6/30/07 post

The Fantasy All-Stars (The Hitters)

The All-Star Game is coming up soon, and not all the players are true FANTASY All-Stars. For us, those fantasy All-Stars produce numbers to help fantasy teams. I was taking a little glance at the stats and certain players just come out.

In this week’s blog, I’d like to list these fantasy players for their particular positions and even give them a ranking I call the “unexpected factor,” which I will use on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the least surprising and 10 being extremely surprising or unexpected.

Fantasy All Stars:

Catcher: Russell Martin… It’s a close call between him and Victor Martinez but I like those speed numbers. He leads all catchers with runs scored and stolen bases and is still projected to have over 100 rbi and 20 home runs. Unexpected Factor (UF – 10)

1st Base: He leads all 1st basemen with 27 home runs and 55 runs. 55 runs? That’s the most surprising part. He gets on base and he gets home to score these runs. He’s not as slow as you might think! Hahaha… I’m not surprised he’s this good, but I am surprised he’s doing in this early in his career. (UF – 7)

2nd Base: Chase Utley. He’s the modern day Rogers Hornsby… He’s not quite Joe Morgan but he’ll still give you 15+ steals for the season. No doubt he’s the best 2nd baseman in the game today. Not even close… (UF – 1)

Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins… but not by much. This position is so deep this year. Any of 6 other guys could arguably be the best SS: Reyes, Ramirez, Cabrera, Guillen, Hardy, and Jeter. You cannot lose by having any of these 7 guys. I chose Rollins because he gives you stats in all the categories… (UF – 5)

3rd Base: Alex Rodriguez. His run-producing stats on an underachieving team is so remarkable. He is the best fantasy 3rd baseman, by far. Cabrera is great, Wright is great, but A-Rod is godly. By the way, like the rest of the civilized world, I’m NOT surprised…. (UF – 1)

Outfield:
1. Vlad Guerrero: The best powerhitter on one of the best teams in the league. 71 RBI shows you produce runs. (UF – 3)
2. Mags Ordonez: Yes, it’s not a typo… he’s hitting .370 and he’s hit 68 rbi (2nd among all outfielders). He was great for several years a while ago when he was with the Chisox, but he’s really turned it around big time. (UF – 7)
3. Grady Sizemore: He’s on pace to be 25 homeruns and 50 steals. That’s unreal. I was debating between Sizemore, Ichiro,Soriano, and Sheffield… but Sizemore has a chance to be the first 30/50 in a long time.