Trendspotting: Josh Hamilton, Edgar Renteria

It's that time of year when there are no longer any sleepers, as everyone in any competitive league has done their homework. Long passed are the days that you could throw guys hidden in Mock Draft Central's preranking into your prepick queue and trust that everyone would forget that such player existed. And everyone's favorite player to employ that strategy this offseason was former-Reds centerfielder Josh Hamilton.

The case for Hamilton was strong: Last year he put up a solid line of .292/.368/.554 over the course of about half a season. His numbers, if extrapolated over the full season, would have been 93 R, 34 HR, 84 RBI, with a handful of SBs to boot. The argument against: He's an oft-injured recovered addict with little seasoning. It isn't surprising that Hamilton began the year being overdrafted, then underdrafted, and has now hit what is considered his "balance". In my opinion, he is still going too late-The guy is being treated as a concession prize for anyone who misses out on the upper tier outfielders, when in truth there are probably more question marks with Gary Sheffield and Brad Hawpe than the new Ranger. Grab him as your third outfielder before two many experts start praising his .615 Spring Training Batting Average and and seven extra-base hits (2 HRs). And for those interested, Hamilton + the reasonably-expected-15 day DL trip, if he performs like last year in a ballpark perfectly suited for him, would yield a five-category line of .292 AVG, 84 R, 30 HR, 75 RBI (not considering he's batting in the middle of his new order), and 5 steals.

On the other side of the spectrum, Edgar Renteria seems to be going too early in my opinion. Early in a postseason, player moves inflate draft position, and this usually wears off. For Orlando Cabrera, it did--but probably shouldn't have--while Edgar is still enjoying his newfound 8th spot in a stacked lineup. But people, is the 8th spot really going to deliver? Beyond this, Renteria is heading into his twelfth full season, and his numbers in the past three seasons have averaged 11 HR and 12 SBs. After missing 36 games last season, his durability should be questioned. Worse yet, his last season with the AL yielded a line of .276/.335/.385. While he's possibly a better bet than Yunel Escobar and Stephen Drew (I don't think so), he's going at least eighty-nine picks earlier than either, and--an even greater sin--two rounds ahead of Orlando Cabrera. If you aren't willing to settle for an up-and-comer, I'd recommend making sure you get one of the elite shortstops.