The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #5 Terry Mulholland

5. Terry Mulholland
Terry Mulholland was one of the great journeymen of his generation. He played for 11 different teams and only stayed with one for more than three years. He originally signed with the Cubs before the 1997 season where he was a solid rotation member with an ERA just over 4.00, but his win-loss record left something to be desired at 6-12. Still, the Cubs sent him to the Giants in August to finish out the season.

But they resigned him for 1998, and boy am I happy they did.

Although he started one game in April and one in May, he was primarily used as a reliever. Not that he was bad as a starter, as he gave up a total of one run in those two starts combined. When the Cubs brought in Terry Mulholland, my only thought was, "Fuck yeah, Mulholland is in, Cubs are definitely shutting this team down." Anytime a different reliever was brought in a close game instead of Mulholland, I lamented about why Mulholland wasn't coming in. Looking back, it was clear how pitching starved I was as a Cubs fan post-Maddux, but Mulholland was legitimately good that year.

But not only was he good, he was also incredibly clutch down the stretch. The Cubs pitching was an absolute mess by the end of the season. The bullpen had been awful since the middle of May, and the rotation was so weak that Mike Morgan and Don Wengert were consistently getting starts. Finally, the Cubs had seen enough and put Mulholland in the rotation. They gave him one start at the beginning of September and he didn't give up a run. Finally, on September 16, he was officially in the rotation.

In those three starts, he gave up two runs in seven innings, one run in eight innings, and three runs in eight innings. I'm not saying that Terry Mulholland would have definitely won the Cy young Award had he been in the rotation the entire year but considering in six starts, he had a 1.82 ERA, we can't rule it out.

Weirldy, I want to take a look at his worst start of the year, the time he gave up three runs on the final day of the regular season and got a no decision. This was a game against the Houston Astros and if the Cubs won, they could have punched their ticket to the playoffs. Mulholland wasn't great this day, as the Astros were consistently getting hits, and he walked three batters. Still, he was finding a way. Through seven innings, he had given up just one run despite letting nine guys reach base. After throwing 100 pitches, he didn't have much left, but he came out for the eighth, because the Cubs simply didn't have a trusted option outside of Rod Beck in the bullpen. The Astros would string together three hits to score two runs and tie the game which would force the Cubs into a winner-take-all game 163 the following night. But Terry Mulholland was born to take that beating and just keep coming back for more. In fact, he would pitch in relief the next night for game 163. The Cubs didn't have a better option.

Overall, he pitched 112 innings, mostly in relief and accumulated a 2.89 ERA. His ERA was 4.10 in the middle of June, but when everything went wrong for the Cubs pitching, he stepped up his game to drop it by more of a run. It probably could have been about a half run lower than even that final tally. Oh yeah, he even hit well with a line of .294/.368/.412 although with limited starts during the year, it was in just 20 plate appearances.

But Terry Mulholland was not going to be a guy to give you tons of highlights throughout the year. The guy just did his job and did it well. In a season where the pitching still makes me depressed 20 years later, he brought reliability. No historian is going to look back on Cubs history and make note of Terry Mulholland's 1998; there was a phenom striking out 20 guys in a game, and a hitter who made baseball fun again, but as someone who lived through that season, Terry Mulholland was incredible and deserves to be remembered fondly by all Cubs fans. He is now part owner of the Dirty Dogg Saloon, and you can bet your ass that if I find myself in Scottsdale, Arizona, I am going to stop by, grab a Natural Light, and pay homage to the legend that is Terry Mulholland.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
#13 - Brant Brown
#12 - Jose Hernandez
#11 - Steve Trachsel
#10 - Henry Rodriguez
#9 - Kevin Tapani
#8 - Mickey Morandini
#7 - Gary Gaetti
#6 - Rod Beck

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #8 Mickey Morandini

8. Mickey Morandini
Let's get this out of the way. Mickey Morandini does not look like a baseball player. Some would say he looks like a stoner, but I feel he has more of a drunken uncle look to him, and no, that mullet did him no favors. But let me tell you something else about Mickey Morandini; the guy is freaking awesome.

Nobody had a more difficult job for the Chicago Cubs in 1998 than Mickey Morandini. He was coming in as the Cubs new second baseman, replacing a Hall-of-Famer, and one of the few bright spots the franchise had over the last 15 years, Ryne Sandberg. He had incredibly large shoes to fill, and taking one look at Mickey Morandini, you would not have expected him to fill that role.

The man absolutely crushed the ball during the first half of the year as he was hitting an incredible .327/.419/.449 going into an All-Star break where you could make a pretty decent argument that he was snubbed. Fun fact: The Cubs didn't have an All-Star on the team in 1998, because Sammy Sosa was nursing an injury so he was unable to play in the game. The most fun Cubs team in my lifetime didn't get an All-Star. I'm not mad; I just think it's funny.

Unfortunately, he faded down the stretch, hitting just .231 over the final two months. Still, he was the second most valuable player by WAR for the Cubs in 1998, but this list does not take WAR into account as you may have noticed from how unreasonably high Orlando Merced was.

Although he only had two hits in the playoffs, one of them was arguably the biggest hit of the entire series for the Cubs where he led off the inning with a single and would later score to give the Cubs their only lead of the series. Yeah, there were't a lot of playoff highlights.

Instead of mere competency, he was pretty damn incredible. Outside of Mark Grace, he was the Cubs most reliable player when it came to getting on base. He played a nifty second base in the field and gave the Cubs exactly what they needed when Sandberg left. He ended with a line of .296/.380/.385. He even finished 24th in MVP voting, barely losing to teammate, Sammy Sosa, especially since both players had their personal high in home runs that year - Sosa 66, Morandini 8.

It all fell apart for Morandini after 1998. In 1999, his line dropped to .241/.319/.329. He went back to the Phillies in 2000 and was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays that year to conclude his final season in the major leagues. A few years later I would meet him at a Cubs Convention, and he was very nice to my friends and me, so thanks for that, Mickey. He may have stopped playing, but he stayed in baseball, getting a job in the Phillies organization and rising up to be their current first base coach.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
#13 - Brant Brown
#12 - Jose Hernandez
#11 - Steve Trachsel
#10 - Henry Rodriguez
#9 - Kevin Tapani

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #12 Jose Hernandez

12. Jose Hernandez
Jose Hernandez might be the most 1998 Cubs player of them all. Obviously, he's not the most memorable, but I'm not sure if anybody embodied that season more than him. Hernandez was never impressive before 1998. He bounced around the Rangers' and Indians' organizations before coming to the Cubs in 1993 in exchange for Heathcliff Slocumb. He did put up his best minor league hitting stats in 1993, putting up a whopping ten home runs which over tripled his previous high of three. It ended up being enough to get him a shot at the big leagues. Over the next four years, he was a solid bench player for the team, filling in at third and shortstop when necessary. There was no reason to expect anything great in 1998.

Things didn't start out great for Hernandez. He was on the bench, and in the first month, he gave the Cubs no reason to make him a starter. On May 1, he was hitting an abysmal .167/.189/.306. But in May, he started putting things together, raising his line to .231/.276/.454, maybe not great, but enough to get hi 15 starts in the month instead of the five he got in April.

As the weather warmed, so did Hernandez's bat. By June, Hernandez was a full-time starter and his line continued its rise to .282/.335/.544. His numbers stayed steady in August before tiring out in September and having his numbers drop to a still impressive .254/.311/.471. I know that OBP may not impress people, but the starters at the beginning of the year were Kevin Orie and Jeff Blauser, so I'll take a low OBP for 23 home runs and 75 RBI on the left side of the infield. On top of those positions, he also played every other position outside of pitcher and catcher during the season. Jose Hernandez was awesome.

It was not a great playoffs for Hernandez. In Game 1, he failed to get a hit and made an error that led to the Braves first two runs of the game. He did not play in Game 2 before coming back in Game 3 and helping spark a rally with his second hit of the game. He ended up scoring, but the Cubs failed to score enough.

Things did not come together for the Cubs in 1999 as they were sitting at 48-53 at the trade deadline. The Cubs made one of the most depressing trades of my lifetime when they sent Hernandez and Terry Mulholland to the Braves just a year after they competed with Atlanta in the playoffs. They would follow that up by going 9-25 in their next 34 games, ending the year with the fourth worst record in baseball.

Hernandez would bounce around to Milwaukee where he would become an All-Star in 2002, Colorado, before coming back to the Cubs in 2003. It was not a long stint as he only lasted 33 days before the Cubs traded him again, this time to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead of being depressed, it was one of the greatest trades of my lifetime as they traded Hernandez along with Bobby Hill and a minor leaguer for Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez which would help spark the Cubs first playoff appearance since that 1998 season. Hernandez would go on to play for the Dodgers, Indians, Pirates again, Phillies, before ending his career in the Puerto Rico at age 39.

Jose Hernandez embodied the 1998 Chicago Cubs. This was not a team that came out of nowhere on the backs of young prospects making leaps in their performance. This was a team that came out of nowhere on the backs of veterans who had established their true level of performance but somehow exceeded even the rosiest of prognostications. The Cubs thought they had third base and shortstop solved going into the season. It turns out they did, but it came from a bench player who provided exactly what the Cubs needed.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
#13 - Brant Brown

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #19 Tyler Houston

19. Tyler Houston
Tyler Houston is one of my guys. I was incredibly excited when the Cubs acquired him from the Braves for Ismael Villegas in 1996. A former second overall pick who was a catcher with big-time hitting potential was totally my jam as I love pedigree, and I didn't give a shit about defense. My faith was rewarded as he hit .339 once joining the team in 1996. In 1997, he fell off as his slugging percentage only managed to be three points higher than his batting average from the previous season.

Still, there were high hopes for 1998. The Cubs didn't have anything special at catcher with Scott Servais and Sandy Martinez so Houston was definitely going to get a chance at playing time. Unfortunately, he didn't totally take advantage as he hit .260/.290/.342 in 1998 while playing catcher, first, and third base while struggling with a hamstring injury. It wasn't all bad though as he definitely had some highlights during his 95 games that year.

To start the year, it looked like Houston may fulfill his power potential. In his first game of the season, he hit a three-run homer, but he wouldn't hit his second home run until six weeks later and would finish with just nine on the year. Still, July 3, everything came together for him as he hit two home runs off of Francisco Cordova who was weirdly one of the best pitchers in the major leagues that year. His greatest regular season highlight was likely the birth of his first child in May, but that one didn't affect me as much.

He even had a big postseason moment. He started game one against the Braves in the NLDS and took John Smoltz deep to give the Cubs a big home run. Unfortunately, that was the Cubs only offense, and they lost the game 7-1. He started two out of three of the playoff games and did get some playing time in all three.

Houston's numbers got slightly better in 1999 before being traded to Cleveland for a minor league pitcher that never came close to the major leagues. After that, he finally gave up catching when signing with the Milwaukee Brewers which helped him unlock his hitting potential where he put together a few very good seasons before a couple brief stints with the Dodgers and the Phillies.

Tyler Houston never quite lived up to that second overall pick pedigree, but he provided more good than bad when playing for the Cubs, added some flexibility by playing multiple positions, and provided hope that he would breakthrough at the plate. He had that breakthrough; it's just a shame it didn't happen for the Cubs.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske
#20 - Amaury Telemaco

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #20 Amaury Telemaco

20. Amaury Telemaco
I can't think of Amaury Telemaco without hearing his name in Harry Caray's voice. Throughout this article, just know that I will only be hearing it in my head as Amaury TeleMAco. Without doing anything else, Telemaco will be endearing to me simply based off of that pronunciation. But he didn't just have a fun name as he actually had some effective performances for the Cubs.

1998 was a blessed year for the Cubs, and it was no different for Telemaco who had by far his best season, with a 3.93 ERA in 148.2 innings. That is an incredibly valuable pitcher, and you are probably wondering why he isn't even higher on this list. That is a GREAT question. Unfortunately, the answer makes me so angry that I can barely put it into words.

Telemaco started the year in the bullpen, filling the role of a long reliever for the team. Although it was not high leverage, he was effective as he posted a 3.90 ERA while pitching two or more innings in the majority of his appearances through May 8, The most the same date that Telemaco got his first win of the season, and the last day he would pitch for the Cubs.

The most logical explanation is that he suffered an injury and had to miss the remainder of the season. The next most logical conclusion is that the Cubs traded him for a fair return in Barry Bonds, but I think I would remember if Bonds played in Chicago. But neither of those explanations are correct.

Instead the Cubs put him on waivers where he was snatched up by the Arizona Diamondbacks. I've been trying to find the right words to explain why the Cubs put him on waivers. I have already written about 15 different relievers, all of whom performed incredibly poorly, and honestly made me question how the Cubs even had a successful season in 1998. So instead of me telling you why the Cubs got rid of Telemaco, I'm going to let Jim Riggleman do it for me.

"We just had a little excess there and we had to move someone to make way for Foster, who hopefully will join us in the not-so-distant future."

Yep, the Cubs got rid of Telemaco, because they had TOO MUCH great relief pitching on their staff. Of course, right after the Diamondbacks took Telemaco off the Cubs' hands, nearly everyone in their bullpen imploded. Seriously, the entire article is one of the saddest things I have ever read. He would go on to have a 3.94 ERA in 121 innings for the Diamondbacks after being released. The Cubs definitely could have used that.

He then lost it, not posting an ERA below 5.54 in any of the next three years. In 2002, he didn't even make the major leagues. But he somehow bounced back to give the Philadelphia Phillies three years of solid relief work before calling it quits after the 2005 season.

Amaury TeleMAco.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #22 Terry Adams

22. Terry Adams
Relief pitchers, unless they are closers, are a fairly unexciting lot. They do their jobs, and you only notice them when they screw up. Terry Adams was easily the Cubs third best reliever in 1998 (although he ranks fourth on my list), but it's tough to find that much excitement in that, especially with how awful that bullpen performed that year.

Before we get to 1998, a little bit about Terry's past. He was a fourth round pick in 1991, and he had four unimpressive years in the minors before figuring it out in 1995 and dominating Double-A, continuing that in a short stint in Triple-A before making his Major League debut later that year. He continued the momentum in 1996 where he pitched over 100 innings out of the bullpen with a 2.94 ERA. This was good enough for him to be the closer in 1997. It did not work out as planned as his ERA rose to 4.62 that year.

In 1998, the Cubs brought in an established closer in Rod Beck but expected Adams to be the primary setup guy. The hope was that the lack of pressure would help elevate his numbers back to those 1996 levels. Early on, that plan seemed to be working. He cruised in his new role, with a 2.03 ERA on June 20th, he was one of the best setup men in the game.

A week later, it was over a run higher at 3.06. Just like nearly every one of the Cubs relievers that we have covered, the implosion was only beginning. His ERA went up and up and up to the highest it had been since the second game of the season at 4.33 on September 18. The Cubs had seen enough, and he would not play another game that season.

He stuck around one more year for the Cubs before they sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Eric Young and Ismael Valdes. Adams became a starter and performed about as well as he did in relief but in far more innings. He then finished out his career in relief for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Adams is a tough guy to rate. He gave the Cubs two and a half months of excellent relief work, but he was so bad down the stretch that the Cubs were pitching Matt Karchner instead. Relief pitchers just aren't all that exciting although two did make it in the Top 10. Terry Adams is definitely rated too low, but that's the price of being effective instead of exciting.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #32 Kevin Foster

32. Kevin Foster
This is one where 1998 contributions get a little fuzzy. Since I'm not actually judging based on performance but how they made me feel, it's impossible for me to not include feelings that carried over from past seasons. Kevin Foster, based on 1998, could have arguably been ranked last on this list. Instead, he's much higher, because I really freaking liked Kevin Foster.

Foster was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos as an infielder. He struggled for three years at the plate before the Expos decided to see if he could make it as a pitcher. Although the transition started off a little rough, by his second year on the mound, Foster showed his potential with a  2.74 ERA and over a strikeout per inning in A-ball.

After that, he progressed through the minors, got traded to the Mariners and then to the Phillies who he made a couple appearances for at the end of the the 1993 season and put up a 14.85 ERA. That was enough for the Phillies to trade him to the Cubs in exchange for Shawn Boskie.

In 1994, this trade looked like a massive steal for the Cubs. He came up on June 3rd and threw seven shutout innings against the Expos, who were really freaking good that year. His ERA would never rise above 3.15 and would end that year at 2.89 when the strike cut short the season. He had 8.3 strikeouts per inning, which may not sound too impressive these days but would have eighth in the major leagues if he had enough innings to qualify, just two spots behind a little pitcher from Montreal named Pedro Martinez.

But that would go down as his best season. After that, Foster was plagued with the long ball as his home run rate over doubled the following season, and he would lead the league in home runs allowed. He still had a acceptable 4.51 ERA. The wheels came off in 1996 when he put up an ERA over 6.00, but he bounced back a little in 1997 with a 4.61 ERA.

In 1998, he started the year off in the minor leagues but was called up before a June 9th game to try to help out the bullpen. It did not work out as he gave up two runs in two innings in his first outing. He bounced back for a scoreless outing his second time on the mound, and everything fell apart for him in the third outing as he gave up four hits without recording an out and all four runners would go on to score. The Cubs sent him down to AAA after that, but even there he couldn't put things back together as he had an ERA over 6.00. He would not see the Major Leagues for another three years when he got a brief chance with the Texas Rangers, and then would go on to play a couple years in independent ball before calling it quits.

Unfortunately, the story gets sadder from there. Kevin Foster was diagnosed with renal cancer and passed away in 2008 at the age of 39.

Kevin Foster was a fun guy to watch, and he always flashed just enough that you thought the magic of that 1994 season might come back at any time. In the 1990s, all Cubs fans had was hope, and Foster gave us a reason that a brighter future was attainable. He may have not been the guy in 1998, but he showed enough before that to keep us hanging on to hope for a brighter future, and for that, I will never forget his contributions to the team.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell

2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - NL East

Although baseball season is still a few weeks away, fantasy baseball season is here as draft rooms are opening and people are spending fake auction dollars on their favorite players. Everybody knows about the Mike Trouts and Clayton Kershaws of the world, so what you need to do stand out is find those hidden gems on each roster to propel yourself to fantasy greatness. I am going to go through each MLB roster to find at least one underrated player who will have you looking like a genius at the end of the season.

Today, after getting through the American League. We make our way to the National League, and just like Columbus before us, we will start in the NL East.

Atlanta Braves - Brandon Phillips
Probably not the sexiest pick for a young up and coming team, but sometimes you need to just go with an ol' faithful, and Phillips fits the bill. He'll give you about a .280 average with double digits steals and home runs. Since Atlanta isn't stacked offensively, that means he's probably hitting near the top of the order which will help those counting stats. He's a desperate choice for your top second basemen but is ideal somebody who can fill that 2B/SS role.

Miami Marlins - Adam Conley
He will pitch for the Marlins this year, and I read he got stronger this year. This was by far the hardest team, but since I had to pick somebody, I went with Conley, since I wasn't sure if I could count Giancarlo Stanton as a sleeper.

New York Mets - Travis d'Arnaud
d'Arnaud is a guy who isn't even getting drafted this year, but in 2015, he absolutely crushed the ball for a catcher. What happened in 2016? Injuries, mostly. His batted ball data cratered, and I don't think he has completely lost the ability to hit forever and ever. The guy has been able to hit at every level, and he even did it in the major leagues. I think he could be due for a big year this season as he could be a top-5 catcher if he can stay healthy and show that 2015 is the real d'Arnaud.

Philadelphia Phillies - Aaron Nola
Nola's results were worse last year, but his pitching was better as he had nearly ten strikeouts per nine innings, had about the same walk rate, and significantly lowered his home run rate. He was the victim of bad luck in more ways than one as his BABIP raised by about 50 points, and he only had a comically low 60% of runners left on base. When more people reach base by luck and they always find a way to score, then it's going to be pretty tough for a pitcher not to take a significant step back. If Nola's luck balances out, he's likely a top-20 pitcher this year, so yeah, you should draft this dude.

Washington Nationals - Shawn Kelley
I don't know who's going to be the Nationals closer, but if it's Shawn Kelley, then that's a pretty sweet deal as the Nationals are likely to win a lot of games and closing games isn't that difficult. He strikes out a good amount of guys, so snag him late and he'll probably perform as well as any other closer.

I'll admit, this division had a lot of, "Well, you gotta pick somebody" picks, but I can just about guarantee that one of these will be one of my three best sleepers on my entire list. It's your job to figure out which one that is (Hint: It's probably d'Arnaud).