For a team with a payroll as large as, and a roster with as many star caliber players as the Red Sox have, you wouldn’t expect them to have many position battles, if any. Their shortstop position isn’t exactly a true battle in the sense that Marco Scutaro and Jed Lowrie are in direct competition for the job this spring, but with two qualified candidates, it’s no guarantee either player will hold down the job for the entire season. What does that mean for your fantasy team?

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I think everyone is in agreement that shortstop is the [insert name of favorite anorexic celebrity] of positions in fantasy baseball.  Once you get past that 2nd tier, it can really turn into a crapshoot.  So if you’re not going to grab one of the big names out there, then why not do some bargain shopping and bulk up elsewhere.  Here’s a pair of $1 options that may draw some interest… Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier today, Erik rolled out our Shortstop rankings and tiers.  For kicks we should reveal the individual lists we used for our combined rankings as the variability is remarkable, and it demonstrates just how fluid this position is. To be sure, shortstop is my biggest conundrum headed into 2011 as it seems there isn’t a tremendous amount that differentiates the majority of these guys after you get out of the second tier.  So here’s to trying to mine some risers from the list that might provide a little something added to a middling or low draft pick at what is shaping up to be an awfully uninspiring inventory at the 6.

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Earlier today we released our shortstop rankings, and I was stunned to see how shallow the position is when putting my personal rankings together. Oh sure, there’s the two big guys right at the top, but it starts to thin out rather quickly after that. Let’s look at a trio of familiar names more likely to fall down the rankings that climb up them this summer…

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Maybe I should just get a job distributing change of address forms at the post office as I always seem to be the Old Faces in New Places guy here.  Not that there’s anything wrong with it. So, like every other position, shortstop has a few guys moving onto to potentially greener pastures and could end up being some decent, low-budget options at fantasy baseball’s thinnest position.  Here’s three that might interest you… Read the rest of this entry »

 The 2011 class of shortstops is fortunate enough to have two of the most coveted players in fantasy baseball at the very top. It’s also unfortunate to be stocked full of mediocrity and uncertainty after that.

The follow is a list of the top shortstop options this season as complied by all of the RotoGraphs authors.

Tier 1:
Hanley Ramirez
Troy Tulowitzki

No surprises here. The kind of production these two provide from a generally weak position is what owners pay top dollar for. Few players in baseball, at any position, can match their overall talents. They shouldn’t go ahead of Albert Pujols, but a real case can be made for taking either number two in your draft.

Tier 2:
Jose Reyes
Derek Jeter
Alexei Ramirez
Stephen Drew
Jimmy Rollins

In past seasons Reyes and Jeter could make a case for Tier 1, but that time seems to have passed. Jeter’s counting stats should still be valuable, and Reyes will continue to steal bases if finally healthy. Ramirez has apparently bulked up a bit this offseason which will hopefully help his home run totals get into the 20-25 range again. Drew and Rollins are both very balanced players, contributing in any number of categories.

Tier 3:
Elvis Andrus
Starlin Castro
Ian Desmond
Yunel Escobar
Rafael Furcal
Asdrubal Cabrera

The younger players seemed to have fallen into this tier. Andrus, Castro, and Desmond could each end up in the second tier by years end. Andrus because of his steals, Castro because of his average, and Desmond because of his power. Furcal is Furcal, he’s been a steady producer at the position for years and years. Escobar seemed to come back to life a bit in Toronto. He’ll never run much, but should provide you with a decent average and double digit power.

Tier 4:
Alcides Escobar
Miguel Tejada
Jhonny Peralta
J.J. Hardy
Erick Aybar
Ryan Theriot
Juan Uribe
Jason Bartlett
Tsuyoshi Nishioka
Cliff Pennington
Reid Brignac
Marco Scutaro

Lots to go on here. Escobar’s value is going to rely on how many bases he steals. The Royals seems set on giving him the job, but if his OBP is under .300 as it was last season I don’t see him lasting the entire season. J.J. Hardy is a nice sleeper candidate. He’s not far removed from a very nice season and gets to play in a great hitters park in Baltimore. You’ll find power numbers from Uribe but little else, while Brignac provides sneaky double digit home run potential.

The rest:
Alex Gonzalez
Yuniesky Betancourt
Jed Lowrie
Clint Barmes
Alexi Casilla
Orlando Cabrera
Edgar Renteria
Ronny Cedeno
Omar Infante
Mike Aviles

The biggest wild card here to me is Jed Lowrie. The value you assess him all depends on how much playing time you think he gets. He hit nine homers in under 200 ABs last season, but couldn’t stay healthy. Personally, and other RG writers agree, I think he ends up playing more than Scutaro. The rest should only be owned in the deepest of leagues, otherwise they’re waiver wire fodder for a rainy day.

Please discuss the rankings in the comments if you’d like. I’ll try and get to as many questions as I can.

Not happy with the free agent options, the Twins went abroad to solve their middle infield woes, winning the bidding for and signing 26-year-old Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He’s coming off a huge year with the Chiba Lotte Marines, hitting .346/.423/.482 with 11 HR and 22 SB (but 11 CS). He’s hit at least .300 in three of the last four years, double-digit homers in each of the last three years, and 20+ steals in four of the last five years. That’s all well and good, but it tells us nothing about how he’ll perform with the Twins in 2011 or, more importantly, his fantasy value.

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Depending on how his fielding develops, Starlin Castro may always be one of those players whose better in real life than in fantasy baseball. However, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have any fantasy value, so it’s important that we investigate and figure out exactly how much he is worth.

Instead of looking at all the different projection systems that we feature here on FanGraphs individually, it’s best to combine the four and get some kind of consensus. Because I’m a swell guy, I’ve done that for you. And for those of you wondering, I didn’t take the easy way out by just averaging out his actual batting average, instead using the hits and at-bats like a good little boy.

Combined projection: 73 R, 5 HR, 58 RBI, 14 SB, .300 BA (549 AB)

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Ah yes, the contract year. It’s a very real phenomenon, something our own Dayn Perry brilliantly analyzed in Baseball Between The Numbers. Fantasy teams benefit from contract years just as much as real teams do, and if you’re lucky you’ll roster one or two such players a year. This is 100% subjective on my part, but I put together a list of five position players that could be primed to explode in 2011 with their eyes on a contract for 2012. Tomorrow we’ll tackle some pitchers.

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* Anyone not named Billy Butler and Joakim Soria, obviously.

Yesterday we looked at what remains of the Royals’ pitching staff to determine if any of those guys were worth a roster spot in a fantasy league, and today we’re going to move onto the position player crop. Fun starts after the jump…

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