January is a sad time for a lot of us. It’s that unfulfilling beginning of a three-month hole in between fantasy football and fantasy baseball. Unless you play in a hoops league, it’s your offseason, your winter vacation. The guys will quietly return to the diamond in about seven weeks, and Spring Training will begin. The rosters on those teams in March will be chock full of unheralded talent that will find themselves in the minor leagues in the near future. Some of them have a chance to survive the cut though.

In this edition of Minor League Spotlight, we’ll give our predictions of some players to keep an eye on that could make an impact right away.

Ryan Zimmerman, 3B Nationals – Zimmerman flew through the minor league ranks and appears to be “major league ready” at the tender age of 21. He was finishing his three-year dominant run at University of Virginia in June of 2005. Taken fourth overall, he flew up the minors and finished the year by hitting .397 with the major league club in 20 games, including .429 (15-for-35) with five doubles in the final eight games of the season. The Nationals have essentially given him the starting third base position to enter the season, getting rid of Vinny Castilla. Zimmerman is a pure baseball player, a natural at the game. He’s slick with the glove and will play everyday. The kid has decent speed, but lacks power still. He’s so young, though – he’ll develop some pop in the next few years.

Jeremy Hermida, OF Florida – With Florida’s off-season fire sale, it is clearly giving some of the its younger players the opportunity for big roles. In the final four games of the Marlins season, Hermida went 8-for-14 with three HR and six RBI. He’ll open up as their starting right fielder and will play a prominent role this year. Like it or not, guys like Josh Willingham, Hanley Ramirez and Mike Jacobs will too. Keep an eye out for Hermida – he’s the guy that smacked a pinch-hit grand slam off Al Reyes in his first major league at-bat…The centerfield spot for the Fish could go to rookie Eric Reed – he’s got crazy speed and could become a decent leadoff or number two-hitter…Dan Uggla could win the second base duties too – he’s a .300-caliber hitter.

Brian Anderson, CF White Sox – Anderson has the center field position essentially locked for this upcoming season. Aaron Rowand’s move to Philly in exchange for Jim Thome made Anderson the man. He made a little name for himself last season when he smacked two homers off phenom Felix Hernandez. That’s really all Anderson did in his brief tenure in the closing months. He’s got a little bit of speed and a little bit of pop, but will get everyday at-bats. Anderson hit .301 in his minor league career with modest power numbers. He’ll be 23 years old and will make rookie mistakes, but he’ll be a big piece of the Champs' repeat run. Consider Anderson a decent late-round sleeper.

Jeff Mathis, C Anaheim – Depending on the fate of Bengie Molina, Mathis could be in store for major playing time with the Angels in '06. He could be in a platoon with Jose Molina. Mathis will be 23 this season and could be a monster in the game a few years down the road. At the catcher position, he’s definitely one of the top couple of prospects from a fantasy perspective. Mathis smacked 21 long balls at Triple-A and he calls a decent game, but still needs to learn a lot, so the Angels will ease him along. He’s definitely a decent late-round gamble as a second fantasy catcher on Draft Day, though. However, if Bengie stays, Mathis’ role will be decreased significantly again. But Molina will need to take a major pay cut if he’s going to stick around.

Late-Season Call-ups

Andy Marte, 3B Boston – The slugging third baseman was acquired by the Red Sox this offseason in exchange for Edgar Renteria. He still needs a little more fine tuning in the minor leagues, but could get a chance if Mike Lowell struggles…Ian Stewart, 3B Colorado – The kid at the hot corner is scary good and whenever someone of his caliber comes up with Colorado, you need to watch out for them. Stewart has averaged 24 HR and 93 RBI the past two seasons and could arrive late in the year if Garrett Atkins struggles…Brandon Wood could be the next Alex Rodriguez. He’s got incredible power. In fact, he led the minors with 43 home runs last season and then set a Arizona Fall League record 14 home runs afterwards. Take him in keeper leagues.