Pretend you were in a coma for the past five weeks (maybe your Fantasy team was already playing that role anyway). Or what if you just moved your league over to CBS SportsLine from the worldwide leader of bad Fantasy services? What would the draft look like, now that you've seen five weeks of action?
By taking a look at that, it should give you an idea of where your players might rank in case of a trade. The table we have on the right is a basic ranking for both Head-to-Head and Rotisserie leagues. In some cases, we've noted who we'd rather have in either type of scoring format.
Without question, Albert Pujols' slow start to the season -- coupled with the insane Aprils of both Jose Reyes and Alex Rodriguez -- has some people rethinking their choices at the No. 1 spot. What would you do with the first pick today? Whether it's Head-to-Head or Rotisserie, you are likely looking at Reyes, A-Rod and Pujols still.
Reyes actually leads basic scoring H2H leagues, despite being outhomered by A-Rod, 14-2. He's in the midst of a 12-game hitting streak and his 19 steals leads the majors. As a matter of fact, no one is even close (Shane Victorino has 13). Reyes leads off for the Mets, who are just a shade behind the Yankees for the top offense in the majors.
First two rounds | ||
Player | Team | |
1. | A. Rodriguez, 3B | NYY |
2. | J. Reyes, SS | NYM |
3. | A. Pujols, 1B | STL |
4. | J. Rollins, SS | PHI |
5. | C. Beltran, OF | NYM |
6. | D. Ortiz, DH | BOS |
7. | J. Santana, SP | MIN |
8. | D. Lee, 1B | CHC |
9. | V. Guerrero, OF | LAA |
10. | C. Utley, 2B | PHI |
11. | M. Cabrera, 3B | FLA |
12. | J. Peavy, SP | SD |
13. | R. Howard, 1B | PHI |
14. | G. Sizemore, OF | CLE |
15. | C. Crawford, OF | TB |
16. | A. Soriano, OF | CHC |
17. | H. Ramirez, SS | FLA |
18. | M. Holliday, OF | COL |
19. | I. Kinsler, 2B | TEX |
20. | T. Hafner, DH | CLE |
21. | R. Oswalt, SP | HOU |
22. | D. Wright, 3B | NYM |
23. | B. Bonds, OF | SF |
24. | J. Beckett, SP | BOS |
We're well into the month of May now and Pujols is still sitting at .259 with only six homers and 17 RBI. Last year at this time, the Cardinals slugger was batting .314 with 16 HR and 38 RBI. Those are better power numbers than where A-Rod is right now! Pujols actually did all that in 15 fewer at-bats as well. So you with that in mind, you can understand why we're still high on the slugger, despite his slow start to '07. He's batting only .175 at home this season -- that's 156 points lower than his career average at home. You can't blame it on the new Busch Stadium either. He hit .345 there last season -- 28 points higher on the road.
Expect that to rise significantly -- and with that, his numbers across the board. He still hasn't homered in May, with only two RBI this month, but all that means is that he's at the cheapest price you will likely ever find him.
My cohort, Eric Mack, still likes Pujols as the No. 1 pick overall right now, but it's tough to argue against both A-Rod and Pujols. Looking back in order to look forward -- I think I lean toward this draft order: A-Rod, Reyes and then Pujols.
Outside of that, you have to be impressed with the power displays by Carlos Beltran and Jimmy Rollins. Both are certainly providing nice stats all around and Rollins is doing it from the shortstop position. His hitting streaks are boons to every H2H owner.
Vlad is having a nice bounce-back year after two decent, albeit unspectacular, seasons. He's still a notch below Beltran at the outfield position because of the offense surrounding the Mets slugger.
Derrek Lee has worked his way back into the first round. His numbers have always been there when he was healthy, and now he has a stellar lineup around him for protection.
While Johan Santana isn't off to a great start, he's still considered the top player at his position. Let's not forget that he has been a slow starter throughout his career. Last year, he went 1-3 with a 4.45 ERA in April. In 2005, the Twins' ace went 7-5 with a 3.98 ERA in the first half. And in his breakout season of 2004, he was only 2-3 with a 5.61 ERA in April and May combined. So this season's 4-2 mark with a 3.40 ERA through seven starts looks spectacular in comparison.
We were high on Jake Peavy having a big comeback season in San Diego and he certainly hasn't disappointed. For H2H leagues, he is likely the top starting pitcher regardless of the scoring system. He leads the majors in strikeouts and his sub-1.000 WHIP makes him one of only five pitchers with a WHIP that low with at least 40 innings. Having future Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux on the bench appears to have helped the righty. Of his seven starts, Peavy has gone at least seven innings in five of them, and has allowed one or fewer earned runs in five starts.
Ian Kinsler has opened eyes with his heavy bat from the second base position, but among players in the middle of the infield, we still like Hanley "poor man's Reyes" Ramirez in Rotisserie leagues better. Either way, there's a ton of talent in the middle infield this season. Of the top scorers in H2H play, four of the top nine are middle infielders as are 10 of the top 30.
Let's not forget about the meteoric rise (or should I say resurrection) of Barry Bonds' Fantasy value. His wonky knees, the controversies surrounding steroid rumors and his chase to beat Hammerin' Hank's home run record have not slowed him down one bit. Only A-Rod has more homers than Bonds right now and the left fielder's batting eye is back. He's hitting .338 and is tied for the major-league lead with 30 walks in only 74 at-bats. Sure, he takes a day game off after a night game, but for the most part -- he's providing solid stats despite limited time.
Here are a few names that have fallen out of the first couple of rounds in most formats ...
Manny Ramirez has only five homers and a .245 batting average, but with three of those homers coming in the past week, he's not falling too far from grace.
Mark Teixeira is also off to another slow start, hitting just .265 with only 12 RBI. He looked good in Week 5 though and has a five-game hitting streak.
Lance Berkman has put in a workman-like performance, but with only seven multi-hit games and three homers, he's just not second-round worthy. His batting average will come around, but you have to wonder why he's not hitting better with Carlos Lee protecting him.
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