Fantasy Baseball Advice

Last year, the only type of starts and luck that Charlie Morton had was bad.  Despite good stuff and pedestrian ratios (6.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9), he put up some of the worst stats in recent history.  A 7.57 ERA in 79 innings during the year of the pitcher!  It was a 54 ERA+ (adjusted for park and era) which stands as the 5th worst ERA+ since 1945 for pitchers with 79+ IP.  It’s hard to say how much of his .353 BABIP was because he threw down the middle or back luck but let’s just say the latter.  It seemed like luck was balancing out in his first three starts this year as he went 2-0 despite throwing 6 Ks and 12 BBs in 22 innings.  But excluding an ugly win in Colorado (where just about every non-ace should be benched), his last three starts – including last nights 5-hit shutout – have shown significant progress.  In those 18 2/3 IP, he’s K’d 17 and walked 7.  So let your league mates focus on his ghastly K:BB for the season while you get him on the cheap.  I’d still bench him during bad match-ups but he looks primed to be a solid 5th/6th SP in shallow leagues.

Onto other fantasy baseball news….

Jake Peavy - A 3 hit shutout with 8 Ks against the Indians who’ve recently been scalping opposing pitchers.  To quote the great Larry King, “Sorry Mr. Westbrook but the best Jake pitching today is Jake Peavy”.

Bartolo Colon- How fitting.  Jake has his first great comeback start and the Fatman nearly matches him (8 innings, 0 ER, 3 hits).  Now they just need to thank their doctor who I think first starred in the Six Million Dollar Man.

Pedro Alvarez – 3-run HR for Alvy.  Maybe he’s finally figuring out how to get the lobster in the pot.  Reminds of this old joke about two elderly Pirate fans sitting on the Roberto Clemente Bridge.  One of them says, “Boy, the Pirates’ <fill in 3rd baseman> has been really terrible.”  The other says, “Yeah, I know, and too few at-bats.”

Jon Niese – 7 shutout innings with 7 Ks.  You made your Aunt and Uncle proud!

Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman - Yes, the Cardinals were victorious against the Astros and Bud Norris (with that last name, shouldn’t he be a Texas Ranger?) but both Holliday (quad) and Berkman (wrist) were out of the game by the 5th inning.  Much like the rest of our existences, they are ‘day-to-day’.  Bud Norris must’ve roundhouse kicked them with his mind.

Mark DeRosa – Left the game in the middle of an at-bat when he re-strained his wrist.  That hurts more than having your wrist restrained – depending on who’s doing it.  If it’s Mrs. DeRosa, I would not be check-swinging.  The official announcement is ‘day-to-day’ but I’d move the versatile DeRosa to ‘Left Out’ in all but NL-only leagues (where we unfortunately have him).

Kyle Lohse – Another strong (8 innings, 1 ER, 7 baserunners) yet not dominant (3 Ks) start.  He should change his last name to Wihn.  He’s now 5-2 with a crazy low BABIP (somewhere in the .215 range).  His ERA/WHIP might be due for regression but he’s still worth starting while he’s on this streak.

Craig Kimbrel – Okay, maybe it’s officially time to start worrying.  Tonight was blown save #4 and it was an ugly one – 2 ER & 4 hits  in 1/3 of an inning to spoil the Braves second straight extra inning victory.  This is after Jonny Venters threw two shutout innings in the 9th and 10th.  If it weren’t for the anti-lefty sentiment that fuels closer decisions and McCarthyism, Venters would be closer by now.  But my guess is Kimbrel won’t be a fugitive from the closer role as he’d been dominant his previous 4 outings (4 IP, 1 hit, 9 Ks).

Mark Reynolds – 0 for 5 with 2 Ks and a BB in the Orioles 15 inning loss to the Yanks.  He did manage his 2nd sB of the year but his average now stands at .184.  To those of you who said he couldn’t repeat last year’s .198 AVG, well, I guess you’re still technically correct.

Julio Teheran – 4 innings, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, and 1 strikeout.  This is after his first start where he threw 4 2/3 innings and managed 1 strikeout.  I know it sounds pervy but I’d trade in this 20 year-old phenom for a Minor.

Yovani Gallardo – A six inning win with 2 ER and 9 Ks.  That’s three straight wins for Yovani.  Have we finally seen the end of his evil telenovela twin – Oyvani Goneyardo?

Elliot Johnson - 2-3 with 3 RBIs as he started for the 3rd straight night.  Sam Fuld might be Mr. April but looks like someone is auditioning hard for Mr. May (TM to Dave Winfield).

Trevor Plouffe – 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs.  He’s shown some power in the minors (15 HRs in 445 AAA ABs last year) and a K-rate (22%) that screams .250-.260.  So, best case, he’s a J.J. Hardy in hi prime type.  Worst case, he’s 2011 J.J. Hardy.  Either way, I don’t think anyone minds seeing Gardenhire say “See ya” to Casilla when Nishioka comes back.

Neftali Feliz – A blown save after Hosmer took him deep to star the 9th.  Ron Washington was tempted to bring in Arthur Rhodes to face the lefty rookie but, when he approached him, Rhodes responded in a world-weary voice, “I’m getting too old for this s**t” and shared how he plans to spend his retirement.

Michael Dunn - Quick shoutout to the Mr. B‘s.  Dunn now has 25 Ks in 19 innings this year.  He can come in handy in daily leagues where you need K’s.

Clay Buchholz – Unlike Steve Howe and Dwight Gooden, Buchholz was able to go face-to-face against Coke and come out unharmed (7 shutout innings, no decision).  Buchholz is pitching well of late (he’d won four of his last 5).  More importantly, he’s been putting up some K’s (he’s now averaged 6 in his last 3 games).  His K/9 and BB/9 ratios were very average last year (6.2 and 3.5 respectively) and they’ve been about the same this year.  If he can keep K’ing guys like he has in the past 3 games, his value goes up significantly.

Danny Duffy - Making his first major league start, you can imagine the pressure Double-D must’ve felt to fit in with his Royal teammates.  4 innings and 10 baserunners (including 6 walks) later….son,  you’re going to fit in just fine.  Ignore for 10/12-team mixed leagues but I’d keep an eye on him for deeper leagues.

Scott Hairston – Is it me or does this guy have the face of an anthropomorphic frog?  No wonder why he’s an outfield while his father and brother are infielders – he’s a natural at shagging flies.

I’m bitter.  I dropped Brennan Boesch in one league on Wednesday night for Russell Branyan.  Branyan DNP yesterday.  Boesch hit a homer off CC.  All my ex-classmates at the College of Fantasy Baseball at Charleston are going get on my case.  That’s Waiver Wire 101, man!  I’m chagrined. The problem is someone like Branyan will continue to play after Carlos Guillen comes back.  For one, they don’t play on the same team.  I can’t say the same about Boesch.  I mean, I can, but it would be a lie.  Boesch can hit; I like the little meister.  If Guillen has a setback, I’ll want to own Boesch from H-to-T.  Or if the Tigers make Guillen the backup, I’m all in on Boesch, but I’m going on the assumption that he won’t have everyday playing time when Guillen returns.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Justin Verlander – 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks.  Imagine if he ever got his April act together.  But then maybe his September pitching would be a holy eff bomb.  Not sure.  Something to think about while your significant other is talking about their day.

Scott Sizemore – 0-for-3, Lost in the haze of Gordon Beckham’s awfulness is this guy.  Who knew a meth’d out Tom Sizemore would be the most reliable Sizemore this year?

Felix Hernandez – 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks as he got Greinke’d.  The next sentence will be typed with my tears.  I can’t buy a Win.

Michael Saunders – 2-for-4 with a home run.  He’ll be in this afternoon’s Buy/Sell.  Now go to the Razzball homepage and don’t blink for five hours.

Chone Figgins – 0-for-3, batting .185 on the year.  The good news is it’ll be easy to go back to hating this schmohawk next year.

Zack Greinke – 6 IP, 3 ER, 10 baserunners, 8 Ks as he finally got his first win.  Just like the Royals to fire their manager after a Win.  How dare you raise our fan’s expectations!

Alfredo Simon – Recorded his 5th save yesterday.  Now has more saves than Broxton.  Zoinks!

Corey Patterson – 2-for-4 with a homer from the leadoff spot.  He was hitting in the minors when he was called up and he’s capable of getting hot for a week or two at a time.  In the big picture, Patterson is not a good hitter, so if you want in, you get in now.  You’ll need to get out soon though.  To put it in New Jersey terms, you pass through Patterson, you don’t stay there.

Ryan Zimmerman – 3-for-5, 6 RBIs and 2 homers.  Now has 8 homers in only 27 games since he missed just over a week with injuries.  “If he stays healthy, he appears to be headed for a huge season,” Mr. Obvious says.

Jhoulys Chacin – 5 IP, 6 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks.  I blame the weather.  No, I blame Coors.  No, I blame Ryan Zimmerman.  Actually, I blame Chacin and the fact he’s a rookie.  Inconsistency is to be expected when you play with rookie fire.  And Jhoulys is Aztec for fire.  No, that’s not true.  I don’t know what a Jhoulys is.  Could mean pants.

Huston Street – Supposed to be a week away from returning, but Huston Street is paved with a lot of injury setbacks, so keep your excitement in check.

Hank Blalock – Scott Boras is telling anyone that will listen that Blalock can still play in the majors and he wants in now.  Though, it’s probably Boras’s assistant; can’t imagine S.B. has time to worry about Blalock.  Put Teixeira on hold, Blalock is on the line!  Riiiiight.  Blalock did hit last year and should be capable of producing in the majors, but he needs an everyday job.  I’m not adding him anywhere.  If you’re in a very deep league, I could see it.  Like an 18 team league that only uses Scott Boras clients.

Bud Norris – 8 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks.  Wait, was he pitching against the Astros?  Norris has upside, but he’s far too inconsistent to trust in mixed leagues at this point.

Hunter Pence – 1-for-4, as he hit his 5th homer and his third in four games. Your time to buy low is 4 PM, three days ago.

Jorge Cantu – 0-for-4 as he bats .146 in May.  Member when I told you to sell him at the end of April?  Member all of the people who commented that Cantu can keep this up?  Wha’ happened?

Jake Fox – 3-for-5 as he got his 2nd straight start after only getting one start in the previous two weeks.  I realize Landon Powell is awesome and all on the Real World/Road Rules Challenge and Josh Donaldson is related to Colby, but can’t someone figure out how to play Jake Fox every day?  He has catcher eligibility!

Mat Latos – 9 IP, 1 hit, zero walks, 6 Ks.  The only player to get a hit was Eli Whiteside, who I would think looks like Hyman Roth if I didn’t know any better.  The good news on Latos, he’s cut his walks dramatically so far this year, which was a bugaboo last year.  It’still early, but he has a 0.97 WHIP on the year.  A very nice sign.  BTW, the “s” I saved in “It’still,” I’m passing that on to you.  You’re welcome.

Jonathan Sanchez – 8 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 5 Ks and now has a 2.66 ERA and 1.07 WHIP on the year.  I’d be thrilled if he stays on this course all year.  Okay, a Win would be nice, but if I wanted Wins I’d own Tyler Clippard.

Mark DeRosa – Could be headed to the DL.  If it happens, John Bowker will get his third chance to fail in three years.  If only the very forgiving Giants had Jake Fox…

Brad Lidge – The MRI showed no problems with his right elbow.  After the test, Lidge said he felt so good he could go for another three MRIs.

Derek Holland is not officially a rookie, but that doesn’t mean he might not roofie you.  Pitching in and out of the rotation last year, he had some real ulcer-inducing starts.   I know, I have the internal scars to prove it.  Oh, Mylanta!  Though his xFIP was better than his actual ERA.  I know, too bad your league isn’t all fussy with an xFIP category.  Holland’s a plus-plus strikeout guy.  In the hitter-friendly PCL, he had a 37:7 K:BB rate and a 0.93 ERA.  He’s homer-prone and in Arlington that is a recipe for turd nuggets.  I’m much more aggressive about grabbing young hitters than young pitchers.  Hitters give you an 0-for-34 and you punt.  A pitcher gives you a 2 IP, 7 ER start and that causes you to punch a random stranger and then next thing you know some guy named Bubba is fitting you for a teardrop tattoo.  See how quickly that spiral spun downward?  Ask Lawrence Taylor, he’ll tell you.  So I didn’t grab Holland anywhere, but I would in the right circumstances, as long as you monitor where you start him.  His first two outings are set for the A’s and Angels.  That’s a “Yes, please” and “Don’t mind if I do.”  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Johnny Cueto – 9 IP, 1 hit shutout with 8 Ks as he dropped his ERA to 4.07 on the season.  And there’s why I liked him so much in the preseason.  If he’s out there in your league, own him, in the non-biblical sense.

Chris Heisey – Got his first major league hit and homer.  He’s a 15/15 type that needs to have everyday at-bats to have mixed league value.  I think he’s better than Drew Stubbs, but WWDD?  My guess is Dusty will continue to play Stubbs.

J.J. Hardy – Headed for the DL with a bruised left wrist.  If you don’t have DL room, move on/look elsewhere.  Brendan Harris should see most of the time at short.  Harris is good… To avoid.  Twins also called up Matt Tolbert.  And that’s The Tolbert Report.

Kevin Slowey – 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER.  Yeah, Charlie Morton pitched better than Slowey last night.  I’m not dropping Slowey, but that’s only because I don’t own him in 12 team leagues or shallower.  If I did, he’d be done-zo.  In deeper leagues, I’m holding him but I’m not starting him next time out.  I’m kinda just hoping for a trip to the Disgraceful List.  How dare you betray my trust, Slowey?  You’re about to get filed away with 2009 James Shields, which might be the best thing for your career.

Bobby Jenks – Got the save yesterday, but Ozzie said they could go to a closer by situation, which is closer by committee for those who have used all of their blanks and M tiles.

Franklin Morales – To the DL.  Manny Corpas and/or Rafael Betancourt should get the saves, in that order.  I’d own both, if I had the room.  Unfortunately, I had a big meal of Blown Save Suckage recently, so no room.

Neftali Feliz – Blew a save.  You ever own the setup man and hope the closer doesn’t blow it because you don’t trust the setup man?  That’s how I feel with Frank Francisco.  I own him, but am petrified of him getting save opportunities.  Sorta how I feel about Juan Gutierrez too.

Mark DeRosa – Called offseason wrist surgery a total failure and he may need another procedure.  The doctor who operated called DeRosa the worst patient ever and said he wants his lollipop back.

Gordon Beckham – 0-for-3 as he hit 8th in the lineup because, well, he sucks.  I did have some concerns about him in the preseason.  Click it, you know you wanna.

Fred Lewis – 2-for-4, now batting .309 on the year with two homers and 3 steals.  Not flashy like my dookie fat gold chain that is just below the frame of my user photo, but Lewis will tortoise you to a 10/17 year.

Russell Branyan – 2 homers yesterday.  Could be the start of something if you need power.  He did hit 22 homers pre-All-Star Break last year.

Carlos Beltran – Ricky from My So Called Life was cleared to jog and do some baseball activities.  You know, like spitting and grabbing his junk.  Considering Beltran was only supposed to miss a few games last June, I’ll believe he’s playing baseball again when I see it in Metco.

Scott Olsen – 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 2 Ks.  Only one of those baserunners was a walk and a few of those singles were of the “Excuse me” variety.  So hold S.O. (<–not a palindrome)

Gaby Sanchez – 1-for-4 with a homer.  Yo Gaby Gaby!  Yeah, he’s been yawnstipating as all get out.

Randy Wells – 8 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks.  Without doing the complex math, I’m going to say he was unlucky here too since he only had 5 baserunners and 3 earned.  I’m buying into Wells getting, um, well.

Tim Hudson – 6 IP, 12 baserunners (6 BBs), 1 K.  Read Wells’ blurb in a mirror.

Troy Glaus – 17 for his last 38 with two homers in two straight games.  Should be owned in all leagues while he’s hot.

Tim Stauffer – Added DL to his RP/SP eligibility as he’s out for 6 weeks with an appendectomy.

Brad Lidge – Said he didn’t like how his arm felt when he threw yesterday.  That’s usually not a good sign.  The Latin 38, Jose Contreras, is the pickup for saves.  Everyone seems fine with grabbing Contreras and maybe he’ll be okay, but he seems to be pitching so far over his head I’m surprised he hasn’t been bringing a ladder out to the mound.

Jimmy Rollins – Expects to be back by next week.  Maybe he can close.

John Ely – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks.  Said I’d look at him in NL-Only leagues before this start.  Now I’d start to look at him in mixed leagues.  In his division and park, he should get some decent matchups.

Josh Beckett – Will miss Friday’s start because of back spasms that were a result of taking swings in the batting cage.  What, was he reading Rick Ankiel’s Wikipedia page?

Daisuke Matsuzaka – 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 9 Ks.  That’s nice, I’m not buying it.

Jason Varitek – You might want to stay away from sharp objects as you read the next two sentences.  Varitek hit his 6th homer on the year yesterday.  Victor Martinez has 3 homers.

Ben Zobrist – 1-for-3 as he bats .268 on the year.  He still hasn’t hit a homer.  Wha’ happened?  The ‘brist have his power circumcised?  It’s not completely surprising to me.  As I said in the rankings, “(Zobrist) was a utility man coming into 2009 and I wouldn’t be surprised if he left 2010 back in that role.”  And that’s me quoting me!

Brad Penny – 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks as his defense let him down with 4 unearned runs.  Penny has a 1.70 ERA on the year.  You know when you have one guy who is carrying your whole staff and you just know the bottom is going to fall out but you want to believe so bad.  Yeah, Penny’s that guy for me on multiple teams.

Brett Myers – 6 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks.  So far this year, he’s been consistently better than average.  He seems like a safe bet to get some Ks, keep his team close and at some point beat up a girl.

Hunter Pence – 2-for-4 as he hit his 2nd homer in as many games.  Instead of fireworks, the Astros showcased their new way to celebrate a home run.  A giant dummy in the outfield that bears a striking resemblance to Ed Wade has its eyes pop out and toupee shoots off its head after a homer.

Eric Chavez – Hit his first homer of the year.  It was a called shot.  He called it, “I can’t believe I’m not on the DL.”

It wasn’t my intention, but with this draft I was able to prove, in a pinch, I can draft a pretty good fantasy baseball team for 2006.  Maybe they can show this draft on ESPN Classic.  If I can somehow bait my leaguemates into my DeLorean, I could win this league.  Rudy didn’t draft with me, but, after the draft, he said, “I really like this team.”  Knowing Rudy’s a fantasy baseball cougar, I know it wasn’t a usual team for me to draft.  Why did I draft it then?  Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t, as the old nugget goes.  Or maybe that’s nougat.  Nevertheless, it’s less than 20 minutes after drafting this team and maybe I’ll cozy up to it over time.  Maybe I’m just sore because I missed out on Kelly Johnson, Ian Stewart and Chase Headley.  Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be glad I missed out on those schmohawks when my Mr. Winkle calendar flips to July.  Maybe I’m writing this opening like I’m Morgan Freeman’s voiceover. (Go ahead reread the last three sentences.  Sounds like Morgan Freeman’s in your head now, right?  You’ll be hearing that voice for the next 72 hours.  Say hello to Daniel Johnston for me, you done gone crazy.)  Anyway, here’s my 2010 fantasy baseball team with thoughts on different rounds:

14 teams, Roto, 5 x 5 — C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, OF, OF, OF, OF, Util, Util, P, P, P, P, P, P, P, P, P, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL

Round 1 – Matt Kemp – This was my first “let’s mix it up” of many.  Kemp’s in the same tier as other guys (Drunky Cabrera), so it’s not a huge deal I took him.  Frankly, I expect big things from Kemp and don’t own him anywhere else, so I wanted to see what it was Rihanna kept talking about.

Round 3 – Felix Hernandez – Another zig vs. the zags.  I see your quesadilla and I raise you a pupusa.  Hernandez will be my preseason AL Cy Young pick when I get around to doing them.  I love me some F-Her.  Though, I don’t usually go for a starter this early.  My thought process was, I’m going to take one starter in the first 7 picks anyway, so what the hey, I’ll take this one.  As Simon Cowell would say, I’m a funny little thing.

Round 4 – Jose Reyes – Sorry, at 50 overall, I’m taking Reyes.  When September rolls around and he has 45 steals, people won’t even remember the cojones it took to draft him in March.  See 2009 A-Rod, Utley and Mauer for further proof.  In the Funston write-up of this draft, The Hardball Times guy called this pick out as the reach of the draft.  Guess you can’t make all the people happy all the time, but if I can make this guy unhappy most of the time, I might do okay.

Round 7 – Josh Hamilton – At 91 overall?  Gotta do it.  At this point is when I started to realize I might need six DL spots.  Hopefully, the only crack we hear about from Hamilton is the sound of his bat.

Round 10 – Vladimir Guerrero – Hey, 2006, what’s going on?  Say hello to your mother for me.

Round 13 – A.J. Burnett – At 175 overall, Burnett’s a guy that can win 15 and strikeout 200; yeah, I’ll take that.  Wanna know some other gems from this round?  Elijah Dukes, Nick Swisher, Juan Pierre, Leo Nunez, Ben Sheets and Lastings Milledge… Luckily, Dukes and Milledge didn’t end up on the same team.  That clubhouse would’ve been a mess.

Round 14 – Bobby Jenks – Usually I don’t comment on the closers I take, because closers are closers are closers — SAGNOF! — but I wanted to say Jenks isn’t a great pick here.  I’ll admit that.  My rationale is I’ll have too many saves and be able to trade some away.  As mentioned many times before, speed-only guys are like cars.  Drive ‘em off the lot, they lose all value.  Closers actually gain value.  Further proof of this, I just traded Rafael Soriano for Matt Garza in a different league.

Round 17 – Mark DeRosa – And even with the Jenks pick, this is my least favorite pick.  Drafted around him were Ordonez, Kuroda, Willingham… So it wasn’t all peaches and cream out there, but Kelly Johnson was taken a few picks later by Pianowski of Y! and, well, that hurt.  Or Owski, if you’re Polish.  I thought I could grab DeRosa and Johnson would’ve been around for another round.  I should’ve grabbed Johnson since no one on the right side of loco is drafting DeRosa.  Anyway, I took Kouz later to spell DeRosa at 3rd then I can fill in UTIL with a hot waiver grab.

Rounds 18 and 21 – Scott Sizemore and Ian Desmond – Trying to shake some of the stank off myself from the DeRosa pick, I went upside².  At MI this late, you can dream.  And you should.

Round 24/25 – Madison Bumgarner/Kris Medlen – They’re already off my team.  No room for guys with girl’s names, sorry.

We finish off the infield with the top 20 3rd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball.  The top 20 2010 fantasy baseball rankings from shallowest to deepest go catchers, shortstops, third basemen, 2nd basemen then 1st basemen.  That’s right, I think the 2nd basemen are deeper than the 3rd basemen.  3rd base gets the gas face.  Last year, I punted 3rd base knowing I could get Mark Reynolds late.  This year, Stewart’s my sleeper du jour, but because of the lack of 3rd base options, he’s not even making it into the 10th round of most drafts.  That’s a bad sign.  As with other top 20 rankings, I list where I see tiers beginning and ending and my projections.  Anyway, here’s the top 20 3rd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball:

1. Alex Rodriguez – See the top 10 for 2010 fantasy baseball for A-Rod’s projections.

2. Evan Longoria – See the top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball for Longoria’s projections.

3. David Wright – See the top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball for Wright’s projections.

4. Ryan Zimmerman – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here to Sandoval.  I call this tier, “You didn’t get a top 3rd baseman, so here you are.”  Zimmerman finally came into his own last year.  The homers might plateau around 30 and the average probably won’t go above .300… Then again, he’s only 25 years old and he has some speed potential…. Then again, the Nats have put the brakes on him to avoid injury.  Either either way, Zimmerman’s on the rise with solid power, Runs, RBIs and average.  Hmm… Sounds a lot like Youuuuuk.  2010 Projections:  105/30/110/.295/5

5. Kevin Youkilis – See the top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post for Youkilis’s projections.

6. Mark Reynolds – See the top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball for Reynolds’s projections.

7. Pablo Sandoval – See the top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post for Sandoval’s projections.

8. Chone Figgins – This is a new tier.  This is a one man tier.  I call this tier, “You better have some serious power from your middle infielders to support Figgy’s dearth.” Figgy’s Dearth is also a great speed metal band.  2010 Projections:  105/5/55/.295/40

9. Gordon Beckham – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here to Beltre.  I call this tier, “Upside, no upside, upside, no upside, no upside.”  I went over my Gordon Beckham fantasy already.  At that post, I said, “Shoot, Jacquese from The Real World: San Diego could probably see the bottom.”  Then I said, “It’s impossible; LaRussa tried it briefly with Pujols.”  Finally, I said, “I love you, Gordon Beckham even if you sound British and their teeth aren’t the best.”  Hmm… Gotta work on what quotes I pull.  2010 Projections:  85/18/63/.260/14

10. Michael Young – Which percentage doesn’t fit — 8.6%, 6.9%, 7.2% or 14.9%?  If you answered anything other than 14.9%, you might’ve stopped at the “or.”  Fair enough, I do that sometimes.  Those percentages were his last four years of HR/FB.  He’s really not a 20 homer hitter or.  2010 Projections:  75/14/90/.315/10

11. Ian Stewart – I went over Stewart’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post.  He also received an Ian Stewart sleeper thing-a-ma-whosie.

12. Aramis Ramirez – He’s Pablo Sandoval with injury concerns, a slightly lower average and no upside.  Aramis is only 31 so you may not want to write him off, but he hasn’t hit more than 30 homers since 2006 so I’m writing him off.  2010 Projections:  75/25/95/.290

13. Chipper Jones – Last year, Chipper played in the most games in a season since 2003 and he had his worst season ever.  Hey, Chipper, maybe don’t push yourself so hard to play injured.  ’09 wasn’t a sign that he can’t still hit .310, just some bad luck.  2010 Projections:  75/20/85/.310/5

14. Adrian Beltre – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here to Cantu.  I call this tier, “You might want to drop these guys from your team before May 1st.”  God knows Beltre had his balls busted enough last year, but in 449 ABs, he hit 8 homers.  So did Gregg Zaun.  The move to Fenway has to help a bit, right?  Sure, or at least that’s what I said.  2010 Projections:  70/24/80/.275/10

15. Mark DeRosa – Is DeRosa a 20 homer hitter or a platoon player?  That’s something to *pinkie to mouth* ponderosa.  2010 Projections:  65/18/75/.265/3

16. Jorge Cantu – I could’ve put Casey Blake here, but what fun is that?  Wait, what fun is Cantu? Yeah, true.  Cantu hit 7 homers in April then took a Taco Bell-sized dump for 4 months.  The batting woes may be attributed to a sore wrist.  In September, he started hitting again.  May have been due to his wrist coming around.  Then again, maybe you’ll want to drop him by mid-April.  It’s called a flier, ya’ll.  2010 Projections:  65/18/80/.280

17. Chris Davis – Only has 11 games at 3rd base so Davis may not have eligibility in your league.  This is a new tier.  This is the last tier and I call it, “Your last chance for some upside.”  See the top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post for Davis’s projections.

18. Jake Fox – Went over my Jake Fox fantasy already.  2010 Projections:  75/24/85/.250

19. Alex Gordon – You know that scene in Notting Hill when Hugh Grant walks through the market and it goes from autumn to spring?  What, not lame enough?  Okay, here’s a lamer example.  You know when Bella is staring out the window in New Moon and the seasons change as the camera goes around her?  Yeah, that’s Alex Gordon staring at his career.  He’ll only be 26 in 2010 and he’s still capable of the upside he hinted at, oh, 4 years ago when he hit 29 homers and stole 22 bases in Double-A and followed that with a 15/14 year with the Royals in 2007, but it’s really getting to be now or never.  2010 Projections:  75/17/85/.270/12

20. Casey McGehee – I went over McGehee’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post.

20 1/2. Andy LaRoche – This guy needs Troy Dunn to find his upside.  I contemplated leaving LaRoche off entirely because I can’t imagine him putting together a season to make him worthwhile for fantasy, except for stretches when he can be grabbed off of waivers.  2010 Projections:  75/16/70/.270/3

After the top 20 third basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball, there’s some guys, but these two stand out:

Chase Headley – First off, I’d draft Headley before LaRoche.  I only placed them in this order because I wanted to highlight Headley.  So consider him highlighted.  Headley can get 25 homers and steal 10 bases.  Will he?  Who am, Nostradumbass?  I don’t know.  But someone who can produce that should be getting more pub than he has.  I’m righting wrongs like a modern day superhero.  Well, not really, but I am wearing a cape.  2010 Projections:  70/20/85/.290/10

Brandon Wood – The Angels trust him at 3rd about as much as The Old Man trusts Chumlee, but they gotta give Wood the keys to the Imperial at some point.  Don’t they?  2010 Projections: 60/25/75/.250/7 <–optimistic, but whatever