Aside from David Ortiz and Billy Butler, there isn't much of a reason to draft a designated hitter.

Yes, we have the Rangers' Michael Young ranked first below, but that is only because DH is his primary position. In fantasy, he should be eligible at first and third base, and you might even be able to play Young at second, where he appeared in 14 games last season.

Obviously, you're likely much better off playing the .338 hitter in the infield than having him eat up your utility position. That leaves us with Ortiz, Butler and ...

Kendrys Morales?

You might remember Morales from 2009, when he caught our attention by hitting .306 with 34 homers and 108 RBI. You likely recall him from 2010, when he was having another productive season (.290, 11 homers and 39 RBI in 193 at-bats) before he fractured his ankle in a celebration that followed his walkoff grand slam.

Last month, The Sports Xchange reported Morales has looked impressive in batting practice. The Angels clearly would love him to return to health, giving them an everyday DH and lineup protection for Albert Pujols.

If that's the case, Morales is a very interesting late-round fantasy pick. For now, though, we're skeptical -- he hasn't played since May 29, 2010. Then there is Mark Trumbo, who had 29 homers and 87 RBI as a rookie for the Angels last season.

With Pujols at first, there are only so many available at-bats for the likes of Morales, Trumbo and Bobby Abreu.

If Morales is healthy, he should be the regular, with Trumbo filling a utility role as a backup DH, first baseman and possibly even at third. Because Morales hasn't played in nearly two years, we'll give Trumbo a slight nod for now.

Note: All players are ranked at the positions at which they are expected to spend the most time in 2012, not all positions at which they are eligible. ... Stats are from 2011.

Rank, player, team R-HR-RBI-SB-Avg.
1. Michael Young, Rangers 88-11-106-6-.338
2. David Ortiz, Red Sox 84-29-96-1-.309
3. Billy Butler, Royals 74-19-95-2-.291
4. Mark Trumbo, Angels 65-29-87-9-.254
5. Kendrys Morales, Angels DNP
6. Johnny Damon, free agent 79-16-73-19-.261
7. Travis Hafner, Indians 41-13-57-0-.280
8. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays 70-17-55-8-.272
9. Vladimir Guerrero, free agent 60-13-63-2-.290
10. Adam Dunn, White Sox 36-11-42-0-.159

Key stats: Young's power went down in 2011, but his batting average and RBI were career highs. If he can reach his 2009 and '10 level of 22 and 21 home runs, while keeping his average well above .300 (it dipped to .284 in 2010), he is a fifth-round steal and undervalued on many sites.

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With the demand exceeded only by the buzz surrounding a supposed feud between the celebrity girlfriends of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, let's get one more Pick Three in before football dominates this space for the next five months.

Again, these players must be owned in fewer than half of the leagues on ESPN.com, and they should be assets in deep, mixed leagues.

-- Billy Butler, 1B, DH, Royals (owned in 14.7 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com): If the 23-year-old was eligible anywhere else, he'd be a highly sought commodity. Instead, his .300 batting average, 13 homers, 37 doubles and 59 RBI are good for only one-seventh of the leagues out there. Butler has been raking this month: .375 with two homers and 12 RBI in 48 at-bats. He's had two or more hits in seven of his last nine games, and he'd be a good fit in 12-team leagues in which you need an extra bat.

Butler has hit everywhere he's been (in 1,532 minor-league at-bats, he batted .336 with 73 homers, 333 RBI, 298 runs scored, 110 doubles and a .977 OPS), and not even the Royals can stop him from continuing that pattern.

-- Chris Coghlan, OF, Marlins (5.7 percent): The rookie was acquired on the waiver wire in one of the leagues in which I play, causing the requisite "Who?" from half the owners. Until we checked his stats. Coghlan is batting .285, and his 81-game totals (half a big-league season) are as follows: 48 runs, 16 doubles, six homers, 28 RBI, six steals and a .780 OPS. No. 3 outfielder numbers in a 12-team league? Not exactly, until you look at his August stats. This month, Coghlan is batting .460 (23-for-50) with 12 runs, one homer, eight RBI, a .526 on-base percentage and 1.166 OPS. He's had a hit in each of his 11 games and two or more hits nine times, including an eight-game run to start the month.

Looking at his minor-league numbers, we should expect more stolen bases (Coghlan had 72 in 302 games, including 34 in Class AA in 2008), a solid batting average and OPS, but not much power. In NL-only leagues, he's a definite starter, and he can help you if you're short in the outfield in deep, mixed leagues.

-- Pedro Martinez, SP, Phillies (8.7 percent): As I wrote in a previous blog, the 37-year-old former fantasy stud should not be viewed as a potential answer to any pitching problems your team might have. But I have been surprised with one aspect of Martinez's comeback with Philadelphia: Counting his three rehab starts in the minor leagues, he has struck out 21 batters in 17 1/3 innings. He fanned five in five innings in his 2009 big-league debut Wednesday, when he allowed three runs in a winning effort at the Cubs. Unlike John Smoltz's brief tenure with Boston, Martinez does appear to have something left. But there's also this: From 2007-09, Martinez has pitched 142 innings in 26 games. In that span, he's been an effective source of strikeouts (124, or 7.9 per nine innings), but his ERA (5.00) and WHIP (1.54) are terrible. Because he's backed by a Phillies offense that ranks in the top six in all of baseball in home runs (third), runs (fourth), on-base percentage (fifth) and OPS (sixth), Martinez should be a decent source of wins and strikeouts. If you're hurting in ERA and WHIP, though, you should look elsewhere.