Fantasy Baseball's Top Performers for 2009
BEST CATCHER: JOE MAUER (MIN)- Despite missing the first 3 weeks of the season, Mauer was clearly the best fantasy player at the catcher position in 2009. He won his 3rd American League batting title in 4 years, hitting .365 overall with career highs in HRs (28) and RBI (96).
BEST VALUE: Miguel Montero (ARI), Kurt Suzuki (OAK)
BIGGEST BUSTS: Geovany Soto (CHC), Russell Martin (LAD)
BIT BY THE INJURY BUG: Ryan Doumit (PIT)
BEST FIRST BASEMEN: ALBERT PUJOLS (STL)- Pujols had the best offensive year of any player in baseball. He is the “cream of the crop” in any type of fantasy format and the consensus #1 overall pick in all fantasy leagues for 2010. Pujols finished 2009 with a batting average of .328 with 47 HR, 135 RBI, 122 R, 16 SB and a near 2/1 BB/K ratio.
BEST VALUE: Kendry Morales (LAA)
BIGGEST BUST: Chris Davis (TEX)
BIT BY THE INJURY BUG: Carlos Delgado (NYM)
BEST SECOND BASEMEN: CHASE UTLEY (PHI)- This spot arguably could’ve gone to Aaron Hill who had a monster year for the Toronto Blue Jays, but Utley gets the nod. He put up his usual type of numbers, with a .282 average to go along with 31 HR, 93 RBI and 23 SB.
BEST VALUE: Aaron Hill (TOR)
BIGGEST BUST: Kelly Johnson (ATL)
BIT BY THE INJURY BUG: Rickie Weeks (MIL)
BEST THIRD BASEMEN: EVAN LONGORIA (TB)- This was by far the hardest position to choose a clear top performer from. Other worthy candidates include Pablo Sandoval (SF), Chone Figgins (LAA) and Mark Reynolds (ARI). In fact, in Rotisserie formats I would probably take Figgins and Reynolds above Longoria. But you can’t argue with the production Longoria provided, improving in nearly every offensive category in his sophomore campaign. He more than lived up to his draft day billing, hitting at a .280 clip with 33 HR, 133 RBI and 100 runs.
BEST VALUE: Pablo Sandoval (SF)
BIGGEST BUST: Garret Atkins (COL)
BIT BY THE INJURY BUG: Aramis Ramirez (CHC), Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
BEST SHORTSTOP: HANLEY RAMIREZ (FLA)- Ramirez won the NL batting title with an average of .342. He somewhat dwindled towards the end of the season, leaving him short of a second straight 30/30 season (24 HR and 27 SB). However, Ramirez was the only SS in baseball to record over 100 RBI (106).
BEST VALUE: Marco Scutaro (TOR), Jason Bartlett (TB)
BIGGEST BUST: J.J. Hardy (MIL)
BIT BY THE INJURY BUG: Jose Reyes (NYM)
BEST OUTFIELDERS: RYAN BRAUN (MIL)- Braun continued his surge as one of the game’s premier young stars. He was a beast of a fantasy outfielder in 2009, hitting .320 with 32 HR, 114 RBI, 113 R and 20 SB. CARL CRAWFORD (TB)- If not for a stretch of August in which he was limited by injury, Crawford could’ve earned the top spot. He hit .305 with 15 HR, 68 RBI, 96 R and 60 SB on the season. MATT KEMP (LAD)- Kemp is a newcomer to the group of elite fantasy outfielders, but the sky is the limit for him as he is only going to get better as he develops more power and gains experience. Kemp hit .297 on the year, with 26 HR, 101 RBI, 97 R and 34 SB. MATT HOLLIDAY (STL)- After a mid-season trade that sent him to the Cardinals, Holliday prospered and re-emerged as one of the top fantasy outfielders in all of baseball. He batted .356 in his time with St. Louis, and .313 overall with 24 HR, 109 RBI, 94 R and 14 SB. JACOBY ELLSBURY (BOS)- Ellsbury led the majors with 70 SB’s this season. Overall, he hit .301 with 8 HR, 60 RBI and 97 R.
BEST VALUE: Justin Upton (ARI), Adam Lind (TOR), Jason Kubel (MIN)
BIGGEST BUSTS: BJ Upton (TB), Magglio Ordonez (DET), Corey Hart (MIL), Jay Bruce (CIN)
BIT BY THE INJURY BUG: Josh Hamilton (TEX), Calos Beltran (NYM), Carlos Quentin (CWS), Vladimir Guerrero (LAA)
BEST STARTING PITCHERS: ZACK GREINKE (KC)- Despite pitching for a lowly Royals team, Greinke still shined and is the clear front runner for the 2009 AL Cy Young award. He was 16-8 in 229.3 innings pitched, recording 242 K’s to only 51 BB’s while sporting a 2.16 E.R.A. and 1.07 WHIP. TIM LINCECUM (SF)- Lincecum followed up his 2008 Cy Young season with similar brilliance in 2009. He finished first in the NL with 261 strikeouts and 2nd in the NL in E.R.A. (2.48). Lincecum was 15-7 on the year. JUSTIN VERLANDER (DET)- Verlander finished first in the majors with 269 strikeouts. He put a disappointing 2008 season behind him, finishing 1 win short of 20 wins (19-9) to go along with an E.R.A. of 3.45 and a WHIP of 1.18. FELIX HERNANDEZ (SEA)- King Felix finally put together the type of season scouts have said he was capable of since he was first discovered out of Venezuela just a little over 5 years ago. Felix was 19-5 with 217 K’s, 71 BB’s, 2.49 E.R.A. and a 1.14 WHIP. ROY HALLADAY (TOR)- Despite hitting a rough patch coming out of the All-Star break, Halladay still had a typical “Halladay” type of season. He stuck out 208 batters, walked only 35 and finished with a record of 17-10. His E.R.A. of 2.79 ranked 3rd in the AL.
BEST VALUE: Ubaldo Jimenez, Wandy Rodriguez, JA Happ, Scott Feldman
BIGGEST BUSTS: Scott Kazmir, Cole Hamels, Francisco Liriano, Roy Oswalt
BIT BY THE INJURY BUG: Brandon Webb, Edison Volquez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brett Myers
BEST RELIEF PITCHERS: JONATHAN BROXTON (LAD)- Broxton led all relief pitchers in strikeouts (114 K’s in 76.0 innings) and wins (7). His E.R.A. was relatively high for a closer (2.61), but his 36 saves were a key reason why the Dodgers were able to win the NL West. MARIANO RIVERA (NYY)- The best closer in the history of the game continued his Hall of Fame career in 2009, striking out an average of over 1 batter per inning (72 K’s in 66.3 innings). Mariano had a miniscule 1.76 E.R.A. and 0.90 WHIP to go along with 44 saves for the team with the best record in baseball. JOE NATHAN (MIN)- Nathan recorded a career high 47 saves in 2009 and now has 6 straight seasons of at least 36 saves. He recorded 89 strikeouts in 68.7 innings to go along with an E.R.A. of 2.10 and a 0.93 WHIP.
BEST VALUE: Heath Bell (SD), David Aardsma (SEA)
BIGGEST BUSTS: Brad Lidge (PHI), Kerry Wood (CLE)
**OVERALL AWARDS**
FANTASY MVP: ALBERT PUJOLS
FANTASY CY YOUNG: ZACK GREINKE
BEST VALUE PLAYER: KENDRY MORALES
BIGGEST BUSTS: BJ UPTON, CHRIS DAVIS
