Now that the All Star Break is upon us, it’s time to reflect on the first half of the fantasy baseball season and pay homage to those who helped us soar to new heights (at least at their positions). If I could field a team of offensive fantasy all stars, this is who I would take the field with. Remember, despite if players are an everyday fixture at a certain position, if they are eligible for another position on your fantasy roster, they’re eligible for recognition at that position in this list as well as at their normal spot. As always, feel free to share your opinions in the comments section.
Catcher – Joe Mauer, Min: Here’s a no-brainer. Mauer has proven to be everything advertised since coming up to the show in 2004. He has lived up to the hype as the number one overall pick in 2001 and fantasy owners simply get giddy when his name is said. I personally tried my hardest to trade for Mauer at the beginning of the season, but the other fantasy owner who was in desperate need of help at first base which I had plenty of, declined the offer and justifiably so. Mauer is hitting .373 with 15 HR and 49 RBI. Not to mention the fact that he’s also scored 49 runs and has even stolen a base this year. Mauer probably won’t top .400, but his fantasy value has never been higher. If you were lucky enough to draft him a couple of months ago, drop down on your knees and thank the fantasy gods because he will give you nothing but fantastic numbers the rest of the way.
First base – Albert Pujols, StL: Pujols is without a doubt the one sure thing going into each year’s draft. It baffles me that Prince Fielder, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes were oftentimes taken before Pujols in some of my friends’ fantasy drafts. I understand that Fielder is all muscle and Ramirez/Reyes score loads of runs, steal tons of bases, and rack up nice overall stats, but Pujols can hit for average (.332), smack homeruns (he has 32), knock people in (87 RBI), score (73 runs), and even swipe a bag (he has 10 steals this year, one less than Jose Reyes who has been on the DL forever). He has won two MVPs and has come up just short on multiple occasions. Pujols was named the best current player in baseball by The Sporting News earlier this year and he is certainly living up to that lofty title. Expect Pujols to keep on keeping on and for him to grab his third MVP award in the fall.
Second base – Chase Utley, Phi: The debate for the best second baseman is baseball is usually a heated one. AL fans claim that it’s Ian Kinsler while NL fans clamor for Utley. In this case, the NL fans have it right. To be honest, their stats are almost identical. They each have 20 HR and 62 runs scored going into the all star break. Utley has six more RBI (61 to 55), but Kinsler has more stolen bases (18 to 9). The difference is in the category of batting average where Utley is hitting .313 while Kinsler has settled in at a mediocre .250. Utley has had fewer at-bats, but if he had the same amount of plate appearances as Kinsler, he would have about 22 more hits if the averages stayed the same. Those hits are crucial each week in fantasy matchups, not to mention the fact that Utley’s OBP of .430 far outweighs Kinsler’s .327 and with Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Jayson Werth hitting 4-5-6 behind Utley, it means that over the long haul he will probably score more runs. While this contest of who’s number one seems close at first, when you really dig deep into the numbers, Utley clearly takes the edge.
Third base – Mark Reynolds, Ari: Let’s get one thing straight, I am not a big Reynolds fan. I had the opportunity to draft him in nearly every one of my leagues, but passed him up every time. As I sit here and write this, I still can’t kick myself in the back side for shaking my head politely at him on draft day, but his numbers are starting to add up. He is only hitting .258, but he is putting up more consistent all-around numbers than anyone else that is third base-eligible. He has 24 HR, 62 RBI, 55 runs scored, and even 15 stolen bases (not something that you can usually count on with a sheer power guy). The thing that scared me away from Reynolds was his strikeout tendencies, which you are bound to get with a slugger, and consequently, his OBP. Despite already striking out 123 times this year and being on pace to shatter his own record for whiffs in a season (204 in 2008), his OBP still sits at a smooth .349. Reynolds may not have gotten onto the NL All Star squad, but he definitely deserved it, and I will gladly give him the nod here.
Shortstop – Hanley Ramirez, Fla: Ramirez was the first pick in nearly every league this year and rightfully so. As described before, he can run, he can hit for average, and he has some power too. Derek Jeter is giving him a run for his money as the top overall shortstop this year, but the difference is that Hanley finds ways to drive in runs every opportunity that he gets. To go along with his scorching .349 average, Ramirez has scored 53 runs, driven in 61, and could reach the 30-30 club for the second time in his career if he puts a few more balls over the fence in the second half of the season than he did in the first. Ramirez does leave something to be desired in the stolen base department since he has only swiped 13 bags this year, but I guess no one is perfect. Among shortstops, Ramirez is leading the league in average and RBI and is just two homeruns off of the league lead in homeruns. Expect Ramirez to continue to do more of the same in the second half and if the Marlins can stay in the race for the NL East, don’t be surprised if Ramirez starts stealing more bases to set up opportunities for his team to score more runs.
Outfield 1 – Carl Crawford, TB: Crawford doesn’t have huge power numbers by any means and he’s not a name that is even to the household level in some cases, but he has been delivering night-in and night-out. Crawford has 109 hits halfway through the season and to add insult to injury, has stolen 44 bases. You read that right, but do a double take if you have to. Through 89 games, he has stolen 44 bags, which puts him on pace to steal just about 80 right on the nose. This of course leads to high run totals (he’s crossed the plate 58 times), but he has also knocked in 39 runs of his own which isn’t too bad for a guy who isn’t swinging for the fences every time he steps to the plate. Crawford and teammate B.J. Upton have combined for 75 steals before the all-star break and are two of the main reasons why Tampa Bay is still holding on as they try to defend their AL crown. Crawford is pure speed on the base paths and if you own him, he has probably helped you to capture the stolen base category in your league week to week. Don’t count on Crawford to propel you to wins in the homerun or RBI categories, but your team’s average, stolen bases, or runs totals will continue to blow out the competition as long as Crawford can stay healthy.
Outfield 2 – Torii Hunter, LAA: When Hunter jumped ship from the Twins in 2007 and headed to put on his halo, I thought he would just be another guy who thrived in one city, signed a fat contract, and then fell off the face of the earth (I’m talking to you Andruw Jones). Hunter has been nothing close to this though. Last year wasn’t his best as his average, homerun, and RBI totals all fell from the year before, but 2009 has been Hunter’s best not only in Los Angeles, but in his career. Never has he hit over .300 (he’s hitting .305), had more than 31 homeruns (he’s on pace for 36), nor had more than 110 RBI (he’s on pace for 137). The Angels as a whole have been playing very well offensively and Hunter is just one more piece to the puzzle that may help launch the team back to the World Series for the first time since they won it all in 2002. Hunter recently went on the DL with a strained adductor, but doctors said that there were no tears and Hunter is eligible to come off in time to play the last week of July. Hunter has been a pleasant surprise for fantasy owners this season and this injury is just one little hiccup on his way to having a career year.
Outfield 3 – Raul Ibanez, Phi: This is not meant to be a snub at Ryan Braun or Jason Bay. When you look at the outfielders in baseball today, there is a seemingly infinite list to choose from when looking for the best, but Ibanez has delivered more than anyone thought possible and is still ahead of Bay and Braun in both homeruns and RBI despite having 52 and 73 less at bats than each of them respectively. When Philadelphia brought him in to replace Pat Burrell, fans weren’t too happy with the front office for giving so much money to an old guy who was supposed to be just as much of a defensive liability as the guy he was taking over for. However, the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park have warmly embraced Ibanez offensively and defensively. It is known that he is already having the best season of his life as he hits .309 with 22 HR and 60 RBI while also scoring 53 runs, but he is also playing the ball at better angles and doesn’t have as much field to cover with centerfielder Shane Victorino zipping across the outfield whenever a ball is hit. Ibanez was just activated from the DL after suffering a nagging groin injury or else he might be close to 30 HR and 80 RBI by now. I’m not sure if Ibanez will keep playing at the pace he set in the early going, but I can tell you that right now, he is on pace for 56 homeruns and just over 150 RBI and if anyone is projecting those kinds of numbers at the midway point of the season, I’ll take my chances with him.
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