Currently, Erick Aybar is being touted as the lead off hitter for the Angels. Even though he has held this position in the batting order before, it is even more important with Albert Pujols on the team. If he is able to get on base at any decent clip, he will be an excellent source of Runs.
Position battles are always a hot topic this time of year. It’s highly unlikely that all 30 teams are set at a particular position this early in spring training. Rookies and veterans alike are always snatching each other’s jobs as they vie for a coveted spot on the major league roster. Today we’ll be looking at shortstop battles, where there are surprisingly few thus far.
Consensus Ranks: OF, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, and RP and SP.
Tiered Ranks: C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, NL OF, AL SP, NL SP, Holds.
Oh Dee Gordon! Expect more Dee Gordon coverage. Because that guy is a buck-twenty-five soaking wet, can’t take a walk to save his life, and might have problems getting out of a paper bag with a bat. But he’s got elite speed and plays shortstop, so he’ll be an important player worth considering from different angles. Emilio Bonifacio might not actually play the position in real life, but he can join this particular party.
The rest of the list features a lot of agreement, even if some of us like Tyler Pastornicky a little more than others. Jhonny Peralta could regress and still be pretty valuable, so it’s not surprising that he showed up in different slots on the list. Oh, and look at this — the Mets fan once again hates on the Mets guy on the rankings. Something something self-hatred. But Ruben Tejada has maybe .280/20 upside, and even if Ryan Theriot (lite) with a glove is useful for a Major League team, it might not be great for your fantasy team.
The shortstops!
We — collectively — are going to steal Mike Podhorzer’s idea and make some crazy predictions for the coming season. Every year, something happens to surprise baseball viewership. Jose Bautista and Lance Berkman come to mind over the past few years.
So let’s try to open our minds and let crazy in for some fun. Then we’ll look back at the end of the season and see which RotoGraphs staff member can access the other side most effectively — then we’ll scoot down the bench a little away from him.
1) No player will hit 40 home runs this year. Obviously Mike Stanton and Jose Bautista loom large, but there were only three guys that managed the feat last year, and the point is that power is down. Handy graph time!
Exactly fifty players stole at least 20 bases last season, but only six of them did it in fewer plate appearances that Eduardo Nunez. The Yankees’ reserve infielder swiped 22 bags (in 28 tries) in 2011 while only coming to the plate 338 times, and only four of those steals came as a pinch-runner. The six guys who stole at least 20 bases in fewer plate appearances fit into two basic categories…
Everyday Players in 2012
Dee Gordon (24 SB in 233 PA)
Jason Bourgeois (31 SB in 252 PA)
Desmond Jennings (20 SB in 287 PA)
Non-Everyday Players in 2012
Tony Campana (24 SB in 155 PA)
Eric Young Jr. (27 SB in 229 PA)
Jordan Schafer (22 SB in 337 PA)
Each year, there’s always one pick in the draft that always seems to cause the biggest stir amongst the fantasy community and leads to the greatest number of emails seeking added opinions. It used to be closer to the tail end of the first round when an owner was deciding between whichever offensive treat was left or the number one overall starting pitcher. This year, I’ve received a number of emails from people with the 4th pick. People with the 8th and 9th picks are rolling their eyes right now, but truly, the 4th pick can cause quite the conundrum.
Yesterday we looked at the current average draft position of shortstops*, according to MockDraftCentral. Today, since you all were kind enough to provide us with a mock draft of your own, we can discuss your selections.
*When I say average draft positions I mean that solely in the context of the position, not overall
I only looked at the top 10 yesterday because, lets be honest, shortstop is one of the more boring positions. Today we’ll go a bit deeper, looking at the top 16 from the reader mock draft.
It’s that time of year again; College basketball is revving up, teams are preparing for spring training and fantasy leagues are gearing up for their drafts. In preparation we’re going to be looking at some average draft positions and the trends that occur, according to mockdraftcentral.com. Today we’ll focus on shortstops. There aren’t many surprises, but there is one pick that intrigues me (more on that later). Here’s the top 10 based on a standard five by five mixed league.
The Boston Red Sox surprised the baseball world over the weekend by trading shortstop Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for pitcher Clayton Mortensen. It’s less confusing than it first seemed thanks to WEEI’s Alex Speier who pointed out the move was made to get the Red Sox under the luxury tax. Smart teams, especially smart and rich teams, don’t dump salary without reason. No matter the reasoning, the move has a pretty large affect on a number of players in the fantasy world.
In December, the Boston Red Sox traded Jed Lowrie to the Houston Astros, which presumably increased the value of Jed Lowrie, but also cemented Marco Scutaro as the team’s shortstop for 2012. Draft sheets were dutifully updated.
Rather inexplicably, the Red Sox recently traded said cemented shortstop to the Colorado Rockies which left a few scratching their heads and scouring Twitter to see if there was another hand to be played. After all, that left the Red Sox without a real natural shortstop and according to The Fielding Bible, shortstops are important.
Enter Mike Aviles.