Payday Performance: 5 Pending Free Agents to Target

While it's not a given (see: Desmond, Ian), many pending free agents have major walk years before signing massive contracts. Here are five you should keep an eye on during your fantasy drafts.

SP Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

If he's healthy and plays the full season, fantasy owners will be getting a bargain based on his ADP. As it is, he's the 15th pitcher off the board in mixed leagues - behind players like Gerrit Cole, who strikes out fewer batters, as well as Jose Fernandez and Matt Harvey, who also have injury histories.

Despite early-season struggles - Strasburg had a 6.55 ERA through the end of May and only pitched more than six innings once during that time - he rebounded down the stretch. In four September starts, he struck out 50 batters in only 30.1 innings. He pitched at least seven innings in all four starts.

He could easily be a top-5 SP in the National League in 2016 and is so far undervalued in most drafts. If Jeff Samardzija can parlay a poor season into a fairly lucrative deal, imagine what Strasburg will do.

1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays rescued Encarnacion from Cincinnati's scrap heap in exchange for Scott Rolen. Encarnaction became an immediate impact player in real life and in fantasy. In addition to the power (at least 34 home runs in four straight seasons), he has increased his batting average and overall consistency.

Rumblings that the Jays won't re-sign him have been abundant as fears of an imminent decline circle his narrative. Likely due to youth, fellow 1B Jose Abreu is going off draft boards just ahead of him.

The doubt seems unfounded, or unreasonably tied to his mediocre-to-poor seasons in Cincinnati - though he did hit 26 home runs there in 2008, the year before being traded to Toronto. Every year, Encarnacion is targeted as a potential bust and every year he hits mammoth dingers. He'll be streaky, but the end result will be huge.

Feel confident drafting him in the second round and absolutely pounce on him if he drops any further.

RF Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays

Even more so than Encarnacion, Bautista's career resurgence has become legendary. He's a free agent at season's end, but how could anyone picture him in another jersey? Bautista has cemented himself as next to godliness in Toronto, and is a mainstay in the first two rounds of mixed league drafts.

Cubs sophomore Kris Bryant is going off the board eight spots higher. Sure, baseball is a young man's game, but Bautista has shown the last two seasons that he's over the injuries that limited him in 2012 and 2013 - though 27 and 28 home runs, respectively, in injury-shortened campaigns is still solid.

Only Mike Trout and Nelson Cruz have more home runs over the last two seasons. Trout is the consensus No. 1 pick in fantasy. Cruz is going a round or two after Bautista. They're similar, as is Encarnacion, in that people just expect them to go away. Draft Bautista with confidence. Considering his contract expectations, a big season is likely on the way.

RP Aroldis Chapman, New York Yankees

Chapman may only spend one season in New York, though it's difficult to imagine them not dumping a truckful of money on his doorstep. The only thing that gets in the way of his value will be his off-the-field issues. A 30-game suspension to open the season will hurt, but only temporarily.

But it will also make him an excellent buy-low candidate for someone who didn't draft enough closers. At his best, he blows batters away with ease. He has a 15.40 K/9 for his career.

Drafting closers is risky because anything can happen, but Chapman is in a better position than in 2015 - and he was already a top relief pick in drafts. The Yankees project to be a better team than the Reds were a year ago and, as such, Chapman should get more opportunities to close out games.

CF Carlos Gomez, Houston Astros

Here is a dynamite bounce-back candidate even though his 2015 wasn't horrible. Gomez just didn't live up to sky-high expectations after back-to-back All-Star campaigns where he hit a total of 47 home runs while also stealing 74 bases. He managed only 12 home runs and 17 steals in 115 games between Milwaukee and Houston.

The hype has died and he will drop in mixed league drafts, anywhere from the fifth to the seventh round depending on format. It's recency bias. Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez dropped in ADP before the 2015 season and his 40-homer campaign caused him to leapfrog Gomez. A year ago, Gomez was easily considered the superior outfield option.

Gomez will not struggle to return value at his ADP. He should be going much earlier. But, while your competitors draft Yoenis Cespedes, Adam Jones and Lorenzo Cain, just hold off and snag Gomez a little later. He'll be a steal.