Diamond Challenge Preview - The Middle Infielders

MIDDLE INFIELDERS

SHORTSTOP

SS is a position where you are taking 3-4 players. With the high amount of quality 1B and OF (as we saw last week), I’m probably sticking with just 3. Taking that into account, it appears to me that there are two very distinct battles for the starting SS spots.

The high priced guy

Jose Reyes 1880 vs. Hanley Ramirez 1810 – On the surface, this appears to be a pretty even battle. Two very talented SS’s with unique skill sets, both of which contain a blend of power and speed. Reyes offers a little bit more speed, Ramirez a little bit more power. Actually, check that. Ramirez offers a lot more power. Sure, Reyes has stolen more bases, but Ramirez’s power gives him an edge in all of the other 4 categories: AVG, RS, RBI’s, and HR’s. Not to mention, Ramirez has beefed up over the summer and will now being hitting 3rd in a Florida lineup with some young talent surrounding him. In our projection notes, Ramirez is described as having scary potential. And as scary as it will be for opposing pitchers to face him, he will be even more of a nightmare to the CDM squads who go in Reyes’ direction, rather than Ramirez’s to start the season. According to our projections, Ramirez has a roto value of $37, 12 dollars more than Reyes’ roto value. There are no players in the 12 dollar gap between Ramirez and Reyes, which is all the more impressive when you see that there are 5 players within the 13 -25 dollar range (not including Reyes). Case closed: the pick is Ramirez.

The value guy

Rafael Furcal 840 vs. Alexei Ramirez 810 – This is a tough battle. Both players are certainly good values at their respective salaries, but who is the better pick. Both are risk/reward players. Furcal can hit .300, score over 100 runs, and steal near 30 bases; he is also coming off an injury and is 31 YO. Ramirez on the other hand is just a youngin’, entering only his second major league season and susceptible to a sophomore slump (.30 EYE). Yet, he has great potential; he offers a good amount of power for a SS (21 HR last season) and contributes in every category. So, the conclusion: take both of ‘em! Since they are pretty much the same salary, they are essentially interchangeable. This will give you some much-needed flexibility in setting your roster week in and week out. If Furcal has 7 home games and Ramirez has only a 5 game week, play Raffy. If you are killing the competition in steals and average but lacking in power, substitute Ramirez in for Furcal. Due to differences in salary at most positions, it will not be easy to put a platoon in action, but this is an opportunity to use one to your advantage. Don’t pass that up.

Possible 4th SS options

The top 3 options that cross my mind are Reyes, Derek Jeter 1300, and Jimmy Rollins 1530. Well, Reyes is a tough to select because he’s so expensive, and as a result, he may end up rotting away on your taxi squad. Also, with Furcal and some of the OF choices from last week (Upton, Crawford, Kemp, etc.) stolen bases should not become that much of an issue. Jeter sticks out to me because he may score a boatload of runs in that lineup (particularly due to the addition of Mark Teixeira). However, the Yankees have always had a stacked lineup in recent memory, and yet Jeter has averaged a solid, but unspectacular, 103 RS the past three seasons. Also, I’m not paying 1300k for a 34 YO player who has seen such a steep drop on OPS the past couple of seasons (.900/.840/.771). That leaves Rollins, a player with power and speed (who is expensive, but still 350,000 less than Reyes) who is certainly worthy of being played in one of your 2 DH spots. Plus, despite a down season in ’08, his home splits were ridiculous as he posted an AVG/OBP/SLG line of .314/.393/.477. Play him at DH when he has a favorable home schedule, and your getting splits that resemble Hanley Ramirezesque numbers.

SECOND BASE

Unlike SS I wouldn’t even consider taking anything other than three 2B, which in my opinion makes this one of the easiest positions to pick and choose from this year. While there are a lot of options out there, I think there are two solid, obvious choices along with a nice low salary guy.

The must haves

Dustin Pedroia 1050 – According to our projections, Pedroia will lead all 2B in RS, which is certainly possible considering he hits leadoff in a great Boston lineup (ranked 4th and 3rd in the majors in RS the past two seasons). Pedroia is also a shoe in to hit .300 due to his incredible EYE (career of 1.03) and great contact rate (career of 92%). Pedroia also showed last season that he has some power (17 HR) and the ability to run (20 SB).

Ian Kinsler 1270 – As it says in our projection notes, Kinsler missed 40 games and still managed 63 EBH. On top of flashing a bit more power, Kinsler also showed he has patience for a young hitter (26 YO). The past two seasons, Kinsler has posted eyes of .75 and .67. If that is not enough reason to take his high average seriously, Kinsler posted by far the best LD% of his career with an impressive 24.2% line drive rate. On top of that he has speed, averaging 24.5 steals the past two seasons. Basically, with Kinsler you’re going to get Chase Utley numbers, minus some homers but plus some steals, at a much lower salary and without the uncertainty. Who knows how Utley’s hip is going to affect him this year?

The low salary play

Aaron Hill 630 – As I mentioned in Friday’s preseason prep blog, Hill has increased fantasy value due to a heavier emphasis on steals by the Blue Jays organization. That’s not the sole reason you should take Hill though; he is an underrated hitter, batting second in an underrated lineup. There is no one at Hill’s salary or lower who will be able to contribute in all 5 categories like him. Last year, a concussion that forced Hill to miss most of the season prevented him from having a breakout year, but now this season could be that breakout year. In Hill’s last full season of baseball, he had an impressive 66 EBH, including 47 doubles. His ISO power was .168, which was essentially equivalent to Pedroia’s ISO (.167) of last season, in which he won the MVP. Hill is a safe, solid low salary play that will clear up some room for your heavy hitters; yet, he also has upside (particularly if he runs a bit more, as anticipated, and converts some of those doubles into homers).

*Notice Pedroia, Kinsler, and Hill all have a salary probably lower than what they deserve due to the fact that all three are young and improving, and Kinsler and Hill missed games due to injury. Since these salaries are heavily determined by three averages and such, Pedroia, Kinsler, and Hill are, in terms of their salary, heavily undervalued.

Avoid

Rickie Weeks 900 – Weeks appears to be a very talented player that has just been unlucky both at the plate (singles averages of .212 and .215 the past two seasons) and in the trainer’s room (averaging 414 AB a season). If he could just put it all together, he might have a huge season. Yet, at some point we have to take the blinders off an realize Weeks for what he is: an injury prone 2B that strikes out too much (more than a quarter of his plate appearances) and has seen his LD % decrease (20.5/17.1/15.1).

Howie Kendrick 710 – Kendrick just does not do anything that Hill can’t do, and on top of that he is a lot riskier. He has a career EYE of .18 (horrendous), and his high GB/FB ratio, which has somehow climbed (1.60/1.83/2.08), severely limits his power output potential.

Robinson Cano 1040 – Cano plays in a great lineup and is a good comeback candidate. Yet, he is the same price as Pedroia and what can he do better than Pedroia? Cano won’t steal bases (career high is 5), will see an increase in average but not to Pedroia’s level, and averages 15.5 HR a season. Cano at best will have more RBI’s than Pedroia, but nowhere near enough to balance out with what he lacks in the other categories.