LestersLegends.com

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Brook Lopez is nearing his return from a foot injury that has cost him New Jersey’s first 29 games and counting. While the risk of re-injury, especially given his size (7’0, 265 lbs) is out there, Lopez has the ability to give you a major boost. Perhaps not the boost that Jeremy Lin has provided fantasy owners in the past five games, but a major lift nonetheless.
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Lopez averaged 20.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 0.6 steals while shooting 49.2 percent from the floor and 78.7 percent from the line.
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Lopez averaged 8.0+ rebounds his first two seasons in the league so an improvement in that category wouldn’t be surprising. While his field goal percentage and blocks have decreased each of the past two seasons, he still put up respectable numbers in each category. Plus, his scoring increased dramatically.
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Lopez’s injury was a shame, not only for the missed time, but after the way he finished the 2010-11 season the expectations were high. In eight April games Lopez stepped up his scoring to 25.8 points per game. In his final six games he hit the 30-point mark four times en route to a 29.8 ppg average.
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Lopez is owned in 61.0 percent of Yahoo! and 58.1 percent of ESPN leagues so if your window to get him is still open, it won’t stay that way for long.
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He may not come in scoring 20 points a night, and they could take it slow with him, but he is a must own. With his return coming in the next week or two, don’t wait any longer to grab him.
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Also check out:

• Fantasy Basketball Find: Jeremy Lin
• 2012 Fantasy Basketball Team Names
• Is Vince Carter Turning Back the Clock?
• A Tale of Two Dunks
• Gooden Gold

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Cleveland Indian Third Baseman Lonnie Chisenhall had a modest .255-27-7-22-1 line in his 66-game debut. He didn’t blow you away, but remember that Chisenhall turned just 23 as the season came to a close. Obviously at that age there is plenty of room for improvement.
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He is locked in along with second baseman Jason Kipnis and catcher Carlos Santana as Cleveland goes with a youth movement.
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Chisenhall’s overall numbers weren’t great, but he did finish strong. After hitting .238 in 126 at bats from June-August, Lonnie hit .279 in 86 September at bats. He hit four home runs in September (21.5 HR/AB) and three prior (42.0 AB/HR). While you would like to see more at bats per strikeout than the 5.05 he averaged in September, it was more than a full at bat per strikeout better than June-August.
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Chisenhall didn’t exactly tear it up in the minors hitting .262 at the Double-A level and .267 for Triple-A Columbus. That said, he continued to move up the ranks to make it to the show at 22. The fact that he wasn’t overwhelmed with the jump is encouraging.
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The fact that he held his own against left-handed pitching also serves him well. He actually hit lefties (.260, .888 OPS) much better than righties (.253, .640).
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Chisenhall should not be thought of as your fantasy starter, even at a shallow position like third base. I wouldn’t even want him as my corner infielder either. Not with the bevy of first basemen available. You won’t have to either. With a Mock Draft Central ADP of 366, that would be the 31st round, which is more than most leagues have.
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Chisenhall is a guy to keep an eye on if he starts the season of the way he finished last year. He can also help out if your third baseman goes down with an injury.
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Also check out:

• 2012 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings
• 2012 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Rankings
• 2012 Fantasy Baseball Third Base Rankings
• Additional 2012 Fantasy Baseball First Base Options
• Additional 2012 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Options
• Additional 2012 Fantasy Baseball Third Base Options

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In a perfect world (at least if you are a Colts fan) it would have taking care of business in front of the home fans in Super Bowl XLVI.
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Obviously Peyton’s body had different plans and the Colts fans suffered through a humiliating 2-14 season, which was even worse than the matching 3-13 record the Colts had in the year leading up to the selection of Peyton Manning and his 1998 rookie season.
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2012 marks the fourth time the Colts landed the first overall pick since they moved to Indianapolis in 1984, a year after number one overall pick John Elway forced a trade to Denver. Two of the three years the Colts selected a quarterback with the first overall pick. Jeff George in 1990 and of course Peyton in 1998.
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Here we are 14 years later and the Colts don’t have a choice but to start over with “can’t miss” prospect Andrew Luck.
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Obviously there are factors that make the selection of Luck a foregone conclusion. Peyton will turn 36 next month. I know Brett Favre became a grandpa amd played six season at 36 or greater before he left the game in a ball of flames. Of those six seasons though, only two did Favre throw more TDs than INTs.
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Favre didn’t have the injury concern that Peyton has. Favre didn’t miss a start until he turned 41. Though Peyton never missed a start before this year, he missed an entire season. He has had multiple neck surgeries. That alone would be enough to scare off most teams.
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Sure, you could keep Peyton around and develop Andrew Luck. The problem is, you end up risking to have the same scenario that the Packers experienced when they basically had to force Brett Favre out the door. There probably won’t be a better time to move on Peyton.
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For starters, the Colts fans got a glimpse of life after Peyton and it wasn’t pretty. We have heard how good Andrew Luck has been for two years. How could even the most loyal of Peyton/Colts fans not get excited about possibly landing the next Peyton Manning? Having the Super Bowl in their backyard also helps matters. They got to experience what they were missing first hand.
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There is actually talk in some circles that Eli has become a better QB than Peyton. Maybe at this present time, and maybe over the rest of Peyton’s career, but let’s not forget what Peyton has been. Eli has two rings, but it’s a team game. Trent Dilfer is not better than Dan Marino because he won a trophy.
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The other reason why it’s time to move on for Peyton is the $28 million roster bonus that is due in March. Jim Irsay simply can’t put the organization at risk by making that payment.
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Where he lands is up for debate. To paraphrase Semisonic, he doesn’t have to go home, but he can’t stay here.

Anthony Gruppuso, US Presswire
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One of the players that is jumping off the shelves is New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin. In his past two games he’s 20 for 36 from the floor for an impressive 55.6 shooting percentage. He’s also made 12 of 16 (75.0 percent) of his free throws. He only knocked down one three-pointer, but it would hard to complain about that.
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Not with an average of 26.5 points per game. It’s not like that’s the only area he has contributed either. Lin added 3.5 rebounds per game, 7.5 assists per game, and 2.0 steals per game.
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With the kind of production it is easy to overlook the lack of three-pointers. Let’s face it, as long as he’s scoring like that does it really matter how he gets his?
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Lin has averaged 40.5 minutes during the two-game eruption. Obviously getting extended run is important if he’s going to continue to play at a high level. The Knicks do have other options at point guard (Iman Shumpert, Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby, and perhaps at some point Baron Davis).
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Nobody has ran away with the job yet so Lin is the current flavor of the month following his outburst.
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Lin does have a tendency to turn the ball over. In his final three years at Harvard he averaged 3.2 turnovers. Lin only had one on Saturday, but he followed it up with eight turnovers on Monday.
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Lin is owned in just over half of fantasy leagues. That number is only going to go up, especially in the short-term. Given the way he played the past two games, and the ability for point guards to put up big numbers in Mike D’Antoni’s system, Lin is a must-add if he’s still out there.
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Also check out:

• 2012 Fantasy Basketball Team Names
• Is Vince Carter Turning Back the Clock?
• A Tale of Two Dunks
• Gooden Gold
• Can Amar’e Stoudemire Be Had at a Discount?

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We already looked at the LestersLegends’ top 15 fantasy baseball third basemen for 2012, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t additional options if you choose to wait on filling your third base slot to address other positions. Alternatively, many leagues offer corner infield slots, which put these options on your radar.
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David Freese was a monster during the postseason for the Cardinals, setting the record with 21 RBI. He wasn’t too shabby during the regular season either, posting a .297-41-10-55-1 line in 333 at bats. He’ll need to step up his game with Albert Pujols moving on.
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Atlanta’s Chipper Jones just keeps going. He will turn 40 in April, but is still productive. In 126 games Jones posted a solid .275-56-18-70-2 line. You have to be prepared that Chipper will miss some time, but he could give you some pop from the hot corner slot.
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Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion will be used primarily at designated hitter, but will also get some time at both corner infield positions. He too can provide home runs, though he doesn’t tend to drive many runs in. He hit .272 last year, but regression in that category is likely for the career .260 hitter.
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Ty Wiggington will get his work at first base for the Phillies early on until Ryan Howard returns from injury. He will likely see time at third base and in the outfield as well. He doesn’t do much for average, but he should be able to provide some HRs and RBI.
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Minnesota’s Danny Valencia regressed from his 85-game debut in 2010 to post a .246-63-15-72-2 line. There is definite room for improvement, he’ll just need to work on his consistency.
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Pittsburgh’s Casey McGahee was acquired after Aramis Ramirez signed with Milwaukee. He will compete for time with Pedro Alvarez. Both struggled last year, and despite a horrific .191 average and .561 OPS, it is Alvarez’s job to lose. At 25, Alvarez is worth the risk. McGahee isn’t worth drafting unless he somehow wins a starting job.
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Also check out:

• 2012 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings
• 2012 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Rankings
• Additional 2012 Fantasy Baseball First Base Options
• Additional 2012 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Options