The Top 10 Fantasy 2B of 2009

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These weekly posts of mine will be based on a rotisserie format using a traditional 5×5 scoring system to keep things simple. Personally I prefer more statistics in my leagues (which is why I was the commissioner in one of my leagues), but in order to reach the most readers we will just stick with the basic. But, feel free to either e-mail me or leave a comment in this post if you have specific questions. If I don’t reply to the comment, then ping me in an e-mail, too!

We will go around the horn in this series after skipping the pitcher‘s position.

And remember, just because a player had a good fantasy season in 2009, it doesn’t mean he will have another one in 2010 and beyond. Sometimes you need to look into the player’s past and see if he is showing signs of decline over a few years.

Please Note: The 5×5 stats listed below are as follows in this order Runs/HR/RBI/SB/Ave and the number in parenthesis is the player’s age

10 — Felipe Lopez (29) Diamondbacks/Brewers

88/9/57/6/.311
Lopez‘s .311 average helps him to hit the top 10 while just edging out Callaspo of the Royals.

9 — Asdrubal Cabrera (23) Indians; also Qualifies at SS with over 20 games started

81/6/68/17/.308

His 17 steals and .308 average gets Cabrera on this list!

The fact that he also qualifies at SS is a plus that gives the fantasy owner nice flexibility.

8 — Brandon Phillips (28) Reds

78/20/98/25/.276

Once again Phillips reaches the 20/20 mark, but it’s not enough when the guy just ahead of you reaches the 30/30 mark (even though that guy hit more than 20 points lower in BA). Phillips will always be in the top 10 while he can go 20/20 every year!

7 — Ian Kinsler (27) Ranger

101/31/86/31/.253
Kinsler‘s low average keeps him from breaking the top 5 on my list, but the rest of his numbers are Fantasy worthy to say the least as he reached the 30/30 mark in 2009!

6 — Dustin Pedroia (25) Red Sox

115/15/72/20/.296
Pedroia had an off year as his average dipped below .300, but overall you should see these type of number every year from the diminutive one with the BIG mouth. I expect his average to be north of .300 in 2010 with maybe some more RBI with Scutaro hitting 9th.

5 — Brian Roberts (31) Orioles

110/16/79/30/.283
Roberts is the “old” man of this young list at 31 and he had a very typical year. He ranks 5th on this list mainly due to the weak offensive position and his ability to steal bases!

4 — Ben Zobrist (28) Rays; also Qualifies at RF with over 20 games started

91/27/91/17/.297

I’m actually surprised to see Cano higher on this list based upon how high Zobrist ranked in the MVP predictions I previously posted. This was a break though year for Zobrist and I am not sure you can expect him to hit close to 30 HR every year, but he may be consistently good for 20 each year with sufficient playing time.

His ability to qualify in RF is a big plus!

3 — Robinson Cano (26) Yankees

103/25/85/5/.320
These numbers don’t surprise me from Cano, but I still can’t believe he hits these marks with such slow starts every year. They say he’ll win a batting title one of these years, but I doubt that unless he starts a season without being ice cold. He doesn’t typically hit over .300 in a month until around July.

2 — Aaron Hill (27) Blue Jays

103/36/108/6/.286

Not even Utley reached the 100/30/100 mark last year! Where Utley tops Hill is his ability to steal bases and maintain consistency. I doubt we will see numbers like this from Hill again in 2010, but I’m sure he’ll reach most of these numbers, but I doubt he’ll reach 100 RBI again. All this coming off a concussion shortened 2008 season!

1 — Chase Utley (30) Phillies

112/31/93/23/.282

Utley showed no signs of his off season hip surgery in 2009 as his numbers are right on his norm. Need I say anything more about the man with the greasy hair? Probably not! His stats speak for themselves!

Honorable Mentions:

Alberto Callaspo (26) Royals

79/11/73/2/.300

Jose Lopez (25) Mariners

69/25/96/3/.272