Archive for second base

We are entering year two of the post-Albert era in St. Louis and after an 88-win season that resulted in a wild card berth and a trip to the NLCS that fell just one win short of a World Series appearance, the Cardinals are returning with a largely unchanged infield configuration. For better or for worse, the St. Louis brass opted to leave things as is and let other teams play the free agent market this season. The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy is in play here and for fantasy purposes, it’s not bad, but the upside is just as limited now as it was just a year ago. Read the rest of this entry »

Considering I just covered the A’s infield earlier this month when the team acquired infielder Jed Lowrie in exchange for Brad Peacock and Chris Carter, this one will actually be short and sweet. There hasn’t been any change in the two weeks since that last article was published. What I did do was a little more studying of the team and consulted with those who follow the A’s much more closely than I do and whose opinions I trust and respect. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to the Colorado Rockies, the standard practice in fantasy baseball is to draft the hitters and avoid the pitchers. And it is as true today as it was back in 1993 when the organization played its very first game as an MLB franchise. We’ve already covered the team’s outfield and rotation, so it’s time to discuss the infield now. For the most part, you’ll want to give it a look when mapping out your draft strategy, however, it might not be the offensive powerhouse you were hoping for. Read the rest of this entry »

You can tell we’re all itching for pitchers and catchers to report when multiple RotoGraphs writers start jumping all over a trade between the A’s and the Astros that doesn’t really have any marquee talent to discuss. But hey, we’re almost there. Just days away, in fact. But while others handle the power bat of Chris Carter, the potential of Brad Peacock and the dregs of what’s left in Houston, I’m going to take a look at how Jed Lowrie’s arrival in Oakland is going to impact the A’s, and how, for fantasy purposes, the outlook isn’t so good. Read the rest of this entry »

If yesterday’s series of articles didn’t clue you in, today’s slate certainly will as we continue to go through Zach Sanders’ Second Base End of Season Rankings and discuss individual performances at the position. One of the most notable things about Mr. Sanders’ list is the value range from top second baseman Robinson Cano’s seemingly low $26 down through Trevor Plouffe’s $1 as the 28th ranked second sacker. That indicates the strength found at the position this season and a rookie such as Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis is just one example of how strong this position has become. Read the rest of this entry »

In Zach Sanders’ end-of-the-year ranks, Rickie Weeks finished as the 13th best second baseman overall, making him rosterable in any league larger than a 12-team and NL-only leagues of pretty much any depth. While that’s a fair assessment of how Weeks performed over the course of the whole season, it’s not really the best way to look at the way Weeks got there. Consider this:

Weeks from opening day to July 24 (394 PA): .190/.305/.333, 9 HR, 6 SB, 114 K
Weeks from July 25 until the end of the season (283 PA): .282/.360/.488 12 HR, 10 SB 55 K Read the rest of this entry »

From a fantasy perspective, Ian Kinsler performed almost exactly as I expected. After an incredible 30-30 season in 2011, I assumed a bit of regression would be in order. I also wondered if he could manage to stay healthy and play in over 150 games in two straight seasons, so in that regard he was a smashing success.

For the second straight season, Kinsler led the Texas Rangers in both plate appearances and runs scored. Given that the Rangers ranked third and first in runs scored in 2011 and 2012 respectively shouldn’t come as a surprise either. Kinsler possesses the rare gift of being able to hit for power and draw walks all while keeping his strikeouts in check and his contract rate high. That he can steal bases is just the icing on top. If only we could pencil him in for a .300 average, he would be the ideal fantasy player.
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With the addition of a second wild card team for each league, the decision to be a buyer or seller at the trade deadline becomes a bit more difficult, despite it being just two weeks away. For the San Diego Padres, however, the decision is neither difficult nor complicated. Sitting 14 games out of both first place in the NL West and the final wild card slot, the Padres will most definitely be sellers over the next two weeks and while collectively, they can’t seem to put it all together, individually there’s some value to be had. It’s time to bring the jalopy to the chop shop and make some money selling off the parts. Read the rest of this entry »

When an organization decides to give a player an opportunity to play every day and take over a starting position, fantasy owners need to stand up and take notice.  Especially if the player qualifies at a position that is either thing to begin with or has been decimated by injuries through these first two months of the season.  Here are two prime examples that are likely sitting on your waiver wire just waiting to be claimed.

Josh Bell, ARI  |3B|  Ownership:  ESPN – 0.5%  Yahoo – 1.0%

Right on the heels of my last Kicking Rocks piece which clamored for Bell’s call-up, the Diamondbacks finally said enough to the Cody Ransom/Ryan Roberts platoon they had working the hot corner this season.  With little or no legitimate production at the position, it made perfect sense for the team to give Bell a shot, if not for anything but to at least just kick the tires and see what they had.  It’s not like things could get worse, right?

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There are a number of position battles that have caught people’s attention this spring and with it getting down to crunch time for fantasy baseball drafts, it’s important to know how things are going to play out.  One spot, in particular that has drawn plenty of interest is the battle for second base in Kansas City.  Originally, the favorite was youngster Johnny Giavotella, but with both Chris Getz and (gulp!) Yuniesky Betancourt having decent springs, things are getting a little interesting.

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