Since we've got a few days without a meaningful baseball game (unless you buy that "this time it counts!" nonsense from the MLB All-Star Game), it's a great time to take a step back and evaluate the first half of the fantasy season.
As always, there's no fan voting, no managerial or player choices, no stuffing the ballots and no popularity contests here. Just the cold, hard stats to tell us who are the 2010 Fantasy All-Stars so far.
CATCHER
Joe Mauer and Brian McCann are bigger names, but it's journeyman Miguel Olivo who leads all catchers in RBIs and is in the top three in runs, homers, steals and average. Sure, a lot of that is due to the Coors Field factor - Olivo's hitting .400 at home, .215 on the road - but he's still been the best backstop this year.
FIRST BASE
What a turnaround for Miguel Cabrera. He entered the season as a big question mark because of last year's drinking incident and now stands as a legit Triple Crown contender thanks to a .346 average, 22 homers and 77 RBIs, all of which lead the majors.
SHORTSTOP
For all the discussion about Hanley Ramirez loafing it in the outfield, he hasn't been a slouch at the plate, where he's in the top five in each of the big five categories among shortstops.
SECOND BASE
Robinson Cano might not steal bases (2), but he does everything else exceptionally well - .336 average, 16 HR, 58 RBIs, 61 R. Sure, it helps that fantasy stalwarts Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia are hurt, but Robbie was already outpacing them before their injuries.
THIRD BASE
Remember when everybody was upset about David Wright's power outage (10 HRs) last year? He's got 14 so far this year, along with the most RBIs (65) in the NL. He's also got the most steals (14) among third-sackers and is hitting .314.
OUTFIELD
The underappreciated Carl Crawford is putting together a career year with .321 average, 31 steals, 70 runs scored (tops in the big leagues). Good timing for the soon-to-be free agent.
Josh Hamilton has put a down 2009 in his rearview mirror. The fully healthy Texas slugger has 22 homers, 64 RBIs, 59 runs scored and is hitting a robust .346 with 1.015 OPS.
Corey Hart is a surprising third choice in the outfield, but the guy does have 21 homers and 65 RBIs after all. Not bad for somebody who started the year as a platoon player for the Brewers.
UTILITY
Rangers DH Vladimir Guerrero has enjoyed quite a resurgence in the Lone Star State - 20 HRs, 75 RBIs, .319 average, which place him among the league leaders. So much for being washed up ...
STARTING PITCHER
Anybody predict Ubaldo Jimenez to be the league's best pitcher in 2010? Not only does the Rockies ace have a league-high 15 wins, but his miniscule 2.20 ERA and 1.05 WHIP have been helping fantasy squads all year, and his 113 Ks, while fewer than some other aces, are certainly enough to help you stay competitive.
RELIEF PITCHER
There's no clear-cut answer at closer. Carlos Marmol leads in strikeouts (78). Joakim Soria leads in saves (25). Jose Valverde is tops in ERA (0.92). Mariano Rivera has the best WHIP (0.62). But I'm going with a guy who's competitive in all those categories, Heath Bell of the Padres (24 saves, 1.88 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 50 Ks, 4 wins) by a hair over Billy Wagner, Rafael Soriano, Neftali Feliz and a few other worthy candidates.
Showing posts with label Miguel Cabrera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miguel Cabrera. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Miguel Cabrera: Fat or phat?
I'm not seeing a lot of love for Miguel Cabrera this year for some reason. In the mock draft podcast we did last week, he fell out of the top 10 and all the way to 16th (average draft position in ESPN leagues: 11). And in a buddy of mine's draft the other day, Cabrera fell to him at the 17th overall pick. Seventeenth!
No doubt a lot of the bad feelings stem from last year's embarrassing binge drinking/domestic dispute episode that coincided with the Tigers coming up short in heated pennant chase. Combine that with Cabrera's oft-mentioned struggles with his weight (listed at 6-foot-4, 240 this year), and I believe that's causing some trepidation among fantasy drafters.
But Miggy has since undergone alcohol counseling and says he's given up drinking and already feels healthier. He's been incredibly durable over his career, never having played fewer than 157 games in a season since becoming a full-timer. And his numbers ... oh, those numbers.
Cabrera's averaged 33 homers and 117 RBIs a season since breaking into the league in 2003. He's a career .311 hitter. His career OPS is .925. He hit .324 last year, his highest average in three years. And he's only 26 years old! Check out his career stats compared to some other ballplayers through age 26 and notice a few of the names: Ken Griffey, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle ...
Sure, there are a few knocks against Cabrera, and not just over his fitness level. The Tigers lineup, while good on paper, hasn't quite been durable or fearsome. And he'd be more valuable if he had stayed at 3B, a shallower position, than switching to 1B. But ultimately, the pros outweigh (pun intended) the cons, and Cabrera belongs in the top 10 or just below it in 2010.
No doubt a lot of the bad feelings stem from last year's embarrassing binge drinking/domestic dispute episode that coincided with the Tigers coming up short in heated pennant chase. Combine that with Cabrera's oft-mentioned struggles with his weight (listed at 6-foot-4, 240 this year), and I believe that's causing some trepidation among fantasy drafters.
But Miggy has since undergone alcohol counseling and says he's given up drinking and already feels healthier. He's been incredibly durable over his career, never having played fewer than 157 games in a season since becoming a full-timer. And his numbers ... oh, those numbers.
Cabrera's averaged 33 homers and 117 RBIs a season since breaking into the league in 2003. He's a career .311 hitter. His career OPS is .925. He hit .324 last year, his highest average in three years. And he's only 26 years old! Check out his career stats compared to some other ballplayers through age 26 and notice a few of the names: Ken Griffey, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle ...
Sure, there are a few knocks against Cabrera, and not just over his fitness level. The Tigers lineup, while good on paper, hasn't quite been durable or fearsome. And he'd be more valuable if he had stayed at 3B, a shallower position, than switching to 1B. But ultimately, the pros outweigh (pun intended) the cons, and Cabrera belongs in the top 10 or just below it in 2010.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The glass is half full for these guys
I've always been a glass-half-full kind of guy. I try to focus on the positive and find something good in a lousy situation. It's gotten me through more than one rough patch in my life, and it's also made my fantasy seasons a lot more bearable.
Trust me, I know a 162-game calendar sometimes seems to drag on for an eternity, especially when your team is languishing on the outer fringes of contention. You've probably got an All-Star or two on your roster who, whether because of injuries or bad luck or plain old incompetence, hasn't lived up to your expectations and has you seriously considering sending them some hate mail. But instead of obsessing over the 80 or so games in which that player's already failed to perform, try focusing on the untapped potential that rests in the 80 still to come.
Here are some first-half underachievers who should have brighter days and half-full glasses ahead:
• I am shocked - no, downright flabbergasted - by Miguel Cabrera's mediocre numbers to this point. I had him pegged as a top-three fantasy producer this year, and boy, has my face been red since the Detroit Tigers' tailspin began on Day One. Cabrera's stats aren't terrible - .276, 11 homers, 45 RBIs - but they aren't what anyone had in mind when they drafted him in the first round. Simply put, Cabrera's better than this, and though an MVP season is now out of the question, Cabrera still has the tools to raise that average 30 points and tack on at least 55-60 more RBIs, making me look just a little smarter in the process.
• Gary Sheffield is another huge disappointment and a key factor in the Tigers' suckiness. Sheff has served up a paltry 16 RBIs and a .230 average to date, hardly the hearty meal we expected from the slugger. But a recent stint on the disabled list with an oblique strain might have done the trick, as Sheffield has already hit two home runs since returning to Detroit's lineup. Although he's more than a decade older than fellow Tiger Cabrera, Sheffield too is a professional hitter who still has some life in his bat and should contribute in the power department from here on out.
• Robinson Cano was supposed to rival Chase Utley for second base supremacy, but instead he's more closely resembled Chevy Chase at the plate (.241, .279 on-base percentage).
Now, the good news: Cano hit.343 after the All-Star break last year with 13 homers and 57 RBIs. No reason he can't do that again, which would vault him to the upper tier of fantasy second basemen.
• Carlos Pena was hitting just .227 before his recent finger injury, but his 11 home runs placed him among the American League leaders at the time he went down. Hurt hands are always a concern when it comes to players who swing for the fences, but the Tampa Bay Rays have held their own without Pena and given him ample time to heal. He's now back in the middle of a dangerous lineup, and I suspect the homers will flow freely once again.
• Aaron Harang's 3-10 record is tough to swallow, especially for a guy who won 16 games each of the past two seasons. But I won't fault him too much for that - the Cincinnati Reds are scoring fewer than three runs a game when he pitches, and there were quite a few games this year he deserved to win but didn't. However, I do fault Harang for striking out almost one fewer batter per nine innings than he did last season and giving up many more fly balls - 17 of which have turned into home runs (he allowed 28 homers in each of the past two years). I have to believe Harang will return to his old formula for success in the coming months, and his luck in the wins and losses department will turn.
• Nothing's gone right for the Seattle Mariners this year, especially the signing of big-ticket free-agent Erik Bedard (4-4, 3.97 ERA). A balky back and hip have been issues this year, but so has the M's punchless offense. If he can get himself healthy and Seattle opts to trade Bedard to a contender, he could turn his season around in a hurry and revert to ace form.
Trust me, I know a 162-game calendar sometimes seems to drag on for an eternity, especially when your team is languishing on the outer fringes of contention. You've probably got an All-Star or two on your roster who, whether because of injuries or bad luck or plain old incompetence, hasn't lived up to your expectations and has you seriously considering sending them some hate mail. But instead of obsessing over the 80 or so games in which that player's already failed to perform, try focusing on the untapped potential that rests in the 80 still to come.
Here are some first-half underachievers who should have brighter days and half-full glasses ahead:
• I am shocked - no, downright flabbergasted - by Miguel Cabrera's mediocre numbers to this point. I had him pegged as a top-three fantasy producer this year, and boy, has my face been red since the Detroit Tigers' tailspin began on Day One. Cabrera's stats aren't terrible - .276, 11 homers, 45 RBIs - but they aren't what anyone had in mind when they drafted him in the first round. Simply put, Cabrera's better than this, and though an MVP season is now out of the question, Cabrera still has the tools to raise that average 30 points and tack on at least 55-60 more RBIs, making me look just a little smarter in the process.
• Gary Sheffield is another huge disappointment and a key factor in the Tigers' suckiness. Sheff has served up a paltry 16 RBIs and a .230 average to date, hardly the hearty meal we expected from the slugger. But a recent stint on the disabled list with an oblique strain might have done the trick, as Sheffield has already hit two home runs since returning to Detroit's lineup. Although he's more than a decade older than fellow Tiger Cabrera, Sheffield too is a professional hitter who still has some life in his bat and should contribute in the power department from here on out.
• Robinson Cano was supposed to rival Chase Utley for second base supremacy, but instead he's more closely resembled Chevy Chase at the plate (.241, .279 on-base percentage).
Now, the good news: Cano hit.343 after the All-Star break last year with 13 homers and 57 RBIs. No reason he can't do that again, which would vault him to the upper tier of fantasy second basemen.
• Carlos Pena was hitting just .227 before his recent finger injury, but his 11 home runs placed him among the American League leaders at the time he went down. Hurt hands are always a concern when it comes to players who swing for the fences, but the Tampa Bay Rays have held their own without Pena and given him ample time to heal. He's now back in the middle of a dangerous lineup, and I suspect the homers will flow freely once again.
• Aaron Harang's 3-10 record is tough to swallow, especially for a guy who won 16 games each of the past two seasons. But I won't fault him too much for that - the Cincinnati Reds are scoring fewer than three runs a game when he pitches, and there were quite a few games this year he deserved to win but didn't. However, I do fault Harang for striking out almost one fewer batter per nine innings than he did last season and giving up many more fly balls - 17 of which have turned into home runs (he allowed 28 homers in each of the past two years). I have to believe Harang will return to his old formula for success in the coming months, and his luck in the wins and losses department will turn.
• Nothing's gone right for the Seattle Mariners this year, especially the signing of big-ticket free-agent Erik Bedard (4-4, 3.97 ERA). A balky back and hip have been issues this year, but so has the M's punchless offense. If he can get himself healthy and Seattle opts to trade Bedard to a contender, he could turn his season around in a hurry and revert to ace form.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Hot talent at the hot corner
The hot corner is the hot position in fantasy baseball this year.
The pool of third basemen is teeming with talent, from upper-echelon studs to youngsters with potential to old standbys. The top three players in my overall 2008 rankings are all third basemen. It's become one of the game's deepest positions, rivaling first base and starting pitching.
As we stroll down the third-base line, the conversation has to begin with Alex Rodriguez, by all accounts the top fantasy player entering the season. A-Rod's stats were off the charts in 2007, even for him - career highs in RBIs, runs and on-base and slugging percentages - and with Rodriguez still in his prime and in a virtually unchanged New York Yankees lineup, he represents the safest and smartest pick at No. 1.
However, if you can't get your hands on A-Rod this year, no
worries. There are two other third basemen who can make legitimate claims of being top-five worthy, and their numbers shouldn't be all that far behind Rodriguez's by season's end.
The first is David Wright, another Big Apple idol. The New York Mets' golden child is a five-category contributor, with rarely seen speed (34 steals in 2007) for a third baseman. If you can get that kind of production from a corner outfielder, you've won half the battle. I have Wright ranked as the No. 2 overall fantasy player.
The other truly elite third baseman is Miguel Cabrera, who checks in at No. 3 on my overall list. He's already building Cooperstown credentials at age 24, and the thought of him moving into the Detroit Tigers' mini-Murderer's Row lineup is about as scary as the eye black/war paint Cabrera wears. It's conceivable he could finish the year as fantasy's best third baseman, assuming he doesn't struggle adjusting to the American League.
Rodriguez, Wright and Cabrera will soon have some company at the top. Start with the Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun, last year's National League Rookie of the Year. Braun is actually moving to left field this season - but don't worry, he'll keep third base eligibility in most leagues.
Defense is about the only hole in his game, as his amazing rookie numbers (.324 average, 34 home runs, 97 RBIs, 91 runs, 15 steals) weren't that far off Wright's or Cabrera's. The small sample size (451 at-bats) worries me a bit, but now Braun can focus a little less on fielding and more on padding those stats at the plate.
Who's this year's Braun? Could be Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays. Insert your own "Desperate Housewives" joke here, but don't laugh at the kid's game - the sweet-swinging, smooth-fielding 22-year-old has been on the fast track to the majors and may win the Rays' starting job this spring. Even if he doesn't, expect to see him making a run at AL rookie honors by midseason.
And while we're on the subject of young talent, don't overlook the Kansas City Royals' Alex Gordon, last year's much-hyped uber-prospect who hit a wall (.247, 137 strikeouts in 543 at-bats) as a rookie. Gordon is way too gifted to give up on yet, and after being overvalued at last year's draft, he'll be undervalued this year. Good time to buy low.
It's not just the Big Three and the fresh faces at third this year, either.
You've got your old reliables (Aramis Ramirez, Chipper Jones, Mike Lowell) your up-and-comers (Garrett Atkins, Ryan Zimmerman, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Chone Figgins) and your sleepers (Edwin Encarnacion, Hank Blalock) - a little something for everyone. If you get locked out of the top-tier guys, there's plenty of depth in the middle rounds.
The pool of third basemen is teeming with talent, from upper-echelon studs to youngsters with potential to old standbys. The top three players in my overall 2008 rankings are all third basemen. It's become one of the game's deepest positions, rivaling first base and starting pitching.
As we stroll down the third-base line, the conversation has to begin with Alex Rodriguez, by all accounts the top fantasy player entering the season. A-Rod's stats were off the charts in 2007, even for him - career highs in RBIs, runs and on-base and slugging percentages - and with Rodriguez still in his prime and in a virtually unchanged New York Yankees lineup, he represents the safest and smartest pick at No. 1.
However, if you can't get your hands on A-Rod this year, no
worries. There are two other third basemen who can make legitimate claims of being top-five worthy, and their numbers shouldn't be all that far behind Rodriguez's by season's end.The first is David Wright, another Big Apple idol. The New York Mets' golden child is a five-category contributor, with rarely seen speed (34 steals in 2007) for a third baseman. If you can get that kind of production from a corner outfielder, you've won half the battle. I have Wright ranked as the No. 2 overall fantasy player.
The other truly elite third baseman is Miguel Cabrera, who checks in at No. 3 on my overall list. He's already building Cooperstown credentials at age 24, and the thought of him moving into the Detroit Tigers' mini-Murderer's Row lineup is about as scary as the eye black/war paint Cabrera wears. It's conceivable he could finish the year as fantasy's best third baseman, assuming he doesn't struggle adjusting to the American League.
Rodriguez, Wright and Cabrera will soon have some company at the top. Start with the Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun, last year's National League Rookie of the Year. Braun is actually moving to left field this season - but don't worry, he'll keep third base eligibility in most leagues.
Defense is about the only hole in his game, as his amazing rookie numbers (.324 average, 34 home runs, 97 RBIs, 91 runs, 15 steals) weren't that far off Wright's or Cabrera's. The small sample size (451 at-bats) worries me a bit, but now Braun can focus a little less on fielding and more on padding those stats at the plate.
Who's this year's Braun? Could be Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays. Insert your own "Desperate Housewives" joke here, but don't laugh at the kid's game - the sweet-swinging, smooth-fielding 22-year-old has been on the fast track to the majors and may win the Rays' starting job this spring. Even if he doesn't, expect to see him making a run at AL rookie honors by midseason.
And while we're on the subject of young talent, don't overlook the Kansas City Royals' Alex Gordon, last year's much-hyped uber-prospect who hit a wall (.247, 137 strikeouts in 543 at-bats) as a rookie. Gordon is way too gifted to give up on yet, and after being overvalued at last year's draft, he'll be undervalued this year. Good time to buy low.
It's not just the Big Three and the fresh faces at third this year, either.
You've got your old reliables (Aramis Ramirez, Chipper Jones, Mike Lowell) your up-and-comers (Garrett Atkins, Ryan Zimmerman, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Chone Figgins) and your sleepers (Edwin Encarnacion, Hank Blalock) - a little something for everyone. If you get locked out of the top-tier guys, there's plenty of depth in the middle rounds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)