| 27 February 2011
We continue our series profiling the top fantasy players at each position. Here's what we foresee at the cornerstone based on our projection system.
| 2B | fPAA |
| I Kinsler | 5.4 |
| D Pedroia | 5.3 |
| R Cano | 3.2 |
| B Roberts | 3.1 |
| C Utley | 2.4 |
| R Weeks | 1.6 |
| E Young Jr. | 1.6 |
| M Prado | 1.3 |
| K Johnson | 1.2 |
| D Uggla | 0.7 |
| B Phillips | 0.5 |
Ian Kinsler continues to provide the best overall fantasy value at the position, combining a decent batting average, power, speed and production into one package. Dustin Pedroia is slightly better in the batting average department, but his overall value is quite close in our model. Both of these guys are guaranteed to hit at or near the top of their lineups, and should score plenty of runs and get plenty of looks.
Robinson Cano had a monster 2010, but there's little to suggest that he's got an encore on tap for 2011. I'd avoid drafting him unless he falls quite a bit. Our model suggests that you may get equivalent value by drafting Brian Roberts a few rounds later.
Surprisingly, Chase Utley has fallen a long way, being ranked after four of his peers. Utley is starting to age, and as one of the players who gets hit by pitches quite often, he's not an insignificant injury risk.
Rickie Weeks will be more valuable than his 1.6 fPAA - IF he stays healthy. Remember that it wasn't so long ago when everyone was afraid to draft him because he was too fragile. One healthy season does not make up for all those years of frustration, so if you draft him, you should also get a capable backup.
Eric Young Jr. is a very interesting case study. Everyone knows how quick and athletic he is, and that he will steal a ton of bases, if he can hit enough to stay in the lineup. Now with Clint Barmes out of the way in Colorado, there's a chance that he'll finally have a chance to live up his potential.
Dan Uggla is projected to hit 30 HRs in Atlanta this season, but he's still ranked number 9 on this list. We also have him hitting just .259 and not doing much on the bases. Just be prepared to balance out his deficiencies if you draft him this year.
Brandon Phillips is surprisingly low on our board. While he's around average at almost everything, He doesn't seem to be able to post the high totals to offet his expected .266 batting average this season.
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