Preamble: this was by far one of the oddest Google image searches I’ve had to do for a post on here. Yikes, are there some weird people out there. I’ll let you discover this for yourselves.
Any of you folks play fantasy baseball? The only reason I bring it up, is because two of the most recent posts at RotoAuthority.com deal with the Dodgers and specifically, Russell Martin and Jeff Kent.
Rnk Name 1 Russell Martin 2 Victor Martinez 3 Joe Mauer 4 Jorge Posada 5 Brian McCann 6 Kenji Johjima 7 J.R. Towles 8 Geovany Soto 9 Bengie Molina 10 Ivan Rodriguez 11 Carlos Ruiz 12 A.J. Pierzynski 13 Ramon Hernandez 14 Ronny Paulino 15 Mike Napoli 16 Jason Varitek 17 Paul Lo Duca 18 Ryan Doumit 19 Salty 20 Johnny Estrada
#1, baby! I know this is for fantasy teams, so Turtle’s absurd (for a C) amount of SB factor in heavily here, but still. My second immediate reaction is: JR Towles and Geovany Soto in the top 10? Holy crap is catching poor right now. I still don’t think we all truly understand how lucky we got with Martin yet.
Where’s the love for Jeff Kent?
I hadn’t noticed, but apparently Jeff Kent sucks now or something. His Average Draft Position is 202.19, 16th among second basemen. Did this guy not hit .302-20-79-78-1 last year? Has he not been a model of consistency since back when you were playing with Go-bots?
Here are a bunch of second basemen who are being picked before Kent, who shouldn’t:
- Dan Uggla
- Kelly Johnson
- Dustin Pedroia
- Orlando Hudson
- Kaz Matsui
- Asdrubal Cabrera
Asdrubal going before Kent is the perfect example of fantasy leaguers blindly opting for youth over boring experienced guys. Asdrubal Cabrera can’t hold Jeff Kent‘s jockstrap in fantasy baseball, even if he does steal 15 bags. Ditto with Pedroia going before Kent or Placido Polanco.
The fact that people, fantasy or otherwise, think Kaz Matsui is a good baseball player blows my mind. It was acceptable for the Rockies because they pulled him off the trash heap – i.e. “replacement player”. But then Houston giving him 3 years and $16.5 million? Yeesh. I actually kind of feel bad for Houston fans.
Remember, kids – Kent may not be a great defender, and he may be a dick. But the man can still hit, and better than just about anyone not named Chase Utley at his position.
- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness 
