SS Recommendations anyone...

[Amnorix]

Did I mention a 13 player league with mostly bright players?

Eckstein was taken in the 9th round. Ramon Vazquez was taken in the 22nd round.

Like I said, only the dregs are left.

[Absolutely Adequate]

I like Relaford on that list b/c he's playing in Kaufman and he's got multi-positional eligability in case you get hit by the injury bug again.
Hank

[Amnorix]

EugeneStyles -- I'm interested in hearing why you think Izturis might get 30+ steals? I see that he's young, and that his low Ks (which count in my league) are appealing, but his OPS is utterly horrible (.556 in 135 games last year).

Anyway -- back to the steals -- he had a nifty 8 steals against only one CS in 2001 with Toronto in only 46 games. Last year, however, he was caught 7 times in 14 attempts, for a pathetic 50/50 average, and had only 7 steals in 135 games.

I'm more of an AL guy than an NL guy, so what is it about this kid that I don't know that leads one to think he might get 30 swipes (and therefore be at least somewhat appealing)?

Thanks in advance

Also, with regard to trading for Woodward -- good thought but trades in this league are typically more painful than they are worth (i.e. when someone knows they might have you over a barrel, they try to make sure your veins run dry before they give you any help). Just a nice friendly league...

[Payne Dailey]

I'd gamble on Lugo, he's been a defensive liablity for the Astros not a problem with his bat.He leads off can get you some steals and HR's on occasion. He will bat in front of Biggio, Bagwell, Kent and Berkman.

[The Jury]

Andy Fox has some speed, and Julio Lugo is in a good lineup and ballpark and he's decent.

[Josh]

just heard from cashman on ESPN that almonte is going to get the shot at shortstop with wilson backing him up. Something to think about. I know his numbers have not been anything special, but this kid is supposed to be nasty.

[Siege1386]

So far Almonte and Wilson will split time at SS, but Almonte will probably get the majority of the time.

[EugeneStyles]

Jury - Fox has great speed, but he doesn't have a place to play unless someone gets hurt. Without a starting job, he's not worth picking up. If he wins a job later in the year, he's not a terrible SS to use as an injury fill-in.

Amnorix - Izturis has pretty decent speed. He was quite a base-stealer in the minors. And playing in a pitcher's park, he should have a lot opportunities. It's hard to use his OPS as a guideline because he's not a slugger, although he should have the ability to hit for average.

Also, I'm going just based on potential here. Alex Gonzalez is probably good for at least .250 and 15 HR's, a few steals and mediocre RBI totals. So picking up another lackluster SS isn't gonna do much good. Looking at the list, the best prospect, in my eyes, is Izturis. He hasn't shown much yet, but he *is* fast, and he seems to have the starting job locked up.

The reason he didn't have many steals last year (and a lot of CS) could be due to something correctable, like not having seen the pitchers often enough to get their timing down.

So yeah, like you said, he's nowhere near a sure thing, but I think the best choices are really him and Counsell.