Cafe Positional Rankings: Week 25

By Bryan Freilich

Enjoy the Week 25 rankings and as always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, don’t hesitate to post in the forums or e-mail us at fbcmailbag@gmail.com. Note that this will be our last ranking of 2009. If you want to be part of the ranking team this off-season and help shape the Cafe’s 2010 rankings, give us a holler.

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	5
6	Miguel Montero	6
7	Ryan Doumit	7
8	Brandon Inge	8
9	Geovany Soto	9
10	Russell Martin	11
11	Mike Napoli	12	Batting under .100 last month
12	Kurt Suzuki	14
13	A.J. Pierzynski	10
14	Carlos Ruiz	15
15	Matt Wieters	NR	Nearly .500 BA over last 7 days and now hitting 3rd

First Basemen

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Albert Pujols	1
2	Prince Fielder	2
3	Miguel Cabrera	3
4	Ryan Howard	4
5	Mark Teixeira	5
6	Adrian Gonzalez	6
7	Mark Reynolds	7
8	Adam Dunn	9
9	Kevin Youkilis	8	Nearly .100 BA over past week with no power
10	Derrek Lee	10	Nice bounce-back season for top 1B of past month
11	Lance Berkman	11
12	Kendry Morales	12
13	Joey Votto	14
14	Billy Butler	13
15	Garrett Jones	15

Second Basemen

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Chase Utley	1
2	Ian Kinsler	2	Really struggling down the stretch
3	Brian Roberts	3
4	Aaron Hill	4
5	Dustin Pedroia	5
6	Robinson Cano	6
7	Brandon Phillips	7
8	Dan Uggla	8
9	Ben Zobrist	9
10	Chone Figgins	11
11	Jose Lopez	12
12	Alexei Ramirez	10
13	Howie Kendrick	NR	Has been spectacular last month (.434 BA)
14	Luis Castillo	NR
15	Ian Stewart	NR

Third Basemen

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Miguel Cabrera	1
2	Alex Rodriguez	2
3	Evan Longoria	3	Has been top 3B over past month with 7 HR
4	Mark Reynolds	5	.083 BA past week and broke own K record
5	David Wright	4
6	Ryan Zimmerman	6
7	Kevin Youkilis	7
8	Aramis Ramirez	8
9	Pablo Sandoval	9
10	Chone Figgins	10
11	Gordon Beckham	11
12	Chipper Jones	13
13	Jorge Cantu	14
14	Chris Davis	12
15	Ian Stewart	NR

Shortstops

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Hanley Ramirez	1
2	Troy Tulowitzki	4	Top SS over last month; clear-cut winner of Tulo v. Zobrist bet
3	Derek Jeter	2
4	Jimmy Rollins	3
5	Jason Bartlett	5
6	Gordon Beckham	7
7	Ben Zobrist	6
8	Alexei Ramirez	8
9	Yunel Escobar	9
10	Elvis Andrus	11
11	Stephen Drew	12	Has been big disappointment in 2009
12	Asdrubal Cabrera	10
13	Jhonny Peralta	13
14	Miguel Tejada	NR
15	Rafael Furcal	NR

Outfielders

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Ryan Braun	1
2	Matt Kemp	2
3	Matt Holliday	3
4	Carl Crawford	4
5	Jason Bay	6	4 HR and 11 RBI past week
6	Ichiro Suzuki	7
7	Adam Dunn	5
8	Justin Upton	9
9	Carlos Lee	10
10	Manny Ramirez	8
11	Jayson Werth	11
12	Jacoby Ellsbury	14
13	Bobby Abreu	13
14	Nick Markakis	12	.095 BA with no power over last week
15	Torii Hunter	16
16	Nelson Cruz	17
17	Carlos Beltran	20
18	Adam Lind	18
19	Curtis Granderson	15	.196 BA over last month not cutting it
20	Shane Victorino	19
21	Kendry Morales	21
22	Johnny Damon	22
23	Andre Ethier	24
24	Vladimir Guerrero	23
25	Hunter Pence	27
26	Nate McLouth	29
27	Shin-Soo Choo	26
28	Raul Ibanez	25
29	Michael Bourn	30
30	Carlos Gonzalez	31
31	Rajai Davis	32	Top OF past month with 13 SB
32	Brad Hawpe	28
33	Andrew McCutchen	35
34	Josh Willingham	34
35	Julio Borbon	37
36	Garrett Jones	39
37	B.J. Upton	36
38	Nick Swisher	33
39	Carlos Quentin	40
40	Vernon Wells	NR

Starting Pitchers

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Tim Lincecum	1
2	Zack Greinke	2	0 ER in 4 of last 5 starts; should be AL CY winner
3	Roy Halladay	3
4	Felix Hernandez	4
5	Chris Carpenter	5
6	Dan Haren	7
7	CC Sabathia	6
8	Justin Verlander	8
9	Adam Wainwright	9	Has been best of NL CY candidates over past month
10	Javier Vazquez	10
11	Josh Johnson	11
12	Cliff Lee	12
13	Jon Lester	14
14	Matt Cain	13
15	John Lackey	15
16	Josh Beckett	16
17	Cole Hamels	18
18	Ubaldo Jimenez	17
19	Wandy Rodriguez	19
20	Ted Lilly	20
21	Jered Weaver	22
22	Edwin Jackson	23
23	Tommy Hanson	25
24	Scott Baker	26
25	Scott Kazmir	34
26	Gavin Floyd	28
27	Matt Garza	33
28	Randy Wolf	27
29	Clayton Kershaw	29
30	Jake Peavy	NR
31	Jair Jurrjens	30
32	Chad Billingsley	21	Definitely took a step back in 2009
33	Ricky Nolasco	32
34	Joel Pineiro	37
35	A.J. Burnett	38
36	Ryan Dempster	39
37	Clay Buchholz	42
38	Rich Harden	31
39	Pedro Martinez	35
40	James Shields	41
41	John Danks	36
42	Joe Blanton	44
43	Scott Feldman	48
44	Brett Anderson	49
45	Andy Pettitte	40
46	Jorge de la Rosa	NR
47	Bronson Arroyo	43
48	Jason Marquis	NR
49	Johnny Cueto	NR
50	Ervin Santana	NR

Relievers

Rank	Player	Prev.	Comments
1	Mariano Rivera	1
2	Jonathan Broxton	3
3	Joe Nathan	2
4	Jonathan Papelbon	4
5	Joakim Soria	6
6	Heath Bell	5
7	David Aardsma	7
8	Brian Wilson	8
9	Francisco Rodriguez	9
10	Andrew Bailey	11
11	Jose Valverde	10
12	Francisco Cordero	14
13	Carlos Marmol	13
14	Trevor Hoffman	16
15	Brian Fuentes	17
16	Ryan Franklin	12	Finally coming back to earth
17	Rafael Soriano	18
18	Frank Francisco	19
19	Fernando Rodney	21
20	Juan Gutierrez	23
21	Jason Frasor	24
22	Leo Nunez	26
23	Matt Capps	27
24	Huston Street	15
25	Mike MacDougal	22
26	Kerry Wood	28
27	J.P. Howell	NR
28	Brad Lidge	NR
29	Franklin Morales	30
30	Matt Thornton	NR	Seems to be the beneficiary of Jenks’ injury

Bryan Freilich is one of a growing number of fantasy experts who write for the Cafe. You can catch up with Bryan in the Cafe's forums where he posts under the name of rookies and cream.