All the experts agree: shortstop is a wasteland this year. It's almost like the old days before A-Rod, Jeter and Nomar made shortstop the nouveau power position. The plus side of having only a couple of big bats at a position in this league is that it evens the field: the big dollars that Hanley and Tulo are going to command will cripple the teams that take them, everybody else gets a space filler who may or may not be preferable to just starting nobody.
I'm serious. Here's an example from last year's draft.
Team Funkeyes goes this route:
SS Yunel Escobar, $15: .256 BA, 4 HR, 35 RBI, 60 R, 6 SB, .655 OPS
OF Carlos Quentin, $23: .243 BA, 26 HR, 87 RBI, 73 R, 2 SB, .821 OPS
Combined, $38: .249, 30 HR, 122 RBI, 133 R, 8 SB, .735 OPS
For that same $38 ($36, actually) Team Sleeves went this way:
SS Cliff Pennington, $1: .250 BA, 6 HR, 46 RBI, 64 R, 29 SB, .687 OPS
OF Adam Dunn, $35: .260 BA, 31 HR, 103 RBI, 85 R, 0 SB, .892 OPS
Combined, $36: .255 BA, 37 HR, 149 RBI, 149 R, 29 SB, .790 OPS
Who got the better deal? Even without Pennington's steals, that's a way better outcome for Sleeves. Not to mention there are plenty of $1 shortstop options out there who can pull consistent ABs and not kill you.
Here are the tiers:
6 categories:
Hanley Ramirez - $55
Derek Jeter - $32
HanRam could end up getting more auction dollars than Pujols this year because of the SS scarcity factor. Pujols will put up better numbers in every category but steals, but that won't stop the conventional wisdom crowd. Jeter is getting downgraded big time, but even a sub-par Jeter can still outperform most shortstops in every category.
5 categories:
Troy Tulowitzki - $46
Jose Reyes - $30
Tulo is worth the big price tag, but he doesn't steal bases and he's injury prone. If Hanley's the only sure bet at this position, I'm not gambling with big dollars. Reyes should still be a valuable fantasy shortstop, but I think his days of 55+ steals are over.
4 categories:
Jimmy Rollins - $36
Alexei Ramirez - $12
Stephen Drew - $15
Miguel Tejada - $10
This is the group of guys who are going to go for upwards of $20 as teams get desperate that they'll lose out on above-average shortstops. None of these guys are dominant players, but you'd never know it by the price tags they'll pull. Of the 4, Tejada may be the bargain because of his age.
3 categories:
None
Another steep talent drop-off, though the overall talent level is much lower.
2 categories:
Jhonny Peralta - $10
Juan Uribe - $1
Alex Gonzalez - undrafted
Ian Desmond - $6
Rafael Furcal - $6
Maicer Izturis - $4
Elvis Andrus - $21
Ryan Theriot - $7
Peralta, Uribe and Gonzalez all get bumped up because I'll be punting steals. Desmond is a good pick to mix speed and power, though not enough to make a huge impact week-to-week. Furcal and Izturis are more or less the same player, speed with just enough pop to get by. Elvis Andrus will get paid again to be that Chone Figgins-type one-dimensional player that I hate. If I can get Ryan Theriot at a discount - say $3 or fewer - he can start on my squad.
1 category:
Tsuyoshi Nishioka - undrafted
Mike Aviles - $1
Marco Scutaro - $14
J.J. Hardy - $2
Starlin Castro - undrafted
Omar Infante - undrafted
Asdrubal Cabrera - $13
Jason Bartlett - $22
Erick Aybar - $13
Yuniesky Betancourt - undrafted
Cliff Pennington - $1
As previously stated, I'm way up on Nishioka, but I won't overspend to get him. Barring injury, this may be the Mike Aviles breakout year we've been waiting on. Scutaro isn't worth $14, but he is very good and is a potential fantasy starter if he can hold off Jed Lowrie. J.J. Hardy in a solid Oriole lineup should get some power numbers back. Everybody loves Starlin Castro and I'm going to guess that he goes for about $18. The rest of these guys don't seem worth more than $1 to me.
0 categories (with upside):
Yunel Escobar - $15
Reid Brignac - undrafted
Alcides Escobar - $4
Orlando Cabrera - $8
Clint Barmes - $9
Escobar in Toronto is intriguing since it seems like everyone who goes there starts hitting homers out of nowhere. I like Brignac to hit between 10-15 homers this year too. Barmes would've been a great pick until he broke his hand in spring training.
Jed Lowrie won the affection of the Boston faithful filling in for the injured Dustin Pedroia last year. Unfortunately, with a healthy D.P., Scutaro entrenched at short, Youkilis shifted over to third and the addition of Adrian Gonzalez, it'll be a challenge to find playing time for Jed. He could conceivably play every day, filling in for the starting infield which makes him an interesting pick-up if he can still swing the bat while filling the utility role.
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