Time for the World Series edition of Who Would You Rather Have? CBS Sportsline recently completed a 5x5 mixed league mock draft, and Chase Utley was selected 4th overall before Ryan Braun, Joe Mauer and Alex Rodriguez to name a few. After Utley went deep twice on Wednesday night do you select him before ARod? Or is ARod still a more valuable fantasy player?
Let's take a look at their 2009 stats:
| Name | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Chase Utley | 571 | 161 | 31 | 112 | 93 | 88 | 110 | 23 | 0.282 | 0.397 | 0.508 | 0.905 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 444 | 127 | 30 | 78 | 100 | 80 | 97 | 14 | 0.286 | 0.402 | 0.532 | 0.934 |
ARod had better overall numbers across the board in less ABs, but Utley is one of the few stud fantasy players at 2B, and there is more depth at 3B than at 2B, right? I am not so sure.
More after the jump:
Here are the third baseman who hit more than 20 HRs in 2009:
| Name | HR |
| Mark Reynolds | 44 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | 33 |
| Evan Longoria | 33 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 30 |
| Kevin Youkilis | 27 |
| Brandon Inge | 27 |
| Pablo Sandoval | 25 |
| Mark DeRosa | 23 |
| Michael Young | 22 |
And here the second baseman who hit more than 20 HRs in 2009:
| Name | HR |
| Aaron Hill | 36 |
| Chase Utley | 31 |
| Ian Kinsler | 31 |
| Dan Uggla | 31 |
| Ben Zobrist | 27 |
| Robinson Cano | 25 |
| Jose Lopez | 25 |
| Clint Barmes | 23 |
| Brandon Phillips | 20 |
One could make the case that third base is a scarce postion in 2010, especially if you think that Mark DeRosa is tailing off as a fantasy player and don't think Brandon Inge can hit 27 HRs again. Of course the Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez should hit 30+ HRs should he stay healthy in 2010, but can one count on Chipper Jones or Scott Rolen to hit 20+ HRs again?
Second base is not as scarce as it used to be with Aaron Hill having a breakout (career?) year in 2009, and Ben Zobrist coming out of nowhere to hit 27 HRs in 2009. I won't count on Clint Barmes hitting 20+ HRs again, especially with the AVG that comes with it. Could the Braves Martin Prado sneak into the 20+ HR range with regular playing time in 2010?
So, with all that said, who would you rather have?