Shortstop has become a very difficult position to fill. It offers very little power, made evident by the fact that only four shortstops hit 20 or more home runs last year. If you’re looking for steals, however, this is where you find ‘em. Twenty five shortstops racked up double-digit totals last season, including seven who stole 20-plus.
There’s a steep drop off after Ramirez and Tulowitzki, although Reyes could re-join the elite ranks given a full season in the lineup. Derek Jeter should bounce-back from a career-worst season, while rising stars such as Ian Desmond and Starlin Castro bring hope to fantasy managers in the later rounds...
Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings...
After 14 straight seasons of batting .290 or higher, Derek Jeter bottomed out in arguably the worst season of his career in 2010, posting a .270 batting clip. His OBP (.340), slugging percentage (.370) and OPS (.710) were also career lows.
Not coincidentally, Jeter’s .307 BABIP was by far the worst of his career, and well below his notoriously high .356 career mark.
Notwithstanding, Jeter still managed to score 111 runs and steal 18 bases, numbers worthy of fantasy consideration no matter what his batting average was.
So what does 2011 have in store for the 36-year-old captain?
According to The Hardball Times Glossary, the exact formula for BABIP is: (H-HR)/(AB-K-HR+SF).
The major league average for BABIP is usually around .300. In 2009, it was .299. The 2010 season saw the average BABIP fall slightly to .297.
Generally, if a player’s BABIP is well-above the major league average, we can conclude he has experienced some amount of good luck.
However, this is not always true. Some players such as Ichiro Suzuki (career .357) and Joe Mauer (career .344) have a knack for finding holes in the defense, which results in an inflated BABIP...
In the coming weeks, I will attempt to create the most accurate 2010 big board available. This draft guide will be released 10 players at a time until my top 50 have been revealed.
These lists will take into account past, present and future values based on standard 5×5 H2H settings. As I introduce each player one-by-one, it’s my goal to reveal something you didn’t already know. Feel free to agree or disagree with my rankings, as I’m always up for a healthy debate.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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