Draft prep: Philadelphia Phillies outlook

It's almost like Fantasy owners were allowed to design Citizens Bank Park. Maybe it was video game owners. Either way, the Phillies' home stadium is more homer-friendly than any other park in the bigs. Is that condemning the stadium or merely a reflection of the talent in this Phillies lineup? I'm going to guess a combination of both -- maybe 60-40 of the former to the latter.

But Fantasy owners don't care about why -- they just want to know who. And the Phillies have plenty to check out -- especially in the early rounds. They have three top-three players at three infield positions. Their two middle infielders are without question the best combination of Fantasy players in the game. SS Jimmy Rollins and 2B Chase Utley are well ahead of the Yankees' middle-infield combo of 2B Robinson Cano and SS Derek Jeter, and the Marlins' SS Hanley Ramirez and 2B Dan Uggla.

Utley led his position in Fantasy play because he's a huge run producer in this offense. He's the only second baseman to post over 100 RBI, and only Carlos Guillen joins him among all middle infielders with triple-digit ribbies. Consider the fact that Utley missed a month with a broken hand and his 530 at-bats were about 100 fewer than the other top Fantasy second basemen, and it's easy to make a case for drafting him in the top 10 in any format.

Rollins joined the 30-40 club last season, and he led a competitive shortstop position in most Head-to-Head scoring formats. He became one of only four players in major league history to join the 20-20-20-20 club: 20 steals, 20 homers, 20 triples and 20 doubles. Head-to-Head owners giggle when they hear about another possible 700-AB season from him. He had more homers and struck out less than Hanley Ramirez, and he led the NL with 139 runs scored by batting atop this formidable lineup. Actually, no NL player has crossed the plate that many times in one season since Sammy Sosa did it in 2001 (146). Compared to Jose Reyes, he had more hits, doubles, triples, homers and RBI -- but of course Reyes nearly doubles him up in steals.

And only three outfielders had more stolen bases than the Flyin' Hawaiian Shane Victorino (37) last year -- and he did it in fewer at-bats than those that beat him. He had a strained calf that limited him some last season too.

Pedro Feliz comes over from San Francisco after signing in late January to start at third base for Philadelphia. He's an upgrade over Greg Dobbs and Wes Helms, but Fantasy owners shouldn't be that pumped up. He is a career .252 hitter with a .288 on-base percentage. He does have some power and he can knock in runs -- especially at this park and in this lineup, but he's still just an NL-only player.

Pat Burrell continues to be cursed by one set of owners, then praised by another set that gets him in trade. He had a horrible first half of the season, only to hit .295 with 19 homers after the break. He is a decent No. 3 OF in mixed leagues -- not too much risk in that spot.

The pitching staff, on the other hand, gave up 198 home runs of their own last season. Only two other major league teams allowed more. Brett Myers returns to the rotation after spending a season as the closer, and he'll line up behind ace Cole Hamels. Both of these starters are worthy of drafting in the first 10 rounds of most drafts, mostly because of their strikeouts and wins potential. One thing to note about Myers is that he is relief pitcher eligible in Head-to-Head leagues, which is helpful.

Jamie Moyer, Adam Eaton and sophomore Kyle Kendrick fill out the starting five -- but none are really worth grabbing outside of NL-only play. Kendrick led NL rookies in wins, but he doesn't strike out a lot and probably won't pitch as well as last year's numbers would indicate.

Brad Lidge came over in a trade with Houston, and his psyche is on a continual roller coaster it seems. He was in and out and back in as the Astros closer last year, and it'll be interesting to see what the short fences in Philly do to his confidence. He still has the potential to be a top-shelf closer, but you should draft him as a No. 2 RP to be safe.

Spring position battles

Right field -- Geoff Jenkins vs. Jayson Werth
This is more of a platoon situation than a position battle. Jenkins has hit over 20 homers in four of his past five seasons and both of these players are NL-only draft worthy.

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