Here is everything you need to know about the depth at the third base position these days: On CBS Sports’ cheat sheet for the top players at each position, they list 41 starting pitchers, 25 relief pitchers, 67 outfielders, 25 first basemen, 25 second basemen, 25 shortstops, 30 catchers…and 15 third basemen. Fif, teen. But wait, it actually gets worse: of those 15 third basemen, two are full-time first basemen (Kevin Youkilis, Miguel Cabrera) one is a full-time catcher (Russell Martin), and one played nearly 100 games at DH (Aubrey Huff). In other words, just over a third of all the teams in Major League Baseball have a third baseman worth drafting. And they include Ryan Zimmerman and Edwin Encarnacion as two of those 11 players, meaning even that number is padded.
What this means for you, gentle reader, is that assuming Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols are no longer on the board, you are a stone cold fool if you don’t draft either David Wright or Alex Rodriguez at your earliest opportunity, and you could even be excused for drafting Wright or A-Rod ahead of the other three. (Don’t let this whole ‘steroids pariah’ hoopla scare you; A-Rod’s gonna put up crazy numbers this year.) Almost overnight, third base has become a fantasy wasteland, so you’d be wise to snag a stud third baseman if you can, especially now that Ryan Braun has lost his 3B eligibility and Troy Glaus decided to go under the knife at the 11th hour. But even when the big names are off the board, don’t panic; there are some players that can keep your fantasy team from having a smoking hole in the ground where third base used to be.
Following a season of breakthroughs for the AL champion Rays, Longoria became the first Tampa Bay player to win a national award from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The power-hitting third baseman received all 28 first-place votes, becoming the AL’s first unanimous rookie winner since Nomar Garciaparra in 1997.
Soto, the steady catcher who helped the Cubs win the NL Central title, got 31 of 32 first-place votes. The other went to Cincinnati’s Joey Votto.
Called up from the minors in April, Longoria batted .272 with 27 homers and 85 RBIs despite missing five weeks after breaking his right wrist Aug. 7. Confident at the plate and splendid on defense, he was a big reason for the Rays’ stunning surge to the World Series after 10 straight losing seasons.
Chicago White Sox second baseman Alexei Ramirez was the runner-up after receiving 18 second-place votes. Boston outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury finished third.
Soto hit .285 with 23 homers, 35 doubles and 86 RBIs. He became the first catcher to win Rookie of the Year in either league since Mike Piazza of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1993.
It was amazing to watch Soto play this year because he really became the backbone of the Cubs’ lineup. And without Longoria’s breakthrough season, the Rays never make it to the Fall Classic. It’s nice to finally see a high draft pick like Longoria finally do something. It seems that top 10 picks in baseball fizzle more than top 10 picks in any other sport, which obviously makes sense considering players are sent to the minors and have to work their way up to the big stage, instead of just starting off in the pros right off the bat.
As play-by-play announcer Chip Caray said during the final inning of Boston’s 2-0 win over Tampa in Game 1 of the ALCS Friday night, “Experience trumped exuberance tonight.” (I can’t believe I’m quoting Chip Caray, but the comment was spot on.)
For six innings, Boston ace Daisuke Matsuzaka was un-hittable. Literally.
The Rays didn’t record their first hit until Carl Crawford singled to lead off the top of the seventh. But once Crawford reached, Cliff Floyd followed with a single of his own, moving Crawford to third and all of a sudden Tampa was in business despite trailing 1-0 since the top of the fifth.
This is the situation where good teams – World Series contender or other – score that runner from third with less than two outs. But the Rays failed to do so as Dice-K got Dioner Navarro to fly out to left, then struck out Gabe Gross before finishing off Jason Bartlett with a fielder’s choice to the shortstop.
Inning over.
Again the Rays struck in the bottom of the eighth after the first two batters reached safely to start the inning. Yet once again they came away with nothing as the Boston bullpen got Carlos Pena to fly out to right and Evan Longoria to ground into a double play.
In nine innings Friday night, the Sox showed what it takes to be a champion. They’ve still got a long way to go in their chase to defend their title, especially with how good Tampa is. But great teams separate themselves in these types of games and the performances by Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia and the BoSox bullpen were outstanding.
That said, Rays’ starter James Shields was phenomenal and on a normal night when the Rays’ bats are on, he walks away from such a masterful performance with a victory. And Tampa will learn a lot from a game like this and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond in Game 2 on Saturday night.
Some will be quick to point out that perhaps the most dangerous team in the American League this postseason is the Boston Red Sox – and with good reason given their playoff experience throughout the years. They’ve not only been here before, but they’ve also won.
But as the Tampa Bay Rays have proved so far, experience isn’t everything.
The Rays are the seventh youngest team in MLB, with an average age of 27.5. Before this season, they had never won their division, never reached the postseason and had never won a playoff game. Yet after their 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night, Tampa sits just one win away from reaching the ALCS.
It’s hard to downplay experience in the postseason and if the Red Sox go on to beat the Angels (arguably the most talented team in the AL this year) in their best of five series, they’ll once again provide an example of how important it is to have a veteran roster.
But the Rays have built a 2-0 lead in the ALDS despite most of their roster never appearing in a postseason game. And it’s because they not only believe that they can compete with anyone, but they’re also playing complete baseball. They can hit (see Evan Longoria’s 2 HRs in Game 1), they can pitch (see Grant Balfour’s excellent relief appearances in the series), they can run (see their three total stolen bases) and they can play defense (see zero errors). The veteran Sox, on the other hand, have shown to be one-dimensional and now are on the brink of elimination.
So it’ll be interesting to see if the Rays’ youth eventually catches up with them this postseason. Because of right now, experience isn’t holding this club back one bit.
- Joey Johnston of the Tampa Tribune gushes over Rays’ rookie Evan Longoria’s cool after the third basemen hit two home runs in Game 1 of ALDS against the White Sox.
- Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Phils manager Charlie Manuel has succeeded with juggling the club’s lineup so far against the Brewers in the NLDS.
- John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times likes the fire that Rays’ RP Grant Balfour shows, but also writes how the young pitcher invites trouble along with his success.
- Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirerwaxes poetically about Shane Victorino, the “little Philly” who came up with a huge grand slam against Brewers’ ace CC Sabathia in Game 2 of the NLDS.
For the past couple years, no prop has ever been more annoying than those obnoxious “thunder sticks” that Los Angeles Angels fans used during the 2002 World Series.
Until now.
During Game 1 of the Rays-White Sox ALDS (a 6-4 TB win), the home crowd in Tampa actually broke out cowbells…and used them the entire game. Nothing is more soothing during exciting MLB playoff game than to hear the constant ding of a freaking cowbell. Glad to see Rays fans actually knew where Tropicana Field was after leaving the place largely deserted during the regular season as the club won its first ever AL East Division title.
Regardless of how annoying the cowbells were, the game was exciting and it’s nice to see a young franchise win their first postseason game. Rookie Evan Longoria (3-3, 2 HRs, 3 runs, 3 RBI) is a stud and James Shields deserves a lot of credit for going almost seven innings after it appeared that he wasn’t going to make it past the third or fourth. The two teams even provided a little fireworks when Rays’ relief pitcher Grant Balfour and Sox infielder Orlando Cabrera started throwing profanities at each other during a heated at bat in the seventh inning. Balfour eventually got the best of the matchup, striking out Cabrera to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Tampa has a built a nice team over the years and true Rays fans deserve to finally see a winner. They also apparently have a fever. And the only prescription is…
