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If Ian Stewart has multiple position eligibility, most importantly 2nd base eligibility, then color me chicken and call me cock-fed in my corn hole.  Skip Pedroia and grab Stewart late, even in shallow leagues.  But with only 12 games played at 2nd base last year, I’m going to assume Stewart’s only eligible at 3rd base for most of you and he probably won’t earn that 2nd eligibility in 2009.  At 3rd base, someone who hit 10 home runs isn’t exactly terrific. (Except for you, Alex Gordon.  I.  Heart.  You.)  Then throw in the fact that Stewart struckout 94 times in just over 300 plate appearances and you might wonder if Ian Stewart’s still too green.  So as Sean Connery might say, is Ee-yon Shtew-art worth drafting in 2009 fantasy baseball?

Doode, read the title of the post.  Am I calling him a sleeper because he’s not worth drafting?  Figure it out, man.  Seriously.  Like that weird guy who lives downstairs from you who always leaves his black Jockey underwear in the washer, Stewart is a swinger.  This much is true.   Stewart’s Ks were atrocious in 2009, but he’s shown that he can improve a K rate.  Every time he’s made a new step up in his professional career, it’s been a steep decline with striking out, but he’s always made the necessary adjustments.  In 2008, he swung at a lot less pitches out of the strike zone than he had in the past, which is a solid sign.  Listen, he’s still going to strikeout.  No doubt about it.  But he might hit 20 home runs and steal 7 bases.  Who’s that sound like?  Ryan Zimmerman?  Yeah, I agree.  Now let’s go over some schmohawks that are being drafted before Stewart, in no particular order because these guys don’t deserve that much respect — Omar Infante, Eric Bruntlett, Russell Branyan, Jose Castillo, Wes Helms (!) and Brandon Inge.  Yuckety yuck yuck.  If you find yourself in a jam at your corner infidel spot, take a chance on Ian Stewart.