What will it take for Lyle Overbay to be appreciated in fantasy baseball? Probably quite a bit. OK, so he's not Albert Pujols, but who is? Fantasy owners want their first basemen to hit .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBI, every year. Few actually do. Overbay, who is coming off his best season, just about reached those lofty numbers, and the Blue Jays rewarded him with a lucrative four-year contract. Have fantasy owners noticed?
Going 30-100-.300 isn't as easy as one thinks, and Overbay's 2006 stats came close, with a .312 average, 22 homers, 92 RBI. He even stole five bases. And he'll be overlooked again this season. Last year Overbay was the No. 23 first baseman/designated hitter selected in ESPN average live drafts, behind Chris Shelton, Sean Casey and Dan Johnson, among others.
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Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He competed in his first fantasy draft in 1987, and chose Wade Boggs 11th overall. Karabell enjoyed his 24 home runs, which tripled Boggs' career high, and was hooked. (He also drafted Dale Sveum that year. Look up his career stats!) Eric has covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football.
Eric can be seen several times a week on ESPNEWS, hosts a national ESPN Radio show (Sundays from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET and is a weekly guest on numerous other shows. He appears frequently on ESPN.com's Fantasy Focus, is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast and contributes to ESPN The Magazine. He has also been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writer's Association, and this blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007.
Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors all Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer.