Around 2:30 Eastern time, Strat-O-Matic posted their fielding ratings for the upcoming 2007 set. If there is one thing that spurs more debate in any fantasy game, I’m not sure what it is. Seasons are made on this day. You can download it from the Strat-O-Matic site at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/sphere/2007rate.htm.
First things first, who got the prized 1’s?
Strat-O-Matic Gold Gloves
CA- R. Martin, Y. Molina, J. Vartek
1B- C. Kotchman, D. Mientkiewicz, M. Teixeira, K. Yorkilis, D. Lee (1-b2) and A. Pujols (1-b2)
2B- O. Hudson, B. Phillips
3B- A. Beltre (1-b2), M. Lowell (1-b2)
SS- O. Cabrera, J. McDonald, J. Rollins, O. Vizquel
LF- C. Crawford (1-b2)
CF- C. Beltran, T. Hunter, A. Jones, M. Nyjer, A. Rowand, G. Sizemore, I. Suzuki, V. Wells
RF- F. Gutierrez, S. Victorino, Jeff Francoeur (1-b2)
Let’s look at the rookies and see if I missed significantly on any position. I’ll also make note if my rankings change due to the ratings.
Catchers
The two that I missed that might mean something are Miguel Montero. I guess a 4 and they gave him a 3. I guess Govany Soto to have a 3 and they gave him a 4. Suzuki was given a 4 and I guessed 3. It doesn’t change my ratings at catcher. Arms will, but I don’t have that yet.
First Base
Defense does not play a big role. In my first list, I did not include Billy Butler. I grade him a B above Steve Pearse as he is a 1B-5. For the most part, I was correct on my guesses. No changes in ranking.
Second Base
Alexi Casila earned a 2B-3 basic-4 so I was close. He is now playable. Delwyn Young was given a 2B-5, and I guessed a 4. He is still someone without a position. For those that asked about Kelly Johnson, he got a 3, so he is the #1 pitch of second baseman if he is there. No changes in ranking.
Third Base
I was right with Braun. He gets the 3B-5. That makes him pretty much unplayable except as a DH. I was wrong on Jack Hannahan who got a 2 when I guessed 4 and the same with Metcalf. No changes.
Shortstop
Asdrubal Cabrera earns a 2 and Yunel Escobar earns a 3. That still doesn’t settle the question of which one to take. Cabrera will be a second baseman next year and Escobar will be a shortstop. In the future, both will be at short. Of the other guys I mentioned, I was right on Harris and Pena Jr., but John McDonald got a ss-1 not a 2 like I guessed. No changes.
Centerfield
The one I missed was Nyjer Morgan. I have him a CF-3 and Strat gave him a 1. I don’t know where that came from. I graded him a Grade-B- fallback position, but the CF-1 is a different story. That probably moves him above Felix Pie into a solid B.
Left / Right Field
I was wrong on Nathan Haynes. I guessed a 4 in all outfield positions. He earned a 2 in all outfield positions. I guess Justin Upton would get a RF-2 and they gave him a 4. Justin Upton isn’t the elite player I think he is if he is a 4. My guess is that he’ll be a two once he gets more experience. No changes.
Not too shabby. I only missed by two grade five times. That is not too shabby. Clearly, I wasn’t expecting a 1 from Nyjer Morgan. That was highly unusual for them to give a rookie with only 100 at-bats a 1.
Two Point Improvements
Jeff Mathis improves from a CA-4 to a CA-2
Kazuo Matsui improves from a 2B-4 to a 2B-2
Martin Prado improves from a 2B-4 to a 2B-2
John McDonald improves from a 3B-4 to a 3B-2
Coco Crisp improves from a CF-4 to a CF-2
Adam Jones improves from a CF-4 to a CF-2
Franklin Gutierrez improves from a RF-3 to a RF-1
Shane Victorino improves from a RF-3 to a RF-1
Two Point Drops
Carlos Guillen drops from a SS-2 to a SS-4
Johnny Damon drops from a CF-2 to a CF-4
Infield Losses
Players who dropped from a playable 2B-3 or SS-3 to an unplayable 2B-4 or SS-4.
Ray Durham
Ryan Freel
Jose Lopez
Dan Uggla
Jose Valentin
Jose Vidro
Omar Infante
Hanley Ramirez
Infield Gains
Players who went up from a 2B-4 or SS-4 to a playable 2B-3 or SS-3:
Brendan Harris
Howie Kendrick
Ryan Theriot
Ramon Vazquez
Jhonny Peralta
My Prospective
There will always be one or two players I disagree with. I know that Strat-O-Matic spends much more time looking at fielding than I do. To me, if I guess a 3 and the player gets a 2 or a 4, that isn’t much of difference. When I’m off by two, that means I don’t know the player very well or I disagree. Of the rookies that I missed by two, in all the cases, I didn’t know much about them. Part of my prospecting process is to figure out who to look at and ignore those that I don’t think that will be meaningful Strat cards. In all the cases except Nyjer Morgan, the fact that I was wrong doesn’t affect my decision to draft that player. Morgan does move up a couple of spots and I’m going to find out more about him.
Next Week
With the fielding complete, I’ll return my focus to closer candidates. I will then follow up on relievers. By then we should be pretty close to the numbers and I’ll start crunching cheat sheets.
JP Kastner is the winner of the 2007 Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online Expert League World Series. In five seasons of SOMBOE, JP Kastner has five winning seasons, four playoff appearances, three World Series appearances and now one World Championship. He is in his second season in the Tout Wars mixed league.