The playoffs are approaching and whether you are already locked in, battling for a final spot, or looking on towards next year (or football), now is the time that we look back at a fantastic 2008 season and say thanks to some of the unsung heroes from draft day who got us to where we are.
The old cliché is that your season isn’t won in the first round. This is usually true; often times your season is won at the end of your draft or on the waiver wire.
In the coming weeks we will take a look at this year’s surprise studs and find out why they were taken so late and why they have been so great.
These are the players that we scoff about when our league mates got “lucky” in the 19th round and that we pat ourselves on the back for having the foresight to take the Cy Young candidate off of waivers in the first week of the season.
It’s time to look back at our Fantasy MVPs for 2008.
First up is outfielder .
Carlos Quentin, acquired in the offseason from the , went undrafted in most leagues this year. That won’t be the case next year.
Already with over 30 homers and 90 RBIs to go with a nice .289 batting average, Quentin has come out of seemingly nowhere to establish himself as one of the best outfielders in the American League.
So why didn’t anybody see this coming?
Quentin was drafted by Arizona in the first round in 2003 and then underwent Tommy John surgery. He destroyed the minors in his next year and quickly became one of the top prospects in a fantastic Arizona farm system.
After a disappointing debut season in 2006 and even worse results in 2007, Quentin was failing to live up to the hype he had established in the minors.
Adding to his lackluster play, Quentin was also giving the Diamondbacks some injury and durability concerns as he spent the beginning of the 2007 season on the DL and found himself on it again in August after a demotion back to AAA
When he failed to produce in the majors, many wondered if Quentin was merely a “four-A” player, someone who can destroy minor league ball but is unable to adjust to major league hitting.
In the 2007 offseason the Diamondbacks traded Carlos to the Chicago White Sox for prospect (I thought all he did was catch touchdowns?). Carter was thought of as one of their best prospects but they specifically targeted acquiring Quentin for the 2008 season.
Something tells me that has turned out decently for them thus far.
Apparently all CQ needed was some time to prove he belonged and the Windy City was the place to do it. Quentin mashed in the minors, hitting for both power and average at all levels, so this breakout is not completely out of nowhere.
Quentin, at 25, is a bit old for a prospect and many people are too quick to cast aside young players when they don’t product at the outset of their major league careers. Sometimes a little patience is all that is needed for them to prove what they can do, and Quentin has made the most of this second chance.
Forget Fantasy MVP, Quentin is making a strong case for being the AL MVP this year.
Unfortunately, he’s not the only one. But that will have to wait for another time.
