Projections are in the standard 5 x 5 fantasy baseball categories for hitters and pitchers. The guide will be updated every week until the start of Opening Day so you will always have on hand the most current projections and player listings as you prepare for baseball draft or auction. In addition to projections and write-ups, it also includes:

• Auction Values for 15-team mixed leagues
• Auction Values for 12-team AL-only leagues
• Auction Values for 13-team NL-only leagues
• Player rankings for all positions with write-ups
• Position eligibility for 10 and 20 game leagues
• Hitters ages as of opening day

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From a fantasy standpoint, there should be little change to the value of Fielder with the move to the American League. The big winner in the signing is Cabrera who will now see time at third base, first base and designated hitter. While it might take Cabrera a few weeks to gain third base eligibility once the season starts, it puts him in discussion now for being the number one overall pick in fantasy drafts.

The only real question with Cabrera now shifting to third base, is where is Fielder going to hit in the lineup. Cabrera has been entrenched at cleanup so Fielder would fit nicely into the third spot in the order and provide a nice lefty-right split between the three and four hitters in the order.

It also helps Austin Jackson keep his value if he hits first in the order again as he was looking at a drop in runs scored with the loss of Martinez from the order. Now with Fielder in a run-producing spot in the lineup, Jackson’s value goes back to where it was pre-Martinez’s injury.

Boston has depth at that position with Mike Aviles and Nick Punto expected to split time at the position until prospect Jose Iglesias is ready to take over on a permanent basis. Punto has value as a $1 end game pick in AL-only auctions if you need to get 10-15 stolen bases from an infield spot. Aviles figures to see time against left-handed pitching after hitting .318 against southpaws in 85 at bats in 2011.

For the Rockies, this solves their dilemma at second base and also give Scutaro a slight bump in value with the move to Coors Field, plus he is expected to hit second in the Colorado lineup which should give him a boost in runs scored as well.

Losers in the trade from a fantasy perspective are Jonathan Herrera, D.J. LeMahieu  and Eric Young Jr. who were all looking to get time at second base this season and now all three are guaranteed of a reserve role.

There is no change in fantasy value for the Colorado outfield since Smith figured to be the odd man out with the signing of Michael Cuddyer. The deal of Smith does free up a few more at bats for Tyler Colvin, Eric Young Jr. or Charlie Blackmon in a reserve outfield role. Moscoso figures to be the fourth starter for the Rockies, but his value takes a hit with the move to Coors Field leaving him as a NL-only play. Outman figures to be nothing more than insurance at Triple-A in case an injury strikes at the major league level.

Oakland signed Bartolo Colon to a one-year contract to fill in the gaps in their rotation making him a candidate to start on Opening Day, but there is little upside for his win total with a weak offense behind him and an unsettled bullpen. The Colon signing means that recently acquired starting pitchers Tom Milone or Brad Peacock could begin the season in the minor leagues.

Pineda went 9-10 in his rookie season with a 3.74 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 171 innings and will slot nicely in behind CC Sabathia as the number two starter in the Yankees rotation. Campos pitched in Short-Season Class A at age 19 and went 5-5 with a 2.32 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings.

The Yankees made another move to bolster their rotation by signing free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year, $10 million contract. The 36-year-old Kuroda will slot into the number three spot in the Yankees rotation making a mediocre rotation before tonight suddenly very strong and deep with Ivan Nova as the fourth starter and Freddy Garcia, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes battling it out for the 5th starter role. Kuroda collected 13 wins in 2011 while posting a 3.07 ERA with 161 strikeouts in 202 innings.

For a Mariners team that was punchless the last couple of seasons, Montero becomes the top power bat in their lineup at the age of 22. Montero hit .328 in 61 at bats with Yankees last season with four home runs and 12 RBI. Noesi pitched 56 1/3 innings in the bullpen for New York in 2011, posting a 4.47 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings. He is currently pitching in the Dominican Winter League where he has pitched 46 2/3 inning as a starter with a 2.70 ERA and 27 strikeouts.

This was an old school baseball trade and it will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next couple of seasons. For now, I think the Yankees are big winners in the deal since they get Pineda who they can control for several years and they can easily find a designated hitter to fill the role of Montero, say a Johnny Damon or Vladimir Guerrero . From Seattle’s perspective, if Montero was a defensive stalwart at catcher in addition to the bat he brings to the table, I can see how that helps but if he is strictly going to be a designated hitter for his career, I think they came up a little short in the deal. The Mariners I am sure are counting on some of their young pitching prospects like Danny Hultzen or James Paxton to be ready this season to help offset the loss of Pineda in the rotation.

Reddick will start in right field for the Oakland A’s and should hit close to the middle of the order given the lack of offensive talent in the lineup. Reddick has a .248 batting average in 375 major league at bats with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. Reddick turns 25 in February and will post a low average with some power which gives him value in AL-only leagues. Since he was expected to start for the Red Sox before being traded, there is really no change to his fantasy value except for less runs and RBI playing in a weaker lineup.

For fantasy baseball purposes, the biggest ramifications is in the Oakland bullpen which will now have a new closer in 2012. Veteran Brian Fuentes is still under contact for the A’s and posted 12 saves in 2011 filling in for Bailey and will see opportunities in the closer role unless he is dealt as part of the off-season purging. Grant Balfour will also see some chances to close after posting two consecutive seasons of a sub 2.50 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He has averaged closed to a strikeout per inning and his batting average against dropped for a third consecutive season.

For Oakland, the trades of Trevor Cahill and Gonzalez now leaves the Athletics with a top starting pitcher of Guillermo Moscoso, though Peacock and Milone should both be good candidates to break spring training in the A’s rotation. The left-handed Milone had five starts at the end of the season with the Nationals, posting a 3.81 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. For his minor league career, Milone had a 3.05 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP and 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

Right-handed starting pitcher Brad Peacock saw 12 innings of work with the Nationals last September and had a breakout season across two levels in the minor leagues with a 2.01 ERA in AA and a 3.19 ERA in Triple-A after his promotion. In 146 2/3 innings, Peacock struck out 176 batters with a 16-3 record. From a fantasy ranking, I prefer Peacock over Malone with his ability to miss bats and rack up strikeouts.

Norris figures to spend 2012 at Triple-A after hitting .210 at AA Harrisburg with 20 home runs and 46 RBI. It was the second consecutive season of a batting average drop for Norris who has already shown the type of plate discipline that the A’s management team likes with 344 walks and 421 strikeouts in his minor league career to date.

Cole was a 4th round selection in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft and completed the season at High-A in 2011. He had a 4.04 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP while striking out 108 in 89 innings. In most organizations he would likely be 2-3 years away but given the lack of solid starters in the A’s rotation it is conceivable he could see time in 2013.

Alonso was blocked by Joey Votto in Cincinnati and now is the favorite to start the year at first base in San Diego. Alonso becomes a nice late round sleeper pick in mixed league formats now that he finally has a full-time job. Alonso should be in the .280 range with 17-20 home runs on the season in 2012. The move causes a ripple effect in San Diego as first base prospect Anthony Rizzo now could be on the trade block with the arrival of Alonso.

For Volquez, there is not going to be much change in his value with the move to PETCO Park unless he is able to fix his control issues. Since his breakout season in 2008, Volquez has posted a walk rate of 5.8, 5.0 and 5.4 per nine innings over the last three seasons.

Boxberger gives the Padres a possible closer candidate in the wake of losing Heath Bell via free agency. Boxberger tallied 11 saves across two minor league levels in 2011 while striking out 93 hitters in 62 innings. Grandal will likely start the season at AA or AAA for the Padres. He played at two minor league levels in 2011 and for his minor league career of 402 at bats, he has a .303 batting average with 14 home runs and 69 RBI.

For the Padres, they need Volquez to pitch closer to his 2008 level and they need to be able to flip Rizzo for another solid piece in order for them to break even or come out ahead on this trade. For the Reds, they were dealing from a position of strength with the depth of their farm system and they upgraded their major league staff so for now, I think the Reds got the better end of the deal.

Melancon converted 20 of 25 saves opportunities in 2011 while posting a 2.78 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Currently he would figure to close for the Red Sox in 2012, but the team is still pursuing other trade options and Bard could still end up as closer if the transition to the rotation does not go as planned. If I had to make a bet, I would predict that Melancon will not lead the Red Sox in saves in 2012.

For the Astros, Lowrie figures to move into the starting shortstop role and should be able to hit 15-20 home runs given 500 at bats over the course of a full season. His batting average is going to be the question until he can solve right-handed pitching, as he has hit just .214 in his career against them with eight home runs in 529 at bats. Compare that to the damage he has done against southpaws in 279 at bats where he has batted .326 with 11 long balls.

Weiland struggled in his first major league action in 2011, posting a 7.66 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. A relief pitcher in college at Notre Dame, Weiland has moved up the ladder each season since he was a third round pick in 2008. He has a career 3.51 ERA in the minor leagues, but lik emost younger pitchers, he still needs work on his control with 3.4 walks per nine innings. Weiland will likely start the season in Triple-A unless the team moves Brett Myers or Wandy Rodriguez in a trade.

If Brandon Lyon is healthy, he will likely have first shot at closing with Melancon out of the picture. Lyon was 20-for-22 in save chances in 2010 and has converted 78 of 107 save opportunities in his career.

Speaking of Ryan Braun, if he is out the first 50 games of the season, what does that mean for his fantasy value? If we cut 1/3 of his stats from last season, he doesn’t fall as much as you might think by missing that much time. For the final 2011 fantasy baseball rankings, Braun would have ended up ranked 17th in the outfield, just after Mike Stanton which bumps him down a few rounds in fantasy baseball drafts, but not to the middle of the draft like some fantasy owners might have been hoping for.

The signing of Ramirez made last season’s starting third basemen Casey McGehee expendable so the Brew Crew traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for relief pitcher Jose Veras. Even with the signing of Ramirez it looked like McGehee might get a shot at first base to replace Prince Fielder, but with the trade it looks like Mat Gamel will head to spring training as the favorite to start at first base which gives Gamel some sleeper value in 2012.

McGehee gives the Pirates several options in the infield as he can serve as security at third base if Pedro Alvarez falters again or he could serve as a platoon partner with Garrett Jones at first base.