As I was putting this together I began to wonder. Do fantasy owners get anything out of their players being voted to All-Star teams? I have to admit I get a sort of cheap thrill from it. It feels like a mild validation, especially when the younger guys on my keeper league teams are voted in. I would love to hear your opinions on this in the comments section below.
The criteria I used to put these together involved more than just a list of the best players. It also considered the players that came at a discount or seemed to arise out of nowhere to have great value in the first half. Let me know if you agree with my choices or if you think I'm a blithering idiot.
American League Fantasy All-Stars
C Victor Martinez, Boston Red Sox
C John Jaso, Tampa Bay Rays
1B Justin Mourneau, Minnesota Twins
3B Adrian Beltre, Boston Red Sox
CR Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
2B Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
SS Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
MI Mike Aviles, Kansas City Royals
OF Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
OF Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays
OF Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers
OF Brennan Boesch, Detroit Tigers
OF Brett Gardner, New York Yankees
DH Vladimir Guerrero, Texas Rangers
SP Cliff Lee, Seattle Mariners
SP Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins
SP Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels
SP David Price, Tampa Bay Rays
SP Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
P Brandon Morrow, Toronto Blue Jays
P Joaquin Benoit, Tampa Bay Rays
RP Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers
RP Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals
National League Fantasy All-Stars
C Geovanny Sota, Chicago Cubs
C Miguel Olivo, Colorado Rockies
1B Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
3B Scott Rolen, Cincinnati Reds
CR Aubrey Huff, San Francisco Giants
2B Kelly Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks
SS Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers
MI Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
OF Josh Willingham, Washington Nationals
OF Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
OF Colby Rasmus, St. Louis Cardinals
OF Corey Hart, Milwaukee Brewers
OF Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
UTL David Wright, New York Mets
SP Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins
SP Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies
SP Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers
SP Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies
SP Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals
P Carlos Marmol, Chicago Cubs
P Sean Marshall, Chicago Cubs
RP Heath Bell, San Diego Padres
RP Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers
Time for you to Chime In
Who are your all-stars? Who has been essential to your fantasy team that isn't listed above. Are All-Star posts useless on Fantasy Sites? I wanna hear it from you in the comment section.
Aubrey Huff hasn't played a single game at 3B this year. Does that matter for the purpose of this article?
ReplyDeleteNot really.But he should be the corner and Rolen the third baseman.
ReplyDeleteJohn Jaso....I dont think you can make any AS teams with only 164 ABs...and his numbers over that span are by no means overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteJohn Buck has had much more production for the same price.
I guess it is a good thing I didnt put Strasburg on the roster! Nothing about Pujols being left off? I thought that might drive people crazy.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff. Love that Jaime and JWill made the cut - yes it validated my fantasy prowess...
ReplyDeleteGAH! Where's Albert? Ok, satisfied? You drove me crazy. Tough to argue with Votto or Wright though. Maybe you should have added a couple of bench slots?
For the record, I'm not a Yanks fan, but I'd take Hughes over Morrow and Mariano over Soria (I know you're going for value though).
Thanks 3TO, I love Hughes(I am a Yankees fan)but he cost a lot in my leagues and I live in Red Sox territory.
ReplyDeleteI would have picked Mariano but I decided to eliminate anyone I knew wouldn't be performing in the actual all-star game because of injury. Just making it a little less obvious.
Another guy who could make the list would be Adam Wainwright. He's been money in the bank. Again though, he's a big ticket item. I'm not a fan of going early with pitching (much to my detriment this year) so I probably would not have landed him had I not kept him in exchange for an 8th rounder.
ReplyDeleteYou might have to find another AL 2B... Cano is out of the lineup tonight with a balky back and has removed himself from the HR Derby (thankfully - I own him in one league). As good as he's been, I don't see the Yanks taking any chances with him next week.
Kinsler instead? His OBP has been surprisingly high, even while his counting numbers have been rather pedestrian. Zobrist hasn't played the majority of his games at second but he could be a good choice as well - more steals and less power than expected.
All things considered fantasy wise (position flexibility + injury risk), I think I'd go Zobrist over Kinsler.
I love Wainwright and he could easily take one of the bigger ticket spots. I'd probably go Zobrist, that might be giving him a little credit for last year as well.
ReplyDeleteI love Kinsler. I considered him but I figured that unless you're in a OBP league, owners are probably disappointed.
Yeah I'm counting OBP in my two leagues this year. Even with OBP, Kinsler's been a disappointment for an owner looking for a possible 30-30 guy. Of course I'd also put money on him spending another stint on the DL by season's end. I love Zobrists flexibility and I think his power will pick up.
ReplyDeleteI still like Zobrist as a power hitter in the second half.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of potential 30-30 guys, as a group or best candidates have been really disappointing, haven't they? Just start at the top of any 2010 draft list and the best candidates have disappointed. From Matt Kemp to Grady Sizemore to Kinsler, so many of them have flopped or been injured.
This has definitely been a bad year for the speed/power guys that everyone touted coming into the year. Add Boss Man Jr. to that list. Yeeeech!
ReplyDeleteOnly pleasant surprises on that front (off the top of my head) have been Alex Rios and Krispy Young for 'Zona. Brandon Phillips has been raking too but I don't see him sustaining such a high BA.
For some reason (dubious AVG/OBP I suppose) I tend to shy away from those types of players and go with, mostly plodding TTO power hitters (Willingham, Swisher) and cheap speed that won't hurt my AVG. I try to maximize value and find that many multi-cat, toolsy guys tend to come at too high a price for too little pop.
I like to target the power hitters that steal a few bases rather than the 30/30 types. But both brands are expensive. Rios has been awesome!
ReplyDeleteFrom my AL only league, sitting 0.5 pts out of first, I would be nowhere if not for my $8 Bautista and his 22 HR, or my $4 Colby Lewis (8-5, 3.30 era, 1.11 whip, 105 K's).
ReplyDeleteDoesn't hurt that I've also got Cano, V-Mart, Aviles, Crawford, and Gardner from your list... but the best deals of all are Bautista and Lewis.
If I added a bench as someone suggested earlier, Bautista and Colby Lewis would be strong candidates. Bautista is falling off (to be expected) but Colby Lewis is a strong keeper candidate in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteYou looks like you did a great job at your draft this season, Jess. What are you doing to get the points you need to end the season with a trophy?
Testing the disqus system...
ReplyDeleteGoing into this season, I had the worst keeper list in the league. Outside of a $5 Niemann, I had Crawford $37, V-Mart $22, Gardner $16, and Cano $26, none of whom were locks to earn profit. In the draft, I managed to snag cheap pitching that worked out beautifully; Carmona $3, Braden $3, Lewis $4, Garcia $2, Rauch $11 (not yet named closer), and Wood $9.
ReplyDeleteMy main strategy is to stand pat unless I'm blown away. Studs like Niemann and Lewis under $5 are impossible to find.
Made one trade, giving up Carmona $3 + Peter Bourjos ML for Gavin Floyd $16 and Luke Scott $18. Scott hit the DL, but Floyd has been lights out for me, putting up these stats in 4 starts since the trade: (28.2 IP, 2-0, 1.26 era, 0.77 whip, 20 K)
Unless another of these types of deals falls in my lap, I'd prefer to finish 2nd and grab next year's title. It's also year one of a 3-year pot.
That makes sense , Jess. However, with the roster you have you might be able to trade from the bottom of your keeper list and win this year and next!
ReplyDelete