Fantasy baseball 2014 draft prep: Contract-year hitters

A former first-round pick by the Cardinals, Rasmus has gone from a highly-touted prospect to a players owners may have forgotten is still on a Major League

Pablo Sandoval shed some weight before the final season in his contract, which may be a sign of a strong season ahead :: Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

A former first-round pick by the Cardinals, Rasmus has gone from a highly-touted prospect to a players owners may have forgotten is still on a Major League roster. Rasmus will spend most of his time batting somewhere in the middle of the Blue Jay's potent lineup, behind the likes of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. So that's a positive. And he's at that vaunted age of 27, when players randomly start to blossom into All-Stars; remember, Alex Gordon -- a former top prospect himself -- was also extremely crummy before he turned 27. Really though, you have to buy into Rasmus' past hype to be excited about him, as he's a lifetime .248 hitter and there are a million other options at outfield this year. I'm not discouraging him as a guy to take a chance on, but that's all he represents at this point: a chance.