Fantasy Baseball Update Time!!

Fantasy Sports update time! How many people out there are anxiously awaiting the end of the NFL lockout so we can all play fantasy football? I think football is the best fantasy game to play since it all takes place in a weekend and can be followed closely without being yelled at that you are spending too much time on the computer. We follow because we care people, not because we have no life... fantasy sports are like a religion to many people out there and I am a devout follower. So as we await football season and the many, many mock drafts that us fanatics will take part in, we keep our focus on the sport in season... baseball.

Baseball is the hardest fantasy sport to play since the seasons is soooo long. 162 games vs. 82 games or 16 games is a huge time commitment for many people and the games are played at varying times (daytime or nighttime) and are much more weather dependent than the others. So as we approach the 100 games played marked in the season let us take a close look at some fantasy studs and duds for 2011.

I think the best way to go about this is to go position by position and discuss a few players for each.

Catcher: Studs-Brian McCann (.313 avg, 39 runs, 16 hrs, 53 rbis leads catchers in 3 of the 4 major categories and is unbelievably reliable) and Miguel Montero (.271 avg, 42 runs, 10 hrs, 47 rbis, is having a very nice year and is 2nd in runs for catchers) Duds- Joe Mauer (only 138 at bats but has 0 hrs and .297 avg) and Geovany Soto (Once again Soto was overrated preseason and is hitting .238 with only 8 hrs) It's not fair to put Buster Posey here since he was playing well before his season was cut short by injury.


Brian McCann (talkingchop.com)


First Baseman: Studs- Adrian Gonzalez (.343 avg, 67 runs, 17 hrs, 78 rbis show A-Gon was worth trading for and leads a vaunted Boston lineup) and Paul Konerko (.314 avg, 43 runs, 22 hrs, 69 rbis are excellent numbers for someone who everyone thought was washed up... he had an amazing first half but beware of him wearing down) Duds- Justin Morneau (.225 avg, 16 runs, 4 hrs, 21 rbis are a huge disappointment for Morneau who could've had a nice bounce back year but can't stay healthy) and Justin Smoak (.228 avg, 24 runs, 12 hrs, 43 rbis are a big disappointment from a top prospect from 2 years ago... will he ever live up to the hype?)


Adrian Gonzalez (zimbio.com)


Second Baseman: Studs- Robinson Cano (.293 avg, 59 runs, 16 hrs, 61 rbis are a big reason why the Yankees are still in the AL East race and the HR Derby was an amazing show of raw power... Cano is a great young player) and Neil Walker (.275 avg, 50 runs, 9 hrs, 62 rbis are amazing for the 2nd year Pirate. He leads 2B in rbis and is a huge reason why the Bucs are in first place in the NL Central.) Duds- Kelly Johnson (.215 avg, 50 runs, 16 hrs, 42 rbis are decent numbers but in Arizona he should be hitting better than .215! He gets platooned a lot which hurts his value too.) and Omar Infante (.256 avg, 29 runs, 1 hr, 27 rbis are a huge disappointment after a very successful last season. Doesn't seem like Infante likes hitting in Florida much.) Brian Roberts/Chase Utley both have honorable mentions but due to injuries mostly.


Robinson Cano (graphicshunt.com)

Shortstop: Studs- Jose Reyes (.354 avg, 66 runs, 3 hrs, 32 rbis, 30 sbs, lead his NL MVP caliber season and will get him a huge contract in the off-season) and Asdrubal Cabrera (.292 avg, 60 runs, 17 hrs, 60 rbis, 12 sbs, help lead the Indians from the outhouse to the penthouse in the AL Central and his defense is top notch as well.) Duds- Hanley Ramirez (.252 avg, 51 runs, 9 hrs, 41 rbis, 17 sbs, are okay stats but he was a top 3 pick and got off to an awful start with an injury in there too) and Reid Brignac (.197 avg, 15 runs, 1 hr, 10 rbis, 3 sbs are horrendous stats for the guy who should've been the man in Tampa but can't do anything right.)



Jose Reyes (everyjoe.com)

Third Baseman: Studs- Aramis Ramirez (.302 avg, 46 runs, 17 hrs, 58 rbis are a reason to celebrate A-Ram... he's had a great year on an awful team, time to trade him to a contender?) and Adrian Beltre (.270 avg, 58 runs, 20 hrs, 74 rbis are MVP candidate like numbers since he is 2nd in the league in RBIs to A-Gon and is on a big run scoring team.) Duds- Evan Longoria (.231 avg, 37 runs, 11 hrs, 45 rbis are disappointing numbers that are somewhat due to his rib injury) and Brandon Inge (.177 avg, 18 runs, 1 hr, 17 rbis are horrendous for a guy who had a nice two power year stretch and was once catcher eligible.) Ryan Zimmerman and Chone Figgins are just as bad off as Longoria and Inge but I had to make a call.


Aramis Rameriz (zimbio.com)

Outfielder: Studs- Jacoby Ellsbury (.316 avg, 70 runs, 15 hrs, 54 rbis, 28 sbs are fantastic numbers for a guy who had 78 at bats last year... MVP possibly? Certainly worth a mention.), Matt Kemp (.311 avg, 58 runs, 24 hrs, 72 rbis, 27 sbs are great numbers as well and make him a NL MVP candidate after a down year last year hitting .249 with only 28 hrs.) and Jose Bautista (.332 avg, 74 runs, 31 hrs, 66 rbis are monster numbers for a guy everyone thought was a one year wonder... well guess what, he isn't and Joey Bats is for real!) Duds- Carl Crawford (.247 avg, 35 runs, 6 hrs, 33 rbis, 10 sbs are horrible for a guy with such high expectations and a top 3 round fantasy pick... hammy injury hurt but we will see how he does now that hes healthy), Alex Rios (.211 avg, 42 runs, 6 hrs, 23 rbis, 6 sbs from a guy who hit .284 with 21 hrs, 88 rbis and 34 sbs last year, this year is a complete joke and a huge disappointment.) and Shin-Soo Choo (.244 avg, 30 runs, 5 hrs, 16 rbis, 11 sbs are a huge disappointment before the broken thumb topped it all off... he hit .300 the last 2 years with 22 hrs, 20hrs and 22 sbs and 21 sbs in those seasons. Colby Rasmus, BJ Upton, Jayson Werth are all viable options for duds as well.

Jacoby Ellsbury (rotoinfo.com)

Starting Pitcher: Studs- Jered Weaver (12-4 record, 1.90 ERA, 0.93 WHIP are reasons why he was the AL All-Star starter this year and he continues to mow people down as he has 123 ks in 147 innings.), Ryan Vogelsong (7-1 record, 2.02 ERA, 1.19 WHIP with 75 ks in 98 innings are very impressive numbers from a guy who wasn't even a thought in training camp for the Giants and became an All-Star) and Josh Beckett (8-3 record, 2.12 ERA, 0.89 WHIP with 100ks in 119 innings show that he is back to form and last year he really was very injured.) Duds- Ubaldo Jimenez (6-8 record, 4.00 ERA, 1.31 WHIP with 108 ks in 117 innings is a big disappoint after an amazing season last year when he had 19 wins with a 2.88 ERA.) and Brett Myers (3-10 record, 4.86 ERA, 1.37 WHIP with 95 ks in 126 innings for an awful team is tough to do but he had a great year last year with  14 wins, 3.14 ERA and 180 ks.)


Jered Weaver (zimbio.com)

Relief Pitcher (Closer): Studs- Joel Hanrahan (28 saves, 1 blown save, 1.24 ERA, 0.92 WHIP with 38 ks in 43 2/3 innings are a reason why the Pirates are in 1st... Hanrahan is an absolute stud at the end of the bullpen) and Jose Valverde (25 saves, 0 blown saves, 3.24 ERA, 1.44 WHIP with 41 ks in 41 2/3 innings are helping the Tigers stay in the AL Central race and although he usually makes the 9th inning interesting... he gets the job done. Duds- Ryan Franklin (Well first he has no team right now... and converted 1 save while blowing 4 early in the year with a 8.46 ERA after he had 27 saves while blowing only 2 last year) and Matt Capps (15 saves, 7 blown saves, 4.71 ERA, 1.12 WHIP with 21 ks in 42 innings but he recently lost the closing job to former all-star Joe Nathan)


Joel Hanrahan (zimbio.com)



I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts... so please comment away! Thanks!!