Let’s face it, even in leagues of 10 to 12 teams, the waiver wire is looking pretty bleak. Every once in a while you get to fight for some hit, young rookie like we all did for Christian Yelich the other day, but beyond that, it’s about fill-ins and stopgaps as opposed to long-term solutions. The middle infield is particularly ugly on this front so you have to dig deep. You still won’t find that perfect guy you’re looking for, but you might find someone who will stick for the duration of the season such as… Read the rest of this entry »

As we close in on the Major League trade deadline, non-contending teams are making moves to open up spots for their prospects. This is a blessing for deep league owners as finally there are more choices available to pick up besides fifth outfielders and the last man in the bullpen. Both the Astros and Cubs are looking toward the future and have recently introduced us to some new faces.

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It’s not exactly news that Derek Jeter returned from the disabled list only to hop right back on to it recently. Jeter appeared in just a single game, going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

After recovering from the left ankle injury that sidelined him in the playoffs last year, he’s now dealing with a right thigh issue. The injuries are unrelated but worrisome nonetheless. After all, despite the ankle injury, Jeter was still the 15th shortstop off the board based on average draft position, going around pick 170. He also remains 40% owned.

But should there be any expectation for The Captain when he eventually does return? He’ll surely be back, with a couple months to go and then a minimum $8M player option for 2014 that could be larger based on certain incentives.
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There’s some decent movement in the shortstop rankings.

A lot of the movement was a long time coming. Larger samples have made the starts by Jean Segura, Everth Cabrera and Jed Lowrie more believable. Segura’s batting average came back to earth, but there are more reasons to believe in his power now. Everth Cabrera still doesn’t have any power, and is pretty bad with the glove, but his new contact rate now comes in a bigger sample now. Maybe he isn’t doomed to hit .250+ going forward. Jed Lowrie has managed to avoid catastrophic injury too. He’s one or two games away from a career high in plate appearances!

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Last week, I wrote about Hanley Ramirez in this space. Because it was a look at Ramirez’ success over the past eight years, the natural comparison to another top shortstop in that span, Jose Reyes, came up.

But it was an interesting question in the comments that I wanted to dive into today: Is Jean Segura going to be a Jose Reyes-type fantasy value for the next decade?

No two players are ever identical, so that’s the kind of question that is very difficult to answer effectively. However, we have some data that we can look at to try and compare the two, and it bears out striking resemblances.

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When Hanley Ramirez came on the fantasy scene in 2006, he immediately became a top option at the shortstop position. For the remainder of that decade, he sat on or near the podium for fantasy shortstop value and real world shortstop value.

(BM Rank in this table refers to his position rank by Baseball Monster’s fantasy valuation tool, using batting average as the rate stat for the league.)

Basically, “been pimpin since been pimpin…” Hanley Ramirez has been one of the top shortstops in baseball his entire career, topping the position’s leaderboard in wins above replacement with 34.1 in that span. This isn’t really news, but it’s worth a reminder since some may have forgotten just how good he was. Somehow, he seems underrated at this point in his career.

And that’s because he took a dip over the past few years, only to return to peak levels in the last six weeks.
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In each of the past four years, Ben Zobrist has hit 20 home runs or stolen 20 bases, but it is rather doubtful that he reaches either of those marks this season. At age 32, it is reasonable to ask whether Ben Zobrist is starting to hit his decline phase, which is important to consider in dynasty and keeper leagues.

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I’m taking over the shortstop beat around these parts. You’re welcome…like Staind said, it’s been a while since…there have been tiered rankings done for the position. So you’ve no doubt been running around the waiver wire aimlessly, not knowing your Seguras from your Espinosas.

That ends now, where we try to make heads or tails of the position that, according to Baseball Monster, has only provided four net-positive value players so far this year, two of whom are now injured.

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Unable to stomach Brendan Ryan and his .230 wOBA as the team’s primary shortstop any longer, the Seattle Mariners have reportedly called up 23-year-old Brad Miller in an attempt to breathe some life into a below-average offense that currently ranks 23rd in the league with a .299 wOBA.

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Is there a more disappointing player in fantasy baseball (non-injury division) this year than Starlin Castro? Okay, Josh Hamilton, maybe. Perhaps Matt Kemp, though anyone who didn’t expect some amount of negative impact from his shoulder surgery wasn’t really paying attention.

Remember, Castro was a guy ranked by Yahoo! as the #39 overall fantasy player (and #3 shortstop) entering the season. This was a guy who was placed in the elite top tier of fantasy shortstops along with Jose Reyes & Troy Tulowitzki right here by Erik Hahmann in March. I point that out not to embarrass Erik, but to show that everyone thought Castro was among the best of the fantasy best at the position — myself included, since I drafted him on more than one team.

Three months into the season, I now own Castro on zero teams. In one case, I simply dropped him for Jhonny Peralta, and I haven’t looked back. But 90% of Yahoo! teams and 97% of ESPN teams are still holding on. What went wrong, and is there a reason to hold out hope?

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