Fantasy Baseball 2009: Surprising Hot and Cold Players

Hot: Brandon Inge - Inge may be the biggest surprise in fantasy this season. He is batting .319 with 7 HR, 18 RBI and 17 runs scored. Inge has showed promise like this before and him playing 3B this year instead of catcher should help him continue this for much of the season. If you were lucky enough to get him off of waivers I wouldn't be trying to trade him.

Hot: Yadier Molina - Molina has improved his batting average each of the past 2 seasons and this season should be no different. Molina is on pace for career highs in runs, HR and RBI. I don't think he keeps this pace up all season but with catcher being so thin this season I don't think you want to sell high on him just yet.

Hot: Hank Blalock - Blalock hasn't had a healthy season since 2005 and I don't see how this season is any different. As long as he's healthy he'll put up good numbers, but only as long as he's healthy.

Hot: Marco Scutaro - Scutaro has never been known as a power guy but he has started off this season with a lot of power. I don't expect anyone to offer you much for him in a trade but if you can get something decent for him I'd dump him

Hot: Aaron Hill - Hill has always been a power guy and that should continue all season but I think he'll hit closer to .275 than the .375 he's averaging now

Cold: Alexei Ramirez - I didn't like him in the preseason at all but I didn't expect him to be this terrible. If you can buy low on him I think he'll pick it up this season but I don't think he's a top 8 SS like most people have projected him to be

Hot: Jason Bartlett - His career high for homeruns is 5 and he already has 4 this season. He is in the middle of a great Rays lineup and I think his numbers will stay high but he will probably bat closer to .300 than .360.

Cold: Stephen Drew - He's currently on the DL which can be attributed to his terrible early season numbers. I've seen him dropped in a lot of leagues and he's definitely worth a pickup if you have the bench spot.

Hot: Mike Lowell - He's always been a good player he has just had problems staying healthy. The top of the Red Sox order will continue getting on base so the RBIs will be there as longas he's healthy

Hot: Ian Kinsler - I don't think I've ever been more wrong on a player before. I strongly disliked him coming into the season but he's for real, he won't continue batting .400 but he'll contend for the batting title while still providing you strong power numbers.

Hot: Kyle Lohse - I love me the Kyle Lohse. His ERA will probably climb from the 1.97 it's currently at to closer to 3.3 but I think he is a solid #2 starter in your rotation.

Hot: Chad Billingsley - The buzzsaw is 4-0 and strikes everyone out. If you followed my advice and drafted him early you're probably pretty happy right now

Cold: Ricky Nolasco - I pimped him almost as much as the buzzsaw in the preseason and he's been terrible. I don't think he's droppable yet but he's getting close.

Hot/Cold: Dan Haren - Just looking at his record (1-3) you'd think he was struggling this year but the Diamondbacks have scored 3 runs in his first 4 starts. If his owner is considering trading him I'd quickly snatch him up

Cold: Russell Martin - Martin is in a great Dodger lineup but has yet to find any kind of a groove this season. Martin has scored 10 runs and drove in 11 but he has no HR and no SB this season ahd his average has hovered around .200 all season. Since Martin is such a great defensive catcher I don't think Torre will bench him to get out of his funk and he will have to play through it. I would be concerned but I wouldn't trade him unless you can get full value for him

Cold: Chris Iannetta - Iannetta started the season off horribly but has pulled it together in the past week with .333 BA and 5 runs. 11 of Colorado's first 14 games were on the road and I wouldn't be worried about him the rest of the season. He should produce like a top 5 catcher the rest of the year

Hot: Carlos Pena - Pena has been a beast the first month of the season but has left much to be desired in the BA category. Pena has been one of the lone bright spots for the Rays this season. Once BJ Upton gets to hitting again I think Pena has an even better season, although he won't hit the 70 HR he is on pace for

Hot: Russell Branyan - Branyan is an interesting player and has shown promise before, but has always been inconsistent. I'm not buying his hot start at all, if someone wants to take him off your hands I wouldn't hesitate at all

Cold: Mark Teixeira - Like I predicted in the preseason the lights from New York City would shine bright on Teixeira and he would struggle this season. Teixeira has always been a slow starter and if his owner is willing to give him up for $.90 on the dollar I would snatch him up in a heartbeat.

Cold: Lance Berkman -