Yesterday we mentioned some Red Sox fantasy baseball pickups, so we felt it was only fair today to give props to a couple a New Yorkers.

The Shallow

Hideki Matsui – Outfield/DH (LF)

Hideki Matsui is, and will likely always be, dealing with an aching knee - but the Yankees Japanese star has slowly started to turn things around, propelling him back into our 2009 fantasy baseball pickups.

With hits in nine of the last ten games, the now full-time DH has been able to contribute, making appearances in all but three of the Yankees first 21 games. The current tear that Godzilla is on has boosted his average up to nearly .300, and although the power numbers don’t appear to be prevalent, Matsui will get a boost in the pending return of Alex Rodriguez, in his ability to drive in runs.

Any player that gets a chunk of at-bats in the cleanup spot of the New York Yankees line-up has to have some fantasy value, so should he be available, and your waiver wire is thin, take a chance on the 34-year old product of Kanazawa, Japan.

The Deep

Melky Cabrera – Outfield (LF/CF/RF)

It appears that Melky has won his way back into the heart of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, after many thought that he would be the odd man out heading into 2009, following a fairly dismal production last season.

His ability to play all three outfield positions, combined with the fact that Brett Gardner hasn’t lit the world on fire to this point, has opened up the opportunity for him to get extra at-bats. Cabrera has been rocking with the opportunity knocking; hitting over .300 and showing some good plate presence and impressive pop.

Melky Cabrera doesn’t provide a substantial boost in any one particular stat category, but what he does do is contributes gently in each. Should he continue to see the pitches as well as he has of late, he'll certainly provide some value to your fantasy roster as the Yankees offence tends to produce with regularity.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 1:05 am and is filed under Outfield, Sleepers, The Shallow & The Deep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.