The already pretty weak SS market (after the top 3) is getting even weaker, with the likes of Jeter, Tejada, Renteria, Cabrera & Young all on the decline. There's also Guillen losing eligibility, and guys like Lugo & Greene falling completely off the map. Alexei shifting over to SS would help but there doesn't seem to much else on the way. After the big 3, there's Tulo, Peralta, Alexei, Drew, Hardy & Furcal who can make a positive impact, but after that it's just average to below average options plus little help from the minor leagues on the way anytime soon. That's only 9 solid options at the position!

In the minors, there's Brignac waiting in the wings, but his outlook doesn't look too bright given his struggles last year and especially now he's blocked by Bartlett. Moustakas is probably gonna be moved to 3B or LF. Andrus & Triunfel don't look great options for fantasty purposes. Tim Beckham seems to be a good few years away, leaving Gordon Beckham as the one real hope that I can see making a significant fantasy impact at SS in the next few years.

Am I missing something or is SS gonna be a real barren position real soon?

i agree, but i think there's still a chance that Guillen may regain eligibility. he can play the position, and the Tigers don't have a solid SS option next year, though i've heard they may throw Inge into the role.

Tulo, Alexei, and Drew will be great options for years to come. Peralta's underrated, too. Hardy and Furcal are too streaky for my tastes. however, you're right: in the next couple years, it'll be pretty damn barren.

just glad I locked up Hanley for the next 5 years at $32

This is very true, and makes a strong case for Hanley #1 pick

Forgot to include Mike Aviles on my list, I don't see him repeating last years performance but he'll should still be above average, and still that only takes it to 10 better than average SS.

I'd definitely take Rollins late in the first round now because of this, even if his performance may not warrant it.

Kinda funny how the big three used to be in the AL (A-Rod, Garciaparra, and Jeter) and now the big three are all in the NL (HanRam, Reyes, and Rollins).

That's crazy...If the guy isn't worth a first round pick, why take him there? Obviously, you'll have better chances finding a hidden gem elsewhere I suppose, but you never know what happens. Though I see where you coming from. Its the same reason people are avoiding OFs in the first since you can easily fill that position later on with decent options.

That's a good point. I wonder if teams are moving guys who used to be borderline Shorstop defensively to second base? Then you go with an all-field/no-hit SS. Look at all the 2b options:

Phenomenal
Kinsler, Pedroia, Utley, Uggla

Strong/Very Strong
Roberts, Alexei, Brandon Phillips, Cano (if this year was a fluke)


Solid, if not spectacular
Orlando Hudson, Kelly Johnson, Asdrubal Cabrera, Weeks, Ray Durham, Jose Lopez, Iwamura

Wow. That is 8 guys who are likely to be very productive hitters and another 7 who are likely to at least not hurt you. So half the second basemen in the league help fantasy teams, and I left out most of the guys who could be good but have been hurt too frequently. That's a pretty amazing list. And Alexei and Cabrera (possibly) could both move to SS, as both can handle it just fine defensively. Pedroia could handle SS, as could Jose Lopez. I don't know if Hudson still could do it, but he used to be able to. Not sure about some of the others. So it definitely looks like some teams are putting guys at second base who could easily handle shortstop, and might have in the heyday of the shortstops in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Uggla does not rank above Roberts or Phillips in my book.

If he's eligible, is it possible that Alexei ends the year in 2009 as the #1 SS in fantasy?

Over Hanley, are you serious?

If Moustakas stays @ SS, Andrus/A.Escobar, there are some young guys down the pipe line, don't think it is that diluted.

Are you predicting that the franchise player of my dynasty team (HanRam) is going to blow out his knee in the first month?

Plus, not to mention he is disgarding Reyes and Rollins,LOL.

Well I covered that in the original post, I don't see Moustakas sticking at SS, I think he's already been shifted to 3B, and may be moved to LF because of Gordon at 3B. Andrus & Escobar are both no-power, speed guys, who may hit for a decent average, which won't hurt you, but that's basically what Ryan Theriot & Jason Bartlett are and they don't get much love in the fantasy world

as for andrus, you are severely under-rating him - he is looking like a very good fantasy option once he hits the majors. leadoff guy who will hit around .300, score 100 runs, steal a load of bags (50+ this past year) and probably chip in with 10-15 HR's in his prime. that is plenty valuable. considering his age he has held up extremely well despite being pushed fast through the system. potential top 3 SS in his prime

as for triunfel, you are again writing him off way to early - kid is 18 and just got done a season at high A! he might not stick at SS long-term, but good chance he breaks in there and his bat is certainly coming along, as evidenced by his sick second half at high desert. he also added baserunning to his game in '08, stealing 30 bags. and he's not done developing power yet - going to see some big steps there in '09.

Well if Andrus does end up stealing 50+ bags then yes he will have value, but I don't see the power coming anytime soon. He hit 4 HRs last year and only 19 2Bs. Ok, so he was in AA at a very young age, but it was still a hitters league and he only had a .072 ISOp and struck out quite a bit for a guy with very little power. He also doesn't walk a lot, which if he wants to be a leadoff guy then he'll have to improve, as at the moment his OBP is driven by his average. Triunfel showed more power at a younger age (albeit at a lower level) and while he doesn't seem to have blazing speed, he does have some, and his K/BB ratio was pretty encouraging at less than 2/1.

I may be wrong in my inital assesments of them, to be honest I only really glanced at their numbers, but the fact is that they are still very young, and both are pretty raw, so their careers could go many different paths. Even if they do end up being useful fantasy assets, I don't think it will be until 2011 at the earliest, and the point of my post was that in the next few years the SS position is going to get weaker. Once Triunfel, Andrus, the 2 Beckhams, plus any other guys I'm missing, have established themselves then it'll be a different story.

RE: Alexei higher than reyes and HanRam, are you Nuts?!

RE: Uggla as "phenomenal"? in the same tier as utley/kinsler? um.... No.

Next thing you guys are gonna ask is if Heilman's gonna win the Cy Young award next year...

Would love for Alexei to outproduce Hanley and Reyes, as I have him in my dynasty league, but there's no way in hell it happens, except for injury.

Agree with Ewan though, SS is becoming a very weak position in fantasy. I'd say Rollins is more of a 2nd round guy though, but one with the capability of producing 1st round numbers again.

Although a couple of years back, 2B was considered the weakest position, and now look at it! The emergence of SS prospects will help though, although i'm not that high on Gordon Bechkam to be honest, and Brignac's not done much this year. Mous definitely gets moved off SS, which I think he already has?

I'll definitely be trying to get a decent SS in every fantasy draft I do next year.

Agreed on both ends, Andrus is going to be nasty.

I love Alexei as he saved my SS position late last year when I finally traded Guillen away and picked him up. His OBP and K/BB are awful though and he really needs to work on drawing more walks. If he does then he can be big.

My bad, I forgot about all those other second basemen who hit 30 home runs every year. Oh wait, no I didn't. They don't exist.

And I have Kinsler on my keeper replay league (that may also be some of our difference in valuing players, steals don't mean all that much in a replay league), but if you think he's hitting .319 every year, you're mistaken.

30 home runs with a .240 batting average... that's god awful... give me 20 hr and 30 sb with a .290 ba any day...

uggla also offers very little speed from a MI, where you expect your speed to come from...

Don't get me wrong, I would rather have Kinsler than Uggla. No question. But I'd rather have Uggla than Brian Roberts or Alexei. Not even close.

And as for Kinsler, I hope you are right about him hitting .290 again. 2007 was hopefully just a fluke. He cut way down on the Ks this year, in more at bats, but the walks fell precipitously also. If he could get his OBP up to .390, he would be a superstar.

.260/100/30/100/5 better than .295/100/10/60/40 or .290/80/25/90/15?

I don't agree with that. By the way, before you ask, the 3rd statline is Alexei Ramirez's line extrapolated over 162 games.

Not me, give me B-Rob and Alexei over Uggla, that hack is so overrated.

Roberts over Uggla all the way. Phillips over Uggla all the way.

Look at Uggla's career splits. He hits about 100 points higher and slugs like 200 higher in May than every other month. Last year that stretched out a couple months longer than normal, but I don't see it returning (it wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong if I am).

Uggla's the guy you trade for way way way too much on June 1st and enjoy the rest of your fantasy season.

Sorry, I play in an AL only league so I'm used to talking about the AL. I should have made that clear.

Best SS in the AL?

From a roto standpoint, it might be Jhonny Peralta.

not so sure. lazy to look at the stats, but if Alexei had played a full season, i think he would've had roughly the same line as Peralta yet with a higher average and a bunch of steals