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Yesterday’s outfielders post concluded the head-to-head points league position rankings. Head-to-head pitcher rankings will start this coming Monday with the Top 25 Starting Pitchers set to kick them off.
In the meantime, below are the links for each position complete with rankings/profiles and some players who just missed the cut due to injury, playing time concerns or currently being without a team:
H2H First Base Rankings/Profiles
H2H Second Base Rankings/Profiles
H2H Third Base Rankings/Profiles
H2H Shortstop Rankings/Profiles
H2H Outfielders 1-25 Rankings/Profiles
H2H Outfielders 26-50 Rankings/Profiles
H2H Outfielders 51-100 Rankings/Profiles
Notes on the rankings:
Strikeouts/injuries - Points league rankings have an increased focus on strikeouts, as each one costs a hitter anywhere from -.5 to -1 points, and on injuries and plate appearances. Essentially, the more a hitter strikes out, the more likely he is to rank lower in a points league and a player that misses weeks at a time or in constantly in and out of the lineup is not very valuable as each week in a points league is its own mini-season. Therefore, when a player like Nelson Cruz is out of your lineup for the entire month of June, your chances of winning those weeks takes a big hit.
OBP - Also, while a lot of roto leagues have made the switch from AVG to OBP or turned to a 6x6 to incorporate the stat, it isn’t always the case in standard scoring. In a points league, a BB is just as good as a single, making hitters with a keen eye at the plate even more valuable than they might be in a traditional 5x5 roto league.
Ranking updates after the jump:
Updates:
Designated Hitter – I had intended to write out rankings for DH but then determined there wouldn’t be much point to it. Currently only David Ortiz, Billy Butler and Travis Hafner are assured sole time at the designated hitter position for their teams and I would rank them in that order. Otherwise, most players will qualify at another position where you’re more likely to place them in your lineup. The only exception could be Jesus Montero who will only be eligible at DH to start 2012, but, in all odds, he will be catcher eligible shortly after the start of the season. Meanwhile, designated hitters like Johnny Damon and Vladimir Guerrero are still without teams with spring training approaching fast.
Victor Martinez – News broke on Tuesday that Victor Martinez tore his ACL and is likely to miss the entire 2012 season due to the injury. That’s quite a blow to my catcher rankings as I had V-Mart ranked #1 overall due to his durability, consistency, lack of strikeouts and everyday spot in the Tigers lineup. With the absence of Martinez from the list, everyone jumps up a spot with Carlos Santana taking over the top spot. A catcher like Devin Mesoraco or Salvador Perez now likely cracks the Top 20.
Carl Crawford – Apparently Carl Crawford has wrist surgery on Tuesday and will be unable to swing a bat until "sometime" in spring training, meaning he will almost definitely miss the start of the season. It’s unknown how many games/weeks he will miss, but any time out of the lineup drastically limits his value and when he does return, it’s unknown just how much a wrist injury could impact his already questionable production. Crawford was ranked #17 overall amongst outfielders, but upon hearing this news, I no longer consider him a Top 25 option.
Jesus Montero – Late last week Jesus Montero was traded to the Seattle Mariners from the New York Yankees for Michael Pineda. The move is likely to hurt Montero’s power potential and there should be less opportunity for RBIs and scoring runs in the Mariners’ dreadful offense. Therefore, Montero drops from #9 in my catcher rankings to the low-teens, where he should still have some value as his AVG shouldn’t be hurt too bad from the move to the West Coast.
Do you have any questions on points league rankings or strategy specific to drafting and playing H2H fantasy baseball? Hit me up in the comments below and don’t forget to check back on Monday for the starting pitcher rankings.