Fantasy Baseball Advice

Jesus To Be Bigger Than The Beatles

August 03, 2011 By: Grey Category: Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes 169 Comments →

Linguist, academic and all-around good guy with a lot of free time on his hands, David Crystal says there’s been no definitive research on how many people are actually laughing out loud when they type out el oh el  (Thanks, Wikipedia!).  I’m guessing the number is less than 50% and the number of people actually rolling on the floor laughing when they type that dopey acronym is far less.  I bring this up to impress on you the amount of things read on the internet that turn out to be false.  With all that said (and it was a lot, wasn’t it?), the internet tells me the Yankees are going to promote Jesus Montero in the next couple of weeks.  If you read that and no streamers or balloons fell from the ceiling, then pull the rip cord harder.  In keeper leagues, he should be owned already.  If he’s not, I’m assuming you’re in an NL-Only league or a mixed league filled with atheists.  Back in February, the two thousand and eleventh year of Jesus Montero’s call up, I gave him the projections of 20/5/30/.290 in 100 at-bats.  Still sounds about right.  I’m a God, mortal!  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Hanley Ramirez – Day-to-day with a sprained shoulder.  That sounds like nothing for a guy who plays through injuries and just lives and breathes the game like he’s Luke Appling or some other old timey player.  Unfortunately, that’s not Hanley Ramirez.  My guess is he’ll miss at least five to seven games.

Omar Infante – 3-for-5, 2 homers.  Hmm… I feel like I heard about him somewhere recently…Something about how you should pick him up…Oh, I know.  I wrote it yesterday.  I’m a genius, even if I need the spellchecker to spell genius.

Jason Isringhausen – Screwed the turkey, or whatever that cliche is, yesterday for the second day in a row.  Give Bobby Parnell, who sounds like a character Don Cheadle would play, the closer job.  Sure, Parnell hasn’t been great, but at least he has a potential future.  What do you have to lose?  More games?  You can only lose one game at a time, which sounds like something Casey Stengel once said.  BTW, he really got the short end of the “That guy has the greatest quotes” stick compared to Yogi.

Johan Santana – Felt discomfort and is having his shoulder examined.  Maybe the Mets can trade Johan’s shoulder for Chipper Jones’s lower back.  Assuming they both pass through waivers.

Ricky Romero – 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks.  He only gave up one hit… A homer to Desmond Jennings!  Don’t you love when I work Desmond Jennings into other players’ blurbs?

Jose Bautista – 1-for-3 with his first homer since, like, when the U.S. gave Canada its independence.  Though I’m no history buff.  “Take hockey, ‘eh’ and weird police outfits.  Leave the Mckenzie brothers.”  That’s me at the Treaty of Vancouver.

Yunel Escobar – 1-for-3 with his tenth homer, and his first since June 30th.  Tends to hit a few after he gets one, so look for him to tack on.  Not tacky though, like that bald guy on Design Star.  What, I’m the only one that watches HGTV?  C’mon, three lady readers, where are you?

David Price – 6 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks and wasted a Desmond Jennings’ homer.  See?

Ian Desmond – 2-for-3 with his 4th home run.  Has been so nonexistent for so long, I kinda thought he retired from baseball and opened an emu farm selling giant eggs.  Hopefully, if there is a God besides Jesus Montero and Jesus Guzman, Ian Desmond will get hot.

Michael Morse – 2-for-5 with his 18th homer.  Dash-dash-dot.

Derek Lowe – 4 IP, 7 ER.  Can’t spell Derek without reek.

Jose Constanza – 2-for-4 as he started in place of Heyward.  A’la George Costanza, “FREDI!”  Would’ve been awesome if Constanza would’ve went into the dugout between innings, then when his name was announced to bat, if he would’ve ran out with no shirt on. This Heyward/Constanza shituation is worth monitoring.  In NL-Only leagues, I’d grab Constanza for steals.  He did steal 49 bags in Double-A and 23 this year in Triple-A in only 86 games.

Chris Davis – 2-for-5 with his first home run for the Orioles, or the Orange Birds as no one calls them.  If you need to catch lightning in a bottle with power, Davis could provide it.  The preceding was brought to you by Bill James’ beard.  No, not that definition of beard.

Mark Reynolds – 3-for-5, 5 RBIs and his 24th homer.  Earl Weaver could’ve managed the shizz out of this team.

Brennan Boesch – 3-for-4, and his 16th homer and 5th steal for the nourishing slam & legs.  Tellin’ ya right now (as if that’s not obvious), it’s gonna be hard to figure out where to draft Boesch next year.

Alex Avila – 2-for-3, 3 RBIs and his 11th homer.  His July (.197, no homers) kinda smelled like an old man’s fart, but every other month he’s been usable.

Edgar Renteria – 1-for-4 with a home run.  I’m not proud to tell you this, but I picked him up in one league where I was hurting for a middle infidel.  Sometimes trades give players a boost in the arm.  And sometimes you need a booster shot in the arm if you have the Renterias.

Homer Bailey – 8 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks.  Don’t care, I wouldn’t pick him up.

Garrett Jones – 2-for-4, 4 RBIs and two homers.  How dare you steal the thunder from the arrival of Ryan Ludwick! Assuming you can make sure Jones never sees a lefty on your fantasy team, he might be worth a look.

Alfonso Soriano – 2-for-5 and two homers as the Pirates pitching staff decided to suddenly regress to what they should’ve been all year.

Kyle Kendrick – 8 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks.  Somewhere, Joe Blanton, “That could’ve been me!  I swear!”

Troy Tulowitzki – Left the game after hurting his pinkiewitzki.  Should be fine to go tomorrow.  Hopefully, since his fantasy owners paid top dollar for his final two months of production.

Ervin Santana – 9 IP, 1 ER, 10 baserunners, 7 Ks.  Extremely solid start following his no-hitter.  Also, Johnny Vander Meer’s family can stop following him around now.

Mark Trumbo – Hit his 20th home run yesterday.  I get the feeling he’s going to take a big step forward next year.  Assuming the Sciosciapath doesn’t bench him for an Izturis, an Aybar or a Mathis.

Jason Kipnis – Now has three straight games with a homer.  “Why didn’t I pick him up?”  That’s you after you see someone else in your league grab him.

Phil Hughes – A complete game shutout! (Okay, the game was rain shortened to six innings, but whatever.  Final thirds are overrated.  I would’ve loved Inglourious Basterds without the final third.)

Matt Holliday – Hit his 16th homer and got his first steal.  See, just needed a little razzing.  BTW, do something, Pedro Alvarez!

Paul Goldschmidt – 1-for-3 with his first major league homer.  Or as you say his name in German, Au Shit!

Hiroki Kuroda – 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks vs Latos (7 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks) as the two offensive powerhouses, Dodgers and Padres, met in Petco.  Luckily, someone scored and this game didn’t need to be decided with a game of duck, duck, goose.

Mike Adams – 1 IP, 1 ER.  If there’s no Padre fans, is there still derisive laughing when Adams gives up runs?  Ponder that after three bong hits.

Kershaw – The Strike Zone Dodger

April 08, 2010 By: Grey Category: Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes 405 Comments →

Clayton Kershaw went 4 and two-thirds innings, giving up three earned and 11 baserunners.  Six of those ducks on the pond were walks.  That’s 1-2-3-4-5-6 walks.  Versus the Pirates.  A team that had a .318 OBP last year.  Sure, this year they’re starting with Robot Jones, “I must kill the Queen,” but c’mon.  How did I convince myself a pitcher who can’t get through 5 innings was a good idea?  I blame all of you.  Someone should of said something.  And if you did say something, you should used more exclamation marks or a bigger font.  This is not your beautiful wife, this is not your beautiful house, this is a pitcher who walks the ballpark.  On the bright side — and let’s face it, we need a bright side since not all of us live on the first floor — Kershaw was very bad last April too.  He’ll get better.  Or at least I keep telling myself that.  Convincing, right?  No, really he will.  Right?  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Aaron Cook – 5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 Ks.  Can you smell what the Cook is rocking?  Smells like Dwayne Johnson’s movie career.

Carlos Gonzalez – 2-for-5, Run scored.  I’m as impressed as everyone else with what he’s doing so far.  Like a dwarf standing in line, I smell a but. Yeah, random italicized voice, there’s a but.  His jumps and/or reads on his stolen base attempts have been poor at best.  Last year, his stolen base percentage wasn’t bad, but he was weak in the minors.  6 steals, 3 times caught in Triple A; 9 steals, 5 times caught in Double-A; 8 times caught in 23 attempts in Single-A… Do you want your leadoff man getting on and getting erased?  Probably not.

Miguel Olivo – 1-for-3, HR yesterday.  I know it’s frustrating when your catcher doesn’t start, but this was a day game after a night game.  Iannetta won’t play this game at any point in the season if Olivo’s healthy.  Could Olivo steal time?  Yup, uh-huh, yeppers.  But because he started this game is no indication of that.

Alcides Escobar – 1-for-2, 1 RBI.  Carlos Gomez does not belong in the two hole, even if it seems appropriate because of what comes out of the two hole.  Over/under for Alcides moving up to leadoff or the two hole is the end of April.  I’m taking the under.

Trevor Hoffman – Got his 2nd save yesterday.  When he was facing Todd Helton, I smelled fossil.

Ian Desmond – 2-for-5, 2 RBIs, HR yesterday.  Desmond can make it all right, brotha.

Cole Hamels – 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 Ks, 9 baserunners and the Win.  He’s just lucky there’s only one Ian Desmond.

Ryan Howard – Two games, two homers.  Howard’s not usually a fast starter.  If he stays hot in April, he could hit a lot of homers this year.  At least the Maris family hopes so.  We was duped!

Kelly Johnson – 2 HRs yesterday.  This is why you just draft guys and let them play.  Otherwise, you end up like this, “Grey, I dropped Desmond on Monday for Kelly Johnson, then dropped Johnson for EverCab.  Now I’m wondering if I should use my waiver claim for Desmond who I just dropped two days ago.  Or what do you think of Scutaro?”

Ian Kennedy – 5 IP, 3 ER, 8 Ks, 0 BBs.  Granted, it’s the Pads, but still Kennedy only really made one mistake — a three-run homer to Hairston.  Joba must be thinking of staying in ‘Zona for good next time he goes to Burning Man.

Kevin Correia – 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 Ks, 0 BBs.  Was beat by Kelly Johnson and Krispie Young going long.  In Petco, he would’ve won this game.  Once a hodgepadre, always a hodgepadre.

Ervin Santana – 6 IP, 4 ER.  Has looked bad and I think his elbow might still be hurting him.  I’m not getting caught in this guy’s free fall.  I’m in the exit row, my life vest is secure and I’m ready to help you secure your flotation device.

Mike Napoli – 1-for-4, RBI.  In related news, Jeff Mathis woke up yesterday with a horse’s head wrapped in a Snuggie.

Brandon Wood – 1-for-12 on the season.  Good to see he’s really running with the job.  If he’s not careful, soon the pine’s good get some more Wood.  There’s a pun in there somewhere, you find it.

Justin Duchscherer – 5 2/3 IP, 5 ER.  Duchs suchs.  Not loving these AL starters at all.  Where’s Latos?  I need him.  I’m feeling a “No Latos” intolerance.

Matt Garza – 8 IP, 1 ER, 9 Ks.  Okay, I’m not hating all my AL starters.

Milton Bradley – Homered then gave the game away with his defense.  Blame it on the Mariners’ Moose… Lost the ball in the lights that are whiter than Jerry Reuss…

Luke Hochevar – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners.  He looked sharp last night and I’m ready to leap if he pitches this well again.  Though he’s pitched well before only to get torched right after, so I am not going to fall for the banana in the old tailpipe just yet.

Max Scherzer – 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 Ks, 3 baserunners.  In what sounded like a battle of Michael Chabon characters, Max Scherzer actually looked even better than Hochevar.

Fausto Carmona – 6 IP, 1 Hit, 3 ER… Wow, that’s not a bad line at– Wait a second, he also threw 6 walks and 1 strikeout.  Yeah, that’s not something you want to be part of.

Garrett Jones – Hit his 3rd homer yesterday.  I took him out of my lineup because he was facing a lefty.  Sonvabench!

Russell Martin – HR yesterday.  Martin only hit that homer to annoy all the fantasy baseballers (<–my Mom’s term) who skipped over him in favor of Napoli or Iannetta.  He’s in your head!

Josh Hamilton – Now 6 Ks in his last 7 ABs.  Maybe he’s missing ex-Rangers hitting coach, Rudy Jaramillo.  The second most influential Rudy in baseball.

Rich Harden – I’m sure when a lot of his owners saw he only threw three and two-thirds innings before he was removed that he must of been hurt.  Well, take out your piñatas, but don’t swing the sticks near Harden because he’s still healthy.  He struckout eight hitters and walked five so he was removed because of a high pitch count.  Kid gloves and all.

Vladimir Guerrero – HR yesterday.  I never thought the day would come when I owned a DH-Only hitter and was happy about it, but we have Vlad in more than one league and I’m kinda enjoying it.  I think at DH and in Arlington he can have a respectable year.

Kyle Blanks – Hit for the golden sombrero — 0-for-4, 4 Ks.  He was so bad that firing himself would’ve been both appropriate and punny.

J.J. Hardy – Hit his 2nd HR of the year.  It’s no mystery that a SS with 20 HR power has some fantasy value.

Vernon Wells – 2 HRs yesterday.  3 HRs for the year.  This resurrection is the best piece of Wells-authored science fiction since War of the Worlds.

Jenrry Mejia – Made his major league debut as he threw one inning and gave up one run in three hits.  The Mets seem to be taking the Joba route with him.  So far, similar results.

Leo Nunez – Blew the save as he walked in a run then balked in a run.  This was after a, uh, balky spring.  There’s no clear cut replacement for Nunez but it’s something to watch.

Jon Heyman – Obviously feeling upstaged by the Verducci Effect’s shortcomings, Heyman released his breakout candidates for 2010.  Some of the names are Jayson Werth, Justin Upton, B.J. Upton, Matt Kemp, Ubaldo Jimenez, Nolasco, Gallardo and Cano.  Great stuff, Jon!  I think Lincecum is on the cusp of being a good pitcher.  And who knows, maybe there’s something to this Pujols fellow.

Edgar Renteria – 5-for-5 or a hit for every decade he’s been alive.

John Bowker – 1-for-4, HR yesterday.  Here’s what I said last year, “Bowker’s proven more than capable in the minors.  This year’s Triple-A numbers are 82/21/83/.342/10 with more walks than strikeouts.  In NL-Only leagues, you should absolutely grab him.  In mixed leagues, I’d wait a few unless you’re absolutely hurting for power.”  And that’s me quoting me!  I’ll add that Bowker is a little long in the tooth and may be nothing more than a Quad-A player.

Eli Whiteside -  That’s who I buy my lox from.

Top 20 Shortstops for 2009 Fantasy Baseball

January 20, 2009 By: Grey Category: 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft 16 Comments →

When I went over the top 20 2nd basemen for 2009 fantasy baseball, I mentioned that it was really shallow, but actually a bit deeper than the list of the top 20 shortstops for 2009 fantasy baseball.  Well, proof is in the pudding, so here’s the pudding.  We’ve already gone over quite a few top 20 lists already and they can be found in the 2009 fantasy baseball rankings.  Also, here’s a list of every player who has multiple position eligibility and our 2009 fantasy baseball player rater.  Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2009 fantasy baseball:

1.  Hanley Ramirez – Already covered him in our top 10 for 2009 fantasy baseball post.

2.  Jose Reyes – Already covered him in our top 10 for 2009 fantasy baseball post.

3.  Jimmy Rollins – Already covered him in our top 20 for 2009 fantasy baseball post.

4. Alexei Ramirez -  This is the next tier and it goes down to Furcal.  I call this tier, “Really? These are the top shortstops?”  Alexei may not be eligible in all leagues because of less than 20 games at shortstop.  Either way, I already covered him in our top 20 2nd basemen for 2009 fantasy baseball.

4 1/2.  Stephen Drew -  Okay, when you see Stephen Drew at number four and a half overall for shortstops, you’re asking yourself if this is a vote for Drew or an indictment of the 2009 shortstops.  That’s a fair question and I’m glad you posed it.  What do you think?  A bit of both?  Wow, we are totally in sync.  Okay, what did I eat for lunch?  Nope, chicken burrito.  In 2009, Drew takes a step forward.  2009 Projections:  85/24/80/.280/7

5.  J.J. Hardy – Personally, I’d like to see Alcides Escobar get called up and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens by the trade deadline in July with Hardy going to a contender.  Maybe to the Dodgers to replace an injured Furcal.  2009 Projections:  85/25/80/.275/3

6.  Jhonny Peralta – This Silent H comes in at sixth with the other Silent H coming at 18th.  The scary thing is there’s been years where they’ve flip-flopped in the rankings.  Peralta doesn’t come without some risk.  Be forewarned, fantasy baseballers!  2009 Projections:  85/25/90/.270/3

7.  Troy Tulowitzki – Let’s put Tulo’s 2008 season into a strait jacket and then submerge it into Houdini’s Milk Can.  2009 Projections:  65/20/85/.285/5

8.  Derek Jeter - After you choose Jeter in your 2009 draft, make sure you tell your wife so she can pat you on the head.  2009 Projections:  110/12/70/.305/12

9. Rafael Furcal – I already went over Furcal for 2009 when he returned to the Braves for a minute (not an Urbandictionary “minute,” which is actually a long time.) He’s going to be a steal for his draft position or he’s going to go kaboom like peanuts in abnormal lemonade.  2009 Projections:  95/15/65/.285/35 or 25/6/40/.390/7 and a seat next to Nomar on the DL.

10.  Michael Young – Here’s a new tier that goes from Young to Renteria.  I call this tier, “Boring.”  I say boring because their best years are behind them and, for a few of them, their best years weren’t even that good.   As for Michael Young, when I say empty, you say average.  “Empty…”  “Average…” I will say this in Young’s defense.  Look at his projections compared to Jeter.  Not that different, huh?  2009 Projections:  100/10/85/.310/10

11. Miguel Tejada – I want a new drug.  One that won’t spill… One that won’t let me hit .280 with 13 home runs and 66 RBIs… Or that comes in a pill… 2009 Projections:  90/15/75/.285/7

12. Orlando Cabrera -  Him and Renteria have similar power, speed, average and they want to kill each other.  2009 Projections:  90/7/65/.280/20

13. Edgar Renteria – Two enemies forever entwined in the 2009 fantasy baseball rankings.  2009 Projections:  80/9/70/.285/12

14. Yunel Escobar – This next tier is called, “What do you get when you mix nothing with the slightest bit of upside?”  This tier goes from here to the end of the list.  If you’re digging through the middle infielder bin at Filene’s Basement, you’re much better taking one of these schmohawks than one in the last tier.  These guys may not outperform them, but at least there’s a chance.  2009 Projections:  90/13/65/.300/3

15. Mike Aviles – Already covered him in our top 20 2nd basemen for 2009 fantasy baseball.

16. Ryan Theriot – The Riot is actually not a bad late draft sleeper.  It’s nice to get 25 steals out of your MI spot and The Riot can potentially give you that.   2009 Projections:  90/2/40/.295/25

17. Yuniesky Betancourt – How does an outside chance at a 10/10 season sound to you?  Yawnstipating?  Yeah, me too.  2009 Projections:  65/10/65/.280/10

18. Khalil Greene – This H is silent, but deadly to your average.   2009 Projections:  65/20/80/.235/5

19. Emmanuel Burriss/Asdrubal Cabrera – Already covered them in our top 20 2nd basemen for 2009 fantasy baseball.

20. Clint Barmes – Honestly, I could’ve put about ten different names here and they would have all been as uninspiring.  2009 Projections:  75/12/55/.270/12 (<–real optimistic)

After the top 20 shortstops for 2009 fantasy baseball, there’s a lot of names but two stand out:

Elvis Andrus – Some would even call him a 2009 fantasy baseball sleeper.  Hey, wait a sec, I called him that!  If the Rangers get Vizquel, it hurts Andrus’s value, but, as I already said, Andrus probably wouldn’t be up for opening day anyway.  2009 Projections:  55/3/35/.250/20 in 50 games.

Jed Lowrie – “Hey, what’s that you just put into your back pocket?”  “Jed Lowrie.”  “Why?”  “I want an outside chance at a 10/5 season.”  Long pause.  “Oh.”  2009 Projections:  75/10/80/.260/5

Edgar Renteria y Orlando Cabrera No Son Amigos

April 30, 2008 By: Rudy Gamble Category: Rudy Gamble 18 Comments →

In an article so spicy it must’ve been translated from ESPN Deportes, Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera are in a ‘bitter feud’. I’d make more fun of it but they are both Colombian and, well, those hombres know how to feud.

I hope they didn’t take any offense to me calling them middling infielders before the season (in fairness, Renteria has been good so far. Orlando, not so hot).

We can’t have the two best players from Colombia since Lou Gehrig fighting. They should settle this on the field. Here’s what I propose. One starts at third base. One starts at first base. They replace the chalk lines with lines of cocaine. First one to snort their way to home plate wins.

This is the worst shortstop feud since David Eckstein and Ben Zobrist quarreled over whose name sounded more faux-Jewy…..

Top 10 Shortstops 2007

October 25, 2007 By: Grey Category: Uncategorized No Comments →

1. Hanley Ramirez
.332/125/29/81/51
If it wasn’t for Arod’s insane year, everyone would be talking about the year Hanley Ramirez had. Oh, and you didn’t have to draft him in the 1st round. Look at those numbers again. One homer off a 30/50 season? That’s insane. Experts have been calling for a 30/50 season from Carl Crawford for the last two years. And he’s an outfielder! A 29/50 season from a shortstop? I have a friend who drafted Michael Young right before Hanley went off the board. His emails went something like this, “Michael Young is on pace for a 5/5 season and it’s f**cking July?! Why didn’t I draft Hanley?” Not to mention, Hanley may be Latin but he doesn’t look eight years older than he’s listed at. I’m looking at you Pujols, David Ortiz and Kim Kardashian. C’mon, she’s 27? She looks like she’s in her thirties. Though she’s one of those that will look exactly the same age for fifteen years then, suddenly, she’ll look her age and it will be very disconcerting. Think Suzanne Somers.

2. Jimmy Rollins
.296/139/30/94/41
Let’s look at what he has going for him — speed and enough power for Citizen’s Bank, batting in front of Utes and Howard, an ego the size of a Cheesecake Factory entree, wanting to prove that the media is wrong by turning the best SS award automatically over to Reyes, no longer sporting braids and he gets about 1,000 at-bats a year. What’s not to like? This might be his peak and everyone calls him J-Rol. Can we call a moratorium on shortening names like this? It feels so forced and arbitrary. Man-Ram was cute, I wish sportscasters would shorten Felix Hernandez to F-Her, Arod is fitting, but when is enough enough? Cole Hamels to C-Ham? Justin Morneau to Just-Morn? Carlos Marmol to Car-Ma? Actually, I like Car-Ma and I predict at some point soon Car-Ma will catch up to Ryan Dempster.

3. Jose Reyes
.280/119/12/57/78
Disclaimer: I don’t like the Mets, but I love to watch Reyes play. Makes things difficult when you’re hoping for him to score yet you don’t want anyone on the team to get an RBI. “C’mon, double play from Wright!”

4. Troy Tulowitzki
.291/104/24/99/7
(I had to look up how to spell his last name, but didn’t need to look up Kardashian. Hmm…) Let’s not forget, he started awful. Dreadful. People were talking about bringing back “Deer Meat” Barmes. Yet, he still finished with great numbers. You probably drafted him so low(itzki) that rather than worry about the slow(itzki) start, you dropped him. Hopefully to pick him up again. Assuming you didn’t pay too(lowitzki) much for him, you got value. This might be the last year that you’ll be able to get him so low(itzki). (Sorry if that last paragraph was as confusing to read as it was to write. Sometimes things don’t work, but you get so caught up in them you continue to force a round peg into a square hole.)

5. Carlos Guillen
.296/86/21/102/13
(See Top Ten 1st Basemen) Maybe C-Guile? “C-Guile is sneaky fast!”

6. Derek Jeter
.322/102/12/73/15
If only you had drafted him in the third round of your Fantasy Shortstops Who Date Hot Girls League. Sorry no Jessica Alba category in most leagues, though his conquests must play some sort of role in where he is drafted every year. Cause the numbers are, well, okay. Eighth round okay. Enough has been written about Jeter, moving on…

7. Orlando Cabrera
.301/101/8/86/20
Honestly, I didn’t realize his numbers were so mediocre. See, I live in So-Cal and to watch a City of Anaheim ‘Burb of Los Angeles Angels game, you would think Cabrera had an MVP season. Rex Hudler loves him some Cabrera. Here’s hoping Hud was in your league and took him before you. Nah, that’s just backlash. He had a decent season for an MI spot.

8. Michael Young
.315/80/9/94/13
Michael “I should’ve taken Hanley!” Young had a typical year for Julio Lugo. Not sure how you bat second or third on the Rangers and only score 80 runs. Offensive ballpark and he had over 200 hits. How do you do that? Oh, that’s right Sammy Sosa, Brad Wilkerson, Jason Botts, Marlon Byrd were batting behind him. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2007 Texas Rangers!

9. Edgar Renteria
.332/87/12/57/11
Okay, the RBIs were low, but you didn’t have to pay much to get these numbers. Not to mention, he was injured for about two months so if you slotted in someone else while he was DL-ed, you padded the above stats. But praising Renteria is like praising Vanilla Ice Cream. You know what you’re getting.

10. J.J. Hardy
.277/89/26/80/2
Personally, I like his numbers better than Michael “I should’ve taken Hanley!” Young. His .277 wasn’t crippling, his 26 homers were excellent for SS and his RBIs and runs weren’t bad at all. Not to mention, you had to draft Michael “I should’ve taken Hanley!” Young about twenty rounds earlier. I wouldn’t go as far to say J.J. was dy-no-mite, but you could’ve done worse. Speaking of which…

Tejada had his consecutive game streak broken and you wasted a really high pick and Furcal absolutely killed teams this year. Furcal actually had a bad year for Julio Lugo.