Fantasy Baseball 2010 Rankings: Designated Hitters

With all the rest of the positions having been completed twice by our FanHouse staff, we feel it's time to quickly cover those players who you can still draft to your fantasy team, despite their utter lack of flexibility. These would be the guys who are only eligible at designated hitter this season.

While we don't want to completely discount the value that can be had from some of these guys in the power categories, they aren't overly useful for several reasons. First of all, every single one of them appears to be in the decline phase of his career. You aren't getting vintage Big Papi or the sure-fire 40 home runs from Mr. Thome.

The other issue is that every single offensive player in baseball can be used as your DH in fantasy leagues. You don't need any of these guys, thus, there's no reason to pay a premium draft pick for an aging player with zero positional flexibility (considering nearly all leagues only have one DH-spot).

But that doesn't mean we won't rank them for you. Here are the eight DH-only-eligible guys who figure to get regular playing time. See below for a short explanation on each guy.

1. David Ortiz, Red Sox
2. Vladimir Guerrero, Rangers
3. Hideki Matsui, Angels
4. Travis Hafner, Indians
5. Jim Thome, Twins
6. Pat Burrell, Rays
7. Ken Griffey, Mariners
8. Andruw Jones, White Sox

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Ortiz - At 34, he could still have some productive years left, and he did hit 27 bombs with 78 RBI in his last 101 games in 2009. Of course, he hit .188 with a solitary home run in his first 49 games. That's enough to scare many owners. I still have him atop the position because he easily has enough power to go for 30 home runs and 100 RBI in that lineup while slightly raising his average, but the days of elite Papi (like 2004-2006) are long gone.

Guerrero - I have little faith that 35-year-old Vlad can stay healthy for a whole season. He was pretty durable for much of his career until last year, but he plays so full throttled he's started to permanently wear his body down. Witness the fact that he used to be spry enough to steal 40 bases in a season ... then 15 ... and now can't even play the field. He can still swing the bat, though, which is why he's ranked here. If he can get 120 starts, you can expect an average around .300 with 20 home runs and 80 RBI. He'll enjoy hitting in Arlington, too.

Matsui - Vlad's replacement is about eight months older and just as broken down. Expect pretty similar numbers from the two, though Matsui's new park isn't nearly as conducive to power as .

Hafner - Just 151 combined games in the past two seasons, the 32-year-old slugger appears to have his best days in the rearview. Last season, though, he did bring his OPS back to a similar range with where it was in 2007. If you ignore what Pronk did in 2004-2006 and pay attention to 2007 and last season (including the new found injury risk), you'll likely have a good grasp of where you would draft him.

Thome - If he's actually given a full plate of at-bats, I'd be confident the 39-year-old power-hitter could still reach 30 home runs. It's just that the Twins already have a left-handed hitting DH in Jason Kubel and they still want to keep Delmon Young playing in the OF (preventing Kubel from full-time action in the OF). There's good upside for power here in AL-only leagues, but lack of playing time and bad batting average dwindle Thome's value.

Burrell - A locker room issue with an albatross of a contract, will the Rays really tolerate Burrell in the lineup much? If they do, the 33-year-old free agent-to-be is liable to play back to 25-plus homer form. There's a lot of risk, though, obviously. Do take note that Burrell is one of the most streaky players in baseball, so he's a much better bet in roto leagues (or total points league that accumulate stats all season long) instead of head-to-head leagues (where he could kill you on any given week).

Griffey - The 40-year-old future Hall of Famer is on his last legs and won't play everyday. He's more on the Mariners as a figurehead than a productive hitter. Unless you want the 15-home run power -- at the expense of average -- really late in AL-only leagues, don't bother.

Jones - Similar power potential to Griffey with a much worse average. Plus, the White Sox figure to shuffle other players in and out of the DH-role as the season progresses. Pass here.