Cafe Positional Rankings: Week 17

As MLB teams trade like dynasty-league teams, you need to be exploring every possible trade option to win your league. We’re back with some more rankings that will hopefully act as a valuation chart as you try and swing for the fences and add the last piece to your championship season. While guys like Howie Kendrick, Nyjer Morgan and Joe Blanton just missed our rankings, I think all three could help you immensely for the rest of the season. We’re always willing to take your questions at fbcmailbag@gmail.com, so give us a shout if you need a second opinion on something.

Note: Our rankings do not include any player that was on the DL or in the minors at the time the rankings were submitted.

Catchers

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Joe Mauer	1
2	Victor Martinez	2
3	Pablo Sandoval	3
4	Brian McCann	4
5	Jorge Posada	6
6	Ryan Doumit	7
7	Brandon Inge	5
8	Matt Wieters	8
9	Mike Napoli	10
10	Russell Martin	11
11	Chris Iannetta	12
12	Bengie Molina	9	One HR since mid-June, cut him
13	A.J. Pierzynski	13
14	Miguel Montero	NR	.360 and 6 HRs, fantasy’s best catcher last 30 days
15	Miguel Olivo	14

First Basemen

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Albert Pujols	1
2	Prince Fielder	2
3	Miguel Cabrera	3
4	Mark Teixeira	4
5	Justin Morneau	6
6	Ryan Howard	5
7	Kevin Youkilis	8
8	Joey Votto	9
9	Mark Reynolds	11
10	Adrian Gonzalez	10
11	Adam Dunn	12
12	Derrek Lee	13
13	Paul Konerko	14
14	Kendry Morales	NR	.329, 7 HRs in July
15	Carlos Pena	15	.130, 2 HRs in July

Second Basemen

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Chase Utley	1
2	Ian Kinsler	2
3	Brandon Phillips	3
4	Aaron Hill	5
5	Brian Roberts	4
6	Dustin Pedroia	6
7	Ben Zobrist	8
8	Chone Figgins	10
9	Alexei Ramirez	7	One steal, one HR in July
10	Robinson Cano	9
11	Dan Uggla	11
12	Mark DeRosa	NR	6 HRs since ASB — loves the new lineup
13	Orlando Hudson	14
14	Jose Lopez	12
15	Ian Stewart	13

Third Basemen

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Alex Rodriguez	2
2	Miguel Cabrera	1
3	David Wright	3
4	Evan Longoria	4
5	Kevin Youkilis	5
6	Mark Reynolds	6
7	Aramis Ramirez	8	15 hits, 4 HRs in last seven games; he’s back!
8	Pablo Sandoval	7
9	Chipper Jones	9
10	Chone Figgins	11
11	Michael Young	10
12	Ryan Zimmerman	12
13	Russell Branyan	13	hitting .153 in July, average is free-falling
14	Jorge Cantu	14
15	Scott Rolen	15

Shortstops

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Hanley Ramirez	1
2	Derek Jeter	2
3	Jimmy Rollins	3
4	Michael Young	4	.360, 4 HRs, 3 SBs in July; over .400 last two weeks
5	Ben Zobrist	5
6	Troy Tulowitzki	7
7	Alexei Ramirez	6
8	Miguel Tejada	9
9	Gordon Beckham	10
10	Stephen Drew	12
11	Jason Bartlett	8	no power, average down 30 points this month
12	Yunel Escobar	13
13	J.J. Hardy	11
14	Jhonny Peralta	15
15	Marco Scutaro	NR

Outfielders

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Ryan Braun	1
2	Carl Crawford	2
3	Matt Kemp	3
4	Ichiro Suzuki	5
5	Grady Sizemore	4
6	Manny Ramirez	7
7	Jason Bay	6
8	B.J. Upton	8
9	Carlos Lee	10
10	Curtis Granderson	9
11	Raul Ibanez	11
12	Justin Upton	12
13	Matt Holliday	20	Hitting .524 with the Cards, and the power will come
14	Adam Dunn	14
15	Jayson Werth	15
16	Nelson Cruz	16
17	Alfonso Soriano	19
18	Jacoby Ellsbury	17
19	Nick Markakis	18
20	Shane Victorino	22
21	Josh Hamilton	13	.194, 1 HR in July — who is this?
22	Brad Hawpe	21
23	Nate McLouth	24
24	Adam Jones	25
25	Shin-Soo Choo	26
26	Hunter Pence	23
27	Bobby Abreu	27
28	Adam Lind	28
29	Johnny Damon	29
30	Jermaine Dye	30
31	Andre Ethier	32
32	Alex Rios	31
33	Ryan Ludwick	33
34	Juan Rivera	34
35	Jason Kubel	37
36	Corey Hart	36
37	Josh Willingham	NR	.329, 7 HRs in July — OPS now over 1.000
38	Michael Bourn	40
39	Luke Scott	35	2-for-32 last couple weeks
40	Andrew McCutchen	39

Starting Pitchers

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Tim Lincecum	1	July: 3 Wins, 34.2 IP, 51 Ks, 2.08 ERA, 0.98 WHIP
2	Dan Haren	2
3	Zack Greinke	3
4	Roy Halladay	4
5	Johan Santana	5
6	Felix Hernandez	6
7	Josh Beckett	7
8	Justin Verlander	8
9	Josh Johnson	12
10	Javier Vazquez	10
11	Matt Cain	13
12	CC Sabathia	9
13	Chad Billingsley	11	Rocked in three of last four outings
14	Chris Carpenter	17
15	Cole Hamels	15
16	Yovani Gallardo	14
17	Edwin Jackson	18
18	Jon Lester	19
19	Roy Oswalt	16
20	Adam Wainwright	20
21	Cliff Lee	21
22	Ricky Nolasco	23
23	John Lackey	25
24	Jered Weaver	22
25	A.J. Burnett	27
26	Clayton Kershaw	29
27	James Shields	26	Winless since mid-June, ugly numbers this month
28	Wandy Rodriguez	34	July: 4 Wins, 36 IP, 34 Ks, 0.75 ERA, 0.94 WHIP
29	Matt Garza	31
30	John Danks	30
31	Scott Baker	32
32	Tommy Hanson	35
33	Ubaldo Jimenez	36
34	Johnny Cueto	33
35	Jair Jurrjens	37
36	Scott Kazmir	38
37	Max Scherzer	NR
38	Rich Harden	44
39	Ricky Romero	39
40	Jarrod Washburn	49
41	Mark Buehrle	NR	Perfect for a game and a half
42	Derek Lowe	42
43	Carlos Zambrano	43
44	Gavin Floyd	47
45	Aaron Harang	40
46	Francisco Liriano	41
47	Randy Wells	50
48	Joba Chamberlain	46
49	Brett Anderson	NR
50	Ervin Santana	45	Hanging on for dear life; I’ve given up on him

Relievers

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Joe Nathan	1
2	Jonathan Broxton	2
3	Mariano Rivera	4	July: 10 saves, 1 BB, 0 ERs, 0.38 WHIP
4	Joakim Soria	5	Quickly back to elite status; 7 saves this month
5	Heath Bell	3
6	Jonathan Papelbon	6
7	Francisco Rodriguez	7
8	Brian Fuentes	8
9	Huston Street	10
10	Francisco Cordero	9
11	Ryan Franklin	11
12	Trevor Hoffman	17
13	David Aardsma	15
14	Brian Wilson	18
15	Bobby Jenks	12	Manager Guillen has faith, but I don’t
16	Andrew Bailey	13
17	Rafael Soriano	16
18	Jose Valverde	19
19	J.P Howell	22
20	Scott Downs	14
21	Brad Lidge	20
22	Matt Capps	21	A closer with a 6.00 ERA? He’s killin’ me
23	Chad Qualls	23
24	Kevin Gregg	26
25	George Sherrill	24
26	Fernando Rodney	25
27	Kerry Wood	27
28	Leo Nunez	28
29	C.J. Wilson	30
30	Mike Gonzalez	29

R.J. White is a fantasy blogger at the sports site FanHouse. Check out his work both here and there, and feel free to talk to him in the forums, where he posts under the name daullaz.

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