Man, remember when OBP leagues were hip? We'd all be smugly sipping our coffee while reading Fire Joe Morgan, right before making our daily sacrifice to our life-sized shrine of Billy Beane. Well, times have changed and everyone and their mother knows about OBP now, and everyone's outbidding you on those players you were totally convinced would be sleepers. But hey, it's still better than Batting Average, mere fodder for casual fans and Murray Chass. So let's find some guys that might provide surplus value even in OBP leagues with savvy competition.
Bryce Harper (OF, Nationals) - I tend to shy away from listing stars when identifying targets, as there is often someone in the draft room willing to make you pay dearly. But this may be one case in which we really are underrating the young superstar. While his power and average took a big hit in 2016, he maintained his excellent walk rate and decreased his K rate. He had a .264 BABIP, which seems nearly 100 points too low when you look at his rates from 2015 and 2016. In OBP leagues, he’s a safer gamble at the end of the first round than in AVG. leagues, since he’ll get the walks no matter what.
Domingo Santana, Cesar Hernandez, Jung Ho-Kang, Vogelbach.