We are nearly three full weeks into the season and there are alot of surprising early performances.  The elite fantasy managers are analyzing these performances to find a trading edge with their less astute league managers.  Lets take a look at some off these players and what you can look forward to the rest of the way from them.

Torii Hunter - MIN - OF - Age: 29

Torii Hunter is leading the league in stolen bases with 10 thru just 17 games putting him on pace for 95 steals.  Obviously he will not maintain anywhere near this pace.  He is normally good for about 20-22 steals and a 75% success rate.  At age 29 he is right in that career peak age range and he might be a smarter basestealer but consider this, he likely has achieved 1/3 of his season steals total in 10% of the season.  He is probably good for an average of 1 SB each week for the rest of the season which puts him at a career high of 30.

Brian Roberts - BAL - 2B - Age: 27

Roberts has been the best surprise of the young fantasy season.  He has hit his 7th HR as I am writing this.  He was on pace for 57HR and 57SB at the start of the day.  Clearly this display of power will not be maintained for long.  He currently has a Fly ball rate totally inconsistent with any other season of his career.  He should be able to maintain his SB rate as he has improved his plate discipline significantly. 

Jason Lane - HOU - OF - Age: 28

Lane has already exceeded our SB projection for him.  He did show an ability to steal bases in the minors and it looks like he could be a surprise 20-20 player this year.  He has made great contact and is really driving the ball as evidenced by he 8 double and 4 HR.  He has had an extreme G/F ratio early and as that adjusts he will only knock even more doubles.  His one area to improve is his plate discipline, but if he keeps making contact that way he is now that is excusable.

Clint Barmes - COL - SS - Age: 26

Barmes has been amazing in the thing Colorado air posting a 1.641 OPS at Coors Field.  While that home stat line has received all the attention, he has quietly posted a .300 average on the road as well.  There is no way he can maintain an OPS this high and it might be a good time to trade him for a couple underperforming guys that will be mentioned later in the article.

Willy Taveras - HOU - OF - Age: 23

Taveras is getting alot of attention for his stolen base potential but there are some warning signs that his current steals pace will slow down.  He is only making contact at a 75% clip which is being masked by an extremely high hit%.  When that percentage drops to a normal level his OBP is going to drop significantly, and you can't steal a base if you don't get on to begin with.  Top it off with a poor BB/K ratio and he really doesn't belong in a leadoff spot.

MORE PLAYER NOTES

Todd Helton, COL - Hitting .271 right now, hasn't hit below .329 at any point this decade.  That means the batting average has got to be HUGE going forward.

Marcus Giles, ATL - Just got his first 2 RBI yesterday despite hitting .324 this season.  That number should move up fast.

Eric Chavez, OAK - Hitting .204 with only 4 RBI.  Has been very poor with men in scoring position, a fact that will correct itself over the course of the season.

Cristian Guzman, WAS - Guzman is not one of my favorite shortstops but he is alot better than a .148 hitter.  He normally hits around .270 which means he should be close to a .300 hitter over the rest of the year.

Victor Martinez, CLE - He is only hitting .220 but he is a natural hitter and will be among the top catchers in the league by the end of the year.  Look for him to heat up in the summer.  Last year he only hit .246 in April and look how the season worked out.

Steve Finley, ANA - Yes he is 40 years old, but he looks 28 physically.  He is a notoriously slow starter, hitting .229 in April over the last 3 seasons.  Look for him to heat up in May.

Vernon Wells, TOR - He has been playing thru a strained rib cage.  As he has been healing his results have been improving.  He is only hitting .214 on the season, but .254 the last 7 days.  Look for him to get healthy and heat up in May.

Richard Hidalgo, TEX - I like to call him Mr. Streaky.  He has been ice cold in April to the tune of a .188 average.  This leads us to expect a really hot May.  Watch for signs of heat and play him till he cools off.  Hidalgo is a great fantasy player if you have someone to platoon him with.

Aaron Rowand, CHW - Our breakout pick of the year is trying to make us look bad hitting .224 this year but I will not be fooled a second time.  Last year I drafted him but cut him after he hit .226 in April.  Do not make the same mistake I made, hold on to him and ride out this slow start.  He will make up for it in the summer.

John Patterson, WAS - A young and talented pitcher who has posted perfect PQS scores in each of his starts this season.  He is still available in many leagues but won't be for long.

Jon Lieber, PHI - His 4-0 start makes him the clear cut Ace in Philly.

Pedro Astacio, TEX - Astacio is off to a hot start in Texas but don't be fooled.  He hasn't won more than 12 games since 1999 and he posted a 5.04 ERA that season.  Trade him while he is hot.

Oliver Perez, PIT - He did not get in enough work this spring training and it is killing him so far.  His velocity is not all the way back and when he tries to blow a pitch by a hitter he overthrows and loses control of it.  He will probably get hot in late May or June but be careful with him for the next couple weeks.

MIDDLE RELIEVER VALUES

Rafeal Betancourt, CLE - 0.84 ERA, 0.28 WHIP, could replace Bob Wickman as Closer.

Cliff Politte, CHW - 11K in 6.2 IP

Rudy Seanez, SD - 12K in 9.1 IP

Al Reyes, STL - 12K in 6.1 IP