by Ryan Lester
Just because you missed out on Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury doesn’t mean you should punt the SB category. Actually, in roto leagues you shouldn’t punt any categories. That’s a story for another day though. If you missed out on the heavy hitters, don’t fret. Here are some value options to give you the SBs you need.
Elvis Andrus – Not only should he swipe a bunch of bases this year, but is a nice value pick at SS if you missed out on the top five.
Julio Borbon – His production depends upon how many ABs he gets. 30 SBs should be the bare minimum with this young speedster.
Michael Bourn - Improvement at the plate led to 61 SBs in 2009. While that number seems hard to replicate, 50 isn’t too tall an order.
Everth Cabrera – You can get him as a backup SS or use him as a starting MI. He had 25 in 103 games last year. He could easily lead all infielders in SBs.
Rajai Davis – No power to speak of, but a good source for average, runs, and around 40 SBs.
Dexter Fowler - Colorado is pretty stocked in the outfield with young talent. Fowler should get plenty of chances to run though.
Brett Gardner – He’s got the speed. It depends on how many ABs he gets for the Yanks.
Nyjer Morgan - Swiped 42 bags last year between Pittsburgh and Washington. He was solid with Pittsburgh with 18 SBs in 71 games. but went nuts with the Nationals with 24 SBs in 49 games. He could top 50 this year.
Juan Pierre - Made the move to the White Sox, where he’ll get a chance to play full-time again. When he’s gets around 600 ABs he steals 50+ bases.
Drew Stubbs - Stubbs doesn’t do much besides steal bases. Take him very late.
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ADP has Michael Bourn going at the end of round 7, I don’t think that’s a value selection at all. He has zero power but still strikes out 23% of the time, he only hit 285 because of a .367 BABIP. Give him a 300 BABIP (and it was 290 in 2008) and he hits 0.234 last year. No way I draft him. Chone Figgins goes at the same time, at a shallower position, he’ll beat Bourn in the other 3 counting stats, is a career 290 hitter, and should steal ~40. I don’t really want either one, but I’d take Figgins first.
Another value pick for some speed is Denard Span. He’s not as cheap as last year, going in round 11, but that’s still a better version of Victorino 50 picks later. It’s also right next to Nyjer Morgan. He won’t get more than about 30 steals, but it comes with a legit 300 average, 100+ runs, 65+ RBI and also 5-10 HR more than Morgan. I’d take those over the 15 extra SB Morgan would give me.
Alcides Escobar is similar to Everth Cabrera. Heaps of speed, worth a late gamble at MI or backup SS.
What do you think of this draft in a 10-team league? Usually I lean on starting pitching more heavily but i thought I’d give this a shot… I drafted with the 7th pick in the first round:
C- Bengie Molina (16)
1B- Ryan Howard (2)
2B- Robinson Cano (5)
3B- Ryan Zimmerman (4)
SS- Jose Reyes (6)
OF- Ryan Braun (1)
OF- Justin Upton (3)
OF- Andre Ethier (10)
Util- Billy Butler (13)
Util- Carlos Gonzalez (17)
SP- Ubaldo Jimenez (7)
SP- Wandy Rodriguez (8)
RP- Jose Valverde (12)
RP- Frank Francisco (19)
P- Clayton Kershaw (9)
P- Jair Jurrjens (11)
P- Kevin Slowey (14)
P- Jorge De La Rosa (15)
BN- Jay Bruce (18), Carlos Quentin (20), Todd Helton (21), Cody Ross (22), Everth Cabrera (23)
And in my 12 team mixed league $260 5 keepers ($5 raise to keep) I’ve got Crawford ($17), Borbon ($6), and Morgan ($6). Yay for steals.
Josh – I have Borbon locked up for $2 this season in my keeper league, so I think I’m even happier :-p
Pat, I love the gambles you took on your bench. Your rotation is a little bit risky, but there is a lot of promise there for sure. I probably would’ve liked to get one ace, but Ubaldo & Kershaw is pretty good.
Thanks… What I could have done was take Josh Johnson or Gallardo instead of Reyes, and then maybe take someone like Yunel Escobar instead of Wandy. But since my approach is usually pitcher-heavy, I figured I would try this method out. The people in my draft may have been crazy though… Lincecum was 1st overall and Mauer and Halladay were the 4th and 5th picks… That’s how I got Braun and Howard lol