Thursday, April 26, 2007

Middle Infielders

For a long time, middle infielders were the bane of fantasy baseball teams. Second basemen and shortstops were like catchers are today. And getting a middle infielder who can hit like Utley was unheard of.

But times have changed. At second base, you've got Utley, Ian Kinsler, Kelly Johnson, and a revitalized Marcus Giles putting up really solid numbers so far this season. And shortstop is even more impressive. Three of the top five ranked players are SS: Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, and Hanley Ramirez. You can find power, batting average, and run production at the two positions now, in addition to the steals you could always get out of them.

I happen to have Kinsler and Rollins, and I'm just loving this production. Will it hold up? Certainly not. But there's nothing wrong with enjoying the ride. Having the two guys tied for second in home runs (behind that bastard A-Rod) playing two traditionally weak positions is a nice little treat. For those of you with similar fortunes, enjoy. I drink to your success....as long as you're not in my league. If you are (Plundo), you can take your middle infielders and go straight to hell.

1 comment:

Mike Mattingly said...

Middle infielders have long been an obstacle to any GM trying to build an elite offense. The Rider's featured Jimmy Rollins in his prime and a young Ian Kinsler. The two would slug 50 homeruns and swipe and additional 60 bases in 2007. Only the 'Parties could compete with their Han-Ram/Utley combo. The best part has been the production has held up. In 2014 both still ranked in the top 10 at their respective positions and provided across the board production. While Kinsler had far and away the better season of the two, Rollins was available off the waiver wire, providing excellent value.

Not all of these 2007 trends would hold up. The revitalized Marcus Giles would go on to collect only 68 more hits and three more homeruns in the 2007 season and career, as he would (probably?) never play in the majors again.

Showing how small this world really is in 2014 the Riders inked Chase Utley to a one-year deal. If somebody would have told in 2007 that someday Chase Utley would be a member of the Werewolves of London he would have never known what you were talking about. But that is of course a completely different story, for another time.

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