I guess I shouldn't have stopped putting this at the top of each ranking. These rankings are meant for a 12-team, basic 5x5 mixed league, where the categories are R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG (which would be exactly why they are the only stats listed for the position's definition of replacement level).

There seems to be a lot of complaints about including guys that didn't play in the majors last year. Well, if you've never heard of minor-league translated stats, you're only about 10-20 years behind the game. These translations convert minor league statistics into their equivalents in the majors, and they're deadly accurate. Think about it. Baseball has been around for over 100 years, and the minors about that long. There's an insane amount of data for comparing what a certain player has done at say AA at the age of 23 (like Alex Gordon). There are more than likely numerous players that have done similar things at that age and level.

Alex Gordon's translated hitting stats are .302/.386/.538, or roughly the equivalent of Vernon Wells with more walks last year. If you aren't impressed by his stats, check out his Wikipedia profile. At the University of Nebraska, he was the Big 12 Player of the Year twice, a First Team College All-American twice, and the Baseball America Player of the Year. He also won the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, Brooks Wallace Award, and the ABCA National Player of the Year Award. He was selected second overall in the draft over Ryan Zimmerman. Hmm, ever heard of him?

In his first year as a pro, he tore up the Texas League. He finished first in runs, total bases, walks, SLG, and OPS; third in hits, home runs, RBI, AVG, and OBP; fifth in doubles; and sixth in stolen bases. He was named the Texas League Player of the Year and Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year. In the offseason, Baseball Prospectus put him at the top of their prospect list, and Baseball America put him second behind Daisuke Matsuzaka (is Daisuke even a prospect?). Coming into training camp with a shot at the big league job, he has virtually been assured of the starting 3B job. Mark Teahen has moved to the outfield to make way. If I've convinced you, maybe you should go buy his 2006 Topps card. Then again, maybe not.

If you're still doubting that a player can make an impact in his first big league season, just look at last year.

C - Brian McCann, Kenji Johjima
1B - Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder
2B - Dan Uggla, Brandon Phillips, Josh Barfield
3B - Ryan Zimmerman
SS - Hanley Ramirez
OF - okay, you got me here
SP - Francisco Liriano, Matt Cain, Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver, Scott Olsen, Josh Johnson
RP - Jonathan Papelbon, Takashi Saito, Cla Meredith, Joel Zumaya

Expecting guys like Alex Gordon, Akinori Iwamura, and Kevin Kouzmanoff is not a stretch. Below are their Davenport Translations (in YR: AVG/OBP/SLG/LG form) from previous years. The LG is only what league he played in. Remember the numbers are translated to major league performance.

Alex Gordon
2006: .302/.386/.538/AA

Akinori Iwamura
2004: .297/.378/.446/JP
2005: .307/.382/.469/JP
2006: .298/.381/.460/JP

Kevin Kouzmanoff
2004: .291/.335/.447/A
2005: .303/.346/.496/high-A
2006: .368/.417/.636/AA in 276 PA and .324/.383/.618/AAA in 115 PA

Those are good major league numbers from all three of them. While any one of them could fall flat on his face at the major league level, any one of them could also explode with a monster year. In fantasy leagues, it's the stars you want. With these three, you have a better chance of finding a star than the other guys in their respective tiers. It's the risk of getting nothing out of them that keeps them from being higher on the board.

FYI: There's also talk of playing Iwamura at 2B if Jorge Cantu doesn't play well, so he could be a big-time player there as well.