A critical part of draft season is finding value, and that value can present itself in a lot of different ways. Sometimes it's a prospect that the rest of your league missed or a pitcher that is about to make the jump from good to great, but in many cases, that value can be had simply by delving a little deeper into a player's stats and looking at more of their history than just last season.

Using this approach, an owner can often acquire "secret" stars that the rest of their league has forgotten about or missed entirely. In this case, Anthony Rendon may just be that player.

If you are looking for a breakout candidate that has a relatively high floor (assuming health), Rendon is your man. Rendon has bonafide star talent that can be had between rounds 8-10 of most drafts, making him a player to target.

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Anthony Rendon: Undervalued Draft Target?

Last year, Anthony Rendon hit .287 while knocking out 21 home runs, stealing 17 bases, driving in 83 RBIs, and scoring 111 runs. Sorry, that was actually in 2014, when Rendon finished 5th in the NL MVP race. Last year, Rendon only hit .270 while bopping 20 home runs, swiping 12 bags, driving in 85, and scoring 91 times. That difference of one homer, five steals, 20 runs, and 17 points off his batting average has taken him from 5th in the MVP voting to a current ADP of 98.5, according to FantasyPros' aggregated ADP data. That is an opportunity.

Rendon's 2016 was impressively similar to his 2014. From 2014 to 2016, the difference in his triple slash was just .017/.003/.023. His line drive rate was actually 0.2% higher in 2016, his HR/FB rate was only 0.4% lower, and his ISO was a mere .006 lower. His BB/K rate was actually the same both seasons, and he only made hard contact 1.3% less often than he did in 2014. Simply put, Rendon’s 2016 season was quite close to a carbon copy of his 2014 season. However, he’s gotten lost in the shuffle.

Currently, Rendon is projected to get worse in just about every way. Steamer predicts that Rendon is going to hit fewer home runs, drive in fewer runners, steal fewer bases, and score fewer runs than last year. The only thing he’s predicted to improve is his batting average. However, there isn’t a lot of reason to expect him to get worse. He’s only 26 years old, so he’s not over the hump yet. His BABIP was right in line with his career average, so there’s no reason to think that will change. His HR/FB rate, hard hit rate, line drive rate, strikeout rate, and walk rate were all similar to a previous season, so there’s no indication that anything was severely out of whack. Simply put, all the evidence points at him being able to at least reach his previous plateaus once again.

Now, the real question should be, “Will Rendon be able to improve?” The answer is that there’s a lot of potential there. His fly ball rate spiked last season at 43.8%, good for 16th most in the majors. Unfortunately, a lot of that spike seemed to be eaten up by infield flies, where his rate was 3.2% higher than ever before. If he can get the infield fly ball rate under control, his increased pull rate (highest of his career in 2016) could allow him to convert a few more flies to home runs. Hitting behind a hopefully healthy Bryce Harper would allow Rendon even more RBI chances than in 2016, and if Trea Turner were to struggle at all, Rendon could move back up in the order and see another spike in his run total.

There are a lot of small things that could happen that would result in Rendon having the best season of his career, but there are also plenty of "ifs" associated with these scenarios as well. One big concern is that he's already missed multiple seasons with injuries, and he just suffered a small one by fouling a pitch off his calf on March 27th. However, even without having those "ifs" go his way in 2016, he still was just barely off his 2014 pace. The biggest difference between the two seasons wasn't one of his measurable stats. It was simply the amount of attention he got. He returned to being a star. It just went unnoticed.

Rendon isn't a has-been who is trying to recapture the days of his youth. He's a 27-year-old former MVP candidate coming off a season that nearly mirrored the best year of his career, and he plays a premium position. He has some risk associated with him, but all players do, especially as a draft wears on. The chance to snag a player in their prime who can be a realistic MVP contender so late in the draft is one that owners should not pass up.