We aim to provide you with the most comprehensive coverage possible here at Fake Teams, as you have been seeing with our position rankings each week. These rankings are based on three criteria primarily, at least in terms of who is eligible for these position-specific lists.
- They must have appeared in 20 games at the position in 2014. 20 games is the standard required by CBS and ESPN fantasy baseball leagues for eligibility at a position.
- If they did not appear in at least 20 games at any position, then we include them with the position they appeared the most at. This tends to be how these sites will give eligibility
- Finally, we look at how the 2015 season will progress, and if a player is expected to achieve eligibility at the position fairly quickly (generally 5 games in-season), we will rank them at the position as well. This has led players like Ryan Zimmerman and Pedro Alvarez to be included at 1B, as they will both qualify under that standard within the first two weeks of the season.
But what if your league's eligibility requirements aren't so stringent? Yahoo only requires 10 games for example, and there are definitely leagues out there where it only takes 5 games, or even just 1, from the previous season to get position eligibility for this season. That's where we come in, with a look during each position's week at players where you may be able to game a little more advantage if you know the rules in your league inside out. With that in mind, here are some players who may have improved value in your league because they may qualify at 2B based on less stringent eligibility requirements.
Value Up
Mookie Betts (14) - It seems at this point that Betts is expected to be a starter for the Red Sox on a regular basis, whether it is in right field, center field, or the occasional start at second base. He only appeared in 14 games there last year, and so he will qualify in Yahoo formats but does not for CBS or ESPN. He has added value if he meets your league's 2B requirements, as he can potentially be a top 10 2B without playing there much.
Josh Harrison (17) - Harrison will be a third baseman in all formats, but having 2B-eligibility in some will give him a slight bump in value, as I believe third base is deeper than second base this year. It's more about the bonus of how you construct your roster than anything else really.
Rearranging Deck Chairs
Wilmer Flores (19), Brad Miller (13), Didi Gregorius (11) - All three players qualify at shortstop, so the odds are that unless you have a much higher-end option at shortstop, you're probably using them at that position if you own them.
One-Game Specials
Sorry, second base doesn't really have any interesting names that appeared in just one game at the position that year. If, however, seven years ago, you did play in a league with this kind of standard, having Albert Pujols appear there in one game fairly early on was probably pretty nice.