Who are the hottest fantasy baseball hitters right now? Here are five hitters who are on fire and can help lead any fantasy team to victory:

1. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
For much of the 2009 fantasy baseball season, Albert Pujols has been on fire. In the last month, he has really, really been hitting well. In that time period, he has nine homers, 31 RBIs and 23 runs.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
Hanley Ramirez has started to hit his stride. In the last month, the Marlins superstar has six homers, 15 runs, 33 RBIs and four stolen bases.

3. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
While he’s had a number of rocky moments this fantasy season, Tulowitzki has started to put it all together. In the last month, he has eight homers, 24 runs, 17 RBIs and seven stolen bases.

4. B.J. Upton, Tampa Bay Rays
Coming into the 2009 fantasy baseball season, many experts believed B.J. Upton was the biggest sleeper in the game. In the last 30 days, he has started to show that potential for the Rays. Most notable are his 13 steals during that time period.

5. Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants
In the last month, Pablo Sandoval has done a great job of getting on base. His on-base percentage of .440 is impressive — as are hs nine homers, 24 RBIs and 17 runs.

Albert Pujols is a fantasy baseball stud (Image: Zuma Press)

Antonio McDyess has agreed to join the San Antonio Spurs. He’ll likely be listed as the center next to the powerful starting lineup that could contain Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson. McDyess’ deal is reportedly for three years and approximately $15 million.

Last season, McDyess averaged 9.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. He hit also 51% of his shots from the field during the regular season.

On the Spurs, McDyess has a chance to win his first NBA championship ring. However, fantasy basketball wise, this probably isn’t the best news for fantasy owners. Gregg Popovich and the Spurs usually limit the minutes of their players — which also limits fantasy production.

On top of that McDyess will mostly be a fourth or fifth option offensively in San Antonio. The best case scenario for fantasy owners is that he keeps up his rebounding and scoring rates while his minutes drop to around 25 per game.

McDyess should be a safe fantasy performer but don’t expect him to match last season’s numbers.

Fantasy baseball owners aren’t going to be happy with Ryan Dempster. The starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs is headed to the disabled list as he hurt himself while trying to celebrate a win.

Dempster was trying to jump over the railing in front of the dugout on Sunday when he ended up breaking his big toe on his right foot.

“I was coming out of the dugout,” explained Dempster, “stepping over the top of the railing there, sitting up on the ledge, and caught my left foot on the rail as I was coming over and it spun me around and slammed me into the ground.”

The Cubs expect Dempster to be out as long as four weeks, although he could return after three weeks.

After a great season last year, Dempster hasn’t been as impressive in the 2009 fantasy baseball season. He has a 4.09 ERA to go along with a 5-5 record. Be sure to keep him out of your lineup until the beginning of August.

Ryan Dempster Freak Accident (Image: Zuma Press)

The Dallas Mavericks are reportedly going after Shawn Marion of the Toronto Raptors. To try to acquire him, Dallas is offering the expiring contract of Jerry Stackhouse in what would be a sign-and-trade deal.

On the Mavs, Marion would likely start alongside Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowtizki and Marcin Gortat. That would give the Mavs a deep starting lineup with capable players at each position.

Marion used to be one of the best all-around players in the game but he has slowed down the last few years. Since leaving the Phoenix Suns, his fantasy stats have suffered massively. Specifically, his scoring, rebounding and three-point shooting have gone way south.

With the Mavs, there a chance that his stats could recover. Playing with Jason Kidd would be a perfect fit for Marion, who is more of a finisher than a creator.

In terms of fantasy basketball, this would be good news for Marion. He’d have limited pressure and could go back to being an all-around assassin.

Now that the Portland Trail Blazers have missed out on signing Hedo Turkoglu (Turkoglu decided to sign with the Toronto Raptors after verbally agreeing to join the Blazers), the Blazers will be forced to move on in free agency. On target that has reportedly shot to the top of the list is David Lee.

Lee, who has spent his first four season in the NBA with the New York Knicks, would give the Blazers some toughness down in the low blocks. When the Blazers lost to the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, a lack of toughness was one of the main reasons. Lee would be able to address that weakness.

However, looking at it with fantasy basketball in mind, Lee to the Blazers doesn’t help his fantasy value. With LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla already on the roster, where doe Lee fit in? Would he be happy coming off the bench? Would the Blazers think about going big and moving Aldridge to small forward?

If Lee signs with the Blazers, go ahead and lower his fantasy value until we get some answers. Last season, Lee averaged 16 points and 11.7 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per game. With Portland, Lee’s numbers would are sure to go down.

The Dallas Mavericks have needed more size and strength in recent years. On Thursday, they addressed that need by getting a commitment from Marcin Gortat. The native of Poland spent the first two years of his NBA career backup up Dwight Howard on the Orlando Magic.

The contract the Mavs will reportedly give Gortat is the entire mid-level exception. Over five years, Gortat is expected to make more than $30 million. Due to Gortat being a restricted free agent, the Magic will have a chance to match the contract offer.

Last year, Gortat averaged 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 12.6 minutes.

In fantasy basketball, Gortat will be a boom or bust type player. His per-minute numbers suggest he’s a very good rebounder and shot blocker. However, it’s risky depending on per-minute numbers.

If Gortat is the starting center for the Magic, he very well could be worth a look in the mid rounds of a fantasy basketball draft next year simply based on his potential.

On the first day of free agency, the Detroit Pistons had already reportedly agreed to terms with Ben Gordon. Later in the day, the Pistons landed their second players — Charlie Villanueva. According to various reports, Villanueva will receive a contract worth about $7 million per year over five years.

For fantasy basketball purposes, Villanueva’s value goes up following this move. It appears as if he’s finally found a team willing to invest in him and give him the opportunity he needs to succeed. In a per-minute basis, Villanueva has always put good numbers on the board.

Last year, Villanueva averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in only 26.9 minutes per game. Stretch that to 40 minutes and Villanueva would be putting up 24.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

With the Pistons, expect Villanueva to play power forward. At 6-foot-11, he has the size to play the position. His all-around offensive game should allow him to flourish. Heading into the 2009-10 fantasy basketball season, he’s definitely a sleeper to explode onto the scene.

If you have a dynasty fantasy basketball team that features Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, you received some bad news on Monday. Yao, according to various reports, could miss the entire season next year. In fact, there are some that think that Yao’s career could be over.

What do you do if you have Yao in a dynasty league? The best idea is to hold onto him. No one is going to give you a fair deal right now and selling low is usually a losing strategy in fantasy basketball.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a player who had years of trouble with his feet but was able to eventually return to action and has become a durable option as of late. Perhaps Yao can go down that same path and bounce back from his feet trouble. It might be unlikely but there’s definitely still hope.

In a redraft, Yao isn’t draftable unless it sounds as if he’ll return at some point. Keep an eye on the Yao Ming news.

A lot of the star fantasy baseball starting pitchers got off to slow starts. However, in the month of June, there are a lot of star starting pitchers who have warmed up with the summer heat. Here is a look at the best fantasy starting pitchers this month:

1. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
In June, Hernandez has been practically untouchable. In five starts, he has a 0.94 ERA and a record of 3-0. In 38.1 innings, he has 35 strikeouts and has given up only 25 hits.

2. Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox
Beckett got off to a quick start and the began to slump. In June, that slump is over. In five starts, he is 4-1 with a 1.51 ERA. He has 35 strikeouts in 35.2 innings and has only given up 25 hits and four walks.

3. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
In many fantasy baseball drafts, Lincecum was the first player off the board. He’s now showing why. In five June starts, he has a 1.82 ERA to go along with a 3.1 record. In 39.2 innings pitched, he has 40 strikeouts.

4. Kevin Millwood, Texas Rangers
Millwood is no doubt the most surprising name on the list. He’s having a very good season for the Rangers and June has been no different. He has a 1.30 ERA in the month and a record of 4-1.

5. Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks
Haren has a June ERA of 1.70. In 37 innings, he has 33 strikeouts and has given up only 19 hits and five walks. His season ERA of 2.25 and WHIP of 0.81 has him as an NL Cy Young award favorite.

Now that we’ve had time to digest the 2009 NBA Draft, we can now start pointing out potential rookie sleepers for the 2010 fantasy basketball season. Here are some sleeper rookies to keep an eye on:

Sam Young, Memphis Grizzlies
In the 2009 NBA Draft, Young fell to the second round mostly due to his age. At 24, he wasn’t a very exciting prospect. But he could come in right away and play for the Grizzlies.

DeJuan Blair, San Antonio Spurs
Young’s teammate at Pittsburgh also fell to the second round. Blair’s issue were a pair of bad knees. But with the Spurs, there’s a chance that he could play a lot of minutes next to Tim Duncan.

Patrick Beverley, Miami Heat
The Heat got a good year out of Mario Chalmers but Beverley could push him for minutes. Beverley has great energy and his defense should make him a favorite in Miami.

Chase Budinger, Houston Rockets
Budinger undoubtedly has first round talent. But due to his questionable work ethic and toughness, he fell to the Rockets in the second round. If he can capitalize on his talent, Budinger could surprise.

Robert Dozier, Miami Heat
Although Dozier was the last pick of the draft, Dozier fell into a very good spot with the Heat. The Heat desperately need bigs and keep on eye on whether Dozier can carve out a niche with the Heat.