2011 Fantasy Baseball All-Contract Year Team
Fellow TSR fantasy baseball writer David Medsker recently reminded me of something legendary manager Sparky Anderson once said:
“Just give me 25 guys on the last year of their contracts; I’ll win a pennant every year.”
It got me thinking: What if you could build a fantasy team this year comprised only of players in the last years of their contracts? Granted, unless your league was made up of owners who have lived in a cave for the past five years, you couldn’t draft Albert Pujols, Robinson Cano and Jose Reyes on the same team. But since this is just for stickers and giggles, don’t sweat the details. (Seriously, have a little fun for once in your life.)
Without further ado, I give you the All-Contract Year Fantasy Team.
(Note: I’ve indicated if a player has a club option for next year.)
All 2011 Fantasy Articles | 2011 Position Rankings
Catcher: Jorge Posada, Yankees
Obviously Posada’s best days are behind him and now that the Yankees have Russell Martin to help share the catching duties this season, it appears as though the 39-year-old backstop is destined to finish his career as a DH. Hopefully the transition will mean fewer trips to the disabled list for Posada, who has landed on the DL four times in the past three years combined. There’s still 15-20 home runs left in his bat and with this being the final year of his contract, he needs to show the Bombers that he’s worth keeping around past this season. (Yadier Molina of the Cardinals also has a $7 million club option with a $750K buyout for next season, so he’s another possibility if you’re concerned about Posada’s durability.)
First Base: Albert Pujols, Cardinals
I’m not going to insult anyone’s intelligence by writing about why Albert Pujols is the best first base-eligible player in a contract year, but what I will do is note that both Adrian Gonzalez and Prince Fielder’s current deals also run out in 2011. Talk about an interesting 2012 free agency year it’ll be for first basemen.
Second Base: Robinson Cano, Yankees
Cano has a $14 million club option with a $2 million buyout, so he’s not a true-blue free agent like some of the other names on this team. Regardless, he’s easily the best fantasy second baseman in the game and should be the first two-bagger to come off your draft board. Brandon Phillips ($12 million/$1 million buyout) and Aaron Hill ($8 million for 2012, $8 million for 2013, $10 million for 2014) also have club options for next season, so they’re possibilities as well. (Although you would have some splannin’ to do if you decided to take Phillips or Hill over Cano when it came to picking this team’s second baseman.)
Shortstop: Jose Reyes, Mets
The third-best fantasy shortstop is heading into a contract year, as is the fifth-best (Jimmy Rollins, Phillies). You could probably make a case for taking Rollins over Reyes, but you’d be reaching. Reyes will swipe more bases, hit for a higher average and score more runs while matching his Philadelphia counterpart in home runs (or coming damn close). Plus, Reyes is four years younger, so he would obviously have the edge in a keeper league, too.
Third Base: Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays
It was slim pickings at third base but Encarnacion (who has a $3.5 million club option for next season) gets the edge over Jose Lopez. Encarnacion can’t hit for average, won’t drive in many base runners and he dealt with wrist and shoulder injuries last year. But at least he’ll hit 25-plus home runs. (Hey, it’s something.)
Outfielders: Juan Pierre, White Sox; Bobby Abreu, Angels; Grady Sizemore, Indians; Nick Swisher, Yankees; Carlos Beltran, Mets
Yiiiiiikes. What happened? Pujols, Cano and Reyes filled three of the first four positions on this team but the talent has now fallen off a cliff. (Thanks a lot, Edwin Encarnacion.) At least we’ll garner plenty of steals with Pierre and Sizemore (kind of…and if he can stay healthy), and power with Abreu, Swisher and Beltran (kind of…if he can stay healthy). Not a very impressive collection of names but it could be much, much worse.
DH/Extra Hitters: David Ortiz, Red Sox; Vladimir Guerrero, Orioles
Our DH/EH position is looking pretty good with Ortiz and Guerrero, both of which should hit 20-plus home runs. Jim Thome’s contract also runs out at the end of the year, as does Jack Cust and Hideki Matsui’s. Thus, there are plenty of DH/EH options for this team.
Starting Pitchers: C.C. Sabathia, Yankees; Adam Wainwright, Cardinals; Chris Carpenter, Cardinals; Roy Oswalt, Phillies; Hiroki Kuroda, Dodgers; Ryan Dempster, Cubs; C.J. Wilson, Rangers; Joel Pineiro, Angels
Jackpot! We’d be set with Sabathia (who has the chance to opt out of the remaining four years of his contract), Carpenter ($15 million club option with a $1 million buyout), Oswalt ($16 million mutual option with a $2 million buyout) and a bunch of Double-A arms, but we’re happy to take guys like Kuroda, Dempster and Wilson to fill out the rotation. Too bad Wainwright had to have Tommy John surgery or else you might as well just hand us all of the pitching categories this year. (There were also some intriguing names that we didn’t take, such as Javier Vazquez, Edwin Jackson, Brandon Webb, Aaron Harang and Scott Kazmir.)
Closers: Heath Bell, Padres; Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox; Francisco Rodriguez, Mets
Again: Jackpot. Check out the names that were also available: Jonathan Broxton (who you could use to replace whack-job K-Rod if you wanted to), Joe Nathan and Jose Valverde ($9 million club option).
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