2009 Fantasy Draft: Second Baseman Mike Fontenot is a Big Sleeper Pick

You're doing research for your 2009 fantasy draft and you need a reliable second baseman with pop. Chase Utley will be gone, and you don't want to waste a high draft pick on a second baseman, anyway. What should you do? You need to find a second baseman that is under the radar. Someone who didn't even start last year. Someone who the rest of your league doesn't even know about. You need a sleeper pick. You should take a serious look at Cubs second baseman Mike Fontenot.

Make Mike Fontenot your sleeper pick
Mike Fontenot is one of the best sleeper picks out there. He's going to fall to a late round since most of the other owners in your fantasy draft don't know who he is. He hasn't started as a Major League Player, but he has two seasons of more than 230 at bats. He is being elevated to the be the Cubs starting second baseman and he's a leftie, so even if Lou Piniella doesn't give Mike Fontenot a ton of at bats against right-handed pitchers, he's still going to get more than 450 at bats. Consider over the last two years, where he still had more than 230 at bats per year, he did not start over any kind of extended time. Lou Piniella just did anything to get Mike Fontenot at bats. This will bode well for you in 2009.

Mike Fontenot will put up big numbers for a second baseman
Mike Fontenot can flat out hit. In 2008 he hit .305 with 9 hr and 40 RBIs in 243 at bats. If you want to crudely construct a worst case scenario, double those numbers and you're looking at 18 and 80, with 82 runs scored and 44 doubles. I don't care who you are, Chase Utley included, those are great numbers for a second baseman. Factor in that you'll be getting Mike Fontenot in a late, late round and this could be a sleeper pick for the ages. One other consideration: Mike Fontenot did a lot of pinch-hitting last year. As a starter, you won't see him in that situation as often. That means his strike outs will be down, leading to more balls being put in play (more runs scored and more RBIs), and his home run total should pop as well.

The Cubs had a good reason for shipping Mark DeRosa to Cleveland. They wanted to have a more left-handed oriented lineup. Two players are expected to make that happen, Milton Bradley and Mike Fontenot. There is a reason why Lou Piniella loves Fontenot, and the rest of the league is going to see it on an everyday basis this year. Luckily for you, you can still grab him as a sleeper pick.