Some research was done recently, and it appears that 94 percent of all Fantasy owners would like to draft their teams over again. One other interesting stat is that 68 percent of all statistics are made up.
There's a good chance that if you aren't in the top three spots in your league's standings -- you could go for a do-over.
Two months into the season, we have a much better idea of players' abilities this season, and what they might be able to do over the next four months. What if we were to have a draft right now? Can this help us in determining a player's current Fantasy value? Let's find out.
Welcome to the June Fantasy Baseball Draft!
Let's say this is a 12-team, mixed Rotisserie league, with notes for Head-to-Head differences cited. We're looking at production over the next four months, while taking into account the numbers from the past two months. Here's what the first round might look like.
| ||
Players | Year | Stat lines |
Chase Utley | 2008??? | .320-57-142-131-16 |
Alfonso Soriano | 2006 | .277-46-95-119-41 |
Joe Morgan | 1976 | .320-27-111-113-60 |
Roberto Alomar | 1999 | .323-24-120-138-37 |
Jeff Kent | 2000 | .334-33-125-114-12 |
Ryne Sandberg | 1990 | .306-40-100-116-25 |
1.01 -- Chase Utley, 2B, PHI: While Lance Berkman and Josh Hamilton are both hitting better, with better numbers in different categories, Utley's 2B-eligibility makes him the Fantasy MVP to date. Utley, Utley, Utley has 20-percent more homers than any other major leaguer. He has 14 more RBI than any other middle infielder and his on-pace stats (.320-57-142-131-16) would give him one of the best all-time seasons among Fantasy second basemen.
1.02 -- Lance Berkman, 1B/OF, HOU: He's rivaling the start of Alex Rodriguez in 2007, and he has a chance to be the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastremski in 1967. (The last NL winner was Ducky Medwick in 1937). He won Player of the Month for May, so he's not slowing down anytime soon. Whether you call him "The Big Puma" or "Fat Elvis," you have to be impressed by his career-high 10 steals already. No other first baseman has even five steals.
1.03 -- Josh Hamilton, OF, TEX: He went from heroin to hero within a couple years. He's also in contention for the Triple Crown. With Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Milton Bradley and David Murphy hitting well around him, Hamilton is proving to be a nightmare for pitchers. Outside of Berkman, there's no other outfield-eligible hitter even close to top-5 status.
1.04 -- Alex Rodriguez, 3B, NYY: His quadriceps injury cost him a couple weeks on the 15-day disabled list, but since returning, A-Rod hasn't missed a beat. He's batting .327 with four homers and 12 RBI since he came back May 20. His five stolen bases in that span also proves that his quad injury is behind him ... though not literally.
1.05 -- Albert Pujols, 1B, STL: Only Berkman and Chipper Jones have a better batting average than Pujols' .366 through Monday. His elbow is healthy enough so far and he's crushing the ball. The Cardinals' lineup has been much better than expected, giving him plenty of RBI opportunities. As long as the Cardinals are contending (currently tied for second-best record in the NL), Pujols will run out there and play. Can he stay healthy for the rest of the season? The risk is worth it after the above four players are gone.
1.06 -- Jose Reyes, SS, NYM: In April, the Mets' leadoff man hit .240 with two homers and six stolen bases. But the sometimes-too-energetic/sometimes-too-lethargic shortstop followed that up with a 5 HR/11 SB May. He has an 18-game hitting streak through Monday, and he's still on pace for 69 steals. April showers weren't enough to dampen his Fantasy value for the next few months.
1.07 -- David Wright, 3B, NYM: After the Mets started the season with one of the lowest-scoring offenses (4.48 RPG in April), they rebounded in May 5.0 (RPG). Wright also had a better May than April, but his on-pace numbers (.291-33-126-111-24) are very close to the projected numbers we gave him in spring (.308-30-110-110-30). He was top six in spring -- and he's top six now.
1.08 -- Ryan Braun, 3B, MIL: To be honest, I was fearful of a big sophomore lull, much like Hunter Pence started the season with. I was wrong. Since Braun's call-up last season, Ryan Howard is the only hitter with more RBI. And since May 12, the youngster is batting .325 with eight homers, 17 RBI and 14 runs scored.
1.09 -- Hanley Ramirez, SS, FLA: He got off to a huge start, blowing past Reyes and Jimmy Rollins for top Fantasy shortstop honors, but he hit just .260 in May, with only one home run and four steals. It's like Reyes stole his mojo. He's atop the Marlins' lineup once again, so hopefully that will spark more steals out of him. His power, speed and hitting potential makes him a great top-10 pick still.
1.10 -- Ryan Howard, 1B, PHI: Will Howard end the season batting below .210? Absolutely not. Can his average climb back toward his .280 career average? Probably not. If so, he'll have to hit around .330 over the next four months to get there. But batting .300 from now until the end of September is certainly reasonable, finishing his season with a .260 average. Plus, he's still on pace to hit 41 homers and bring in 118 RBI. Here's an interesting stat: Since May 9, when Rollins returned from an ankle injury, Howard is batting .274 with nine homers, 26 RBI and 24 runs scored. Those numbers in Head-to-Head play put him just behind Hamilton in that span (without strikeouts, of course).
1.11 -- Miguel Cabrera, 3B, DET: His numbers aren't bad by any stretch (.277-8-33-26), but they aren't even close to the stats we had predicted he'd produce in this formerly star-studded lineup. I saw him taking the AL by storm, winning his first MVP and carrying the Tigers into the playoffs. And I had his teammate, Justin Verlander, winning the Cy Young. That's two strikes -- can I make it three? He's still just 25 years old (just seven months older than Braun), and he didn't suddenly forget how to hit.
1.12 -- Alfonso Soriano, OF, CHC: This is a tough spot to fill. You don't want the 12th pick in a June draft, that much I've learned. Fonsie is batting .361 with 10 homers and 26 RBI in his past 100 at-bats. Only Braun has as many homers in that span, and only two other hitters have more RBI. The Cubs offense is a machine so far this season. They lead the majors in scoring and Soriano put his horrible April behind him.
Other possibilities for the first round: Jimmy Rollins missed three weeks of the season, but he's hitting over .300 since returning ... Since this is Rotisserie, I went with Ian Kinsler and his 15 steals over Dan Uggla's league-leading 21 doubles. Uggla has more than twice as many homers than Kinsler, but the Ranger is just four RBI behind him. And Uggla's super stretch in May ended quietly, with four hits in his past 26 at-bats (no HR or RBI) ... Chipper Jones is leading many Fantasy teams he's on, but the chances of him staying healthy all season are unlikely ... Pitchers? Please. Brandon Webb is the best one of the lot, but do you use a first-round pick on a pitcher, after seeing how inconsistent they can be over the long-term? ... Johan Santana is still on pace for 21 wins, 215 strikeouts and a 3.20 ERA. The best news about him is that he's typically a strong finisher ... As great as Nate McLouth has been, you can't think of him as a first-round pick. That's kooky talk.
Time to check out our new digs!
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- ToutWars.com
- Tout Wars: Mixed Standings and Rosters
- Tout Wars: AL-only Standings and Rosters
- Tout Wars: NL-only Standings and Rosters
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