Third base is not getting deeper for 2010 fantasy baseball. It’s just not. If Jacques Cousteau played fantasy baseball and was still alive, he wouldn’t even need a snorkel to see the bottom of the 3rd base basin. Shoot, Jacquese from The Real World: San Diego could probably see the bottom. There’s guys at the top (Longoria, Wright, Sandoval, Zimmerman, Youuuuuuk, Reynolds, A-Rod and Young). There’s plenty of schmohawks at the bottom (Cantu, Blake, Lowell). But there’s not a whole lot of guys at the bottom that could move to the top. You’re gonna have to deal with it. After Michael Young, there will be a drop off. Some of the upside picks at 3rd will be Ian Stewart, Casey McGehee and Gordon Beckham. Each of those guys will probably get a fantasy baseball keeper or sleeper post dedicated to them. Today, it’s 2010 fantasy baseball keeper (and sleeper) time as we look at Gordon Shumway Beckham.
In 378 at-bats last year, Gordon Beckham came away with the line of 58/14/63/.270/7. The Royal We is not going to sit and say add 50 games worth of stats to his numbers and look at how beautiful they are, but it’s fair to say he will get more Runs. Ozzie hit him 2nd for 218 at-bats. There’s no reason why that should stop. So let’s give him 85 Runs. Since we can’t have our ice cream and cake and cake and eat it too, I’m not going to give him any more RBIs. If he’s batting 2nd, he’s not also batting 8th. (It’s impossible; LaRussa tried it briefly with Pujols.) Beckham stole more bases when he hit 2nd than anywhere else in the order. (Not many, but still it is true.) So let’s say he gets 14 steals. He did steal 18 bases in his last year of college, so it’s not a huge termite-infested limb we’re traipsing out onto. He hit more homers from the two hole. Not sure what lineup protection he actually got from the middle of the White Sox order, but let’s assume he did. So let’s give him 18 homers. Seems pretty conservative. I like that. Less you expect, less you’re disappointed. He strikes out a decent amount and he’s prone to slumps. Average can come down from .270. Doesn’t have to, but can. Let’s assume it does. Again, less expectations. Okay, so we have a 2010 line of 85/18/63/.260/14. That’s a top 10 3rd baseman with upside for a bit more. I love you, Gordon Beckham even if you sound British and their teeth aren’t the best.
