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Captain's Log
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Written by Perry Van Hook
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Saturday, 31 December 2011 12:44 |
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Looking ahead at who I project to be the top outfielders in the 2012 season is somewhat obscured by Ryan Braun’s pending PED suspension and some health issues. But while I am not going to put Braun on the list below he would have been my number one outfielder over Matt Kemp and the Cardinal’s Allen Craig would have made the Top 25 if he were healthy.
So here is December’s view
- Matt Kemp, LAD
- Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS
- Carlos Gonzalez, COL
- Justin Upton, AZ
- Curtis Granderson, NYY
- Andrew McCutchen, PIT
- Mike Stanton, MIA
- Carl Crawford, BOS
- Nelson Cruz, TEX
- Matt Holliday, STL
- Hunter Pence, PHL
- Josh Hamilton, TEX
- Jay Bruce, CIN
- Adam Jones, BAL
- Shane Victorino, PHL
- Alex Gordon, KC
- Corey Hart, MLW
- Andre Ethier, LAD
- Brett Gardner, NYY
- Michael Bourn, ATL
- Jayson Werth, WAS
- Drew Stubbs, CIN
- Peter Bourjos, LAA
- Shin-Soo Choo, CLE
- Jeff Francoeur, KC
Once you get to this spot there are several who could go a spot higher or lower. The one who could easily be listed in the twenties but just off my list would be Desmond Jennings of Tampa Bay. I would like to see the power show up again for him this year and then he will move up.
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Last Updated on Monday, 02 January 2012 09:47 |
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Early Draft Prep - SS and MI |
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Captain's Log
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Written by Perry Van Hook
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Monday, 26 December 2011 21:56 |
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By means of a quick review, here are the top shortstops in 2011
Jose Reyes, NY Mets
Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado
Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland
Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs
Elvis Andrus, Texas
Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia
Emilio Bonifacio, Florida>Miami
Erick Aybar, LA Angels
Jhonny Peralta, Detroit
J.J. Hardy, Baltimore
Who are my top shortstop candidates for 2012? Well Tulo is still at the top of the list but the old and the new in Miami may have to switch places.
While I still think Hanley Ramirez is more likely to put up better fantasy stats than Jose Reyes, I am listing a mental reservation here…..my reservation about Hanley’s mental outlook that is – IF he is still in Miami to start the season will his move to third base hinder his approach and cost you stats if you draft him?
Okay, here are my Top 12 shortstops for 2012 as of December 26
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Troy Tulowitzki, COL
Hanley Ramirez, MIA
Jose Reyes, MIA
Jimmy Rollins, PHL
Starlin Castro, CHC
Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE
Elvis Andrus, TEX
J.J Hardy, BAL
Dee Gordon, LAD
Derek Jeter, NYY
Alexei Ramirez, CWS
Jhonny Peralta, DET
Note that all of them have some question marks on playing time, injury reliability, or just matching last year’s numbers (which Cabrera won’t likely do, but I don’t see as much of a drop in home runs as many do). Because of that by my standards it is weaker than second base heading into 2012.
Now we want to pick out the next twelve from either second base or shortstop to populate our MI list.
Danny Espinosa, 2B, WAS
Ian Desmond, SS, WAS
Erick Aybar, SS, LAA
Emilio Bonifacio, SS, MIA
Johnny Giavotella, 2B, KC
Daniel Murphy, 2B, NYM
Ryan Roberts, 2B, AZ
Sean Rodrigues, SS, TB
Yunel Escobar, SS, TOR
Aaron Hill, 2B, AZ
Darwin Barney, 2B, CHC
Jason Kipnis, 2B, CLE
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 27 December 2011 14:11 |
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Second Base Looking Better for 2012 |
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Captain's Log
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Written by Perry Van Hook
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Saturday, 17 December 2011 10:58 |
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Okay let’s look at your choices at second base for 2012 – the good news is that it looks a little better than it did a year ago.
Here were the top second basemen in 2011:
- Dustin Pedroia, Boston
- Robinson Cano, NY Yankees
- Ian Kinsler, Texas
- Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati
- Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay
- Howie Kendrick, LA Angels
- Dan Uggla, Atlanta
- Neil Walker, Pittsburgh
- Danny Espinosa, Washington
- Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee
Hopefully that list doesn’t surprise you much – I suggested Espinosa last year as a good shot at second with his blend of power and speed – hopefully the average goes up next year. Ugly was Dan’s start last year but he made up for it later and as long as you didn’t get disillusioned and sell low you were fine.
Okay now let’s look at my rankings for the Top Twelve second sackers as we draft in December
- Robinson Cano – more power than the others
- Dustin Pedroia – power and speed with more average than
- Ian Kinsler – but more likely chance to go 30-30
- Ben Zobrist – I also like the position eligibility so you can take a shot and not get killed
- Brandon Phillips – consistent if not exciting anymore
- Rickie Weeks – may be the last year he is ranked higher than his brother
- Chase Utley – may be too low here
- Howie Kendrick – hitting in front of Albert, sign me up
- Neil Walker – don’t write him off as a one year wonder – he can hit
- Jemile Weeks – if he can maintain a .300 average this is too low; 30+ steals
- Dustin Ackley – will continue to move up the ranks
- Danny Espinosa
Let’s look back at shortstops to end this column and next week I will give you my choices for 2012 as well as look at the next group of middle infielders.
Top shortstops in 2011
- Jose Reyes, NY Mets
- Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado
- Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland
- Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs
- Elvis Andrus, Texas
- Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia
- Emilio Bonifacio, Florida>Miami
- Erick Aybar, LA Angels
- Jhonny Peralta, Detroit
- J.J. Hardy, Baltimore
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Last Updated on Monday, 19 December 2011 10:02 |
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Captain's Log
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Written by Perry Van Hook
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Sunday, 11 December 2011 12:45 |
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Continuing on with draft prep for 2012, let’s look at how the third basemen fared last year and which I project to be the top twelve for next season.
Here were the Top Ten in 2011
- Jose Bautista, Toronto
- Michael Young, Texas
- Adrian Beltre, Texas
- Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs
- Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
- Mark Reynolds, Baltimore
- Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco
- Ryan Roberts, Arizona
- Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto
- Kevin Youkilis, Boston
Odd that two teams both had two “third basemen” in the top performers last year. “Tatman” – aka Ryan Roberts came out of nowhere last year – he wasn’t even projected as a starter by the Diamondbacks heading into the 2011 year.
Okay, so what do my 2012 third base rankings look like?
- Jose Bautista – no reason he won’t repeat
- Adrian Beltre – room for more contributions in his second year in Arlington
- Evan Longoria – expecting a rebound here assuming he can stay healthy
- Brett Lawrie – he will easily be a 20-20 guy and could be 30-30
- David Wright – assuming he stays in New York with shorter fences
- Kevin Youkilis – just needs his health to allow full at bats
- Ryan Zimmerman – he will have more RBI chances next year if he can stay in the lineup
- Michael Young – will just keep on hitting
- Alex Rodriguez – assuming the hip is better he should have a rebound
- Pablo Sandoval – even on a bad offense
- Mike Moustakas – I like his potential – note he started slow at every level
- Aramis Ramirez – where he signs could change this slightly
Pedro Alvarez is a possibility but I need to see it (after being burned last year). But I think the talent is there despite Pittsburgh mismanaging him.
Lonnie Chisenhall will continue to develop in 2012 but not sure his stats will be good enough to crash this list.
First basemen and third basemen who didn’t make the top twelve in their respective categories (in no particular order) are Martin Prado, Mark Reynolds (good power, terrible average), Freddie Freeman, Gaby Sanchez, Chipper Jones, Ike Davis, Derrek Lee, Carlos Lee, Scott Rolen, Mark Trumbo, Carlos Pena, and James Loney (assuming that was a blip on his behavior resume).
Next week we will look at middle infielders.
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Last Updated on Monday, 12 December 2011 10:10 |
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