Panzram
10-07-2005, 05:22 AM
2005 AL All-Fantasy Team (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=fanball-alallfantasyteam&prov=fanball&type=lgns)
2005 AL All-Fantasy Team
by Ted Carlson - Senior Editor, Fanball.com
Thursday, October 6, 2005
The 2005 fantasy baseball season tossed out its final stat over the weekend, and it's time to relive some of the high points by identifying elite players. If you recognize more than a few of these batsmen and hurlers from your own roster, odds are you're clearing space for the league championship trophy. If you didn't have the pleasure of owning one or more of these guys… hey, there's always next year.
Catcher – Victor Martinez, IndiansHeading into the All-Star break, Jason Varitek comfortably held the top catcher spot, and Ivan Rodriguez was clearly in second place. Martinez? He was hitting .236 at the midway point. Victor then went crazy during the second half, batting .380 with 11 homers, 45 RBI, and 42 runs over 71 games. When the dust settled, the Indian trumped all backstops in runs (73), RBI (80), and average (.305), and Martinez (20) finished just behind Varitek (22) and Rod Barajas (21) in homers. It ended up being a close call over the Red Sox captain, but V-Mart is our winnerl.
First Base – Mark Teixeira, RangersIt doesn't get much closer than Teixeria versus David Ortiz, but the AL has a built-in option for allowing us to pick both players. Ortiz logged only 10 games at first, so he'll be appearing in the DH section of this article. Big Papi aside, Tex crushed all competition at this spot. He slammed a career-high 43 homers, drove in 144 runs (23 more than the next first baseman, Richie Sexson), scored 112 times (13 more than the next player, again Sexson), and led all first basemen with a .301 average. Cheers to Sexson and Paul Konerko for having solid seasons, but Teixeira was clearly the ace.
Second Base – Alfonso Soriano, RangersThe reigning second base champ received plenty of stiff competition this season, but in the end, we couldn't deny Soriano his usual spot as the fantasy world's finest second-sacker. His 36 homers easily bested Jorge Cantu (28) and Brian Roberts (18), and Soriano chipped in 30 steals, marking the third time in his career that he's etched his name into the 30-30 club. Alfonso drove in a career-high 104 runs (second to Cantu) and scored 102 times (second to Chone Figgins). The only real detriment to Soriano's value was his .268 average, but we can forgive that number in the face of his other four, outstanding stats. Cantu, Roberts, and Figgins deserve praise for making this a close race.
Shortstop – Michael Young, RangersAnother position, another Ranger. We all expected Miguel Tejada to rule the shortstop position again this season, but Young stepped up to the proverbial plate and took over the top spot. Young captured his first batting crown by hitting .331, and he ranked second at his position in RBI (91), second in runs (114), and second in homers (24). Tejada, Derek Jeter, and Jhonny Peralta all posted fine stats as well, but Young's four-cat dominance set him well above the competition. The only thing Michael didn't do was steal bases (five), but only a couple AL shortstops bothered to pilfer even 15 pillows this season.
Third Base – Alex Rodriguez, YankeesWill the Rangers sweep the four infield spots? No, don't be silly. Rodriguez is arguably the best player in all of fantasy baseball, and it's not even a close issue when we narrow the scope to AL third basemen. A-Rod overwhelmed his competition by 20 homers (48 to 28), 13 RBI (130 to 117), 11 runs (124 to 113), and 26 batting points (.321 to .295). For good measure, Alex tossed in 21 steals, which ranked second at the position. Yeah, he's pretty good.
Outfield – Manny Ramirez, Red Sox; Gary Sheffield, Yankees; Vladimir Guerrero, AngelsFantasy owners could have easily picked this trio when the season opened, but the voting was closer than we would have expected. Ramirez was an easy choice, as his 45 homers, 144 RBI, and 112 runs rank him right alongside A-Rod, Teixeira, and Ortiz as the elite players in the AL. Sheffield also finished well ahead of the rest of the outfield field. He ranked second in homers (34), second in RBI (123), sixth in runs (104), and ninth in average (.291), and he chipped in 10 steals. The third choice? That's where the voting turned hostile. Guerrero's stat totals (.317, 32 homers, 108 RBI, 95 runs, 13 steals) suggest he's the man for the spot, but we can argue that he didn't produce enough bang for his preseason buck. Cases could be made for Hideki Matsui, Grady Sizemore, Carl Crawford, and Johnny Damon providing more return on their initial investment and thus being more valuable. We've gone back and forth and forth and back and finally chose Vlad. Feel free to argue amongst yourselves. We're moving on.
Designated Hitter – David Ortiz, Red SoxWe've discussed Ortiz throughout this article, and he's the obvious choice for this spot. Only A-Rod posted better five-cat numbers this season, and only Teixeira and Manny bear mentioning in the same breath or sentence. Ortiz set career-highs in homers (47), RBI (148), and runs (119), and he batted .300. Heck, he also chipped in one steal. Although he's not even close to Big Papi, Travis Hafner deserves mention here. After a slow start to his campaign, Hafner came on strong and finished at .305 with 33 homers, 108 RBI, and 94 runs. Nice work, Pronk.
Starting Pitchers – Johan Santana, Twins; Mark Buehrle, White Sox; Bartolo Colon, AngelsThe big news here is not necessarily who is included but who is excluded. Randy Johnson (mild) and Curt Schilling (serious) provided different levels of disappointment and angst to fantasy owners this season and opened the door for Buehrle and Colon to make this list. But we begin with Santana, who led the AL in strikeouts (238) and WHIP (0.97) for a second straight season. He also produced 16 wins (tied for fifth) and a 2.87 ERA (second). Buehrle spent April in the fantasy shadow of teammate Jon Garland, but in the end, there's no doubt who led the White Sox staff. The lefty won 16 games for the second straight year, ranked third in ERA (3.12), tied for sixth in WHIP (1.18), and placed 11th in strikeouts (149). Colon followed up a rocky 2004 with one of the finest seasons in his career. Bartolo led the AL in wins (21) and was very solid in ERA (3.48), WHIP (1.16), and strikeouts (157). Other hurlers who deserve praise for their fantasy efforts include Johnson, Garland, John Lackey, and Cliff Lee
Closer – Mariano Rivera, YankeesWe entered the season figuring that the AL contained four top-tier closers, and three of the four didn't disappoint. Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Francisco Rodriguez could easily share this honor, but we went with the Yankee due to his 1.38 ERA and 0.87 WHIP, which were clearly the best marks amongst AL closers and also the top single-season stats of Mariano's career. Rivera tied Nathan for third in saves (43) and added in seven wins and 80 strikeouts. We'll also hand blue ribbons to Nathan, K-Rod, Bob Wickman, and Danys Baez for their wonderful contributions.
2005 AL All-Fantasy Team
by Ted Carlson - Senior Editor, Fanball.com
Thursday, October 6, 2005
The 2005 fantasy baseball season tossed out its final stat over the weekend, and it's time to relive some of the high points by identifying elite players. If you recognize more than a few of these batsmen and hurlers from your own roster, odds are you're clearing space for the league championship trophy. If you didn't have the pleasure of owning one or more of these guys… hey, there's always next year.
Catcher – Victor Martinez, IndiansHeading into the All-Star break, Jason Varitek comfortably held the top catcher spot, and Ivan Rodriguez was clearly in second place. Martinez? He was hitting .236 at the midway point. Victor then went crazy during the second half, batting .380 with 11 homers, 45 RBI, and 42 runs over 71 games. When the dust settled, the Indian trumped all backstops in runs (73), RBI (80), and average (.305), and Martinez (20) finished just behind Varitek (22) and Rod Barajas (21) in homers. It ended up being a close call over the Red Sox captain, but V-Mart is our winnerl.
First Base – Mark Teixeira, RangersIt doesn't get much closer than Teixeria versus David Ortiz, but the AL has a built-in option for allowing us to pick both players. Ortiz logged only 10 games at first, so he'll be appearing in the DH section of this article. Big Papi aside, Tex crushed all competition at this spot. He slammed a career-high 43 homers, drove in 144 runs (23 more than the next first baseman, Richie Sexson), scored 112 times (13 more than the next player, again Sexson), and led all first basemen with a .301 average. Cheers to Sexson and Paul Konerko for having solid seasons, but Teixeira was clearly the ace.
Second Base – Alfonso Soriano, RangersThe reigning second base champ received plenty of stiff competition this season, but in the end, we couldn't deny Soriano his usual spot as the fantasy world's finest second-sacker. His 36 homers easily bested Jorge Cantu (28) and Brian Roberts (18), and Soriano chipped in 30 steals, marking the third time in his career that he's etched his name into the 30-30 club. Alfonso drove in a career-high 104 runs (second to Cantu) and scored 102 times (second to Chone Figgins). The only real detriment to Soriano's value was his .268 average, but we can forgive that number in the face of his other four, outstanding stats. Cantu, Roberts, and Figgins deserve praise for making this a close race.
Shortstop – Michael Young, RangersAnother position, another Ranger. We all expected Miguel Tejada to rule the shortstop position again this season, but Young stepped up to the proverbial plate and took over the top spot. Young captured his first batting crown by hitting .331, and he ranked second at his position in RBI (91), second in runs (114), and second in homers (24). Tejada, Derek Jeter, and Jhonny Peralta all posted fine stats as well, but Young's four-cat dominance set him well above the competition. The only thing Michael didn't do was steal bases (five), but only a couple AL shortstops bothered to pilfer even 15 pillows this season.
Third Base – Alex Rodriguez, YankeesWill the Rangers sweep the four infield spots? No, don't be silly. Rodriguez is arguably the best player in all of fantasy baseball, and it's not even a close issue when we narrow the scope to AL third basemen. A-Rod overwhelmed his competition by 20 homers (48 to 28), 13 RBI (130 to 117), 11 runs (124 to 113), and 26 batting points (.321 to .295). For good measure, Alex tossed in 21 steals, which ranked second at the position. Yeah, he's pretty good.
Outfield – Manny Ramirez, Red Sox; Gary Sheffield, Yankees; Vladimir Guerrero, AngelsFantasy owners could have easily picked this trio when the season opened, but the voting was closer than we would have expected. Ramirez was an easy choice, as his 45 homers, 144 RBI, and 112 runs rank him right alongside A-Rod, Teixeira, and Ortiz as the elite players in the AL. Sheffield also finished well ahead of the rest of the outfield field. He ranked second in homers (34), second in RBI (123), sixth in runs (104), and ninth in average (.291), and he chipped in 10 steals. The third choice? That's where the voting turned hostile. Guerrero's stat totals (.317, 32 homers, 108 RBI, 95 runs, 13 steals) suggest he's the man for the spot, but we can argue that he didn't produce enough bang for his preseason buck. Cases could be made for Hideki Matsui, Grady Sizemore, Carl Crawford, and Johnny Damon providing more return on their initial investment and thus being more valuable. We've gone back and forth and forth and back and finally chose Vlad. Feel free to argue amongst yourselves. We're moving on.
Designated Hitter – David Ortiz, Red SoxWe've discussed Ortiz throughout this article, and he's the obvious choice for this spot. Only A-Rod posted better five-cat numbers this season, and only Teixeira and Manny bear mentioning in the same breath or sentence. Ortiz set career-highs in homers (47), RBI (148), and runs (119), and he batted .300. Heck, he also chipped in one steal. Although he's not even close to Big Papi, Travis Hafner deserves mention here. After a slow start to his campaign, Hafner came on strong and finished at .305 with 33 homers, 108 RBI, and 94 runs. Nice work, Pronk.
Starting Pitchers – Johan Santana, Twins; Mark Buehrle, White Sox; Bartolo Colon, AngelsThe big news here is not necessarily who is included but who is excluded. Randy Johnson (mild) and Curt Schilling (serious) provided different levels of disappointment and angst to fantasy owners this season and opened the door for Buehrle and Colon to make this list. But we begin with Santana, who led the AL in strikeouts (238) and WHIP (0.97) for a second straight season. He also produced 16 wins (tied for fifth) and a 2.87 ERA (second). Buehrle spent April in the fantasy shadow of teammate Jon Garland, but in the end, there's no doubt who led the White Sox staff. The lefty won 16 games for the second straight year, ranked third in ERA (3.12), tied for sixth in WHIP (1.18), and placed 11th in strikeouts (149). Colon followed up a rocky 2004 with one of the finest seasons in his career. Bartolo led the AL in wins (21) and was very solid in ERA (3.48), WHIP (1.16), and strikeouts (157). Other hurlers who deserve praise for their fantasy efforts include Johnson, Garland, John Lackey, and Cliff Lee
Closer – Mariano Rivera, YankeesWe entered the season figuring that the AL contained four top-tier closers, and three of the four didn't disappoint. Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Francisco Rodriguez could easily share this honor, but we went with the Yankee due to his 1.38 ERA and 0.87 WHIP, which were clearly the best marks amongst AL closers and also the top single-season stats of Mariano's career. Rivera tied Nathan for third in saves (43) and added in seven wins and 80 strikeouts. We'll also hand blue ribbons to Nathan, K-Rod, Bob Wickman, and Danys Baez for their wonderful contributions.