Fantasy Baseball Position Primer: Ranking the corner Infielders
Many of you have been managing fantasy baseball teams for a decade or more, so you can remember a time when power stats were available everywhere, at all positions. Back in the day, we used to get 25 and 30-homer seasons from middle infielders who weren't even particularly skilled at hitting — like this guy and this guy.
Power was unavoidable. Everyone cleared the fences.
These days, however, power isn't so widely available.
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The average major league team hit just 140 total home runs last season. In 2004, an average team hit 182. Only 11 players reached the 30-homer plateau last year, compared to 37 back in '04. Hitters are presumably less enhanced today, plus the called strike zone has dramatically expanded. All the fantasy benchmarks have changed. Run-scoring is down, Ks are up, batting averages haven't been this low since the Nixon administration and power is fading.
Today, if you don't receive significant contributions in home runs and RBIs from your corner infielders, then good luck competing. Of the 11 players who hit 30 or more bombs last season, eight are eligible at either first or third (or both). Twelve hitters topped 100 RBIs last year, and seven of them were corner infielders, led by Adrian Gonzalez (116). You won't find much speed on the corners — Paul Goldschmidt and Todd Frazier being notable exceptions — but these spots offer plenty of three and four-category fantasy assets. Thus, it shouldn't really surprise anyone to see six corner infielders ranked among the overall Yahoo consensus top-12 players. Fantasy is a numbers game, and the stats are stacked at first and third.
We should also note that last year's minor league home run leaderboard was dominated by corner infielders, including third base prospects Kris Bryant (43) and Joey Gallo (42), as well as 20-year-old first baseman Matt Olson (37). Miguel Sano is on his way, too, following a year lost to injury. And Yasmany Tomas has been known to reach the seats.
Simply put, the corners are where the power resides in 2015, and there's more on the way.
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Position averages for the top-20 first basemen, last three years
2014 — 70.3 R, 23.5 HR, 84.2 RBIs, 2.7 SB, .273 AVG
2013 — 80.8 R, 24.7 HR, 92.7 RBIs, 5.5 SB, .289 AVG
2012 — 79.6 R, 28.0 HR, 95.1 RBIs, 4.0 SB, .288 AVG
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FIRST BASE TIERS
TIER ONE
Miguel Cabrera
Paul Goldschmidt
TIER TWO
Jose Abreu
Jose Bautista
Anthony Rizzo
Edwin Encarnacion
TIER THREE
Freddie Freeman
Adrian Gonzalez
David Ortiz
Buster Posey
Prince Fielder
Albert Pujols
TIER FOUR
Joey Votto
Todd Frazier
Carlos Santana
Victor Martinez
Chris Carter
Jonathan Lucroy
Matt Adams
Chris Davis
TIER FIVE
Eric Hosmer
Adam LaRoche
Lucas Duda
Brandon Belt
Mark Trumbo
Steve Pearce
Brandon Moss
Justin Morneau
Brian McCann
Mike Napoli
Joe Mauer
Michael Cuddyer
Billy Butler
Chase Headley
Adam Lind
Michael Morse
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Position averages for the top-20 third basemen, last three years
2014 — 65.6 R, 16.6 HR, 71.3 RBIs, 4.7 SB, .275 AVG
2013 — 74.5 R, 22.1 HR, 78.9 RBIs, 4.3 SB, .278 AVG
2012 — 80.0 R, 24.1 HR, 87.7 RBIs, 8.5 SB, .283 AVG
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THIRD BASE TIERS
TIER ONE
Miguel Cabrera
TIER TWO
Anthony Rendon
Adrian Beltre
Josh Donaldson
TIER THREE
Todd Frazier
Nolan Arenado
Evan Longoria
TIER FOUR
Kyle Seager
Carlos Santana
David Wright
Pablo Sandoval
Matt Carpenter
Chris Davis
Daniel Murphy
Manny Machado
Ryan Zimmerman
Kris Bryant
Josh Harrison
Aramis Ramirez
TIER FIVE
Xander Bogaerts
Brett Lawrie
Chase Headley
Pedro Alvarez
Martin Prado
Yasmany Tomas
Nick Castellanos
David Freese
Lonnie Chisenhall
Aaron Hill
Connor Gillaspie
Juan Uribe
Mike Moustakas
Trevor Plouffe
Marcus Semien
Maikel Franco
Chris Johnson
Josh Rutledge
Alex Rodriguez