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.

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CC Sabathia to opt out of his contract at the end of season?

New York Yankees’ pitcher CC Sabathia talks to the media as the Yankees prepare to take on the Texas Rangers in the ALCS at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas on October 14, 2010. Game one of the best of seven series will be on October 15, 2010 in Arlington. UPI/Ian Halperin

CC Sabathia has an opt-out clause in his contract that he can exercise after the 2011 season and while it seems unlikely that he would want to leave the Yankees, he told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that anything is possible.

Sabathia has an opt-out clause in his contract after this season and, in the past, he always definitively said he would not use that clause to negotiate another free-agent contract with either the Yankees or another team.

However, Monday, Sabathia did some dancing around the issue and, for the first time, opened the door that he might deploy the opt-out.

In a mass interview with reporters, Sabathia indicated he would not use the opt out without directly saying so, then shut down further inquiry by saying he was concentrating on this season and repeating the phrase, “I’m here.”

But in a one-on-one conversation with The Post afterward, Sabathia was given a few chances to definitively say he would not opt out — as he had previously — and did not. On one occasion he said, “Anything is possible in a contract.” In another, the big lefty said, “Who knows what is possible, but I am not thinking about anything beyond Opening Day.”

Rut-row. It sure sounds like Sabathia is setting himself up for a pay raise at the end of the year – and why wouldn’t he? The Yankees can ill-afford to lose him and would no doubt make him the highest-paid pitcher in the league if he threatened to walk out.

Cliff Lee is now making $25 million a year, so it stands to reason that Sabathia (who makes $23 million per season) wants to be paid at least as much as Lee, if not more. Barring injury or a disastrous season, Sabathia could probably squeeze a couple million more out of the Yankees, who desperately need him to anchor their starting rotation.

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