Consistency, Steals and Jose Reyes

by
December 28, 2008

One thing that fantasy players value in their picks is consistency. And for the past three seasons, Jose Reyes has been one of the most consistent players around. According to the RotoTimes Player Rater, Reyes has finished third, seventh and first among hitters in dollar values earned the past three seasons.

Some fantasy players shy away from Reyes because he does not hit a lot of HR or drive in a bunch of runs. But in the past four seasons, he has finished first three times and second once in the National League in SB. And he’s nearly as productive in runs, with Reyes notching two fourth-place finishes and a fifth in the NL the past three seasons.

And while Reyes will never find himself in the top 10 in HR, he does have solid pop for a leadoff hitter. He has averaged nearly 16 HR per season the past three years. Reyes is also good for an average in the .290 range.

And while it’s true that he is weak in RBIs, Reyes had 68 last year and has driven in as many as 81 in a season. So it’s nowhere near the black hole for a category that a slugger like Ryan Howard totaling one SB is.

Reyes is a top-five pick overall in any fantasy league. How high you draft him depends on personal preference in how you want to build your team. Some owners wouldn’t dream of taking him before Alex Rodriguez even though Reyes has out-performed A-Rod in two of the past three years and is eight years younger.

Steals is a category that gives lots of fantasy players trouble as many of the top base stealers are killers in other categories. Reyes brings a broad base of skills along with his speed and can single-handedly solve a team’s SB problems. Don’t worry about the power categories when you draft Reyes with your first pick. You can draw even with other teams in the next two rounds while still maintaining your SB edge.

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