A Look at Player Values

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind

Written by Todd Zola

Tuesday, 31 May 2011 00:00

Since we are about one-third through the season, I thought it may be fun to look at the top fantasy performers at each position. The rankings are based on stats through Sunday’s games. The dollar values are based on a 15-team mixed league and are not adjusted for positional scarcity. Please keep in mind this is for entertainment purposes only, I am not looking to draw any conclusions from the data other than to point how whacked the early part of the season has been. As a note to our Platinum subscribers, later this week, I will post value earned for April, May and year to date. Please keep your eye on the announcement at the top of the home page for details.

Let us begin with the overall top-100 hitters:

RANK	PLAYER	5x5	RANK	PLAYER	5x5
1	Jose Bautista	$48	51	Corey Patterson	$19
2	Ryan Braun	$44	52	Placido Polanco	$19
3	Curtis Granderson	$40	53	Erick Aybar	$19
4	Matt Kemp	$40	54	Josh Willingham	$18
5	Jay Bruce	$37	55	Coco Crisp	$18
6	Jacoby Ellsbury	$34	56	Jhonny Peralta	$18
7	Adrian Gonzalez	$34	57	Jimmy Rollins	$18
8	Asdrubal Cabrera	$33	58	Elvis Andrus	$18
9	Lance Berkman	$31	59	Neil Walker	$18
10	Jose Reyes	$31	60	Russell Martin	$18
11	Miguel Cabrera	$29	61	Shane Victorino	$18
12	Matt Joyce	$29	62	Colby Rasmus	$17
13	Drew Stubbs	$28	63	Jayson Werth	$17
14	Joey Votto	$28	64	Alexei Ramirez	$17
15	Mark Teixeira	$28	65	Starlin Castro	$17
16	Prince Fielder	$28	66	Michael Brantley	$17
17	Robinson Cano	$27	67	Andre Ethier	$16
18	Paul Konerko	$26	68	Carlos Beltran	$16
19	Rickie Weeks	$26	69	Jason Kubel	$16
20	Andrew McCutchen	$24	70	Adam Lind	$16
21	Carlos Gonzalez	$24	71	Alex Avila	$15
22	Jeff Francoeur	$24	72	Mark Trumbo	$15
23	Melky Cabrera	$23	73	Seth Smith	$15
24	Michael Young	$23	74	Dustin Pedroia	$15
25	Adrian Beltre	$23	75	Yunel Escobar	$14
26	Brandon Phillips	$23	76	Darwin Barney	$14
27	Hunter Pence	$23	77	Ryan Ludwick	$14
28	David Ortiz	$23	78	Ike Davis	$14
29	Matt Holliday	$23	79	Shin-Soo Choo	$14
30	Ryan Howard	$22	80	Stephen Drew	$14
31	Gaby Sanchez	$22	81	Raul Ibanez	$14
32	Justin Upton	$22	82	Brian McCann	$14
33	Carlos Quentin	$22	83	Ichiro Suzuki	$13
34	Alfonso Soriano	$21	84	Vladimir Guerrero	$13
35	Howie Kendrick	$21	85	Laynce Nix	$13
36	Troy Tulowitzki	$21	86	Todd Helton	$13
37	Martin Prado	$21	87	David Wright	$12
38	Alex Rodriguez	$21	88	Brennan Boesch	$12
39	Ben Zobrist	$21	89	Ian Desmond	$12
40	B.J. Upton	$20	90	Chris Coghlan	$12
41	Chris Young	$20	91	Kelly Johnson	$12
42	Ryan Roberts	$20	92	Jose Tabata	$12
43	Alex Gordon	$20	93	Denard Span	$12
44	Adam Jones	$20	94	Travis Hafner	$12
45	Kevin Youkilis	$20	95	Bobby Abreu	$12
46	Michael Bourn	$20	96	Mitch Moreland	$12
47	Mike Stanton	$20	97	Wilson Betemit	$12
48	Johnny Damon	$19	98	Cameron Maybin	$12
49	Albert Pujols	$19	99	Hanley Ramirez	$12
50	Ian Kinsler	$19	100	Mike Aviles	$12

Yeah, that was the 2011 ADP. There are about 4 or 5 players drafted in the first round that are thus far returning first round value: Ryan Braun, Adrian Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto and Mark Teixeira. Those of you who believe in positional scarcity are likely scuffling. But, we still have plenty of season left.

Next, here are the top-15 catchers:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	Russell Martin	$18	60
2	Alex Avila	$15	71
3	Brian McCann	$14	82
4	Miguel Montero	$11	103
5	Yadier Molina	$11	104
6	Jonathan Lucroy	$11	109
7	J.P. Arencibia	$10	115
8	Chris Iannetta	$10	117
9	Victor Martinez	$10	118
10	Buster Posey	$10	119
11	Ramon Hernandez	$9	124
12	Mike Napoli	$8	140
13	Matt Wieters	$8	133
14	Miguel Olivo	$6	150
15	Carlos Santana	$6	152

You could have won a few bar bets based on this list.

Here are the first basemen:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	Adrian Gonzalez	$34	7
2	Lance Berkman	$31	9
3	Miguel Cabrera	$29	11
4	Joey Votto	$28	14
5	Mark Teixeira	$28	15
6	Prince Fielder	$28	16
7	Paul Konerko	$26	18
8	Ryan Howard	$22	30
9	Gaby Sanchez	$22	31
10	Albert Pujols	$19	49
11	Mark Trumbo	$15	72
12	Ike Davis	$14	78
13	Todd Helton	$13	86
14	Mitch Moreland	$12	96
15	Billy Butler	$11	112

As expected, a Cardinals first baseman is near the top of the list – just not the one everyone thought would be there.

How about the second basemen:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	Robinson Cano	$27	17
2	Rickie Weeks	$26	19
3	Brandon Phillips	$23	26
4	Howie Kendrick	$21	35
5	Ben Zobrist	$21	39
6	Ian Kinsler	$19	50
7	Neil Walker	$18	59
8	Dustin Pedroia	$15	74
9	Darwin Barney	$14	76
10	Kelly Johnson	$12	91
11	Danny Espinosa	$11	101
12	Maicer Izturis	$10	116
13	Jed Lowrie	$10	120
14	Ryan Theriot	$9	128
15	Orlando Cabrera	$9	127

This is actually pretty representative of what was expected.

Next, the shortstops:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	Asdrubal Cabrera	$33	8
2	Jose Reyes	$31	10
3	Troy Tulowitzki	$21	36
4	Erick Aybar	$19	53
5	Jhonny Peralta	$18	56
6	Jimmy Rollins	$18	57
7	Elvis Andrus	$18	58
8	Alexei Ramirez	$17	64
9	Starlin Castro	$17	65
10	Yunel Escobar	$14	75
11	Stephen Drew	$14	80
12	Ian Desmond	$12	89
13	Hanley Ramirez	$12	99
14	Mike Aviles	$12	100
15	Alex Gonzalez	$11	110

Lawr’s trust in the man he calls Droobs is paying off in a big way so far.

Here is what you have been waiting for, the cesspool otherwise known as third base:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	Jose Bautista	$48	1
2	Michael Young	$23	24
3	Adrian Beltre	$23	25
4	Martin Prado	$21	37
5	Alex Rodriguez	$21	38
6	Ryan Roberts	$20	42
7	Kevin Youkilis	$20	45
8	Placido Polanco	$19	52
9	David Wright	$12	87
10	Wilson Betemit	$12	97
11	Alberto Callaspo	$11	107
12	Chipper Jones	$8	131
13	Greg Dobbs	$8	132
14	Adam Kennedy	$8	139
15	Casey McGehee	$7	143

Wow, just wow.

How about the top-50 outfielders:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK	POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	Ryan Braun	$44	2	26	Coco Crisp	$18	55
2	Curtis Granderson	$40	3	27	Shane Victorino	$18	61
3	Matt Kemp	$40	4	28	Colby Rasmus	$17	62
4	Jay Bruce	$37	5	29	Jayson Werth	$17	63
5	Jacoby Ellsbury	$34	6	30	Michael Brantley	$17	66
6	Matt Joyce	$29	12	31	Andre Ethier	$16	67
7	Drew Stubbs	$28	13	32	Carlos Beltran	$16	68
8	Andrew McCutchen	$24	20	33	Jason Kubel	$16	69
9	Carlos Gonzalez	$24	21	34	Adam Lind	$16	70
10	Jeff Francoeur	$24	22	35	Seth Smith	$15	73
11	Melky Cabrera	$23	23	36	Ryan Ludwick	$14	77
12	Hunter Pence	$23	27	37	Shin-Soo Choo	$14	79
13	Matt Holliday	$23	29	38	Raul Ibanez	$14	81
14	Justin Upton	$22	32	39	Ichiro Suzuki	$13	83
15	Carlos Quentin	$22	33	40	Laynce Nix	$13	85
16	Alfonso Soriano	$21	34	41	Brennan Boesch	$12	88
17	B.J. Upton	$20	40	42	Chris Coghlan	$12	90
18	Chris Young	$20	41	43	Jose Tabata	$12	92
19	Alex Gordon	$20	43	44	Denard Span	$12	93
20	Adam Jones	$20	44	45	Bobby Abreu	$12	95
21	Michael Bourn	$20	46	46	Cameron Maybin	$12	98
22	Mike Stanton	$20	47	47	Torii Hunter	$11	102
23	Johnny Damon	$19	48	48	Sam Fuld	$11	105
24	Corey Patterson	$19	51	49	Carl Crawford	$11	106
25	Josh Willingham	$18	54	50	Nelson Cruz	$11	108

We can’t forget about the DH-only:

RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	David Ortiz	$23	28
2	Vladimir Guerrero	$13	84
3	Travis Hafner	$12	94

Next, the starting pitchers:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK	POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	Jered Weaver	$32	1	26	Cliff Lee	$13	35
2	James Shields	$31	2	27	Jhoulys Chacin	$13	36
3	Dan Haren	$30	3	28	Jon Lester	$12	40
4	Roy Halladay	$29	4	29	Brett Anderson	$12	43
5	Kyle Lohse	$27	5	30	Jeremy Hellickson	$12	44
6	Tim Lincecum	$26	6	31	C.J. Wilson	$12	45
7	Clayton Kershaw	$25	7	32	Jaime Garcia	$12	47
8	Josh Beckett	$24	8	33	David Pauley	$11	49
9	Justin Verlander	$24	9	34	Philip Humber	$11	50
10	Cole Hamels	$23	10	35	Josh Collmenter	$11	52
11	Jair Jurrjens	$22	11	36	Gavin Floyd	$10	53
12	Michael Pineda	$21	12	37	Justin Masterson	$9	55
13	Josh Johnson	$21	13	38	Zach Britton	$9	57
14	Alexi Ogando	$20	14	39	Jonathan Sanchez	$9	58
15	Shaun Marcum	$20	15	40	Ryan Vogelsong	$9	59
16	Trevor Cahill	$19	16	41	Jorge de la Rosa	$8	63
17	Felix Hernandez	$19	17	42	Kyle McClellan	$7	64
18	Ian Kennedy	$18	19	43	Paul Maholm	$7	65
19	Tommy Hanson	$17	20	44	Yovani Gallardo	$7	66
20	Josh Tomlin	$16	21	45	Kevin Correia	$7	67
21	Anibal Sanchez	$16	23	46	Charlie Morton	$7	68
22	CC Sabathia	$16	24	47	Chad Billingsley	$6	69
23	Gio Gonzalez	$16	25	48	Hiroki Kuroda	$6	71
24	David Price	$16	26	49	Logan Ondrusek	$6	72
25	Ricky Romero	$16	27	50	Daniel Hudson	$5	74

And we’ll finish off with the closers:

POS RANK	PLAYER	5x5	OVERALL RANK
1	J.J. Putz	$18	18
2	Craig Kimbrel	$16	22
3	Leo Nunez	$15	29
4	Francisco Rodriguez	$14	31
5	Joel Hanrahan	$14	32
6	Heath Bell	$13	34
7	Brian Wilson	$12	38
8	Ryan Madson	$12	39
9	Mariano Rivera	$12	42
10	Chris Perez	$11	51
11	Huston Street	$10	54
12	Jose Valverde	$9	56
13	John Axford	$9	60
14	Jordan Walden	$8	62
15	Brandon League	$4	92

So there you have it, a look at some values earned through the first two months of the season.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 05:51

Author of this article: Todd Zola

Mastersball

More Articles by Todd Zola