Shuffle Up: Checking in with Josh Rutledge; more words about Didi Gregorius

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Today's Shuffle Up assignment is the middle infielders, everyone who covers the second base or shortstop area for your fake juggernaut. Settle in, settlers, and let's try to figure it all out. (Where's Braun and Miggy? Sorry kids, they're not middle infielders.)

Play to this point matters as an audition, but that's it. The goal is to figure out who will play the best (and collect the juiciest stats) from this point forward, 2013-only. Pretend we're starting from scratch with a fresh draft tonight. Don't worry about the dollar value in a vacuum; they're merely used as tools to compare. And players at the same price tag are considered even.

I'll add extensive comments as the day goes along and I may tweak a

Draft Day Challenge, April 11

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Daily baseball is all the rage in the fantasy sports world, so I will be covering the game a couple of times a week here at BaseballGuys.com. To that end, I’ve partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, every week, I’ll be giving you some insight into the mind of The

Alexei Ramirez diagnosed with shoulder bruise - Alexei Ramirez | CWS

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Alexei Ramirez has been diagnosed with a right shoulder bruise and is considered day-to-day.

Alexei Ramirez exits after HBP in shoulder - Alexei Ramirez | CWS

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Alexei Ramirez left Wednesday's Cactus League game after he was hit in the right shoulder by a pitch.

Injuries & Accusations

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Ramirez on deck' or find free 'hanley ramirez' pictures via Wylio" href="http://www.wylio.com/credits/flickr/7498218404">

The 2013 major league baseball season is about to begin, so now is a great time to touch on two topics that are in the news on a daily basis – injured players and those that might be guilty of PED use.

WORKING WITH THE INJURY BUG

Corey Hart.

Player Profile: Josh Rutledge

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

When is 277 at-bats enough to determine the value of a player? If you have followed my work for any appreciable amount of time you will know that I’m a big fan of sample sizes. By that I mean we need to have enough data at our fingertips to be able to adequately assess a player’s outlook. For me, 277 at-bats, a half season of work, isn’t nearly enough to paint a fully developed picture of what is going on with a player. For others though it seems like 277 at-bats is plenty.

2013 Rankings: Shortstops

Source: Fantasy Baseball 365

Like second base, shortstop lacks depth. Scraping the bottom of the barrell is a scary thought and will yield players that should only be started in AL-only and NL-only leagues. 

Rank First Name Last Name Organization 1 Troy Tulowitzki Rockies 2 Jose Reyes Blue

2012 Positional Review – Shortstop

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Now that the 2012 season is over, it’s time to review how my predictions went for each position in fantasy baseball. To that end, I will review my top-10 at each position and give a brief rundown on how each of the ten performed. I’ll also list which player was a “Hit” (someone who lived up to expectations) as well as a “Miss” (the player who simply failed to impress).

Note: All of these rankings are taken from the

Top 20 Shortstops, 2012 Fantasy Baseball

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Top 20 catchers, 1st basemen and 2nd basemen are in the books.  What a strange, glorious trip it’s been!  Though not really.  Today, the top 20 shortstops for 2012 fantasy baseball get to shine.  Hmm… Actually, most of these won’t shine.  They’re cloudy with a chance of crapballs.  To be a bit more specific, the top ten shortstops were about equal with the 2nd basemen through the top 10, then they fall off the map like a 12th century explorer.  For

Movies, TV, Hotties & Baseball

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

I had an odd weekend. There was less booze than I anticipated. There was less fun than I anticipated. There was about the level of worry on Sunday for fantasy football as I expected (I’m in too many leagues to worry about certain plays or players in Week 1). There was a great novel (The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum, who by the way was one hell of an author. If you’ve seen the movies with Matt Damon

Shuffle Up: Ian Desmond puts it all together

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

The middle infield is the focus for this week's shuffle up, your 2B and SS options. Settle in for the usual rule disclaimers, and then we'll discuss some prices.

This blog contains how I'd rank the players if I were headed into a new start-from-scratch league today. What's happened already in 2012 is an audition, but what we're trying to figure out is what the players will do going forward. Don't obsess over the dollar amount in a vacuum; what matters is how the players relate to one another. Commodities at the same tag are considered even.

Your respectful disagreement is always welcome, and it will help me iron out this list. But you need to have a reason for your unrest; further the conversation,

FS Lineup Card: July 8-14

Source: Sporting News Fantasy Source Baseball

Here's a look at what to expect from the Fantasy Source this week:

Sunday, July 8: First Pitch. Fantasy Source subscribers should be sure to check out First Pitch every weekday morning by 9 a.m. ET and every Saturday and Sunday by 10 a.m. ET. You'll get a look back at the most notable performances from the day before in our 3 Up, 3 Down section, then a look ahead to the upcoming day with splits to exploit, weather watch and a ranking of every SP. Make First Pitch part of your daily fantasy baseball routine.

Monday, July 9:

All-Wiener Team 2012: Adrian Gonzalez isn’t cutting the mustard

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

Around grills this holiday weekend the Trevor Plouffe's of processed meats, the hot dog, will be devoured in mass quantities.

Frankly speaking, these versatile mystery meats are formed from unknown ingredients no human wants to know the true origin of — mechanically separated "beef," sodium erythorbate, unknown "flavorings." In a phrase, they are unsettlingly fantastic.

Coming off solid 2011 campaigns, this year's saured class of tubed meats, if consumed, were also expected to satisfy the stomach. Acquire them, fanalysts and seasoned owners reasoned in March, and investors were sure to relish consistent production. After all, fantasy commodities, in terms of statistical contribution, are supposed

White Sox Don’t Need Youk Either

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

The Chicago White Sox started a three game series with the Yankees last night and came up with a huge win. Jose Quintana pitched 6.0 innings, gave up 8 hits, 6 ER, 5 Ks, and got the win. As far as starts at Yankee Stadium go, this one could have been a lot worse. If you had the cajones to start him at least you got a win and 5 Ks. I still like Quintana a lot, but I’d steer clear of his start vs. Texas next week. Quintana aside, it was the White Sox offense that were the real stars last night and got Jose the win. A.J.  Pierzynski went 3-for-5 with 2 HRs as the White Sox tallied 14 runs on 19 hits against Sabathia’s replacement, errr….whatshisname. The multi-homer game was A.J.’s fifth in his

Daily Joust: The Weekend Ahead

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

The weekend is quickly approaching, so get ready to get your swerve on. For those of you looking to remain at least a little bit serious with your hobby (fantasy baseball not drinking) I’ll give some advice on how you might choose to fill out your lineup for Friday or Saturday while also suggesting you head over to DailyJoust.com to check out their unique brand of daily fantasy baseball games (including a way to win

Daily Joust – Wk 11: Did We Learn Anything?

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

On Monday each week I take a look at the fantasy baseball game breaking down players who have produced noteworthy performances of late – not just positive outings mind you, but I’ll also delve into some of the players that have been sucking wind of late.
To get your daily fantasy baseball fix make sure you head over to DailyJoust.com to set your salary cap

OPS Fantasy Leagues: A Tale of Two SAGNOFs

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Ichiro Suzuki is the epitome of public enemy. In OPS leagues, there are two kinds of SAGNOFs: those who destroy your OPS and those who only have a minimal impact. Ichiro (and every sub .700 OPS player) is the former. Two of the main reasons people have loved him are his batting average and his steals. Well, this year he has a career low .266 batting average and only nine steals. His .676 OPS is a step up from last year’s .645 mark, but still far below his career .787 OPS. This year he’s managed to improve his contact rate and decrease his strikeouts, but he’s walking less than he usually does. His BABIP may increase a little, but, at his age, he is unlikely to reach much above .300 moving forward. I think his OBP

Shuffle Up: Splitting hairs with Ian Kinsler

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

This week's Shuffle Up assignment is the middle infield, everyone who qualifies at second base or shortstop in the standard Yahoo! game. If you're on the DL (sorry Tulo), you don't get a rank. If you're in the minors (no one misses you, Raburn), you don't get a rank. Those are the rules.

I'll let the ranks simmer and settle for a bit, then come back and add comments, tweak a few things. Assume a 5x5 roto context , as always, and what's happened to this point is merely an audition. The goal is to figure out who's most valuable going forward.

Don't sweat the actual dollar values; what matters is how the players relate to one another. And when players share the same price tag, they're considered

Shuffle Up: The Ian Kinsler problem

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

This week's Shuffle Up assignment is the middle infield, everyone who qualifies at second base or shortstop in the standard Yahoo! game. If you're on the DL (sorry Tulo), you don't get a rank. If you're in the minors (no one misses you, Raburn), you don't get a rank. Those are the rules.

I'll let the ranks simmer and settle for a bit, then come back and add comments, tweak a few things. Assume a 5x5 roto context , as always, and what's happened to this point is merely an audition. The goal is to figure out who's most valuable going forward.

Don't sweat the actual dollar values; what matters is how the players relate to one another. And when players share the same price tag, they're considered

Mailbag: May 31, 2012

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Each week I’ll be here answering questions that have been sent to me at the BaseballGuys’ Twitter account.

Eric Hosmer and Brandon Morrow too much for Adrian Gonzalez? 14 tm mixed keeper.
– @strofaninKC

Hosmer is hitting .204 with a .617 OPS disappointing everyone who drafted him to be a starter at first base this year. At the same time he has hits in eight of his last nine

Fantasy Baseball Roundtable: Eric Hosmer, Alexei Ramirez, Rickie Weeks

Source: KFFL.com MLB

Lord Zola's knights assess the slow starts - and prospects of turnarounds - of these three rotisserie stragglers.

Roy’s Lat Halls It A Day

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

I got to thinking and, as with most of my serious introspection, I thought about the old sitcom, Growing Pains.  Twenty-five years ago, Mike Seaver stayed home from school and was surprised to see there were TV shows programmed.  He didn’t understand it.  If he’s usually at school, why are there TV shows? Did life go on without him?  Yes, Mike Seaver dropped some existential philosophy.  If the Growing Pains producers would have known that episode would have driven a hard-living, hooker-screwing machine into a hard-praying, Church-Head, I’m not sure if they ever would’ve did the episode.  But the die was cast.  So this may seem like it has no relevance to Roy Halladay and him missing 6 to

Cubs Closer Ex-Be Al A Dolis

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

When Sveum told Rafael Dolis that they need him to fill in for Carlos Marmol, he took them way too literally.  “So you don’t want me to walk everyone while blowing games?  Totally mi mal!”  That was Rafael Dolis talking through his translator who speaks Spanglish.  “Can we get a translator who speaks English and Spanish…Separately!”  That’s Sveum losing his shizz. James Russell or Shawn Camp will attempt to do what no other Cub before them has done with already limited opportunities.  All Sveum needs to yell “Save um!” is A closer.  I grabbed James Russell where he was available, but I’m not speculating on two closers when Marmol is due back and the Cubs are headed for 100 losses.   If

Alexei Ramirez (SS-CHW)

Source: TG Fantasy Baseball

sgardnerUSAT: A lot of work just for SBs RT @Briscodarlin196: Trade Philips, A. Gordon, Latos for Pagan, Laroche, Alexei Ramirez and Shields? Need steals.. sgardnerUSAT: A lot of work just for SBs RT @Briscodarlin196: Trade Philips, A. Gordon, Latos for Pagan, Laroche, Alexei Ramirez and Shields? Need steals. Source: http://twitter.com

Daily Notes - The Couple of Guys Under the Radar Edition

Source: Fantasy Baseball 365

So, Adam Wainwright looked like the old Adam Wainwright last night, rattling off the complete game shutout, fanning 9, allowing only 4 hits, 1 walk. He has been mostly average so far this season, with glimpses of his old self, but last night was encouraging (understatement). Yes, this gem came against the Padres, but his next start is Sunday against the Phillies and they aren't quite the force they were of years past. Looking further ahead he draws matchups against the Mets, then Astros. The only way this stretch of games could be any better is if the Pirates were thrown in somewhere, but alas, this isn't a perfect world. This could be just the thing Waino needs to get his groove back. Don't overlook those Astros too much though... Jed Lowrie could kill you.No joke, for now anyway.

Lowrie has a WAR of 0.7 over the last 7 days, tied for highest in baseball. Over that stretch he has a .360 AVG with 3 HR's, 5 Runs and 6 RBI. Eligible at 3B and SS he is the 41st ranked player in Yahoo! at the moment and he is only owned in 51% of leagues. By now I hope you have given up on Alexei Ramirez, Erik Aybar or Jhonny Peralta and grabbed him. Heck, if you read this paragraph before doing it, it's probably too late. 

If anyone is still feeling love not yet completely numb from burns season after season, Gordon Beckham is once again showing signs of his potential, with 3 HR's and a .280 avg over the last week. Ride the streaks folks.

Noise: Trevor Bauer is a Snake off the chain

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

Tucked away in Tucson a killer slithers quietly in the grass. This Snake, packed with venom so toxic it could paralyze the opposition with one strike, continues to wind a course of destruction through Double and now Triple-A, leaving victims in its wake bewildered, vexed and completely humbled.

The creature's name: Trevor Bauer.

Every year as spring gives way to summer, insatiable owners with various deficiencies often rest their hopes of a turnaround on unproven, uber-talented prospects with a flair for the spectacular. So far, hitters Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and, most recently, Matt Adams, materialized from the minors to provide struggling

Pitcher Profile: Drew Smyly Gives Up More Than 2 ERs, Is Frowny

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Every time I think about Drew Smyly, I think of Cliff Curtis from Training Day.  That movie ended weird.  “Don’t bleed on my floor,” he says after almost shooting Ethan Hawke in the bathtub with a shotgun.  Pretty typical Saturday night if ya ask me, I dunno why Hawke got all bent out of shape and jumped on Denzel’s Monte Carlo.

But now when you say “Smyly,” it evokes feelings of waiver-wire hang-ups; where if he hasn’t been picked up in your league, you probably had him all queued up or someone else has.   Buried underneath the Jacob Turner hype, Drew Smyly has progressed through the Tigers system like a nor’easter, pitching only 127.2 total innings in the minors and earning a spot in the Major

Shuffle Up: A bad month for the Brothers Weeks

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Today's assignment: ranking the middle infielders in the Yahoo! game. If you have second base or shortstop eligibility, good health and a whit of fantasy value, you're on this list.

A few rules and disclaimers apply, of course. Assume rotisserie scoring and 5x5 categories. Players at the same dollar amount are considered even. Don't worry about the prices in a vacuum; what really matters is how the players relate to one another.

Anyone on the DL is held off the list; injured players have largely relative values and I'm not going to debate them. What's happened to this point is merely an audition: the

Closing Time: Robin Ventura throws us another curve; Dale Thayer marks his territory; Coco Cordero loses the ninth

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Editor's Note: Today's Closing Time is almost exclusively about the bullpens, because that's the way the action fell Tuesday. We don't choose these stories, they choose us. You want a deep hitter pickup? Go to the Andy Dirks section near the bottom. You want to celebrate Josh Hamilton? We'll get to that, but there's nothing immediately actionable when a universally-owned superstar has a monster game. Our initial focus will always be tied to news most of you can immediately put into use. Enough preamble, let's get to the mound.

Anyone have a phone number on Bobby Thigpen? Is Ed Farmer still in game shape? This White Sox closing thing might be a mess all season.

We thought

Closing Time: Robin Ventura throws us another curve; Dale Thayer marks his territory; Coco Cordero blows up again

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Anyone have a phone number on Bobby Thigpen? Is Ed Farmer still in game shape? This White Sox closing thing might be a mess all season.

We thought we finally had some closure to the North Side shuffle at the end of last week, when highly-touted Chris Sale was shifted from starter to closer. Note that the White Sox didn't merely say Sale was shifting to the bullpen, they specifically used the C-word. We had no reason to doubt the news and the quotes, so we adjusted our expectations accordingly and went on with our save-chasing lives.

And then Tuesday's curveball came down the pike.

John Danks worked seven strong innings at Cleveland but he

Closing Time: Robin Ventura throws us another curve; Dale Thayer marks his territory

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Anyone have a phone number on Bobby Thigpen? Is Ed Farmer still in game shape? This White Sox closing thing might be a mess all season.

We thought we finally had some closure to the North Side shuffle at the end of last week, when highly-touted Chris Sale was shifted from starter to closer. Note that the White Sox didn't merely say Sale was shifting to reliever, they specifically used the C-word. There was no reason to doubt the news and the quotes, so we adjusted our expectations accordingly and went on with our save-chasing lives.

And then Tuesday's curveball came down the pike.

John Danks worked seven strong innings at Cleveland but he

First Pitch: May 5

Source: Sporting News Fantasy Source Baseball

3 UP

1. David Price, SP, Rays. Price dominated the A's on Friday, tossing eight innings of three-hit, one-run ball. He walked just one while striking out a season-high 12. Price has allowed just two runs in his past three starts (23.1 innings), and he's tied for the league lead with five wins. After a somewhat rocky start, Price is showing that he's a true ace

2. Mark Reynolds, 3B, Orioles. Plenty of hitters had better nights than Reynolds, but we have to give the strikeout-prone 3B some love for finally hitting his first homer of the season. All told, Reynolds went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs in the Orioles' win over the Red Sox. It's too early to say that Reynolds

Closing Time: Good stuff cheap – the 2012 Houston Astros

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

There weren't a lot of expectations placed on the Houston Astros entering the 2012 season. Vegas pegged them to win 63.5 games before the year, and when I gathered eight friends for an over/under pool, only one person had the nerve to call "over" on this group. (Perhaps Erin had some inside information, living in Houston, or maybe it was a heart over head pick. Either way, she's on pace to scoop that one.)

Now that we're three weeks into the campaign, I'm ready to hop on the Metro. These Astros are competitive, at least for fantasy purposes.

You're not going to find a lot of pop with the current lineup, but don't dismiss Houston out of hand. The Astros have scored 95 runs in their 20 games (fourth-best in the

2012 Fantasy Baseball 12 Team, AL-Only Draft

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Went over our NL-Only team already that was also hosted by Scott White of CBS.  To refresh your memory, it was the post that you didn’t read and skipped to the comments to ask questions.  No, not that one.  The other one… Yeah, that one!  If I had my druthers, and if I were using the word druthers correctly, I’d do an NL-Only league instead of an AL-Only league.  You think NL-Only was shallow?  NL-Only makes AL-Only look downright vapid, by comparison.  To give you an idea, the best starter available on waivers right now is Vicente Padilla.  That would be great if Ugly were a category.  The best 3rd baseman available is Jayson

Grey and Rudy’s 2012 Fantasy Baseball Master Draft Sheet

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Here’s a sneak preview for all the players that we’ll either be rejoicing or damning slightly more than the average player in the daily posts.  We’ve added/dropped some players since draft day (and packaged Berkman in a heavyweight trade for Sabathia) but the vast majority of these guys are at least starting the year on our teams.

Grey and Rudy’s Aggregate Drafts Player # of Teams LABR Mixed Yahoo! F&F Y! Hero Grey RCL Rudy RCL CBS NL CBS AL DraftDay AL Colby Lewis 5 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 Alexei Ramirez 4 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 Anibal

Razzball’s 2012 Yahoo! Friends & Family Draft

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

We participated for the 3rd year in a row in Yahoo’s Friends & Family draft – a melange of 6 Yahoos, 3 Rotowire peeps, 1 Baseball Prospectus writer (Baseball Prospector?), 1 HardballTimes.com guy, a WSJournalist and us.  Count ‘em up – it’s 13 people this year.  Anyone can play 12 or 14 team leagues but only ‘perts can manage 13.

After a promising 3rd place finish in our rookie campaign, last year’s team stunk of sophomore jinx – finishing 10th out of 14th.  Contributing factors include

Shuffle Up, Infield: Robby Cano hits the first round

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Here are your Shuffle Up prices for the infield, amigos. In the middle of the year we'll break up the infield by corners and middles, but today it's a mash-up of all four positions. Serve with ranch, feeds 12-14 hungry mixed leaguers.

Normal disclaimers apply. As always, it's a 5x5 scoring system. Players at the same price are considered even. Don't stress over the dollar amounts; all that matters is how the platers relate to one another. I might tweak this list as the day goes along, and I'll add full commentary a little later. And if you have any disagreement, we welcome your comments: but for the love of all things holy, give a solid reason. Further the conversation, roto head. Construct an argument. Respect

Grey & Rudy’s Drafts In The 2012 Razzball ‘Expert’ League

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

As we mentioned earlier this month, we created an ‘expert’ league that follows the same rules as the Razzball Commenter League and will be included in the master standings.  Will the Expert League reign supreme (Iron ChefTM) in competitive index or will several RCL leagues put the experts in their place?  We shall see…

Here are the participants in the first annual Razzball ‘Expert’ League (links if they posted a draft review):

Razzball – Grey Albright
Razzball – Rudy Gamble
Yahoo! – Brandon Funston
Yahoo! – Scott Pianowski
Yahoo! – Andy Behrens
FanGraphs – Eno Sarris

Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy: Power Ranking Positions You Must Draft First

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

Having a strong draft strategy is key to building a fantasy baseball champion. However, you have to prioritize what positions you want to draft first. 

Here is a list of which positions you should make a move on early. While other roster spots you can wait on till later in the draft, because of the deep pool of talented players. 

(Note: This list is based on ESPN Fantasy Baseball 10-team AL/NL leagues with standard point scoring and projections are based on 2012 stats.)

 

1) Shortstop 

Picking a shortstop early is key to winning your draft. After a small window of five players, the talent level drops off. According to 2012 projections, only two players from this position will

Wallet 2012: Jayson Werth, come on down

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

How many leagues am I in this year? The answer I'll give you is "too many." I'm in hometown leagues, industry leagues, mono leagues and mixed leagues, some drafts and some auctions, money leagues and pride leagues. Tell me the format, tell me when the draft is, and I'll show up.

Invariably, I'll wind up with a few common-thread players every year, the portfolio that will, for better or for worse, have a lot to do with my success on the fake sandlots this year. You won't find a lot of first and second-round players on this list; it's very difficult to wind up with the same big-ticket items when the majority of your leagues are assembled through drafts. There aren't that many ways to land Miguel Cabrera. But the

Tout Wars: A Review

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

 I was in New York over the weekend for Tout Wars. Looking to redeem myself after my LABR experience, I thought I would change my approach with Tout. The plan? Draft a good team, something that somewhat eluded me in Arizona.

After wading slowly into the mix in LABR, I decided to be a bit more aggressive this time out (probably a good idea I think we would all agree). In this 15 team mixed league I was able to roster a solid group of bats, but I really love my power pitching. Before I get emails

On Fantasy Draft Preparation: Essay or Multiple Choice?

Source: Fake Teams by Robert L. Bishop

For years, I viewed a fantasy baseball draft as something of a standardized multiple choice test. Here's a sample question:

17. It's the 12th round. You need a shortstop. Which do you choose?

A. J.J. Hardy

B. Erick Aybar

C. Stephen Drew

D. Alexei Ramirez

Actually, if I'm honest with myself, most of the questions looked like this instead:

32. It's the next to last round. You don't

Fantasy Baseball 2012 Rankings: Top 15 Shortstops: A Second Look

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

Shortstop is a position that does have some depth to it this season, though that doesn’t mean there is always value there. 

While they have talent, does it make sense to use an early-round pick on someone like Elvis Andrus or Asdrubal Cabrera?  Just because they have skill doesn’t mean they are players to target. 

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how my rankings currently stand:

Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies Hanley Ramirez – Miami Marlins Jose Reyes – Miami Marlins Starlin Castro – Chicago Cubs Asdrubal Cabrera – Cleveland Indians Elvis Andrus – Texas Rangers Jimmy Rollins – Philadelphia Phillies Alexei Ramirez – Chicago White Sox Dee Gordon – Los Angeles Dodgers Erick Aybar –

2012 Fantasy Baseball AL-Only Shortstop Rankings

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

Here’s the 2012 LestersLegends Shortstop Rankings for AL-Only Leagues.

1. Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians 

Easily the biggest surprise of the position, Cabrera smacked 25 HRs after totaling 18 in his first 387 games.

Regression is a possibility, but I wouldn’t bet against him.

2. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers 

If he could get his average closer to .300, Andrus would be even more valuable. He’s going to score runs in Texas’ offense without question.

Andrus could easily lead all shortstops in stolen bases this season.

 

3. Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels 

Posted a solid .279-71-10-59-30 line last

ESPN’s 2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Rankle, Should Be Ankled

Source: Razzball by Grey

ESPN fantasy baseball rankings are the same old shizz, different effin’ year.  We’ll get to them in a second.  I gotta build up my anger.  Right now, I’m feeling downright jovial because I just watched the coup de grâce of unintentional comedy — ESPN’s Rankings Roundtables.  If you have a few minutes, watch a part of one.  You don’t need to watch the whole thing, unless you’re into Gitmo’ing yourself.  A few things I noticed from watching a minute of one:  1) Cockcroft looks like he wants to stab Berry in the eye with Stephania Bell’s injury reports.  2) The general air surrounding the proceedings is everyone in the room knows

Fantasy Baseball 2012: Understanding ADP (Infielders)

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

To counterbalance our own Spring Training positional rankings for Catcher and First Base or Second Base and Shortstop, here are the current Average Draft Positional rankings at Mock Draft Central.

Fantasy Baseball 2012: Mock Rundown for No. 1 Slot

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

Here's the first dry run of draft expectations when holding the No. 1 pick in a 12-team mixed roto league, specifically working off the Average Draft Position report from our friends at Mock Draft Central. It goes without saying: It's imperative to nail the first three picks (1, 24, 25), and for the sake of brevity, we'll stop at Round 17:

Round 1, Pick 1 overall: Motive: Best overall player

First option: 1B Miguel Cabrera, Tigers

Second option: 1B Albert Pujols,

2012 MLB Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

Not unlike Derek Jeter and A-Rod (on a smaller scale) joining forces, the Miami Marlins have two of the elite shortstops. Here are the Lester’s Legends 2012 fantasy baseball Shortstop rankings.

1. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies: My top-ranked shortstop last year holds onto the top spot thanks to a .302-81-30-105-9 line. I’d like to see 100 runs, but given his other numbers it’s hard to complain.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Miami Marlins: It was a lost year of sorts for Han-Ram with his meager .243-55-10-45-20 line. I expect him to bounce back, especially with Jose Reyes joining the lineup. Plus, he’s moving to third

2012 MLB Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

Not unlike Derek Jeter and A-Rod (on a smaller scale) joining forces, the Miami Marlins have two of the elite shortstops. Here are the Lester’s Legends 2012 fantasy baseball Shortstop rankings.

1. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies: My top-ranked shortstop last year holds onto the top spot thanks to a .302-81-30-105-9 line. I’d like to see 100 runs, but given his other numbers it’s hard to complain.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Miami Marlins: It was a lost year of sorts for Han-Ram with his meager .243-55-10-45-20 line. I expect him to bounce back, especially with Jose Reyes joining the lineup. Plus, he’s moving to third

Fantasy Baseball 2012 Rankings: Top 15 Shortstops

Source: Bleacher Report MLB

Shortstop is one of the more interesting positions to look at in fantasy baseball. 

You have elite talent at the top, though they all seem to have injury issues that need to concern fantasy owners.  You have some big names, but their best days are clearly behind them.  Then, you have a few emerging talents, who may be primed to fully entrench themselves among the best in the game. 

In other words, the position has it all.  Let’s take a look at how fantasy owners should view the top options heading into 2012:

Troy Tulowitzki—Colorado Rockies Hanley Ramirez—Miami Marlins Jose Reyes—Miami Marlins Starlin Castro—Chicago Cubs Asdrubal Cabrera—Cleveland Indians Elvis Andrus—Texas Rangers Jimmy