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Jakkers

Author: Jakkers

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Jakkers

Top 25 Fantasy Second Basemen for 2021 – Week 10

June 6, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Second Basemen | 4 Comments

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The baseball season is now two months old, and over the first third of the season, what have I learned?

I learned that Marcus Semien was a good signing by the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays didn’t care that Semien wasn’t a second baseman. All they saw was a player who finished third in the American League MVP voting in 2019 was available so they snagged him.

Meanwhile, I have also learned that I didn’t overvalue Whit Merrifield in preseason rankings as he continues to produce and steal bases, which in today’s game makes Merrifield a superstar. I learned not to underestimate Max Muncy. I had him ranked 10th in my final preseason rankings, one spot ahead of Nick Madrigal. Madrigal is nowhere to be seen in the rankings anymore while Muncy is now a Tier 1 second baseman.

Is there anything else I learned? Yep. I should have listened to my gut when it came to DJ LeMahieu. I had a debate with myself when it came to ranking him second overall because I was worried about his age. He seemed too good of a hitter for that to be a concern, but right now, I am looking really silly for ranking him that high.

Is LeMahieu still even ranked? Who has surprised this season and become a Top 10 second baseman? Let’s find out.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops for 2021 – Week 9

May 30, 2021 | Top 25 Shortstops | 6 Comments

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When ranking players every two weeks, you have to treat those rankings a lot like the stock market. Players are going to have hot streaks, and if you are lucky enough, you get them into the lineup and ride the wave. Of course, just like the stock market, players also suffer slumps and can devastate your lineup if they are a key part of your team.

But a good fantasy owner knows, or is lucky enough, to catch the players when his stock is going up and have enough depth to overcome a player whose stock is falling. Some players see their value drop because of injury or illness, such as Fernando Tatis Jr. A true clue chip stock, owners were obviously not going to get rid of him when his value fell. They just waited for Tatis to get healthy and watch his value rise. Right now, it is through the roof.

Players who are not Tatis are tougher to judge. Joey Wendle has taken fantasy owners on a rollercoaster ride this season. A great hot streak to start the season before turning ice cold only to turn it around at the plate. Did you catch the Wild Wendle Ride at the right time, or did you ride it too long, got off and now are wondering whether to get back on?

Let’s find out with this week’s rankings of the Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Fantasy Second Basemen for 2021 – Week 8

May 23, 2021 | Top 50 Middle Infielders | 14 Comments

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At the start of the season, I was certain Ozzie Albies was the top fantasy second basemen, followed closely by DJ LeMahieu. I was so smart to rank them there and I knew it. Filling out my top five were Whit Merrfield, Keston Hiura, and Brandon Lowe all ranked in my Top 5.

I wish I could say I was spot on about all five players. But if there is one thing that I should have learned in my lifetime, it is that what I am certain about in baseball is not always the way things turn out.

My initial Top 5 currently has only one player still there. Thanks, Merrifield, for living up to expectations so far. The rest of you, ugh. Albies, LeMahieu, and Lowe all struggled out of the gates but have since shown signs of life at the plate. And if you are an owner of Hiura, I’m sorry. I hope you enjoyed the two-run homer he hit for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds the other day. So outside of Merrifield, my Top 5 was completely wrong.

So who is now in the Top 5 and fills out the rest of the rankings? Has Albies done enough to crack the Top 10? Has LeMehieu or Lowe? Let’s find out.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops for 2021 – Week 7

May 16, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Shortstops, Top 25 Shortstops | 4 Comments

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With April in the rear view mirror and June fast approaching, we are starting to see a lot less wild movement in the Top 25 Fantasy Shortstop rankings.

Two weeks ago, five new players entered the rankings – Alex Bregman, Brandon Crawford, Paul DeJong, Freddy Galvis and Kike Hernandez. While all five players produced well to move into the rankings, they were help by the continued freefall of Francisco Lindor and the cold bats of Eugenio Suarez and Donovan Solano and injuries to Jean Segura and Ketel Marte.

Now in Week 7, the top shortstops have, for the most part, moved to the top of the rankings while the middle tier players are settling into their spot in the rankings. Of course, not all the stars are performing as expected and players you probably thought were never going to valuable in fantasy baseball are doing their best to get off the free agent wire.

If you are wondering about Lindor and where he is ranked, don’t waste your time. He is still missing in action this season, hitting .195 with two home runs and seven RBI. I guess if there is a bright spot, both of his home runs and five of his seven RBI have come over the last two weeks. If you can buy low on him, you might as well do it because he has to turn it around at some point, right?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Fantasy Second Basemen for 2021 – Week 6

May 9, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Second Basemen | 6 Comments

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Happy Mother’s Day! If you are a mother reading this, I just wanted to wish you a wonderful day and appreciate all you do. I know I wouldn’t who I am without the guidance of my mom. And I know my household would be a disaster without the leadership of my wife and mother of two.

OK, so with the important stuff out of the way, let’s talk some baseball. With the weather heating up, we are finally seeing some players who were ice cold in April starting to find their groove at the plate. That’s right, we are looking at you DJ LeMahieu and Ozzie Albies. Top 5 second basemen entering the season, you left millions of fantasy owners nearly bald as they were pulling out their hair watching you look like Freddie Patak at the plate.

Meanwhile, some players who I was hesitant to rank at the start of the season continue to produce, such as Ryan McMahon and Garrett Hampson of the Rockies. I’m still waiting for the bubble to burst, but that is because years of expectations for these two have always left me shaking my head wondering why I kept having them on my teams. Guess the secret for them to produce was for me to finally dump them from my teams. So all you McMahon and Hampson owners, you’re welcome. I expect you owners to post kind words about me now.

Enough small talk. Let’s get to the rankings and discuss who’s hot and who’s not.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops: Week 5

May 2, 2021 | Top 50 Middle Infielders | 10 Comments

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The month of April has come and gone. Among the hundreds of players in Major League Baseball, perhaps no one is happier about that than Francisco Lindor.

Acquired in the offseason by the New York Mets to be the face and anchor of the franchise, the perennial All-Star is off to such a bad start, Mets fans are greeting him with boos. That is what happens when you are hitting .189 with a .299 on-base percentage and a woeful .243 slugging percentage.

Is this just a player trying too hard to impress his new team and fanbase? Maybe. Lots of players have struggled to adjust to new settings or the bright lights of New York before figuring things out. Perhaps, however, Lindor’s struggles are not a blip. When you look deeper into his stats, maybe what we are seeing now is the start of a trend.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Fantasy Second Basemen: Week 4

April 25, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Second Basemen | 10 Comments

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The start of the baseball season is fascinating because you can quickly see which owners are quick to ditch players and which owners believe in the slow and steady approach.

For dynasty leagues, owners are conditioned to ride out the slow starts and sometimes overlook the hot streaks, knowing that by the end of the season the good players will likely be good and the fringe players will likely be back on the fringes.

But for non-dynasty owners, being quick to react can be the difference between winning and losing. A lot of owners were surely thinking there is no way Yermin Mercedes would still be red-hot at the plate. But he is, and he is making those owners who snatched him up look like geniuses.

These rankings are more of a reflection of the owner’s who lead the league in adds and drops.  Thanks to a hot two or three weeks, players who were barely on the radar of fantasy players are now Top 10 second baseman. Meanwhile, expected studs such as Ozzie Albies, DJ LeMahieu and Brandon Lowe would be on the free-agent scrap heap if not for their name and track history.

So let’s see who has been red-hot and moved up the rankings and let’s find out how far Albies, LeMahieu and Lowe have fallen.
For dynasty leagues, owners are conditioned to ride out the slow starts and sometimes overlook the hot streaks, knowing that by the end of the season the good players will likely be good and the fringe players will likely be back on the fringes.

But for non-dynasty owners, being quick to react can be the difference between winning and losing. A lot of owners were surely thinking there is no way Yermin Mercedes would still be red-hot at the plate. But he is, and he is making those owners who snatched him up look like geniuses.

These rankings are more of a reflection of the owner’s who lead the league in adds and drops.  Thanks to a hot two or three weeks, players who were barely on the radar of fantasy players are now Top 10 second baseman. Meanwhile, expected studs such as Ozzie Albies, DJ LeMahieu and Brandon Lowe would be on the free agent scrap heap if not for their name and track history.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Shortstops Rankings: Week 3

April 18, 2021 | Top 50 Middle Infielders | 5 Comments

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Well, it didn’t take long for injuries and poor play to blow up my preseason rankings.

Fernando Tatis is back in the lineup now for the Padres, but he gave every fantasy owner a heart attack when a vicious swing nearly ripped his shoulder off his body. Meanwhile, Adalberto Mondesi has yet to even get his season started while Tim Anderson was sidelined with a hamstring issue. While injuries are a nuisance, nothing frustrates a fantasy owner more than poor performance.

It seems shortstops such has Trevor Story, Gleyber Torres and Dansby Swanson have decided to enter the witness protection program instead of hit a baseball with any consistency. Story’s slow start has seen him fall 16 spots in my rankings while Torres and Swanson are nowhere to be seen in the rankings right now. Speaking of rankings, let’s get on with the show and see who ranks where – and why.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Second Basemen: Week 2

April 11, 2021 | Rest of Season Rankings, Second Basemen | 12 Comments

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Well, just over one week into the season, who is ready to dump Ozzie Albies and who is ready to trade the farm for Chris Owings? OK, no one with a functioning brain will do any of those two things, but that is the reaction some fantasy owners are feeling at this point of the fantasy season.

If this were the middle of July, a bad week from Albies and a hot week from Owings wouldn’t move the needle much in the fantasy world. But when the season is brand new, who’s who and who’s not leads to excess celebration or hair pulling. These rankings will reward those who produced and punish those who had a bad stretch of play – though there are always exceptions as we have to look forward and not always in the rear view mirror.

With that in mind, you won’t see Albies sitting at the top of the rankings as the best second baseman – but he is still ranked. Six players who weren’t ranked in the final preseason rankings are now listed below, though one of them – Jonathan India – was a player to watch during those final rankings. So let’s stop wasting time and get to the rankings.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Shortstop Rankings

April 4, 2021 | Rest of Season Rankings, Top 25 Shortstops | 1 Comment

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Last year is officially behind us!

Months after the Dodgers defeated the Rays in the World Series to cap the most unique season Major League Baseball has ever seen, followed by countless offseason moves and meaningless exhibition games, the baseball season has thankfully begun.

Of course, it is impossible to completely put the past behind us. For the Mets and Nationals, they must think that they are still stuck in 2020 as their season-opening series was wiped out due to the COVID virus affecting a host of Washington players. But for everyone else, every hit, home run and strikeout now count. That means we are all checking how our fantasy teams five or six time a not to see how our players are doing on the field.

Gone are the endless updates of our preseason rankings as we prepared for drafts. Now the fun part starts – tracking the players and their performance as the season unfolds. Will the top players perform as expected, or will one of them pull a Christian Yelich or Jose Altuve on us and stink it up all season. With only a handful of games in the books, the Top 25 Shortstop Rankings are basically the same as they were a month ago, but there has been some player movement.

So without further adieu, lets get to the rankings.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Second Basemen Rankings

March 28, 2021 | Second Basemen | 17 Comments

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In just a few short days, the screams of “play ball” will be yelled on baseball fields across Major League Baseball  – finally. The darkness of winter is finally giving way to the warmth of the sun and the sounds of baseball. Even better, the cheers of fans will once again be heard in baseball stadiums in anticipation of the first pitch.

The start of the season also means the endless hours spent pouring over statistics and coming up with intricate formulas to create the perfect ranking list for players at each position is coming to an end. Instead, we can all rank a player based on his actual current performance. That gut hunch you had about Gavin Lux will either be proven right, making you look smart for taking him a three rounds ahead of the his ADP,  or  leave you looking foolish for reaching on an unproven player.

These rankings first appeared more than a month ago, at a time when drafts had yet to happen or were just starting. The rankings weighed several factors – position eligibility, re-draft league value, dynasty league value and just the good ol’ gut hunch factor. With the season nearly here, the top 25 second baseman rankings have some players in new slots and some new players being ranked altogether.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

Top 25 Shortstops for 2021 Fantasy Baseball: Spring Training

March 21, 2021 | Top 25 Shortstops | 10 Comments

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With your NCAA tournament bracket now busted due to the rash of upsets this weekend, you can turn your attention back to baseball. In fact, why was your attention even turned away from baseball? With less than two weeks until the start of the regular season, spring training starts to take on a little bit of importance. OK, who am I kidding? We don’t need spring training to know who the top shortstops are, especially in 12-team mixed leagues.

However, there are plenty of 16-, 18- and 20-team leagues and thus a much larger player pool you need to dip into. Additionally, many deep leagues still require a middle infielder in addition to needing a starting shortstop. Depth is critical in deep leagues, and finding that gem late in the draft can be the difference between winning and losing a league.

With players locked into battles for a starting job, the spring training stats we overlook could help determine if Nico Hoerner earns the starting job with the Chicago Cubs or starts the season in the minor leagues. Or maybe a player you are tracking as a sleeper is having a horrible spring and doesn’t deserve to be on your watch list right now.
However, there are plenty of 16-, 18- and 20-team leagues. The player pool you need to dip into is greatly expanded when you have that many teams. Additionally, many deep leagues like these still require a middle infielder in addition to needing a starting shortstop. Depth is critical in deep leagues, and finding that gem late in the draft can be the difference between winning and losing a league. 

With players locked into battles for a starting job, the spring training stats we overlook could help determine if Nico Hoerner earns the starting job with the Chicago Cubs or starts the season in the minor leagues. Or maybe a player you are tracking as a sleeper is having a horrible spring and doesn’t deserve to be on your watch list right now.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
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