Hanley Ramirez vs THE WORLD

[Fenway Punk]

As many of you know, I do not subscribe to postition scarcity. I believe that it has become such an overblown topic that it has deterred the fantasy community away from why we are here in the first place: WICKED AWESOME STATS.
So here's a fun exercise. The following are players who won't be named,(yet) but according to their stats you tell me where they should be ranked. ( Of course, those of you reading about fantasy baseball this time of year should know IMMEDIATELY who these guys are. You freaks. I love all of ya!) *ahem* So here you go ~

Player A .328 AVG 111 R 38 HR 126 RBI 3 SB
Player B .312 AVG 115 R 42 HR 118 RBI 14 SB
Player C .276 AVG 87 R 31 HR 108 RBI 1 SB
Player D .294 AVG 96 R 22 HR 104 RBI 15 SB
Player E .336 AVG 111 R 34 HR 117 RBI 26 SB
Player F .300 AVG 92 R 21 HR 76 RBI 32 SB

I'm sure by now you can see where I'm going for this. Don't get me wrong. I love Hanley Ramirez... but to continue to just hand over a top 5 ranking to him seems like we do it out of familiarity, rather than neccessity. For those of you slow on the uptake, Hanley is player F. Check out the surrounding numbers you pass just so you can have an "elite" at a thin position. If you always take the best stats possible, it won't matter if you end up with a Erick Aybar type... it all evens out.
Please, I want to hear opinions that I'm either out of my mind or maybe I'm on to something here.

[markj11]

Are any of them a catcher?

[Fenway Punk]

Are any of them a catcher?

Ummm.... no. These are last years stats, and all are projected to be first round, except for one, who should fall to early round 2.

I'm sure someone will identify who these guys are. I'll give it awhile, if nobody attempts it I'll let you know, but will be VERY disappointed

[markj11]

Are any of them a catcher?

Ummm.... no. These are last years stats, and all are projected to be first round, except for one, who should fall to early round 2.

I'm sure someone will identify who these guys are. I'll give it awhile, if nobody attempts it I'll let you know, but will be VERY disappointed

Well, if any of them were a catcher I would take them first.

[EDIT] Also, if any are UTIL I would take them last.

[Fenway Punk]

Now I get it... you're putting me on huh? Why-ey-outta.......

[markj11]

As many of you know, I do not subscribe to postition scarcity. I believe that it has become such an overblown topic that it has deterred the fantasy community away from why we are here in the first place: WICKED AWESOME STATS.
So here's a fun exercise. The following are players who won't be named,(yet) but according to their stats you tell me where they should be ranked. ( Of course, those of you reading about fantasy baseball this time of year should know IMMEDIATELY who these guys are. You freaks. I love all of ya!) *ahem* So here you go ~

Player A .328 AVG 111 R 38 HR 126 RBI 3 SB
Player B .312 AVG 115 R 42 HR 118 RBI 14 SB
Player C .276 AVG 87 R 31 HR 108 RBI 1 SB
Player D .294 AVG 96 R 22 HR 104 RBI 15 SB
Player E .336 AVG 111 R 34 HR 117 RBI 26 SB
Player F .300 AVG 92 R 21 HR 76 RBI 32 SB

I'm sure by now you can see where I'm going for this. Don't get me wrong. I love Hanley Ramirez... but to continue to just hand over a top 5 ranking to him seems like we do it out of familiarity, rather than neccessity. For those of you slow on the uptake, Hanley is player F. Check out the surrounding numbers you pass just so you can have an "elite" at a thin position. If you always take the best stats possible, it won't matter if you end up with a Erick Aybar type... it all evens out.
Please, I want to hear opinions that I'm either out of my mind or maybe I'm on to something here.

Player A .328 AVG 111 R 38 HR 126 RBI 3 SB (3)
Player B .312 AVG 115 R 42 HR 118 RBI 14 SB (2)
Player C .276 AVG 87 R 31 HR 108 RBI 1 SB (6)
Player D .294 AVG 96 R 22 HR 104 RBI 15 SB (4)
Player E .336 AVG 111 R 34 HR 117 RBI 26 SB (1)
Player F .300 AVG 92 R 21 HR 76 RBI 32 SB (5)

Hanley is top 5, last year was his floor, actually probably his basement plus he plays SS .

[jake_twothousandfive]

Hanley is top 5, last year was his floor, actually probably his basement plus he plays SS .

Good posting.

Hanley produced below his career averages in every major statistical category yet still finished as an extremely valuable fantasy player. Also I agree that position scarcity is overblown, but it is a factor people should be taking into account.

[jake_twothousandfive]

Player A - Miggy
Player B - Pujols
Player C - Howard
Player D - Longoria
Player E - CarGo
Player F - Hanley

[Fenway Punk]

Player A - Miggy
Player B - Pujols
Player C - Howard
Player D - Longoria
Player E - CarGo
Player F - Hanley

Bingo. The point of this post was to point out how much greater these stats are too Hanley's. What I'm trying to say is, you have much little margin for error with the rest of your draft when you take Hanley at such a high pick when the stats that surround him blow him out of the water. The point I'm making, (and trust me you'll get really sick of hearing it from me) is that if you draft by numbers and not by names it won't matter who you have playing at the "thin" postions because it will even out in your favor. Those who pass on the numbers like the ones listed are only making things harder for themselves, even though at the time they feel like the fantasy baseball messiah.

[Neato Torpedo]

http://baseballmonster.com

Among hitters he was 15th in 2010, 3rd in 2009, 4th in '08, and 3rd in '07. He's the only one that was top 4 over '07-'09; not even Pujols or Rodriguez could hold that distinction. 2010 was a huge down year for him and he still put up a 20/30 season with a .300 AVG and good R/RBI numbers.