SOC: Sox Help Japan, B's Seek Win

As you may have noticed, I've been slacking lately. I haven't been posting regularly, but by the same token, the Boston sports world is at one of its calmest points of the calendar year. No playoffs, no football, and no big time college sports in this area (except for college hockey, which no one besides myself seems to care about). Things will heat up soon, but until then, I'm starting up a new segment to help myself spark some topics. SOC -- Stream of Consciousness. This post isn't about one team or one story. Just a sheet of notes that are on my mind this week in the sports world -- specifically Boston, but as usual, I'll range outside of the regional circle if the story is big enough. Shall we?

- Start on a serious note. The Red Sox have done their part in helping the crisis over in Japan over the past few days. Well-known pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima both hail from different parts of Japan, and the Sox have several other players and staff members within the organization with ties to the affected areas. They have all done their part in donating to the cause, and the Red Sox Foundation is giving its fans the chance to help as well. It's always nice to see organizations showing their human side and proving they aren't merely transaction machines that punch out game after game into the record books.

- And then there were the Bruins. Now that the Red Sox have broken their everlasting curse this century, are there any fans in Boston that suffer more heartbreak year in and year out than those in the hub of hockey? 1972 is the last time the B's won the cup. Just a few weeks ago, they kicked off what would amount to a 7-game win streak, including a 6-game sweep of a road trip. Last time Boston swept a road trip like that? 1972. This team looked like the legitimate cup contender we have been waiting for. And then we found the good old Bruins again. Losers of four straight (although they have salvaged two points via overtime affairs), it's time for the B's to pull themselves out of their slump and get back on track tonight against Columbus. Steven Kampfer is back in action, which will definitely be an upgrade over Bartkowski -- who, in my opinion, was incapable of shouldering the load he was given. The top forward line of Lucic, Krejci, and Horton has solidified itself as the Bruins' best line. Will Tyler Seguin ever see significant ice time this year? Will he get himself out of Claude Julien's dog house and earn the ice time that will help him progress? The way Boston is handling him is an argument for another day, but that will continue to be one of the main question marks heading into the home stretch.

- The great thing about this time of year in Boston is that we are still getting to watch championship contenders on the ice as well as on the court. You wouldn't know it lately, though, would you? The Celtics have dropped three of their last four games, and their rotations look a bit alarming with all the new faces. Don't get me wrong -- I think Jeff Green has the tools to be a great player in this league. I think Carlos Arroyo is the best floor general for the second unit that we've had in years. Nenad Kristic is doing a more than acceptable job at center. But the new faces are all offensive-minded guys, and they aren't exactly gelling the way we would have liked to see them gel. I'm not worried -- if we learned anything from the Celtics last season, it's to essentially disregard the regular season and rejoin the conversation in the playoffs. So I guess that's what I'll do, but I can't do it without at least a little bit of concern -- after all, it's not really fatigue or injury (aside from the O'Neals) that is bringing the squad down right now. That's the one red flag, but I'll brush it aside for the time being.

- Dammit. Talking about those other sports almost made me forget that there's no football anymore, as of right now. Over the weekend, I was talking about this with some friends. And a non-football fan actually thought we were joking when we said there wouldn't be a season next year. Of course, there still might be -- but it just goes to show how self-centered and egotistical the owners are. Both sides are, of course, guilty of some greediness. But I'm placing the blame in an 85-15 proportion on the owners. Get your heads out of your asses and fix your mistakes before you go down as the bad guys who destroyed America for one autumn season.

- Another note on the labor situation in the NFL, but this one from a player I've never really liked. It's a funny story, actually. Adrian Peterson. Those of you who know me know that I've never been a fan of his -- greatly due to the fact that he's the most overrated back in the league. But Yahoo Sports featured Peterson in a recent article, and since its publication, they have removed a few quotes from AP. Want to hear what Peterson said about the whole lockout situation? "It's modern-day slavery, you know?" Amazingly, I didn't make that up. So you really decided to go there, Adrian? To call this modern-day slavery? I guess I agree. Poor you. They make you play football? For millions of dollars? I cannot express in words my empathy for you. It's like you're a modern-day slave with these conditions. How will you ever survive? Here's a thought -- take a taste of reality, sir. Have some gratitude for the fact that you get to play the sport that you love and make silly, stupid amounts of money doing so. I know more than a few people who were dealt a worse hand than yourself.

- As a final note in my stream of consciousness, who are you all taking in the NCAA tourney? You make your brackets? If I was more advanced in computer science, I would make a database for Ultimate Boston readers to have a bracket tourney. If anyone wants to actually do that, go for it. I'll join. Just leave a comment or shoot an email and let me know, and I'll join. But anyway, I always pick my brackets boldly. You have to, right? You can't just pick the favorites... it never works that way. I found myself having chosen an all Big East final four. Crazy, right? But for the record, here it is. Among all of my other picks, coming down to the big games, my final four consists of Louisville, UConn, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. My national championship game is between UConn and Louisville. A 3 and a 4 seed -- crazy, right? Gotta be bold. Give me Kemba Walker and his UConn Huskies for all the marbles.
 

Fantasy Baseball: Starting Pitchers

Opening Day is within 3 weeks. The weather is warming up and the snow is finally melting. It's getting closer to the pursuit of the 2011 world championship, so our preseason rankings need to wrap up soon. With Fantasy Drafts ongoing, Burga and I are hoping our input about each position is helping even a little bit. Here's our take on the Starting Pitchers for 2011.

Burga’s Rankings:
Roy Halladay
Felix Hernandez
Tim Lincecum
Cliff Lee
Jon Lester
CC Sabathia
Clayton Kershaw
Ubaldo Jimenez
Josh Johnson
Justin Verlander
Cole Hamels
David Price
Tommy Hanson
Zack Greinke
Chris Carpenter
Franciso Liriano
Mat Latos
Dan Haren
Roy Oswalt
Jered Weaver

• Roy Halladay tops both of our rankings and with good reason. He’s got everything you could want in a pitcher. Dominant stuff, experience, a potent offense behind him, and he’s outside the AL Beast now. If Felix Hernandez could only get a better offense behind him he would challenge the Doc for number 1, but right now it belongs to Halladay.
• Zack Greinke would be a sure-fire top ten option, playing for a much stronger team with an offense led by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. However, as recently stated, he’s suffering from a rib injury that he got playing a pick-up basketball. He’ll miss about a month, so he falls a few spots in the rankings accordingly and he’ll likely get off to a slow start after missing most of Spring Training.
• Josh Johnson and Chris Carpenter share similar stories when ranking them. When healthy and producing, they’re as good as any pitchers in baseball. Period. However, both come with injury concern. Carpenter had Tommy-John surgery a few years back and rebounded to a fantastic season. With Wainwright out for the season, he’ll need to be the man in St. Louis for the Cardinals to contend. Johnson’s season ended early last year with surgery, but he’s reportedly healthy for now. The upside is great, but draft with caution.
• Jered Weaver is one of the most underrated starters in fantasy baseball. Last year, he won 13 games, sported a 3.01 ERA and a fantastic 233 strikeouts. He’s being drafted much lower than his stats deserve and if you can land him as your number 2, your pitching staff is in great shape.

Average Joe's Rankings:
Roy Halladay
Felix Hernandez
Cliff Lee
Josh Johnson
Jon Lester
Tim Lincecum
CC Sabathia
Ubaldo Jimenez
Clay Buchholz
David Price
Zack Greinke
Clayton Kershaw
Mat Latos
Justin Verlander
Chris Carpenter
Cole Hamels
Matt Cain
Tommy Hanson
Francisco Liriano
Trevor Cahill

• Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Arguably the first 8 pitchers can make a case for that claim (if Halladay wasn’t pitching, that is). He works quickly, he’s accurate, his array of pitches is superb. He’s the best. Go for him first.
• A lot would argue Buchholz is high on this list. Heck, Burga didn’t include him. But if he had pitched a full season, he’d be right in the hunt for the 2010 Cy Young. After rebounding from a couple rough years, and finally showing his real potential, he could keep moving up this list.
• Greinke is out. Latos has had a rough start to Spring Training. But don’t ignore them. If you can wait a little, however, try to take another pitcher over them.
• Hamels is the third starter from Philly on the list. I think he’ll put up good numbers, but be careful. The Red Sox arguably had 3 starters on this list last year (Beckett, Lester, Lackey), and 2 out of the 3 underperformed. Proceed with caution, especially after Hamels rough 2009 campaign, lacking motivation.
• Trevor Cahill quietly had an outstanding season in 2010. With a somewhat better team out in Oakland this year, Cahill may get some more wins to support his solid ERA (not that an 18-8 year is a bad thing at all).
  

Arroyo Ready to Join Celtics Pursuit

After last night, I'm in no mood to talk about the Boston Bruins. Isn't that the great thing about Boston sports, though? There is always a promising front to discuss. Today, it's the new-look Celtics who may have finally constituted their roster completely for the pursuit of Banner 18.

Eight days ago, Carlos Arroyo was released by the Miami Heat to make room for Mike Bibby, the point guard they felt most confident with moving forward. Since Arroyo last stepped on the court for the South Beach Superstars, the team has lost 6 of its last 7 games and looks to be in complete free fall. Meanwhile, Danny Ainge picked up his phone and took a shot at the recently available Arroyo. For the point guard, it was a no-brainer to come to Boston.

He handled his interview like a true professional on Tuesday, showing no hostility toward the Heat and no desire for revenge. He expressed a desire for one thing and one thing only -- winning a championship. Didn't take him long to buy into the Celtic way, huh?

From the team's standpoint, the signing of Arroyo might be the last piece to the puzzle. Looking at Boston's newly constituted roster, 5 of the 15 players were recently acquired in the past few weeks. Of the remaining 10 players, virtually none of them seem to be on their way out of town. So this is the roster that Danny Ainge and the Celtics feel comfortable with moving forward. The question is -- is it championship caliber?

To me, I say yes. Everyone was ripping apart Danny Ainge for trading away Kendrick Perkins a few weeks ago, but here we are today with a Boston squad that looks more equipped than ever to win a title. Jeff Green has looked more and more like the player we thought we were getting, pouring in 21 points in a winning effort last week. Nenad Krstic has certainly held his own down low, and the return of Shaq and Jermaine will do great measures in further bolstering that post game. Troy Murphy will be called upon to make contributions -- not be the centerpiece. For a guy who was once a walking double-double, Murphy can definitely be a factor in building an all-around team. And with the acquisition of Carlos Arroyo, Boston has secured themselves a true back-up point guard. Arroyo is a guy who can run a team on his own, a guy who isn't any type of liability on the court. Nate Robinson was Boston's late-season acquisition last year, and he provided some great spark -- but he was a bit of a liability when it came to running an entire unit as the point guard. Doc Rivers and the rest of the staff expect that problem to be solved with the arrival of Arroyo in the backcourt.

The newcomers are all excited about this team. Guys like Jermaine O'Neal -- the first person Arroyo called once becoming a member of the Celtics -- have proclaimed that this is by far the best team they have ever played on. Players are buying into the system, and they're forming the Celtic family both on and off the court. You have to love the enthusiasm and the chemistry going on in that locker room, on the bench, and on the court. I cannot say whether this team is good enough to make another title run, but I can surely tell you that each and every guy in that room believes they are fully capable.
 

Blogging From My iPhone

Well, I am writing this blog from my iPhone. Just trying it out for future reference. I have no idea if this thing will look normal, if the picture will be aligned correctly, or what in the world will happen. But I do know that something will happen. And I also know that the Bruins are playing the Habs tonight. They will keep looking for the answer on the power play, which Tomas Kaberle was supposed to be the answer to. Since acquiring the touted puck-mover, the B's are a woeful 1-17 in the power play and are scoreless in their past 12 attempts. Granted, they have looked smooth and gotten some great chances, but the end results aren't there yet. Hopefully they will come quite shortly. Maybe even tonight, as the Bruins will look to extend their point streak to nine games.

It's the Bruins and the Habs. It doesn't get much better if you're a hockey fan. From my iPhone, DRob signing off... Sorry for any spelling mistakes, I'm still getting used to typing on this thing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fantasy Baseball: Outfield

In fantasy baseball teams, outfield provides a unique position due to its obvious depth and the fact that you can find serviceable and helpful players even in the later rounds. After round 15 you can draft outfielders who will hit .300 or 30 home runs or steal 40 bases, which you can’t say about any other position. For the first time since our rankings started, Burga and I have had substantially different rankings, so take a closer look and see who we like this year.

Burga's Rankings:
Ryan Braun
Carlos Gonzalez
Carl Crawford
Josh Hamilton
Matt Holliday
Matt Kemp
Nelson Cruz
Justin Upton
Andre Ethier
Shin-Soo Choo
Jason Heyward
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jayson Werth
Jay Bruce
Andrew McCutcheon
Alex Rios
Hunter Pence
Ichiro Suzuki
Chris Young
BJ Upton

• Finally, a little bit of differentiation between our positional rankings. Plenty of people would prefer Carlos Gonzalez over Ryan Braun, and I’ve even seen mock drafts where CarGo went first overall, believe it or not. However, Braun is one of the sure things in fantasy and he’s been consistently one of the top players in baseball. Gonzalez had a surreal season last year, but I’ll need to see him do it again before taking him as the first outfielder off the board.
• The only thing that prevents Nelson Cruz from being as high as a 2nd round pick is injury concerns. Like his teammate, Josh Hamilton, when Cruz is healthy he can put up MVP numbers and he showed us that last year. If he stays off the DL he’ll reward owners kindly with good numbers minus SBs.
• There are many young outfielders that could reach elite status this year, headlined by Jason Heyward, who showed us a glimpse of the excellence that lies in his future. Don’t sleep on guys like Jay Bruce, Mike Stanton, Andrew McCutcheon, Colby Rasmus, and Drew Stubbs, especially in keeper leagues.
• Jacoby Ellsbury was a 2nd round pick in 2010 before falling to injuries. When he’s being drafted in the mid rounds this year, he could turn into one of this year’s draft bargains. However, with Crawford in Boston Ellsbury might shift to the 9 spot, which might limit numbers just a bit.

Average Joe's Rankings:
Carlos Gonzalez
Carl Crawford
Josh Hamilton
Ryan Braun
Matt Holliday
Shin-Soo Choo
Andre Ethier
Jacoby Ellsbury
Justin Upton
Nelson Cruz
Jayson Heyward
Ichiro Suzuki
Andrew McCutchen
Vernon Wells
Jayson Werth
Matt Kemp
Chris Young
Corey Hart
Alex Rios
Hunter Pence

• Braun drops on my list based on last year’s numbers. If he has a solid year, he can easily make a case to be the best OF in baseball again. But last year, Gonzalez was a triple crown/MVP candidate. He takes the top for me.
• Matt Kemp may seem quite low. However, he only had a .249 average last year, and was extremely unmotivated at times. He could bounce back; in fact you should probably expect him too. But choose wisely, because, as seen last year, if he’s not happy, you won’t be happy with his numbers.
• My Boston bias puts Jacoby Ellsbury fairly high. But do not forget that this guy is a year removed from a 70 steal season. If he’s healthy, he can easily do it again. Possible steal in some leagues (although most of you are Boston people, so I’m sure some of you will see him taken far too prematurely in the first round.
• I’ve got Vernon Wells and Corey Hart on my list, contrary to Burga’s (Jay Bruce and BJ Upton). Hart had his career year in 2010, after a terrible 2009 campaign. Wells saw his power numbers return to 2006 form, and a change of scenery to Anaheim may help him try to maintain.

Bruins' Win Streak Snapped at Seven

The Boston Bruins held the second place spot in the Eastern Conference heading into last night's clash with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they were in pursuit of their eighth straight victory. Unfortunately for Boston, the Penguins overcame a late Bruins' rally to stun the home squad, 3-2, in overtime.

Patrice Bergeron and Steven Kampfer were both out of action last night. Kampfer has a mild concussion that will keep him out a couple of weeks, while Bergeron was absent for "personal reasons." The loss of Bergy certainly showed in the team's play, which was lackluster for the majority of the game offensively.

Personally, I would have liked to see Claude Julien slide Tyler Seguin straight into Bergeron's spot between Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi. That way, you give the kid a chance to play on a higher line, but additionally, you keep your other three lines intact. Those are the lines that have won you 7 straight games. But instead, Julien slid Seguin up to the third line wing beside Michael Ryder and Chris Kelly, and he moved Rich Peverley up to center with Recchi and Marchand. Why didn't I like this decision? Because now you've got two set of guys who have never played together as a unit. The alternative could have limited that to one minor difference.

Still, the Bruins were able to erase a 2-1 deficit in the final minute of the game with their goaltender pulled. Tomas Kaberle had a huge blocked shot on an empty net attempt, a last-ditch effort that would need some magic on the back end of it. A few seconds later, Boston had established possession below the goal line. Milan Lucic found David Krejci in the slot, and Krejci wasted no time ripping the goal over Marc-Andre Fleury's shoulder. A point a piece, and the two sides were headed for OT.

Pittsburgh tallied a goal on a bad Dennis Seidenberg turnover in the neutral zone, giving them the 3-2 win and snapping the Bruins win streak at 7 games. Still, the B's collected a point and remain 3 points ahead of Tampa Bay for the second spot in the East. They are 5 points ahead of Montreal in the Northeast Division with a game in hand.

The loss isn't any type of cause for panic, but it did open our eyes once again to reality -- Boston just doesn't seem to be able to endure the loss of a key centerman in their line-up. David Krejci's injury last season led to a full-on implosion, and the loss of Bergeron last night was clearly evident in the entire offensive system. So let's hope for good health and good fortune to go along with the good roster this Bruins team has to work with moving forward.

 

2/28 Edition of the Beantown Breakdown

Bruins, Celtics Earn West Coast Wins

The Bruins and Celtics were both in action last night, but the hometown fans needed to stay awake into the later hours in order to catch the games. The B's were on the western coast of Canada visiting the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks, while the Boston Celtics were a little bit further south, across the border, taking on the Los Angeles Clippers. In the end, it was a good night for both squads.

The B's, according to most fans and experts, have turned into an actual Cup contender with their recent acquisitions. Last night could have been a pretty large measuring stick, facing a Canucks team with a superstar goaltender, two of the top scorers in the NHL, and the best win-loss record in the entire league. Thanks to production from their big names, the black and gold left Milan Lucic's hometown with two points.

Lucic assisted on Boston's first tally of the game, which was a second-chance effort by Nathan Horton that found its way into the net to tie the score at one. Late in the third period, Lucic buried the rebound from a Dennis Seidenberg shot for his team-leading 27th goal of the season, giving Boston the lead for good. Patrice Bergeron added to his team-leading point total (21-29-50) with an empty net goal to seal the deal for Boston. Tim Thomas made 28 big saves between the pipes, earning his 28th win of the season.

We might see Tuukka Rask between the pipes against the NHL's worst team, the Edmonton Oilers. It's a huge game for the Bruins, and they can't fall into the false idea that Edmonton will be a cakewalk. There is no such thing in the NHL. The action will start at 8:00 ET tonight, and it will feature the long-awaited matchup between Taylor and Tyler -- rookies Taylor Hall of the Oilers and Tyler Seguin of the Bruins, who were selected first and second overall, respectively, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Back in the United States, though, the Celtics were tipping off against Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers. The game marked the Celtics debuts of newly acquired players Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green, and both players made impacts in what ultimately amounted to a 99-92 Celtics win.

Krstic got the start at center for Boston, and he was fairly impressive overall. The big guy was in a little bit of foul trouble, but he pulled down a game-high 6 offensive rebounds and dropped in 9 points. Defensively, he was able to hold Clippers starting center DeAndre Jordan to just 4 points.

Jeff Green didn't see quite as many minutes as Krstic did, but he contributed 7 points on 2-for-5 shooting from the field. Green will be a work in progress for the C's, but the underlying consensus is that he will become a great player for Boston down the road. We can only hope that didn't come at the expense of a 2011 title shot -- which, for the record, I don't believe it did.

The story of the game were the big names for the Celtics, though. Paul Pierce poured in a team-high 24 points, Ray Allen dropped 22, and Kevin Garnett pitched in 16 to go with 11 rebounds. Rajon Rondo dished out 11 assists and grabbed 7 boards of his own, and Glen Davis continued to play a fantastic sixth-man role with 10 points off the bench. It may have been a little too close -- the Clippers led by 7 at halftime -- but in the end, a win is a win.

It was a good night to be a Boston sports fan, and we don't have to wait very long to see each of these teams back in action again. I mentioned that the Bruins hit the ice tonight at 8, and tomorrow night, the Celtics visit the Utah Jazz. Tip-off for that one is set for 9:00 PM ET. We know all too well here in Boston that the regular season isn't something to get overly excited about, but it sure feels good knowing that you have legitimate title contenders in -- well, just about every sport.
  

Midseason Trade Review

As you can all probably tell, the staff at UB has been pretty busy with their daily lives. We'll all post when we can, but forgive us if you don't see posts about certain events right away. We might be attempting to do well at out $35,000-$50,000 education.

So the Celtics made a couple trades this week, eh? Let's make a pros and cons list. Generally works for Michael Scott.

Pros:
This makes the Celtics more versatile offensively. Jeff Green can definitely score, although his shot selection is questionable at times. He can also play both forward positions. And on a number of teams, he would be a starter (he's started 261 of his 289 games with OK City Franchise).

This might have us match up better against Miami and New York. But we also beat Miami 3 times without Green., so that's not really a factor at all in my mind.

On a lesser extent, this makes the trade for Ray Allen a complete success. Ray was acquired for Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and our draft pick in the 2007 draft, Green. Currently, we have 3 of those players, and Wally has been out of the league for a few years.

Cons:
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We did need some sort of help; some type of scoring punch to back-up at forward. And yes, we did live without Perk for much of this season. But how much do we really trust Shaq and Jermaine to be healthy? Can they defend Dwight, Bynum, and Pau? Granted, the road to the finals may not include Orlando this year, and the Finals might not be against the Lakers.

Secondly, the other trades made. Yes, you could make a case for why or why not the Perk trade is beneficial. But what is the reasoning for trading 3 players, including two rookies, for two 2nd round draft picks. There are sources saying that they expect the likes of Troy Murphy, Rip Hamilton, and Jason Kapono to hit the waiver wire. Great, but what if they don't? We can definitely get by without them; when healthy, the C's will have 12 players on the active roster. But health has been a major issue not only this season, but the past 3 years with this aging group.

I'm not upset about losing Harangody, Semih, or Daniels (or Nate really). Ultimately, they can be replaced. Hopefully, Danny has a plan in place to replace them and to piece this team together.
   

Fantasy Baseball: Shortstop

Today, Burga and I will finish off the infield and take a look at shortstop. This was a position that once sent 5 of it's kind to the American League team at the All-Stars game (Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Miguel Tejeda, and Omar Vizquel). The turnover of new top shortstops has arrived, and they reside in the National League. Let's see what we've got.

Burga’s Rankings
Hanley Ramirez
Troy Tulowitzki
Jose Reyes
Jimmy Rollins
Elvis Andrus
Derek Jeter
Stephen Drew
Alexei Ramirez
Raphael Furcal
Alex Gonzalez

• Similar rankings again between Average Joe and I. We both have Hanley ranked over Tulo, but you’ll see plenty of owners choosing Tulowitski as the first short shop off the board. Tulo’s slight injury history and inconsistency throughout the year makes him more of a 1A to Hanley.
• Jose Reyes is healthy and in a contract year, so the makings of a big year might be in order. Batting atop the Mets order, a lot of his production depends on how players like Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran respond this year. Upside of over 100 runs and 50 steals, making him a great play at Shortstop.
• Derek Jeter is as consistent as they come, and although he’s getting up in age he still plays in a loaded Yankee lineup and a hitter-friendly park. Look for him to continue his success and consistent reliability throughout the year.
• Furcal got off to a scorching start last year, scoring 16 runs and 8 steals in April. The Dodger’s face offensive struggles ahead, but batting in front of talented guys like Ethier and Kemp he should get plenty of chances to be a good fantasy shortstop with solid numbers across the board.

Average Joe's Rankings:
Hanley Ramirez
Troy Tulowitzki
Jose Reyes
Derek Jeter
Jimmy Rollins
Stephen Drew
Elvis Andrus
Alexei Ramirez
Rafael Furcal
Starlin Castro

Key Points:
• If Tulowitzki plays like he did at the end of last season, it will make the best shortstop debate more clear. Hanley had a down year for his standards, but should still be your first choice. And Reyes had a nice bounce back year, so look for him after that.
• Jeter and Rollins had down years. Rollins was injured, while Jeter had the lowest average of his entire career. Expect their numbers to bounce back a little, but be careful; Jeter is out of his prime, and Rollins’ numbers have dropped significantly since his career year in 2007.
• Alexei Ramirez is a solid shortstop and player. He’s averaged 18 home runs and a .283 average in his 3 years in the Big Leagues. He’s only 29, so he’s got some good years ahead of him.
• If Rafael Furcal can stay healthy, you should be able to rely on him for some solid numbers. But it appears his best days are behind him, somewhere in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s only played 2 full seasons in his 5 year stay in Los Angeles.
• This guy could suffer from the sophomore slump, but Starlin Castro put together a solid season in 2010. Keep an eye on him in the future. He might go undrafted, but if he’s hanging around late and you need a shortstop, take a gamble.