2011 Best Shortstop Performance (ranked by wOBA)

Your best shortstops. This is another list that doesn't have much quality depth.

Name	Team	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ISO	BABIP	wOBA
Troy Tulowitzki	Rockies	606	0.302	0.372	0.544	0.242	0.305	0.389
Jose Reyes	Mets	586	0.337	0.384	0.493	0.156	0.353	0.386
Jhonny Peralta	Tigers	576	0.299	0.345	0.478	0.179	0.325	0.353
Yunel Escobar	Blue Jays	590	0.29	0.369	0.413	0.123	0.316	0.345
Asdrubal Cabrera	Indians	667	0.273	0.332	0.46	0.187	0.302	0.345
Marco Scutaro	Red Sox	445	0.299	0.358	0.423	0.124	0.312	0.343
J.J. Hardy	Orioles	567	0.269	0.31	0.491	0.222	0.273	0.343
Emilio Bonifacio	Marlins	641	0.296	0.36	0.393	0.097	0.372	0.341
Starlin Castro	Cubs	715	0.307	0.341	0.432	0.125	0.344	0.338
Jason Donald	Indians	143	0.318	0.364	0.402	0.083	0.423	0.337
Derek Jeter	Yankees	607	0.297	0.355	0.388	0.092	0.336	0.332
Erick Aybar	Angels	605	0.279	0.322	0.421	0.142	0.301	0.332
Jimmy Rollins	Phillies	631	0.268	0.338	0.399	0.131	0.275	0.329
Elvis Andrus	Rangers	665	0.279	0.347	0.361	0.082	0.312	0.323
Jamey Carroll	Dodgers	510	0.29	0.359	0.347	0.058	0.332	0.321
Alexei Ramirez	White Sox	684	0.269	0.328	0.399	0.13	0.288	0.319
Hanley Ramirez	Marlins	385	0.243	0.333	0.379	0.136	0.275	0.317
Ruben Tejada	Mets	376	0.284	0.36	0.335	0.052	0.331	0.315
Dee Gordon	Dodgers	233	0.304	0.325	0.362	0.058	0.345	0.314
Eduardo Nunez	Yankees	338	0.265	0.313	0.385	0.12	0.287	0.313
Stephen Drew	Diamondbacks	354	0.252	0.317	0.396	0.143	0.313	0.311
Alexi Casilla	Twins	365	0.26	0.322	0.368	0.108	0.294	0.311
Clint Barmes	Astros	495	0.244	0.312	0.386	0.141	0.279	0.308
Ramon Santiago	Tigers	294	0.26	0.311	0.384	0.124	0.283	0.305
Trevor Plouffe	Twins	320	0.238	0.305	0.392	0.154	0.286	0.305
Sean Rodriguez	Rays	436	0.223	0.323	0.357	0.134	0.268	0.303
Cliff Pennington	Athletics	570	0.264	0.319	0.369	0.105	0.314	0.302
Mike Fontenot	Giants	252	0.227	0.304	0.377	0.15	0.267	0.298
Jed Lowrie	Red Sox	341	0.252	0.303	0.382	0.129	0.289	0.297
Ryan Theriot	Cardinals	483	0.271	0.321	0.342	0.07	0.296	0.292
Brendan Ryan	Mariners	494	0.248	0.313	0.326	0.078	0.299	0.291
Edgar Renteria	Reds	333	0.251	0.306	0.348	0.097	0.302	0.291
Willie Bloomquist	Diamondbacks	381	0.266	0.317	0.34	0.074	0.3	0.291
Ian Desmond	Nationals	639	0.253	0.298	0.358	0.104	0.317	0.29
Rafael Furcal	- - -	369	0.231	0.298	0.348	0.117	0.24	0.288
Alcides Escobar	Royals	598	0.254	0.29	0.343	0.089	0.285	0.282
Alex Gonzalez	Braves	593	0.241	0.27	0.372	0.131	0.285	0.281
Luis Rodriguez	Mariners	139	0.197	0.299	0.333	0.137	0.219	0.28
Jason Bartlett	Padres	618	0.245	0.308	0.307	0.061	0.291	0.279
Yuniesky Betancourt	Brewers	584	0.252	0.271	0.381	0.129	0.259	0.278
Wilson Valdez	Phillies	300	0.249	0.294	0.341	0.092	0.288	0.274
Ronny Cedeno	Pirates	454	0.249	0.297	0.339	0.09	0.313	0.271
Angel Sanchez	Astros	328	0.24	0.305	0.285	0.045	0.278	0.27
Mike McCoy	Blue Jays	228	0.198	0.291	0.269	0.071	0.24	0.267
Justin Sellers	Dodgers	139	0.203	0.283	0.301	0.098	0.235	0.267
Alex Cora	Nationals	172	0.224	0.287	0.276	0.051	0.261	0.259
Brandon Crawford	Giants	220	0.204	0.288	0.296	0.092	0.228	0.259
Orlando Cabrera	- - -	477	0.238	0.267	0.307	0.069	0.259	0.254
Miguel Tejada	Giants	343	0.239	0.27	0.326	0.087	0.254	0.253
Elliot Johnson	Rays	181	0.194	0.257	0.338	0.144	0.26	0.252
Jack Wilson	- - -	232	0.243	0.274	0.285	0.042	0.294	0.251
John McDonald	- - -	245	0.229	0.269	0.308	0.079	0.25	0.25
Chase D'Arnaud	Pirates	151	0.217	0.242	0.287	0.07	0.287	0.247
Craig Counsell	Brewers	187	0.178	0.28	0.223	0.045	0.197	0.234
Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Twins	240	0.226	0.278	0.249	0.023	0.281	0.234
Matt Tolbert	Twins	226	0.198	0.252	0.266	0.068	0.233	0.234
Paul Janish	Reds	366	0.214	0.259	0.262	0.048	0.244	0.233
Alberto Gonzalez	Padres	267	0.215	0.256	0.283	0.069	0.244	0.232
Reid Brignac	Rays	264	0.193	0.227	0.221	0.028	0.254	0.203

Some interesting names from the list:

• Jason Donald - Indians
• Jamey Carroll - Twins
• Ruben Tejada - Mets
• Dee Gordon - Dodgers
• Eduardo Nunez - Yankees
  

Hot Stove Update: Adam Dunn Lands in Chicago

Brett Gardner is having surgery to fix a problem in his wrist, the problem has been described as tendinitis. Kind of weird to need surgery to fix tendinitis in my experience, but the Yankees expect him to be ready to go at the start of Spring Training. I'm just a little worried...

Lance Berkman is leaning towards Colorado as his new home. He would apparently do so as a part-time first baseman and ocassional outfielder. I'm not certain that Berkman needs to sign as a back-up. The Athletics are supposedly after him as a lineup regular...

Are you counting on Joe Nathan making a triumphant return in 2011? Maybe you invested in Nathan during his Tommy John Season to get him ultra cheap. Chances are you still wasted your money. As Parker Hageman of Over the Baggy (an excellent Twins Blog) explains, pitchers usually require 22-24 months before they can be effective after TJS. Though there have been some relevant exceptions as Parker points out.

Derek Jeter and the Yankees Brass met for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday, at Jeter's request. Supposedly, they needed to meet and remember how much they love each other. No one agrees with me that they should just pay him. But can we agree that the Yankees could just give him what he wants and not suffer for it?

Over at the Tao of Stieb (a most excellent Blue Jays Blog) they are losing sleep over Adam Lind. They worry that his awful splits against lefties will continue into the 2011 season. I'd be more worried that the Jays bench him against lefties without giving him another shot at them. He was that bad last season. That's probably just as senseless, but you never know what a new manager will do. Am I fear mongering? I feel like FOX News...

Key Free Agent Signings

The Chicago White Sox have agreed to a four-year contract with first baseman Adam Dunn.

Adam Dunn has agreed to a deal with the Chicago White Sox according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale. The deal won't be official until Dunn passes a physical scheduled for Friday, December 3rd, but it looks pretty solid. I usually wait until these things are locked in but no one else does so whatever. It's a four-year, $56 million deal, he'll become the regular designated hitter if they manage to re-sign Paul Konerko.

Dunn is an excellent power hitter. He has great plate discipline and patience at the plate. He is not a great contact hitter but more than makes up for that with his tremendous power. The White Sox have been an aggressive running team under Ozzie Guillen. We may see stolen bases return to Dunn's game. Obviously, big, slow, aging dudes shouldn't be counted on for their speed, but 5-10 steals would be nice for his fantasy value. Dunn also moves out of a neutral to slight pitcher's park into one of the premiere homerun parks. He should be a lock for 40-plus homers.

The Boston Red Sox have agreed on a one-year deal with catcher Jason Varitek.

Jason Varitek agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal to stay with the Boston Red Sox. At the moment the Red Sox have penciled Jarrod Saltalamacchia into the starting catcher role. That could easily be reversed or develop into a platoon.

The Seattle Mariners signed free agent LHP Erik Bedard.

The Seattle Mariners are desperately trying to get something out of the time, energy and players they spent on Erik Bedard. If he's healthy, he's a fantastic number two starter, if he's plowing through an injury he's rotation filler, and if he's truly injured, it will be typical Erik Bedard.

The Florida Marlins signed free agent RHP Javier Vazquez.

I like this move for the Marlins, especially after the series of poor moves they made to kick off the hot stove season. I think back in the National League, Javier Vazquez should rebound at least some. I doubt he'll be the pitcher he was in 2009 with the Braves but still a better than average pitcher. I think he hates pitching in the American League and especially in New York City. Just a hunch, that is...

Fantasy owners should be aware that Vazquez has seen his fastball velocity drop three consecutive seasons. During the 2009 season he claimed that he had worked on reducing his velocity to increase his command but who knows if that's what we're seeing here. I would bid up to $2o in my deep NL-only but not further than that. That's fairly confident he rebounds, isn't it?

The San Francisco Giants signed free agent SS Miguel Tejada.

Miguel Tejada agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million contract with the Giants on Tuesday. The Giants may still be in on shortstops Jason Bartlett and J.J. Hardy, but I'm sure what they were willing to deal for either player has now been drastically reduced.

Tejada is just barely hanging on at this point. His bat has been severely reduced and his fantasy value is mostly dependent on his position. Don't dig too deep to add him to your roster.

The Trades

The Seattle Mariners traded infielder Jose Lopez to the Colorado Rockies for right-hander Chaz Roe.

Jose Lopez is not a good player and I have absolutely no idea why the Rockies wanted him (if they even do). Maybe it's like one of those fantasy deals you make just to make, then you dump the guy you got.

Other Significant Transactions

RHP Bobby Jenks elected free agency.

LF Matt Diaz elected free agency.

DH Jack Cust elected free agency.

3B Edwin Encarnacion elected free agency.

LF Travis Buck elected free agency.

Atlanta Braves signed free agent LF Eric Hinske.

Los Angeles Angels signed free agent LHP Hisanori Takahashi.

Hot Stove Update: The Dodgers Making Moves

Things are getting interesting around the ol' Hot Stove.

The Red Sox are Hot 'n Heavy for Carl Crawford. This surprises me a little because I figured with Jacoby Ellsbury coming back they would be more interested in a power hitter. But only a little, Crawford is easily the best position player available and the Red Sox are one of the teams that have mounds of available cash and an outfield opening. Who plays center field? Ellsbury, I guess...

The Yankees and Derek Jeter are looking at each other funny. The Yankees are suddenly acting like cheapskates when it comes to the Captain. He deserves every penny he's asking for for being one of the few superstar players that did not let us down during the steroid era. He had a down 2010 season but he isn't done just yet. The Yankees may want to phase Jeter away from shortstop, and that's understandable, but they should not force Jeter to play for the Baltimore Orioles. The popularity hit they would take is a lot bigger than they seem to think.

Someone is flooding the internet with rumors of Zack Greinke and the Yankees being a better match than most have speculated. Greinke has suffered from anxiety and bouts of depression. Most think that the pressure of New York would be too much for him. I submit that the man was depressed playing for the Kansas City Royals, who wouldn't be? The Yankees are about as far from the Royals as an organization as you can get. Plus, the Yankees clubhouse is very protective of their younger players and Greinke would get a ton of support. That said, I still don't buy him coming to New York.

What is Adrian Beltre looking for? He turned down $64 million from the Athletics. For certain, the Athletics are not the ideal team for Beltre but other than re-signing with the Red Sox (still a possibility) teams like the Angels and Orioles seem like bad fits as well. The Rangers would be nice but are they really looking to add an expensive third baseman with Michael Young on the roster?

The Giants are hoping they don't need to shop for a third baseman. Pablo Sandoval in an effort to re-gain the starting position he lost in the playoffs has begun a rigorous off-season program to lose weight and get in better shape. He has hooked up with Triple Threat Performance, the experts that are famous for working with major leaguers like Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield. Hey! No steroid jokes about Kung-Fu Panda.

Major Free Agent Signings

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent infielder Juan Uribe.

The strangest thing about this signing is the report that Juan Uribe turned down essentially the same three-year, $21 million offer to stay with the World Series Champion, San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers plan to start Uribe at second base and to emphasize that plan they traded away infielder Ryan Theriot. It is not official yet, the Giants wasted no time signing Miguel Tejada to a one-year contract to be their starting shortstop in 2011. However, the Giants are supposedly still interested in acquiring Tampa Bay shortstop Jason Bartlett.

Uribe posted a career high walk rate and hit a career high 24 homers in 575 at-bats. Uribe has nice power for a shortstop. Although his BABIP was very low at .256 (career .282) fantasy owners should not expect much of a rebound in batting average. Uribe has a swing at everything approach that doesn't jive with his mediocre contact rates. He should continue to provide pretty much the same stats as a Dodger. Dodger Stadium is slightly better for homeruns but suppresses scoring at a rate similar to AT&T Park.

I find it interesting that the Dodgers have been fairly aggressive to start the off season. I guess I assumed that the divorce would be an impediment to progress. The Dodgers are one of the teams I want to root for to do well. Unfortunately they have lousy ownership and a GM in Ned Colletti that hasn't convinced me he knows what he's doing so far. So far so good for 2011.

Texas Rangers signed Japanese free agent right-hander, Yoshinori Tateyam.

The Rangers have signed Yoshinori Tateyam to a split contract that means he will be paid differently depending on whether or not he makes the major league club. Tateyam features a fastball that sits around 90 mph, a screwball that he features against left-handed batters and excellent control. He apparently has a very deceptive delivery that should at least make him effective the first time around the American League, assuming he makes the team. He isn't a threat to steal the closer job at this point so his fantasy value should be minimal.

The Trades

The Los Angeles Dodgers traded middle infielder Ryan Theriot to the St. Louis Cardinals for right-handed reliever, Blake Hawksworth.

The 2010 season was not a good one for Ryan Theriot. He pretty much had his worst season as a professional. He will play the 2011 season at age 31, so it isn't too hard to envision a bounce-back season. The Cardinals are apparently planning to move him back to shortstop, where Theriot claims he is more comfortable. What that means for the light-hitting Brendan Ryan is still a question to be answered.

Theriot usually provides a decent on-base percentage. His walk rate has been all over the place but his career 8.4 percent walk rate is probably about right for projecting. He has a good eye at the plate and a strong contact rate complemented by his above average speed on the bases. If his BABIP once again approaches his career level, Theriot should be able to hit for a batting average in the .275-.285 level and steal at least 20 bases. As a shortstop he has more fantasy value than some might expect.

Blake Hawksworth is a typical right-handed reliever. He had a very unfortunate 2010 season, but has the potential to be a solid middle reliever. His fantasy value should be minimal.

Other Significant Transactions

Texas Rangers signed free agent C Yorvit Torrealba.

Atlanta Braves signed free agent C Wilkin Castillo.

Pittsburgh Pirates outrighted Andy LaRoche to Indianapolis Indians.

LF Wilkin Ramirez assigned to Atlanta Braves.

St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent LHP Brian Tallet.

Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent RHP Fernando Nieve.

Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent 3B Andy Marte.

Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent C Dusty Brown.

Empire State of Mind

I have to work tonight. That means I will not get to see the World Series tonight which bothers me more than you might think possible. I never miss the World Series, especially when the New York Yankees are involved. Yes, I am a Yankees fan. Alex Rodriguez has really shown his stuff the last few weeks. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are the old and steady hands. Andy Pettitte is just plain clutch. I'll have the game on in some silent form tonight. Damn the rules. But the nature of my job means that even then I won't see much of it.

I love that the Yankees are facing this Philadelphia Phillies team. It has so many great players on it. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino are just awesome, I'd love to have any of these guys in New York. The pitching should be great for both teams as well. I expect this to be a tight, well fought series. It may not go seven games but both teams will know they were in a battle.

And now the new anthem of New York City... (there is a video, for you RSS types, come check it out)