FanHouse

New Studs takes a look at players ready to make the leap from "possibly productive fantasy player" to "must-have fantasy stud." This is not a "you've never heard of this dude, but ... " series -- these should be names you already know.

Coming into the season, I was as skeptical as anyone -- being a Cubs fan -- concerning Geovany Soto's breakthrough 2007 campaign. Prior to 2007, Soto had only 25 career jacks in nearly 1600 at-bats in the minors. He never OPSed higher than 750, and his career minor league batting average was .262.

Of course, in 2007 he absolutely destroyed the Pacific Coast League with a .353 average, 1076 OPS, 26 HRs, and 109 RBIs in only 110 games. He even crushed the ball in the show once he was recalled to the tune of a 1048 OPS with five bombs and 23 RBI in only 28 games.

So we knew he was capable, but what about consistency (you know Joe Morgan was worried about it)? 2007, after all, could easily have been an outlier instead of a breakthrough campaign. We've seen fluky seasons before.

It wasn't one of those, though. It was a beginning.

What happened? Well, he grew up and learned the game in addition to shedding a ton of excess baggage ... the kind that you carry in the love handles region. He came into the Cubs farm system at age 18 from San Juan, Puerto Rico and attempted to grow into the game throughout his first six minor league seasons with little success at the plate. In season seven he showed up 20 pounds lighter and was now an experienced age 24.

After his late season and playoff -- he hit the only Cubs home run in the NLDS -- performances the Cubs decided to completely hand the reins of catcher to the power-hitting 25 year-old and he has not disappointed. Monday night he dropped his sixth bomb of the season while going 3-3 total ... raising his team-leading average to .352 in the process.

And he's not just getting the stats, he's absolutely stinging balls. Having the pleasure to watch him everyday, it's evident that last year was no joke. Other than the eight-strikeouts-in-a-row disaster in Washington, he's been raking all season even when he gets out. I can remember at least three balls in week 1 in Wrigley that would have been homers had the crisp Wrigley wind not been screaming in.

Finally, there's this: he's a catcher. You know how many fantasy catchers I'd rather have than Soto right now? One. Russell Martin, and only because he steals bases -- and I'll tell you what: that gap is closing with Martin only having two swipes to this point. There's no way Geo's a sell-high candidate because he's still underrated. I'd guess right about now you'll find people that would rather own Victor Martinez (only 1 homer), Joe Mauer (no HRs or steals), Brian McCann (actually, I'd accept this argument), and Jorge Posada if he was healthy (not healthy and not young).

Just as Stanley said when he was selecting a partner in The Office's sales calls episode:

"I'll take the kid."

You do the same, if there's a way to get him with his current owner attempting to sell high ... especially in keeper leagues. He's only 25, and the windy city skyline is the limit.