ESPN Fantasy Guru Matthew Berry has released his seasonal “Love/Hate” column for fantasy baseball.  The idea behind the column is to identify players he loves or hates this season based on their perceived value among the fantasy community.  One “Love” that stood out to me was Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones.  Jones was the major piece in the Erik Bedard trade that seems like it happened decades ago, but hasn’t lived up to the hype as of yet.  “He enters spring training with the idea that he needs to work on his base stealing and will attempt more this year,” Berry writes.  ”If he can improve on last year’s seven steals to 15 or so, watch out.  Getting Roberts back at the top of the lineup will help (as the No. 1 or No. 2 hitter last year, Jones hit .250; as the No. 5 or No. 6 hitter, he hit .307).”

One name that was quite surprising to see on Berry’s “Hate” list was Philadelphia Phillies hurler Roy Halladay.  “Halladay is a stud, of course, but I can’t justify a first-round pick on him and frankly, I might not even take him until the very end of the second, if at all, because pitching is so deep this year,” he writes.  ”I mean, guys like Matt Cain are going in the eighth round.  Personally, I’m gonna get one stud in the first five rounds (ideally Jon Lester in the third) and then I’m waiting until Round 9 or 10 to fill out my staff.”

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