MB'09 - Adrian Beltre, 3B, SEA

[Bodhizefa]

I'll miss Beltre an awful lot when he moves out of Safeco Field either sometime this year, or, at the latest, in 2010. He's been an excellent all-around asset for the Mariners, and he's been an underrated fantasy hot corner option for a while now. He never seems to quite perform up to skillset expectations in terms of batting average, but that's likely mostly due to being in the natural death knell for righties that I like to call Safeco. Beltre quietly contributes in every single category, and while his RBI and Runs totals were way down last year, they should uptick a bit with a generally better offense around him (and a smarter front office, too). And if he's moved to a different park (Beltre is very unlikely to be re-signed by the Mariners), all of his hitting stats should improve immediately. I'm pressed as to who will end up earning more in '09, Beltre or Alex Gordon, but if it's my money being spent, Beltre's the much safer pick.

[Bodhizefa]

Did I forget to mention it's his contract year?

[Todd Zola]

Beltre should earn more than Gordon, his skill set is flat thus should be good for his normal .270-25-8. There are a couple of yellow, not quite red flags in that his playing time has been on a slow decline and though he hit his usual number of homers last season, his doubles were down.

So while I would not downgrade Beltre a little due to these cautions and upgrade Gordon due to his potential and make them "even", I can see passing over Beltre AT VALUE because there is some downside risk to take Gordon AT VALUE to get the upside potential.