Fantasy Baseball 2010: My Top 150
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It’s March 18th and we’re in the middle of Spring Training. I have compiled a list of my
1. Hanley Ramirez, FLA 5-category stud, plays at scarce position, so gets nod over Pujols. 2. Albert Pujols, STL 3. Alex Rodriguez, NYY 4. Ryan Braun, MIL 5. Matt Kemp, LAD 6. Prince Fielder, MIL 7. Chase Utley, PHI 8. Miguel Cabrera, DET 9. Mark Teixeira, NYY 10. Evan Longoria, TB 11. Roy Halladay, PHI Should dominate the National League, earning him Top Pitcher honours. 12. Joe Mauer, MIN 13. Troy Tulowitzki, COL Underrated 5-category gem, read my article on him at Bleacher Report. 14. Tim Lincecum, SF 15. Carl Crawford, TB 15. Ryan Howard, PHI 16. David Wright, NYM 17. Felix Hernandez, SEA 18. Matt Holliday, STL 19. CC Sabathia, NYY 20. Justin Upton, ARI Don’t take him earlier, I’d be happy with his numbers from last year, don’t expect a .300/40/100/30 SB season quite yet. 21. Ichiro Suzuki, SEA 22. Zach Greinke, KC 23. Robinson Cano, NYY He should put up a great average with other solid numbers across the board, a great asset to have. 24. Grady Sizemore, CLE 25. Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS 26. Adrian Gonzalez, SD 27. Ian Kinsler, TEX 28. Ryan Zimmerman, WAS 29. Derek Jeter, NYY 30. Dustin Pedroia, BOS 31. Pablo Sandoval, SF 32. Brandon Phillips, CIN 33. Dan Haren, ARI 34. Jimmy Rollins, PHI 35. Joey Votto, CIN 36. Cliff Lee, SEA He should play great with Seattle’s superb defense and cavernous park, a similar campaign to 2008 isn’t out of the question. 37. Brian McCann, ATL 38. Adam Lind, TOR 39. Jayson Werth, PHI 40. Jon Lester, BOS 41. Kevin Youkilis, BOS 42. Justin Verlander, DET 43. Carlos Lee, HOU 44. Andre Ethier, LAD 45. Victor Martinez, BOS 46. Brian Roberts, BAL 47. Aramis Ramirez, CHC 48. Kendry Morales, LAA 49. Jason Bay, NYM 50. Adam Wainwright, STL 51. Johan Santana, NYM 52. Chris Carpenter, STL 53. Nick Markakis, BAL 54. Mark Reynolds, ARI 55. Justin Morneau, MIN 56. Curtis Granderson, NYY 57. Bobby Abreu, LAA 58. Aaron Hill, TOR 59. Yovani Gallardo, MIL 60. Mariano Rivera, NYY 61. Ben Zobrist, TB 62. Bill Butler, KC If you don’t have a first baseman yet, don’t worry, take the underrated Butler who should put up a great average with good power numbers. 63. Josh Johnson, FLA 64. Jonathan Broxton, LAD 65. Adam Jones, BAL 66. Shin-Soo Choo, CLE 67. Josh Beckett, BOS I rank him higher than most because he’s a sure thing. You need a dependable pitcher than will put up solid numbers. 68. Adam Dunn, WAS 69. B.J. Upton, TB 70. Chone Figgins, SEA 71. Torii Hunter, LAA 72. Shane Victorino, PHI 73. Jonathan Papelbon, BOS 74. Jose Reyes, NYM 75. Lance Berkman, HOU 76. Manny Ramirez, LAD Manny is certainly capable of one last .300/30/100 season and if he plays 160 games, you should expect that out of him. 77. Cole Hamels, PHI After being a minor disappointment last year, everyone’s raving about him this spring. Any improvement would warrant reward for taking him this high and really, he should improve mightily. 78. Gordon Beckham, CWS 79. Tommy Hanson, ATL 80. Derrek Lee, CHC 81. Javier Vazquez, NYY 82. Nelson Cruz, TEX 83. Matt Cain, SF 84. Josh Hamilton, TEX 85. Hunter Pence, HOU 86. Joakim Soria, KC 87. Matt Wieters, BAL 88. Francisco Rodriguez, NYM 89. Raul Ibanez, PHI 90. Carlos Beltran, NYM 91. Elvis Andrus, TEX 92. Ricky Nolasco, FLA 93. Johnny Damon, DET 94. Michael Young, TEX 95. Jake Peavy, CWS 96. Jay Bruce, CIN 97. Ubaldo Jimenez, COL 98. Jason Bartlett, TB 99. Howie Kendrick, LAA 100. Denard Span, MIN He hits for a .300+ average and will put up solid numbers everywhere else. Great value. 101. Andrew McCutchen 102. Wandy Rodriguez, HOU 103. Brandon Webb, ARI 104. Jose Lopez, SEA The last of the second basemen that will benefit your fantasy team. If you don’t have anyone so far, take Lopez, a given .280/25/90 player. 105. Andrew Bailey, OAK 106. Huston Street, COL 107. Carlos Quentin, CWS 108. Clayton Kershaw, LAD A superb ERA last season, just got unlucky with his run support. People say he’s overrated, but if he puts up the same ratios as last season, he certainly should win 15+ games. 109. Carlos Pena, TB 110. Scott Baker, MIN 111. Nate McLouth, ATL 112. Chad Billingsley, LAD 113. John Lackey, BOS 114. Francisco Cordero, CIN 115. Alex Rios, CWS 116. Brad Hawpe, COL An uber-consistent outfielder that has put up at least .283/22/84 each of the last 4 seasons. Just take him and cross out your 3rd outfield spot, he’s a constant. 117. Heath Bell, SD 118. Adrian Beltre, BOS 119. Carlos Gonzalez, COL 120. Jose Valverde, DET 121. Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE Thanks for reading! Please share your insight by leaving comments. |
Spring Training Notes: March 12
Shaun Marcum: Opening Day Starter?
It’s certainly looking as if Shaun Marcum may get the opening day nod, as he has a 0.00 ERA in Grapefruit League play through five innings of work. He has allowed only one hit in his two outings. Although this is a very small sample size, I think it proves that Shaun Marcum is back and ready to headline the staff as he was before he got injured. Look for him to get the start if he continues his excellence.
Kyle Drabek improves on previous start with a two-inning shutout against Phillies
Kyle Drabek, seen by many as the team’s #1 prospect, had a good second outing, blanking the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay blockbuster, so payback may have been on Drabek’s mind. An encouraging start to say the least.
Jose Bautista continues sizzling Spring Training
It’s going to be hard to demote Jose Bautista from the lead-off spot in the lineup, as he has been tearing it up this March. With 3 homers in 14 at-bats and a .643 average, he seems really motivated to start this year.
Roy Halladay: Best Blue Jay. Ever.
Harry Leroy Halladay III (or simply Roy) will
always have a special place in the hearts of Toronto Blue Jays fans.
Despite being born and raised in Denver and bearing a nickname derived
from a gunfighter of the western United States (Doc Holliday), Roy
Halladay has become synonymous with baseball in Canada’s largest city.
If
he wins enough games to get into baseball’s Hall of Fame, he will
almost surely wear a Blue Jays cap and go down as a Blue Jay eternally.
Although currently playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, whose
nickname ‘Phillies’ means simply people from Philadelphia, Roy Halladay
isn’t a Philadelphian, he’s a Torontonian.
But is he the best player in Toronto baseball history? My short answer is “yes.”
When
bringing up this argument, one refers to Dave Stieb and Carlos Delgado
as his main competitors in the all-history franchise player race. But I
don’t think it’s close. At all.
Comparing Halladay with Stieb
Stieb
may have 175 career wins as a Blue Jays, but Halladay isn’t far behind
with 148 and Halladay has far fewer losses: 76 compared with Stieb’s
134. That’s a .661 win percentage for Halladay and a terrible (for a
seven-time all-star) .565 record for Stieb.
They have
practically identical ERAs (3.44 for Halladay, 3.43 for Stieb), but the
thing with Stieb is that he never put together a truly dominant year.
Sure, he had his no-hitter, but his best season was probably 1984 when
he went 16-8 with a 2.83 ERA and 198 strikeouts. He never struck out
200 batters in a season. He never won more than 18 games. Only thrice
did he put together a sub-3.00 ERA. As a result, he was never engrossed
in Cy Young races, your average staff ace and could have easily fit in
as a second starter on another team.
But with Halladay, he had
his Cy Young Award, in 2003 and was a full-fledged contender for the
accolade in both 2008 and 2009 with decent years in between. He’s fully
capable of striking out 200 batters in a season, doing it three times.
He allows a startlingly few amount of walks, 2.00/9 innings for his
career. Dave Stieb regularly allowed 80+ walks and 3.21/9 innings for
his career, certainly not a favourable statistic.
Both of them
pitch(ed) an alarming number of complete games and were
uber-consistent. With Stieb, people play the “He played for the Blue
Jays longer, he was more dedicated to his club,” card. While he did
play 1.4x more games than Halladay (really not that much more),
Halladay still played for the Toronto Blue Jays for 12 seasons and
signed multiple extensions. He was just as serious about bringing
baseball goodness to Toronto as Stieb was.
When browsing a list of Blue Jays team records, the casual observer
may infer that Dave Stieb is the best pitcher in team history, but
really, it’s Halladay. End of discussion, onto Delgado.
Comparing Halladay with Carlos Delgado
Carlos Delgado is unquestionably the best batter in Toronto Blue
Jays history. He hit the most home runs. He slugged .556, highest in
team history. He scored the most runs, drove in the most runs,
collected the most walks, hit the most doubles, the most total bases…
need we go on?
But, is he closely comparable to Roy Halladay,
now established as the best pitcher in Blue Jays history. Once again, I
don’t think he’s up to par with the Doc. Playing only 9 seasons with
Toronto, the records he set are obviously due to lack of
long-team-history-inflation. Had he continued to play for Toronto for 4
or 5 more years and hit 500 home runs as a Jay, then sure, start the
worshiping, but without it, he’s stuck in transition a bit.
Carlos
Delgado had MVP numbers in 2000 (.344 with 41 homers and 137 Runs
Batted In, I don’t have a clue as to how he lost to Jason Giambi, who
mainly put up inferior stats across the board) as well as being MVP
runner-up to A-Rod in 2003. He lost to two steroid users, ick. But
nonetheless he proved that like Roy Halladay and unlike Dave Stieb, he
could put together big years and had big stuff.
But Halladay
played longer and had just as dominant years with the Blue Jays. You
can’t blame Delgado for leaving Toronto and while Delgado maintains a
very positive image in Blue Jays fans’ minds, I don’t think he was near
as much as a city-wide icon as Halladay was. Fans in Toronto were proud
that we had Halladay on our team. Plus, he’s a Yankees killer, 18-6
lifetime against the Evil Empire, a key reason Philadelphia wanted him.
So
I don’t think that Delgado is at Halladay’s level, Delgado was good but
not as synonymous with Toronto as Halladay has been since his arrival
in 1998. Roy Halladay will easily be inducted into the Blue Jays Level
of Excellence and will go down as the best Blue Jay ever.
Spring Training Starts: My Thoughts on My Team
With today being Sunday March 7th, the Blue Jays have played four games on their Grapefruit League schedule. They lost their debut against the Tigers 7-6 in a dramatic late finish, but won their next three games rather handily. Here are some of my observations so far:
1. J.P. Arencibia, the prospect everyone revered, then forgot about when the Jays acquired Travis D’Arnaud, seems close to arriving at the Major League level.
Arencibia has been Toronto’s top catching prospect soon after he was drafted in the first round of the 2005 Amateur Entry Draft. He has smacked two homers so far in only four at bats. A slugging percentage of 2.000! Sure, it’s a small sample size and he’s still a long shot from making the team out of Spring Training this year, but still, you have to see it as a bright sign for one of the best young players in the Blue Jays organization.
2. The pitching staff is looking great, notably Brandon Morrow, Shaun Marcum and Mark Rzepczynski.
Morrow and Marcum have pitching two-inning no-hit stints, while Rzepczynski registered two innings with only a single hit, great first performances by some of our developing pitchers. Future top-of-the-rotation stud Kyle Drabek pitched a subpar outing, but it was mainly characterized as encouraging by Drabek himself and Jays management.
3. The Blue Jays 1-2-3 hitters (Jose Bautista, Aaron Hill, Adam Lind) are playing great.
Bautista has six hits in only eight at-bats, scoring four runs and stealing one base in the process. These are great statistics for any lead-off hitter and look for him to lock up the job if he continues to play like such.
Aaron Hill has stayed off the extra-base-hit scoresheet so far, but that’s mainly because of his plate discipline: 5 walks in only 8 plate appearances and hitting singles in two other of the plate appearances while stealing a base. He hasn’t been exciting, but he’s doing a good job so far.
Adam Lind has homered once, singled once and driven in four runs along the way. Sure, his average is .286, not up to par with the other starters, but it’s not because of strikeouts, striking out only once.
J.P. Ricciardi to Join ESPN’s Baseball Tonight
J.P. Ricciardi, the general manager that Toronto sports fan have
grow to love to criticize in recent years, has agreed to join ESPN’s
Baseball Tonight in a month’s time.
After failing to trade Roy Halladay before the 2009 trade deadline
after issuing a public announcement about Halladay’s availability,
Ricciardi was let go after the season.
Alex Anthopoulos, Ricciardi’s former assistant, filled in as General
Manager for the club, succeeding to trade Halladay in mid-December as
part of a 4-team trade that brought three prospects to Canada’s largest
city.
In eight seasons acting as General Manager for the Blue Jays, his
record was 642-651, with four seasons above .500. However, the legacy
he leaves behind in Toronto is best described with the statistic zero:
the amount of playoff appearances he led Toronto too.
Ricciardi will become a commentator for Baseball Tonight, the top
baseball show on ESPN’s agenda. Baseball Tonight has been running since
1990 and recaps the action in each day of the regular season, usually
airing at 10:00 pm EST.
Rogers Centre To Install New Turf
A sample of AstroTurf GameDay 3D
In 2005, Rogers
Communications purchased the Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, changing
the turf in the stadium to FieldTurf from AstroTurf.
However, due to
annoyances with the turf’s consistency (balls would bounce too high in some
spots and fall dead in others) and the high visibility of the seams made the
field look obviously fake and not visually pleasing. It also took way too long
- 40 hours – to remove and store the turf when setting up for other events.
So, Rogers
Communications has decided to install a newly developed kind of AstroTurf:
AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D. Like the FieldTurf, it consists of a synthetic
grass with sand and rubber and its base.
It will take less
time to store for other events, leading to Rogers being able to book more
events, it is a better field for playing on and looks better for the fans
watching the game, making it a win-win-win situation.
In 2005, Rogers
Communications purchased the Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, changing
the turf in the stadium to FieldTurf from AstroTurf.
However, due to
annoyances with the turf’s consistency (balls would bounce too high in some
spots and fall dead in others) and the high visibility of the seams made the
field look obviously fake and not visually pleasing. It also took way too long
- 40 hours – to remove and store the turf when setting up for other events.
So, Rogers
Communications has decided to install a newly developed kind of AstroTurf:
AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D. Like the FieldTurf, it consists of a synthetic
grass with sand and rubber and its base.
It will take less
time to store for other events, leading to Rogers being able to book more
events, it is a better field for playing on and looks better for the fans
watching the game, making it a win-win-win situation.
Analyzing Toronto’s Offseason Moves
With Spring Training starting, the Blue Jays are more than unlikely to make another significant move, having already made a few under-the-radar moves and traded the face of the franchise. I will analyze all the players that have left the team and all the significant players that have arrived to play for Canada’s largest city.
Coming To Toronto
Alex Gonzalez, signed one year, $2.75 million deal
This deal was to replace Marco Scutaro, who was destined to leave as a Free Agent, as after his breakout season would demand more money. This was fine for the Jays, who were happy with the draft picks they would receive (Scutaro was a Type A FA) in return, but it left them without a capable lead-off batter this season (Jose Bautista anyone?).
Alex Gonzalez has your average bat for a shortstop, certainly better than light-hitting John McDonald, but I think his brutal defense will put him in Cito and Alex Anthopoulos’ doghouse, leading them to play McDonald more than they should. I would have much preferred moving Aaron Hill back to SS and then signing Felipe Lopez (who’s still unsigned!) to a cheap deal, this would be an upgrade on defense and Lopez has about the same bat as Gonzalez. Plus, Lopez would have been fine with signing with Toronto (other FAs get caught up in switching countries) as he was drafted by the club in 1998.
Joey Gathright, signed to minor-league deal
Gathright won’t start many games at all, but he’s part of the defense and speed focus that Anthopoulos is trying to install into the club. He’ll pick up tons of pitch-runner opportunities, as John McDonald did last year when Rod Barajas got on base in the later innings. I think it’s a great signing for Toronto, it used up hardly any money and got a total speedster that may even convince other players to run a bit more as well.
Kyle Drabek, Brett Wallace and Travis D’Arnaud, acquired in Roy Halladay blockbuster
A deal involving Halladay was inevitable for the Blue Jays this off-season, as while they had a slight chance of contending in 2010 with him, it was time we woke up and decided to get full value for him when we can. I think we got a great deal for him, Drabek and Wallace are top-rate almost ready prospects, while D’Arnaud is great, but still a project.
Kyle Drabek should contend for a rotational position in 2011 and has been the top prospect in the Phillies organization for years. He has already had Tommy John surgery and has scouts questioning whether or not his stuff is good enough to be an ace, but he figures to be a decent piece of the puzzle when the Jays are ready to make a run for a title.
Brett Wallace is said to have a major-league ready bat, he just needs to get converted over to first base, as the Jays don’t want a defensive liability at third base. He’s got great power potential, but the big thing is his plate discipline. He gets on base at a good clip and doesn’t chase balls very often. Expect maybe a September call-up this year and for him to start the 2011 season succeeded the job of Lyle Overbay. A good acquisition, I’d rather have him than Michael Taylor.
D’Arnaud is now our top catching prospect and is a pretty good batter as well. His talents are certainly more raw than Wallace and Drabek, but he’s a first-rate prospect nonetheless and should contend for a position in 2012.
John Buck, signed to one year, $2 million deal
John Buck comes to Toronto to join a long list of temporary catchers the Jays have employed the last few years while they wait for their prospects to develop. I would have rather had Rod Barajas, but like Scutaro, he was looking for a bigger deal than the Jays wanted to give to an aging player that wasn’t going to be part of their future.
Buck is an above-average defender, so he was partly brought in to instill the defensive focus that Anthopoulos wants to bring to the club. He puts up power numbers similar to Barajas with a bad average, but whatever, he fit the description the Jays were looking for, a good signing in that part.
Brandon Morrow, acquired in trade for Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez
This is a great trade for the Blue Jays in my opinion, I never liked Brandon League at all, he put up decent middle relief stats, but it seemed whenever he pitched in a pressure situation, he fell apart. I think Morrow is a great player for the Jays to acquire, he has potential and they could get him cheap since Seattle never figured out how to use him.
Morrow will either play this year as the 4th starter, or play as Brian Tallet did last year: as the long relief guy that gets 12-15 starts. I think the Jays coaching staff will be great with him and he should produce well as a Blue Jay. A great acquisition in my opinion.
Kevin Gregg, signed to one year, $2.75 million deal
People have criticized the Blue Jays management for making this signing, but it’s not for much money and should put pressure on Jason Frasor and Scott Downs, the main closer contenders before Gregg was signed. He’ll probably just play as either the set-up man or as a middle-reliever and put up a 3.75 ERA, which is about an average figure for a player at his position.
Jose Molina, signed to a one year, $400 thousand deal
This trade gives the Jays more catching depth, a good think since they now have John Buck as their #1. They’ll probably start Molina in 40-50 games, making this a significant season despite the low money. He developed a great rapport with A.J. Burnett last season, leading to hope that such a thing happens with one of the Jays young starters, furthering their development.
Leaving from Toronto
Marco Scutaro, signed by Boston
Scutaro had a great season last year for the Blue Jays, leading the AL in walks for most of the season and putting up an acceptable OBP for a lead-off batter. It’s bad that he’s leaving, but the two picks we got for him were good compensation, and he’s not part of our future (he’s 34). We couldn’t have done much to pry him away from joining Boston, so I’m fine with management’s decision.
Roy Halladay, traded to Philadelphia
Halladay has been the face of the Blue Jays franchise since he was an out away from a no-hitter in his second career start in September of 1998. Winning 148 games, he destroyed the Yankees, going a blistering 18-6 against them in his career, one of the reasons the Phillies wanted him as they might have to face the Yanks in the World Series again.
The trade was a good one for the Blue Jays however, it gave them prime prospects better than the two compensatory draft picks they would have received for him if he left in Free Agency. Halladay will almost certainly be retired onto the Jays Level of Excellence in the Rogers Centre and will go down as perhaps the best Blue Jay in history. We’ll miss you Roy!
Brandon League, traded to Seattle
As I expressed earlier, I have never been comfortable when League is pitching, he seems to be terrible in pressure situations, and with all the pitching depth they acquired and prospects that might start at relief pitching, I feel better about out relievers after the off-season than before.
Rod Barajas, signed by New York Mets
I don’t get it. Barajas had a good year for the Jays last year and they let him walk despite him only signing a one-year $1 million deal, hardly anything considering they signed John Buck to twice as much. I’d rather have Barajas and we could easily have signed him, he was out of a job until mid-February, not exactly w
hat happened to Scutaro.
Kevin Millar, signed by Chicago Cubs
This loss hardly mattered, Millar was simply a role player last year: He had a few starts and pitch-hits and performed as a clubhouse entertainer. While they will miss his presence, I’m not losing any sleep over the Jays not retaining him, as he was only signed to a minor-league deal by the Cubs, meaning the Jays management isn’t worried about it either.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment about it, or recommend it to others.
Fantasy Baseball 2010 Positional Insight
With Spring Training
starting, baseball fanatics across the country are furiously prepping up for
the upcoming Fantasy Baseball season. Whether playing H2H or Rotisserie
(apparently the name ‘rotisserie’ comes from the fact that the very first
fantasy baseball draft was held in a rotisserie restaurant), fantasy baseball
is very exciting and requires a level of studying for gurus and newbies alike.
First
Base
First Base is so
deep this year that picking Albert Pujols first overall doesn’t give you an
advantage. I’d rather have Hanley Ramirez. He puts up slightly sub-par power
numbers to Pujols, but really he has a higher average, scores the same amount
of runs, drives in practically the same amount of runs, and steals more bases
at a more expensive position.
Consider these two
players:
PLAYER A: .306, 35
HR, 111 RBI, .972 OPS
PLAYER B: .327, 47
HR, 135 RBI, 1.101 OPS
Player A is Derrek
Lee, a player not being drafted as a starter this year, usually around the 15th
first baseman taken.
Player B is Albert
Pujols, the consensus number one selection.
First base is
infinitely deep this year, with Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixeira,
Ryan Howard filling out the elite spots and tons of other useful players follow
(Adrian Gonzalez, Joey Votto, Justin Morneau, Kendry Morales, Lance Berkman,
Billy Butler, Adam Dunn, Carlos Pena, Victor Martinez, Mark Reynolds, Kevin
Youkilis, Todd Helton… you get the idea, all of these players are 30/100 or
better threats).
Sleepers/Value Picks: Joey Votto, Nick Johnson, Lance Berkman, Billy Butler, Carlos Pena (Pena’s basically Mark Reynolds, but TONS cheaper)
Second
Base
Tradionally an
ultrashallow position, second base has deepened recently, as Aaron Hill and Ben
Zobrist broke out last year, with others such as Robinson Cano proving they
have undisputable talent. It’s deep enough that you certainly don’t have to
worry much about position scarcity, and I see Chase Utley as being one of the
least appetizing options in the first round.
Compare these three
players:
PLAYER A: .282, 31
HR, 93 RBI, 23 SB
PLAYER B: .296, 15
HR, 72 RBI, 20 SB
PLAYER C: .272, 25
HR, 96 RBI, 3 SB
Looking at these
statistics, it’s clear that Player A is the best, although his average isn’t
exactly elite. Player A is Chase Utley, drafted in the first round of every
draft. Player B is Dustin Pedroia, who is being drafted as the 3rd or 4th 2nd
bagger, in the 4th round. Player C, who really is on par with the others
(except for stolen bases) is Jose Lopez,
being drafted as the 10th or 11th 2nd baseman, around the 12th round. So as you
can see, drafting a second baseman early is not needed as in recent years.
My Top 15 2nd
baseman basemen are as follows: Chase
Utley, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Brandon Phillips, Dustin Pedroia, Aaron
Hill, Brian Roberts, Ben Zobrist, Jose Lopez, Howie Kendrick, Asdrubal Cabrera,
Dan Uggla, Ian Stewart, Martin Prado, Placido Polanco.
Sleepers/Value Picks: Jose Lopez, Scott Sizemore, Aaron Hill (going WAY too late in drafts for a .285/35/100 player)
Third
Base
Third base is
surprisingly thin this year, with A-Rod once again leading the way and Evan
Longoria not far behind and improving. Alex Rodriguez is going to be the 3rd
player off the board in almost every draft and earlier I recommended picking
third to draft him. David Wright took a step back power-wise last year, so he’s
being seen as a 2nd or 3rd round pick.
You certainly want one of the top 6
third-basemen: Alex Rodriguez, Evan Longoria, David Wright, Pablo Sandoval,
Ryan Zimmerman and Kevin Youkilis. After that, you have to deal with the likes
of Mark Reynolds (good for power, destroys your average), Chone Figgins, Aramis
Ramirez (good, but certainly not close to being elite), and others.
If you don’t get A-Rod, don’t reach for Wright or Longoria as they’re overvalued, instead snap up either Sandoval or Zimmerman in the 4th round.
Sleepers/Value Picks: Gordon Beckham, Alex Gordon, Mark DeRosa
Shortstop
One of the mains reasons I recommend picking out of the 3rd spot to draft A-Rod is because then you have a good chance of picking Troy Tulowitzki off the draft board. Of course, Hanley Ramirez is king among shortstops, but consider these two stat lines:
PLAYER A: .301, 33 HR, 67 RBI, 35 SB, .940 OPS
PLAYER B: .292, 32 HR, 92 RBI, 20 SB, .930 OPS
Which year would you rather have?
Player A is 2008 Hanley Ramirez, after that season he was hailed as the best fantasy player in baseball and was drafted first overall the following season in most drafts.
Player B is 2009 Troy Tulowitzki, who drove in more runs and hit 1 less home run that 2008 Hanley while maintaining a pretty good average and almost on-par OPS. Yet Troy Tulowitzki is being seen as late 2nd round/early 3rd round material. Translation: You want Troy Tulowitzki on your team.
After those two, you have the choice of question-marks and/or one-category studs. Can Derek Jeter hold up despite his old age? Will Jose Reyes bounce back and hit 20 HRs while maintaining his steals? Was Jimmy Rollins’ MVP year an outlier? Does Stephen Drew actually have potential? To sum things up, you want to draft either Han-Ram 2nd overall, take Tulowitzki, or follow your gut feeling on the previous question-statements.
Sleepers/Value Picks: Troy Tulowitzki, Asdrubal Cabrera, Rafael Furcal
Catcher
Joe Mauer. If you have an early 2nd round pick, you should seriously considering drafting the Minnesota Twins stud. After him, you have Brian McCann, a consisent .285/25/100 player that you should probably pick up if you fail to get Mauer. Then you step down a bit to Victor Martinez, the last sure-fire thing in the catching universe. You want one of these three. If you’re feeling the Wieters effect, sure take him, but you really want to claim one of these three players.
After them you have (in my ranking order): Miguel Montero, Yadier Molina, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Mike Napoli, Ryan Doumit, Bengie Molina, Kurt Suzuki, Chris Iannetta, Geovany Soto and A.J. Pierzynski.
Sleepers/Value Picks: Geovany Soto, Russell Martin, Ryan Doumit.
Outfield
Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp headline the outfield position, both of them are 5 category studs. He’s never viewed as a very speedy player, but Ryan Braun actually stole 20 bases last season while putting up big numbers elsewhere. However, they are both being drafted in the first round and I don’t think either of them are totally elite. Carl Crawford is being drafted in the first round on some sites, while other sites seem him more as a 5th or 6th round player. The truth lies somewhere in between, as he has 15+ HR power as well as phenomenal speed and solid statistics elsewhere around the board.
Outfield is extremely deep this year, and I’d fill out my entire outfield with later round performers and role players such as Torii Hunter, Jay Bruce, Juan Pierre and Nolan Reimold if I were you.
To demonstrate how deep the position is consider these two stat lines:
PLAYER A: .313, 24 HR, 109 RBI, 14 SB, .909 OPS
PLAYER B: .300, 20 HR, 86 RBI, 21 SB, 883 OPS
The two players are almost even, Player A is Matt Holliday, the 5th or 6th OF option this year, who shouldn’t improve much on those totals, while Player B is Shin-Soo Choo, an underrated Korean import that will go as about the 20th outfielder.
Sleepers/Value Picks: Carlos Lee, Adam Jones, Josh Hamilton, Torii Hunter, Nolan Reimold, Julio Borbon, J.D. Drew (A capable player undrafted in some leagues)
Starting Pitching
Starting pitching has about 10 solid aces, and then you get into the potential/value options. My ten aces are ranked as follows: Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay, CC Sabathia, Zach Greinke, Felix Hernandez, Dan Haren, Cliff Lee, Adam Wainwright, Justin Verlander, Jon Lester. Pitching has so much depth this year that you shouldn’t reach for more than one ace.
Sleepers/Value Picks: Matt Cain, Brett Anderson, Chad Billingsley, Jair Jurrjens, Jered Weaver, Roy Oswalt, Rick Porcello.
Relief Pitching
Relief pitching is also pretty deep, as a lot of closer positions are already locked down. Possibly only five teams are undecided on who will pitch the 9th in 2010. I, as well as many other fantasy experts, strongly recommend to wait for relief pitching, don’t draft it early.
Rankings: Joe Nathan, Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Broxton, Jonathan Papelbon, Joakim Soria, Francisco Rodriguez, Andrew Bailey, Francisco Cordero, Heath Bell, Huston Street, Jose Valverde, Trevor Hoffman, Brian Wilson, Brian Fuentes, Chad Qualls, Frank Francisco, Billy Wagner, Ryan Franklin, Rafael Soriano, David Aardsma, Carlos Marmol, Bobby Jenks, Leo Nunez, Brandon Lyon.
Sleepers/Value Picks: Brian Fuentes (led majors in saves last year), anyone else after the top 8 or so are taken.
Rogers Centre Report Opens!
Welcome All!
I have created a blog to unleash my opinions towards my favourite baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays as well as giving insight on other goings on in Major League Baseball. I live in Toronto, so have been compassionate about the Jays my entire life.
I also write on bleacherreport.com and freelance between the two destination, but will post all of my Blue Jays articles on both.
I have a positive outlook on the Jays upcoming season, predicting an 86-76 finish. The Jays, contrary to popular belief, finished 2009 as the 8th best offense in Major League Baseball and they should easily improve on those statistics this year with their young players improving and Travis Snider possibly giving a full season at the major-league level. To read my full February Outlook on their season, follow this link.
I’m going to try to write a few times a week, so stay tuned for more! I’m currently working on my Fantasy Baseball 2010 Draft Strategy, which should be up by February 23rd.
Bleachers to the North
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