Jason Hunt takes a look at some players who may benefit from additional eligibility at third base depending on your league's rules.
We aim to provide you with the most comprehensive coverage possible here at Fake Teams, as you have been seeing with our position rankings each week. These rankings are based on three criteria primarily, at least in terms of who is eligible for these position-specific lists.
- They must have appeared in 20 games at the position in 2014. 20 games is the standard required by CBS and ESPN fantasy baseball leagues for eligibility at a position.
- If they did not appear in at least 20 games at any position, then we include them with the position they appeared the most at. This tends to be how these sites will give eligibility
- Finally, we look at how the 2015 season will progress, and if a player is expected to achieve eligibility at the position fairly quickly (generally 5 games in-season), we will rank them at the position as well. This has led players like Marcus Semien to be included at SS, as he will qualify under that standard within the first two weeks of the season.
But what if your league's eligibility requirements aren't so stringent? Yahoo only requires 10 games for example, and there are definitely leagues out there where it only takes 5 games, or even just 1, from the previous season to get position eligibility for this season. That's where we come in, with a look during each position's week at players where you may be able to game a little more advantage if you know the rules in your league inside out. With that in mind, here are some players who may have improved value in your league because they may qualify at SS based on less stringent eligibility requirements.
Value Up
Miguel Cabrera (10) - It's not like his value is down all that much, but giving him third base as well as first base might move him up one or two spots depending on how you view his potential to rebound to his lofty previous levels. Either way, it's a very nice bit of flexibility to have.
Daniel Murphy (16) - The Mets moved Murphy all over the field last year, and would probably be in the 15-20 range at third base for leagues where he qualifies there.
Aaron Hill (7) - Hill is probably one of the top 30 third basemen if he qualifies there in your league, but unless your requirement for last year is just 5 games, it probably isn't really there. The roster flexibility is nice at the back end specifically in deeper formats, as it gives him 2B, 3B, CI and MI qualifications.
Rearranging Deck Chairs
Jonathan Schoop (17) - Schoop is the everyday second baseman for the Orioles, but he's kind of in the same boat as Hill in that it likely only moves him into the top 30 and doesn't really change his value all that much.
Gordon Beckham (13) - Beckham is going to get an opportunity to win the starting second base job, and with that would come additional value if he wins it. That said, he's still probably only a deep league or reserve round play unless it becomes clear he will win that job.
One-Game Specials
Albert Pujols (1) - It's a nice bit of flexibility if your league only requires one game from last year, but it doesn't really impact his value more than a slight bit.
Yonder Alonso (3), Nick Franklin (1), Wilmer Flores (1), DiDi Gregorius (2) - Nothing really to see here, value essentially the same as before.