Every Sunday I'm going to look at whose fantasy baseball stock is up and whose is down. I'll try to ignore most of the fantasy studs since they're....well....already fantasy studs and try to focus on some of the guys whom  you don't always hear about. Particularly the one's whose stock is rising.

If you think I missed someone worthy of being mentioned here, please visit our forums section to let everyone know.
 

Jose Lopez - 2B - Seattle Mariners
Lopez has started 2008 scorching hot going 6 - 18 with 2 HR, 7 RBI and 1 SB. He's on pace for a miraculous .333 - 64 HR - 226 RBI - 32 SB!! Okay, so his numbers aren't going to end-up anywhere remotely close to those, but he's still on fire nonetheless. He plays for a team that's going to be in contention for the division crown all year long and will be arbitration eligible in 2009. So he's certainly got the motivation to continue to build on his nice start. In mixed leagues, pick him up and ride him while he's hot. AL only leagues, well, he should have already been owned but definitely pick him up if he's still available.

Xavier Nady - OF - Pittsburgh Pirates
RF Xavier Nady was on the trading block throughout the offseason and spring training, but now the Pirates are happy they kept him. Nady singled home the winning run in the 10th inning Thursday night as the Pirates took the rubber game of their season-opening, three-game series at Atlanta. Nady is hitting .381 with 2 HR and has 7 RBI already this season. He's obviously a solid OF in NL-Only formats and should be considered a #4 OF in mixed leagues.

Nate Mclouth - OF - Pittsburgh Pirates
My buddy has always been such a Nate McLouth guy. Every year he's like, "Dude, McLouth is gonna breakout this year." And, every year I laugh my ass off. Well, this year could be the year that McLouth actually does breakout. Or at least make himself worthy of being on your fantasy roster. So far McLouth is hitting .391 with 1 HR - 5 RBI- 2 SB. He won't be able to keep up this pace for the entire season, but he should be able to hit .300 with a couple of homers and a bunch of SB's over the next several weeks. Pick him up in all leagues.

Cliff Floyd - OF - Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Guess who will be a free agent at the end of the 2008 season? Floyd will certainly looking to get paid and given his injury history and inconsistent play, he'll need a solid season to cash-in. The 16 year veterean has always been capable of putting-up nice stats and there's no resaon to think he can't have a .285 - 30 HR - 95 RBI type year. Consider him a #4 OF in mixed leagues and #2 OF in AL-Only play.

Troy Tulowitzki - SS - Colorado Rockies
Last season's ROY has come out of the gates as cold as anyone in the league. I know it's early, but I warned you about a possible sophomore slump with the young slugger. He's hitting just .142 with ZERO homers or RBI and has scored only 1 run. There's no doubt that he'll eventually right the ship, but it could be a litter longer than expected beore Tulo finds his groove.

C.C. Sabathia - SP - Cleveland Indians
Did anyone think that last year's CY Young Award winner was going to stumble this badly out of the gates? In two starts against the White Sox and A's Sabathia's been consistently bad going 0-1 with a 7.59 ERA and 1.78 WHIP. I personally don't think he's as good as he was last year and that he'll end-up with an ERA in the high 3's and around 200K, which is still worthy of making him a Solid #2 or low-end #1 SP on your team. I expect him to turn things around soon but certainly not this week when he faces the A's again whom against he has a lifetime ERA  of 7.17.

Miguel Tejada - SS - Houston Astros
Once regarded as one of the top SS in fantasy baseball, Tejada has seen his numbers decline each year since 2004. He's gotten off to a slow start for his new team by hitting just .227 with 0 HR - 3 RBI thus far. He does play in a great hitters' park and has a nice lineup around him, but his best days may truly be behind him. My advice would be to hold onto him at this point since you probably invested a decent pick in him and wait until he goes on a hot streak. Then, get rid of him faster than Kansas jumped on North Carolina last night.

Jeremy Hermida - OF - Florida Marlins
The latest news is that Hermida did not  rejoin the big league roster when he was eligible to return from the diabled list yesterday. Apparently his hip injury is still bothering him and he could be a couple days away from returning. Hermida was a great sleeper pick heading into the season as he was slated to hit clean-up for the Marlins. Try to buy low on Hermida if a frustrated owner is willing to part with him. He has a ton of upside and could pay dividends for owners in all formats.