Asdrubal Cabrera was a popular regression candidate around these parts entering last season. Prior to 2011, Cabrera was a middle-of-the-road fantasy shortstop. He hit for a decent average, popped a handful of home runs and stole a fair amount of bases. He wasn’t going to kill you at the position, but if you ended up with Cabrera, it was obvious you waited to draft a shortstop. His 25 home run breakout altered that perception. With that, of course, came questions of whether it was a fluke. And though Cabrera did see some regression in the home run category, a fair amount of the strides he made in 2011 stuck.

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Chase Headley emerged as an elite third baseman last season. A big reason for Headley’s breakout was a increase in power. Headley hit 31 home runs last season, beating his previous career-high by 19. The fact that he accomplished that feat while playing half of his games in Petco makes it even more impressive. Because of his performance, Headley is likely to shoot up fantasy drafts next season. But in order to repeat, he’ll have to display the same amount of power again. Otherwise, he’ll be nothing more than a one year wonder.

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Aramis Ramirez’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. But after a .241/.294/.452 slash line at age-32, it looked like the end of the line for Ramirez. Those thoughts were premature, as Ramirez bounced back the following season, hitting .306/.361/.510. Even with the bounce-back, there were still concerns about Ramirez. He was getting older, and age-related decline would have to come soon. Again, Ramirez defied the critics. At age-34 he had one of the best offensive years of his career. But, again, fantasy owners are going to have concerns about Ramirez heading into next season. Entering his age-35 year, it’s going to be tough for Ramirez to keep up the production.

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It was a nice comeback season for Ryan Zimmerman. After injuries held him to just 101 games in 2011, Zimmerman was going to need a good 2012 to restore the faith of fantasy owners. And while Zimmerman’s final slash line of .282/.346/.478 looks strong, he gave owners a bit of a scare early in the year. With his numbers seemingly back to normal, can fantasy owners expect bigger and better things from Zimmerman next season?

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Jemile Weeks came into the season with a lot of promise. As a 24-year-old, Weeks just slashed .303/.340/.421 in limited action, cementing his status as Oakland’s starter at second. On top of that, Weeks had a strong pedigree. His brother, Rickie, was once a top prospect and has experienced success in the majors. Though both players offer a completely different skill set, there was still reason to believe Jemile would be a solid fantasy option. As frustrated fantasy owners know, that didn’t happen. Weeks completely collapsed, hitting just .221/.305/.304 in 511 plate appearances. His poor performance led to a demotion, and an exclusion from the postseason roster. But with the club’s recent trade of Cliff Pennington, it looks like Weeks will have another chance at a full-time role next season. After a disastrous first shot, Weeks will have a lot to prove in his second season.

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Chase Utley wasn’t a full-time player until he was 26-years-old. For the next five seasons, Utley turned in one of the most dominant stretches in fantasy baseball. At one of the weakest fantasy positions, Utley was an absolute monster. Over that five year stretch, Utley hit .301/.388/.535, and averaged 33 home runs per season. His power dropped in 2010, but Utley was also dealing with a thumb injury, which was the likely culprit. Just before the 2011 season, things got much worse. Utley started experiencing problems with his knees, causing him to miss nearly the first two months of the season. Utley played through the pain, but his numbers clearly suffered. Things got even worse this past season, as it was revealed Utley’s knee issues were worse than initially thought. He didn’t play a game until late-June, and his numbers barely improved. Utley will turn 34 this December, and already has a chronic knee condition. His days as a fantasy starter may be over.

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The legend of Howie Kendrick was written prematurely. If you were playing fantasy baseball in 2006, there’s a good chance you heard about a young Angels prospect named Howie Kendrick. Most importantly, you heard about his incredible bat control. Here was a guy that was a lock to win at least one batting title in his career, and had enough power to eventually reach 20 home runs in a single season. Considering he’s slashed .360/.403/.569 throughout his minor league career, it looked like those numbers would actually be attainable.

While things looked pretty promising early in his career, Kendrick struggled with injuries, which limited his production. Soon, the narrative became “if he can stay healthy, he’ll put together a really nice season.” But when Kendrick did manage to play in 158 in 2010, his results were less than encouraging. Just as people started to give up on Kendrick, his performance restored some faith. In 2011, it looked as if Kendrick had finally tapped into his power. The disappointment continued this season, however. Kendrick’s power plummeted back to normal levels. Unless he cap tap back into that power, he’s going to have minimal fantasy value going forward.

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Identifying post-hype sleepers can be one of the best ways to find breakout players during your draft. Post-hype players are typically former prospects that don’t initially live up to expectations. This drives down their value in fantasy leagues the following season, making them excellent late-round targets. Yonder Alonso and Anthony Rizzo don’t fit the bill exactly, as neither player was hyped as a fantasy superstar. But both were considered decent prospects heading into the season, and owners that drafted them may not have been fully satisfied with their performances. Both players did show some promise during their first full year in the majors, and will be looking to build on that during their sophomore season.

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It’s hard to find a player who increased his fantasy value last season more than Edwin Encarnacion. For years, he was considered a late-round flyer. The type of player who would breakout and hit 30 home runs one season. But after a promising 2006, Encarnacion went backwards. And by last season, even some of his most enthusiastic supporters weren’t sure if Encarnacion would ever emerge as anything more.

Well, things changed in a big way. He went from fantasy roster fodder, to single-handedly winning leagues. The 29-year-old first baseman slugged 42 home runs and hit .280/.384/.557 in 644 plate appearances with the Blue Jays. Because both players experienced massive breakouts with the same team, Encarnacion’s performance has been compared to Jose Bautista’s 2010 season. Bautista, as we know, managed to build on that success. Now it’s Encarnacion’s turn to prove he is capable of doing the same.

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The RotoGraphs staff was pretty divided on the fantasy turtle in the American League. There were plenty of candidates to choose from, including Max Scherzer, Carlos Santana and Ben Zobrist. But the most interesting player on the list might have been Brandon Moss. A career .251/.358/.442 hitter, the 28-year-old Moss mashed over the second half of the season. His .291/.358/.596 was so unexpected, which likely led to him being available in just about every league. And if you were lucky enough to be the first owner in your league to realize Moss’ performance, you may have walked away with a league title.

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