Clearing The Bases

The last of our batting positions is designated hitters.  Now there are only a handful of players that qualify as a DH, and less than half of those will be drafted in most fantasy leagues.  I’ve added a few names onto this list just to lengthen it some, but the last four players are nothing more than shots in the dark.  Some fantasy owners don’t like taking a true DH because it clogs up the position as it is the only position they qualify at.  They can’t be moved to CI or OF, not yet anyway.  I’m not one of those players, if David Ortiz is the best player on my board, then I will select David Ortiz.  The one problem you may run into is that once you select an Ortiz or a Butler you can’t take a Montero unless you want to start filling your bench slots earlier than you may have expected.

As always this list is designed for 10 team 5×5 leagues.  This will be the shortest column I write as far as rankings, good for me, I need a break.  For what it’s worth I selected Ortiz today in a draft with other hosts from SiriusXM radio.  Took him in the 12th round, pretty good value if I do say so myself.

1. David Ortiz, Boston:  I know we all thought he was done a couple of years back but he seems to have found the fountain of youth.  The last three seasons he has averaged almost 30 HRs, 99 RBIs, .275 AVG, and a .876 OPS.  I will take those averages every day and twice on Sunday.
2. Billy Butler, Kansas City:  Butler is the definition of a doubles machine, hitting 140 over the past three seasons.  Problem is he only has 55 HRs to go along with those doubles.  If he could only a few more bombs, Butler would be a really productive player.  Those bombs are unlikely to happen.  Butler just doesn’t have that kind of upper cut swing and KC is a pitcher’s park to say the least.
3. Jesus Montero, Seattle:  I previewed him in the catching rankings, had him ranked pretty high, and nothing he is doing in spring training has made me change my mind.  Next year he could be ahead of Butler if he doesn’t qualify as catcher.
4. Travis Hafner, Cleveland:  Injuries have derailed a once promising career as Hafner has only played more than 100 games once since 2007.  Hafner dealt with foot and oblique injuries last year, shoulder injuries before that.  He no longer has the kind of power that fans would come early to batting practice to watch.  When he plays he has value, but unfortunately there is no way of knowing how often he will play.
5. Johnny Damon:  Still a free agent as of this writing.  Damon may be a liability in the field but he still has some life left in his bat and in his legs.  He did hit 16 HRs, drive in 73 runs, and steal 19 bases last season.  The way Raul Ibanez is hitting so far this spring makes you wonder if the Yanks are second guessing themselves about signing him instead of Damon.
6. Vladimir Guererro:  Another player waiting for an injury to happen or a poor spring in order to get a phone call.  Like Damon, Guererro can’t play the field anymore but unlike Damon there may not be much power left in that bat as Guererro only hit 13 long balls in 145 games last season.  Not exactly great numbers in the hitters haven that is Camden Yards.
7. Manny Ramirez, Oakland:  Well I guess he has to be on this list.  He is suspended for the first 50 games, bat speed obviously slowed, no longer on PEDs, didn’t play most of last season, not sure what anyone is really expecting here.
8. Jim Thome, Philadelphia:  Not sure why Thome is in the National League.  He can still do some damage as a part-time DH in the American League, but in Philly he is pretty much relegated to pinch hit duties.  Yeah I know that Phillies are going to get him some work at first this spring to possibly replace Ryan Howard once or twice a week.  That’s certainly not going to work as Thome is a major liability in the field, didn’t even pick up a glove in past seasons.