If you go back into my archives I posted last year that Jo-Jo Reyes was back on track from Tommy John surgery, and so far this year he has done nothing but prove me right.

He started off the year rather slow, but bounced back to post a 3.56 ERA with 71 k's in 73 innings. He got promoted to AAA and has been dominating, posting a phenomenal 1.57 ERA and 27 k's in 23 innings. He got a spot start for Smoltz up in Atlanta, but played horribly. I am comfortable overlooking the start because this only shows Atlanta believes in his talent and is willing to get him up in the bigs to strut his stuff. Expect him to be a September call up and a chance at a rotation spot next spring. I already had him in every dynasty league I was in, but if I had not already done so, I would be picking him up now.

By the way, what is up with all these stories of success after Tommy John surgery. I am thinking of getting the surgery just for the hell of it, and then take up a career in the minors.

Just part of one of my blog posts, wanted to share it on YardBarker.

And it is that time of the year again, fantasy football drafts. And it is that time of the year where I have to completely rip the consensus rankings. Normally each year I write up my top 20 and just compare it to ESPN, RotoWire, and Sportsline to see who I may be able to hold off for another round, after that it is too undpredictable who is going to go early or late, so I rely on luck. This year here is my top 20, why I put them their, and the players ranking from ESPN, Sportsline, RotoWire, respectively:

1. LT (1,1,1) - No justification needed.

2. Steven Jackson (2,2,2) - Can run it, can catch it, in the Marshall Faulk mold.

3. Willis McGahee (13,13,22) - Sure his career YPC is not very pretty (3.9), but he is finally going to a team with a good offensive line (yes I know they are not what they used to be), and a quarterback who can actually play (no offense JP). He plays in a run first offense and will get plenty of help that he has needed. I take a reach on 1 injury prone guy every year (Portis last year, Holmes the years before), so I may be second guessing myself once the season starts. However, he will top 1500 yards and get 15+ TD's, write that down.

4. Larry Johnson (3,3,4) - Sure he carried the ball last year as much as a dump truck should, but he is only 27, and with Dwayne Bowe I really see KC helping him out.

5. Shaun Alexander (5,4,11) - I am a little scared off by last year's injury, but he has been too good for too long to write him off just yet.

6. Willie Parker (7,9,7) - Ya his 100 yard games come off 20 1 yard carries, and 1 80 yarder, but he is too explosive and does it too often to not be valuable, not to mention the offense focuses around him. He is only 26 and is already a better version of Brian Westbrook.

7. Peyton Manning (8,6,34) - The most consistant fantasy football player there is. I usually let someone else be the one to draft Manning because QB is my favorite position to pick a sleeper in, and I would rather get Bulger 5 rounds later. But at this point he is too good to pass up.

8. Frank Gore (4,5,3) - I know I probably should rank him higher, he saved a half dozen of my teams last year, but I can not help but think that defenses will work on stopping him. The emergence of Alex Smith and the aquisition of Darrell Jackson will help him a lot, but I would rather see him play at such a high level two years in a row before I jump him to the top.

9. Brian Westbrook (9,7,8) - Why is Jeff Garcia getting all the credit for saving the Eagles? They could have started someone like Ben Roethlisberger and still have won. With the great play of McNabb and his ability to get in the headlines, Westbrook is often overshadowed. He is explosive like Willie Parker and is probably the best pass catching back in the league. The only reason he is not higher is because he is not the best player on his side of the ball, which plays into how and how often he gets the ball.

10. Rudi Johnson (10,10,12) - As good as it gets as a running back, however he does not catch the ball enough to leap frog some of the guys ahead of him. With that said, he is one of the most consistant backs in the league, and depending on my mood, I may take him 5 spots earlier.

11. Travis Henry (17,11,10) - Wow, I can not believe there is a consensus startin RB in Denver so early in the year. Denver RBs are always excellent in that offense, and if he does not lose too many carries to Mike Bell, then he will prove to be very underrated.

12. Ronnie Brown (12,15,15) - Last year, I would not have touched him until the 5th round, and that was only if I NEEDED a RB. He did not play as horribly as I thought he was going to, and another season under his belt should help him A LOT. And as long as Trent Green stays healthy, defenses will not be able to put 8 in the box.

13. Laurence Maroney (11,14,6) - I am not a huge fan of unproven youngsters, so this is mostly a hype pick, but New England runs a terrific offense, and Maroney has shown he can catch the ball well enough that he does not have to wear himself down to be effective.

14. Clinton Portis (25,22,21) - This may be a reach for someone so fragile, but I am a huge fan of his ON THE FIELD, and I do not see him sharing as many carries with Betts as many people think. The only reason I do not have him listed in the top 5 is because of the risk of the above mentioned.

15. Thomas Jones (23,27,28) - Can this guy ever catch a break? Sure he is not flashy and only has 2 1,000 yard seasons in 7 years, but he HAS put up two straight 1k yard seasons. He lost a lot of carries to Benson last year, and I do not see Leon Washington taking many chances from him. 1300/10 is very reasonable.

16. Chad Johnson (21,18,25) - The most exciting WR to watch (yes more than Stevie) both on and off the field. He is big, he is fast, and he can catch. I would not be surprised at all if he posted 1500/12.

17. Marvin Harrison (16,16,26) - By far the best WR last year, however he is getting old and I do not want to be the guy who picks him up on his down year. I can not really knock him on anything else.

18. Joseph Addai (6,8,5) - Again, I am not sold on unproven youngsters. He did have an excellent season last year, but his carries were not consistent, and I am not sure how he will do as the full time starter. The reason he is ranked so high everywhere else is because he plays with Manning. I will let someone else invest a first rounder on him.

19. Cedric Benson (22,23,17) - I know he is an unproven youngster, but I can not help but think power backs develop faster than ones who rely on finesse of their catching game. I see him producing a lot like Rudi Johnson when he hits his peak, but when will that be?

20. Steve Smith (15,25,13) - I feel kind of bad putting him this low, and depending on the situation I might take him sooner, but like Parker, one of the reason his numbers are so inflated is because of his explosiveness. I still remember a play from the 2005 playoffs, I do not remember the game, but he was running full speed and literally just stopped to avoid a defender. That is how good he is. However, Carolina does not really have an option other than him. Until they get a running game or a better reciever to play across from him, his numbers will suffer.

Notable cuts: Reggie Bush (14,12,14) - Basically I am not a huge fan of a guy who is not guaranteed the most carries on the team. However he is so diverse, and SO explosive that I really hope he proves me wrong.

Maurice Jones-Drew (19,20,9) - Again like Bush he may only get 10-15 carries, if even that. And also like Bush he has a diverce side, he is likely to get the green light for goal line carries.

My ultimate sleeper is part of my favorite off season signings: Drew Bennett. Once you think St. Louis's offense can not get any better, they go out and sign a top Receiving TE (McMichael), and one of the best deep threats in the NFL (Bennett). With Holt, Bruce, Jackson, McMichael all on the field, Bennett is going to get open. He is one of the best vertical receivers because he is so fast and tall. 1200/10 would not surprise me one bit. He is going to be remembered as the best #3 WR of the decade.

Originally drafted in the 2nd round of the 2003 first year player draft, Jo Jo Reyes was a top pitching prospect in the Braves organization.

After posting solid numbers in 2003 for the Braves' GCL team, Reyes hurt his elbow at the start of the 2004 season and had to have Tommy John Surgery. He ended up missing the whole season. Once 2005 came around, he ended up tearing his ACL, which led him to miss half of 2005.

When Reyes came back to finish the 2005 season, he had solid play and showed excellent command (7 walks in 48.2 innings) and tore through the low minors (33 K's and only 43 hits allowed).

For the 2006 season, Jo Jo was finally healthy and ready to make a run up the system.

He started off the year in Low A - Rome, where he posted a 2.99 ERA with with 84 k's in 74.1 innings. After playing solid all year he was called up to High A - Myrtle Beach. While his strikeouts have dropped off (24 in 31 innings) and his walks have increased (1 every 2 innings compared to 1 every 3 innings in Rome), but hitters are only hitting .213 against him, which hopefully is a sign of maturity.

Reyes is likely to finish off the season in Myrtle Beach, but it would not surprise me if he started off 2007 in AA.

It looks like he is back to where he started off his career, so keep an eye on him.

I would pick him up in any league that allows minor league depth.

How can a 22 year old hitting in AAA, hit .380 with a 14:13 BB:K ratio stay in AAA? A guy named Nomar Garciaparra can do that to you. And this year, James Loney has suffered due to Nomar's superb play.

Loney was given a chance earlier this year to play 1b for the Dodgers while Nomar was on the dl, and left a good impression when he was sent back down to give his spot back to Nomar.

Earlier on Monday Nomar sprained a ligament in his knee and was expected to miss 5 games. There is rumor that his injury could be more serious than originally expected. Now this rumor could just be a rumor, but i recommend keeping an eye on him if you are in a large keeper league or a large NL only league. I also would pick him up immediately if he is available in all leagues that allow minor league depth.

Loney has always been proclaimed as a great hitter, but an unfortunate underachiever. This years it looks as if he has finally decided to tap into his talent pool, and it would not surprise me if he continued his tear if he is to get a call up. He is credited to being a great defensive 1st baseman, so there should be no worry about him holding down a job for that reason.

The Seattle Mariners have decided to deal top outfield prospect Shin-Soo Choo and a prospect to be named to the Indians in return for Ben Broussard. The Mariners will use Broussard as a platoon DH, so his value should not change.

The Indians plan on starting Choo in RF against all right handed pitching. They also plan on using him in LF at times. Choo has 5 tool potential, and warrants consideration in any keeper league. His speed alone could make him useful in mixed leagues if he is able to hit and get on base. That may be the problem. It is widely thought that Choo can not handle big league pitching, but only time shall tell.

I haven't come across much on this position, and I mostly just see either Saltalamacchia or Clement mentioned as the best, so i thought I would give my opinion on my top 5, based on a fantasy perspective.

5. Jarrod Saltalamacchia - ATL, AA

At the begining of the year Salti was the unanimous best catching prospect in all of baseball. Because of that, I can not drop him out of the top 5. He's hitting .206 with a .664 OPS. 'Nuff said. His only saving grace are his 44 walks in 262 AB's.

Supposedly scouts are saying he has been working on his defense, which has improved quite a bit. Hearing that is good, because I was personally worried that his defense would eventually cause him to shift positions, cutting his value in half. The reason i was originally worried about him staying at catcher was because of McCann in Atlanta.

Overall, Jarrod is only 21 and still has plenty of time to turn his game around, but you can not hit .206 for long and expect to stay atop of prospect list.

4. Miguel Montero - ARI, AAA

He plays in the prospect healthy Arizona Diamondbacks organization, so he gets overshadowed by guys like Drew, Quentin, and Young.

He really turned it around last year to really get on the radar, hitting 24 HR's in high A before dropping off a bit when he was promoted. He turned it back on this year with solid hitting, with a .270 AVG. and .362 OBP. His power numbers have not dropped much, like some scouts thought when he shifted ball parks, instead he has increased his doubles production by nearly 60% and keeping a steady pace on HR's by knocking in 12 so far.

Montero recently got promoted to AAA and is hitting a scorching .417 and slugging .708. I firmly believe Montero is the future catcher for Arizona and could be starting as soon as next season.

3. Jeff Clement - SEA, AAA

If it was not for his injury and Kenji Johjima blocking him on the major league level, I would put him up atleast one spot.

Clement put solid numbers across the board in AA this season, hitting .288 with a .911 ops and only striking out 8 times in 59 AB's.

He started struggling when he hit AAA. Hitting .241 and a .293 OBP. I am not too worried about him, and I believe once he recovers from his injury he will be solid once again, improving his power (physically) and his eye (mentally). He has proved to be too good of a catcher to give up on, and he will give Seattle management a dilmena at the catching position as soon as 2007.

2. George Kottaras - SD, AAA

I absolutely love Kottaras, and the only reason I did not rank him #1 is because of the Coors Field Factor for Iannetta.

He was atop the leaderboard on OBP all season, posting a .394 OBP. I believe he will keep it up when he hits the majors, and should hit around his steady .280 mark.

He got promoted to AAA a couple weeks ago, and he has been playing decent, but not spectacular. That was not unexpected. Might need a few months next year to fully develop, but he is the padres future catcher.

So close to the trade deadline, Kottaras is an interesting name. His name has been speculated in almost any deal the Padres strike in an attempt to get a 3rd baseman. I really hope the Padres do not trade him, but he will be solid wherever he goes.

1. Chris Iannetta - COL, AAA

I had Iannetta on my list of sleepers to watch, since he was the heir to the catching position in Colorado. I thought he would be decent, but that is pretty much it.

In response to that, he has had a phenominal season in both AA and AAA.

He absolutely dominated AA where he started off the season. In 44 games he posted a .321 BA, 1.040 OPS, 11 HR, and a 12:13 BB:K ratio. Even for a hitters league that is great. To quiet any critics saying it was because of the hitters league, he went up to AAA and if it is believeable, been playing better.

In 23 games he is hitting .370 with a 1.031 OPS, with a 15:14 BB:K ratio.

I have no doubt all of this will translate into great Coors numbers, and should be a solid catcher for years to come.

Notables (not necessarily the next best):

Kurt Suzuki - OAK, AA

Playing really well in AA, and Kendall is holding his spot up in Oakland. Probably needs another year in the upper minors to mature his game.

Jason Jaramillo - PHI, AA

Having an absolutely horrible offensive season in AA. He really should still be in A ball, but the Phillies like his defense so much that they want him to catch for their best pitching prospects.

I really do not know what to make of this. I think the Phillies need to slow it down with him if they want him to be able to hit in the majors.