FanHouse Drew Storen

The focus of most Major League Baseball fans is directed towards the playoffs right now as teams fight for their chance to play for a World Series title. But the astute fantasy baseball GM should be looking in the desert as the Arizona Fall League has just started.

Why tune in and watch young baseball players with little or no major league experience? Well, in the Arizona Fall League last year, hitters like Drew Sutton, Gordon Beckham and Nolan Reimold tore up the competition -- showing that they could make contributions at the major league level.

You also should not forget about a pitcher by the name of Tommy Hanson. In seven AFL starts last year Hanson struck out 49 batters while only throwing 28.2 innings. He also had a 5-0 record with a 0.63 ERA. We all know what Hanson did for the Braves in 2008 -- and for fantasy GM's who knew his name on draft day.

Who will be this year's Tommy Hanson?

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

About eight years ago, the hardest part of Lee Banks' job as coach of a youth travel team based in southeast Virginia was picking a shortstop.

"It was a lot of fun," Banks recalled to FanHouse last week. "You just sat back and let 'em play and try not to mess it up."

Back then, the team (now known as the Tidewater Orioles) had on its roster B.J. Upton, David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Reynolds.

In what is most likely music to many fantasy owners' ears, Jose Valverde is back from the disabled list and ready to close out games for the Astros. He's thrown in two games since his return and has struck out three batters and hasn't allowed a hit in 1.1 innings of work. It's likely that he'll re-assume the role of closer for the Astros upon their next save opportunity.

Manny Ramirez still gets all of the press in Los Angeles, even when he's not on the field. That's a shame because Jonathan Broxton has become a dominant force on the mound, and one of the games top closers. He's closed out his last eight save opportunities and leads all closers in strikeouts with 53. He also frustrates hitters more than other closers as hitters only have been able to muster a .103 batting average against Broxton.

It's impossible to really evaluate a baseball draft until years after it's over, when the players have all had a chance to develop and grow into whatever type of big leaguers they are destined to be.

Of course, here at FanHouse we're not patient enough for that. We waited, oh, about an hour after the first day of the draft was over before we hit up three independent analysts to get their take on what transpired.

We talked to John Manuel, editor of Baseball America; Ben Hyman, director of amateur scouting for Real Baseball Intelligence; and John Klima, editor of Baseball Beginnings.

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