Remember in Major League when Rick Vaughn came out to the song Wild Thing? Now, remember when Rick Ankiel did his best Rick Vaughn (pre-wire rimmed glasses) and completely lost his confidence and eye for the plate. It was one of the saddest things you've seen in baseball. Ankiel couldn't find the strike and threw pitches all the way to the back stop, in the postseason no less. Well, that same Ankiel, now only 28, put his athletic ability to work for him. Last year, he made his debut in the majors as an outfielder for the Cardinals.

In only 47 games for the Cards, Ankiel hit 11 HRs and drove in 39 runs while hitting .285. Very, very impressive for a converted pitcher. The big knock on Ankiel is that, since he is still a "new" hitter, his eye is bad and he's prone to swing at bad pitches, which accounts for his 42 Ks last year.  This season, Ankiel will have an everyday job with the Cardinals and manager Tony LaRussa has expressed enormous confidence in Ankiel as a hitter. He's working in Spring Training on developing more discipline at the plate and trying to take pitches. If he can accomplish this, the sky is the limit.

Even so, Ankiel is a major sleeper candidate in all league formats. I just drafted him in round 22 of our mock draft. For this late, he could be quite a find. Some fantasy sites have Ankiel projected to hit 30+ HRs and drive in over 90 runs. Consider that his combined MLB and AAA season in 2007 was 43 HRs/128 RBIs, I would say this Wild Thing can make a fantasy owner's heart sing.