman.

After Vlad, there's Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, unquestionably. Bonds' offensive numbers can't be matched, especially if walks or On-Base-Percentage count in your league. His only shortcoming is steals, which he'll be getting fewer of each year. Sosa is an equally good hitter, but since no one gets on base ahead of him in Chicago, his low RBIs are unrepresentative of his ability.

Another guy to add to the non-tradable list this year is Magglio Ordonez. Two years ago he stole 25 bases and like Vlad and Bonds, he's a power hitter who can be expected to hit well above .300. Honorable mention in this category goes to Manny Ramirez and Lance Berkman: Manny's batting crown impressed us, but for a non-running slugger, he'll have to have another 150-RBI season to be an elite fantasy player, and Berkman is still playing under his potential.

The next class of outfielders contains the guys you hate to lose, but can trade and look yourself in the mirror the next day. Trade them for a sweet pitcher, a solid infielder or another player in this category. I'm talking about Shawn Green, Larry Walker, Torii Hunter, Luis Gonzalez: all great players, but they can let you down with big slumps or injuries. Other guys in this class are scrappy stars Ichiro Suzuki, Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltran, and Preston Wilson (in order of fantasy goodness), who steal bases to go along with decent showings in other offensive categories.

Guys looking to bust out of this category are Pat Burrell, who could be the game's most promising young hitter now that Thome's in his line-up, and Brian Giles, who is solid in all categories and deserves more respect than he gets in Pittsburgh. Honorable mention: Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds, and Ellis Burks. They are becoming solid, remaining solid, and amazingly still solid.

Next we have the fun outfielders: they're big in some categories, show potential at times, but are mostly going to be good for balancing out a two-for-two trade involving a better player. That means that these guys are still key to your team's success. Andruw Jones and Adam Dunn top this group off, both with so much potential speed and power, yet such terrible averages. Give them both another season before they're great. Johnny Damon, Bernie Williams, and Randy Winn are moderate fantasy contributors, and Cliff Floyd and Jacque Jones have good enough numbers to play in most fantasy outfields. Honorable mention: Juan Gonzalez and Ken Griffey, Jr. -- who knows if these guys will ever hit again?

Lastly, we've got the trash, the throw-ins, the category specialists: Juan Pierre, Mike Cameron, Darin Erstad, Juan Encarnacion, Vernon Wells, Austin Kearns, Trot Nixon, and Steve Finley. Keep them on your bench until you need to sweeten a deal or make a run in a certain category.

So now I have covered the whole fantasy draft. Please e-mail me at elliot.freeman@tufts.edu with fantasy questions so that I still have something to write about before the season starts.