Mastersball Fantasy Forum

Hey Todd .... do you have time to do a analysis of the 3B situation in the AL with DeRosa being traded and Beltre going under the knife? Thanx

There is no global analysis of AL third baseman planned, we will handle the two situations by adjusting the rest-of-year projections and identifying anyone worthy of a pick-up in the free agent column.

The Indians should continue to use Peralta at 3B with Valbuena at SS and Carroll at 2B, with Barfield the primary reserve until Cabrera returns. At that point, Valbuena probably goes to 2B with Carroll taking over the DeRosa role.

Seattle will likely slide Jose Lopez over to 3B with Josh Wilson at SS and Cedeno at 2B, with Chris Woodward the primary reserve. Since Betancourt has been in the proverbial doghouse, it remains to be seen if he is a full timer when he returns from the DL.

Upon first glance, in deep deep AL leagues, Barfield and Woodward may now play enough to warrant pickup, the other principles are probably already on a roster. There is no affect on mixed leagues at all.

I'll try and hit this here as well:

Baltimore - Mora should get basically full time, Wigginton the backup when necessary.
Boston - I think Lowell could miss a lot of time, I'd think Kotsay at first, Youks at third is the likely short term fix, but it's absolutely possible they go and get a legit 1B bat, given that Kotsay was terrible in the playoffs last year and I don't think they can afford to give him 30-40 PA in a playoff series again (I'd argue the Lowell to Kotsay downgrade cost the Red Sox a world series appearance)
Yanks - A-Rod with Pena or Ransom covering his off days. I wouldn't be surprised to see them try and find a 1B/3B option given Nady is on the shelf for the rest of the year most likely and A-Rod might need some downtime, but guys like that are hard to find.
Rays - Locked in for the next 10-15 years.
Jays - Rolen should eventually settle into his reserved slot on the DL shuttle (just based on history) - I'd expect Bautista to cover the missed time.

Indians - Peralta at 3d, Cabrera at SS, Valbuena at 2B makes the most sense right now. I don't get the Carroll fascination really, he's Freddy Sanchez in the AL with less AVG ability. I think Andy Marte should get the damn job fulltime up in CLE for three months and let them watch him hit every day. Probably won't happen but makes more sense than letting Luis Valbuena and his career OPS of .651 (only .761 in the minors) waste AB.
White Sox - Beckham will continue to bend it at third with Fields scooping the remaining time. Beckham isn't hitting great but his K and BB skills so far are fine, and a .236 BABIP shouldn't last forever.
Royals - I'm assuming Dejesus heads to CF when Gordon returns, Teahen back to the OF. If not, then Jacobs sees the bench, Teahen DH's more, either way Gordon is the starting 3B my August 1 assuming health with Teahen backing up.
Tigers - Inge fulltime, if Laird got hurt and they slid him over to catch, I suppose you could see Don kelly move to third in his absence, maybe Ryan Raburn.
Twins - Crede with Buscher behind him

A's - Probably Kennedy and Crosby there, mostly kennedy unless Ellis gets hurt again.
Angels - Figgins, Quinlan if they really needed it.
Mariners - A total mess. The whole damn thing. I can't argue with Todd's thoughts at the position - they have very little in the minors with Mike Morse, Chris Woodward, and Callix Crabbe the most likely middle infield types to help out, and both have completely empty offensive skill sets. I might even consider Brad Nelson to get some 3B time. Unfortunately, Mike Carp and Jeff Clement are the only offensive players in this system who could or should come up and hit right away, and both play 1B/DH which are covered. Maybe Lopez comes over to third, but this is a horrid mess.
Rangers - Very stably covered by Mike Young.

Hope this helps.