The Shuffle Up series continues with the corner infielders. This is how I would rank the group of players if I were entering a fantasy baseball draft today. What has happened so far is just an audition. Assume a 5×5 scoring system as usual.
Salaries are linked to data and observations, but of a non-scientific nature. This is not a formulaic exercise. The goal is to show where pockets of value cluster. Players with the same salary are considered equal.
After looking at the rest of the season’s external rankings last week (with a slight adjustment today), we’ve now ranked everyone with inside corner eligibility on Yahoo, in addition to catchers who also take the corner tag. Catchers will have their own day in the future.
Respectful disagreements? That is good. That’s why we play. Find me on Twitter/X: @scott_pianowski.
And there we go.
The big tickets
One of the impressive things about this group of players is how many top players are disappointing. I did a rough survey of the top 30 turns drawn in the spring, and 13 of them have been considered significant disappointments up to this point. Maybe this is reflective of the entire offense in baseball right now – look at your league’s median average, it’s probably a depressing number – but it still feels like the corner position is taking a hit more than other areas. Maybe it’s the collective age of the position, although the issues are obviously much more complicated than that.
Ramírez has the most accumulated value so far, which highlights a few things. First, a .266 average is actually an advantage in the current environment, and players who tick all the boxes (he has those eight silent steals) are always target players for us. I was worried that Cleveland’s lineup would be a drain on Ramírez, but the Guardians are third in runs per game.
De La Cruz could improve a lot, which is scary news for MLB. He’s still swinging and missing a lot, and his slash is .225/.345/.310 against lefties. But he’s capable of stealing 90 or more bases, will hit 25 to 30 home runs, and after starting the year in the bottom half of the order, he’s parked in second position for the last month. He’ll be on some magazine covers next spring.
It shows how good Freeman is that a season with 91 runs and 88 RBI can be seen as a huge disappointment. You see, no one saw his power diminish and he lost interest in stealing bases. Freeman has been neutral about luck, like your Savant page suggests a .277 average and .454 batting, in line with the actual numbers. I don’t want to think that Freeman is in a big decline, but he is also at the age of 34, that’s when the air starts to silently hiss out of the balloon.
“Drafting every hitter in Atlanta” was a dream in March, today it’s a nightmare. Marcell Ozuna is the only target bat who has lived up to expectations, and Travis d’Arnaud has been a useful backup catcher. Riley’s numbers have been depressed by two weeks of daily inactivity, but his OPS+ is still a paltry 95. Olson is known for prolonged slumps due to his strikeout and fly-ball profile, but he is also capable of hitting 10 home runs in a month at any time. At least the bad luck sign is flashing with Olsonas his hitting percentage is 68 points below what his batted ball profile suggests.
Legitimate building blocks
Maybe that’s exactly what Alonso is, a three-tier guy who will always hurt you on average and hit you with a limited amount of steals. Somehow the Mets are 17th in runs per game, I would have guessed they were in the 20s somewhere. Alonso attraction rates and those most hit fell, but only a little. He can still make a push for 40 homers and his run production should increase. Just understand that he is dragging you in two columns.
Garcia is another case of a balanced player who accumulated more value than expected, as his average is positive and he stole 13 bases. Garcia will never have special power, but he has already surpassed last year’s home run total and increased his hitting percentage by 61 points. He is an underrated player. Heck, I suspect some of his managers underestimate him; This is the type of broad producer I like to target in negotiations.
Goldschmidt’s BB/K ratio is still a mess, but he has five home runs in his last 13 games, along with a nice .304/.350/.625 slash line. I already saw him mostly in the Hall of Fame and hope he can post the more reliable 1-2 seasons likely needed to seal the deal. Don’t look at Goldy’s hard-hit pageit will only depress you.
It’s the saddest Colorado lineup I can remember, but McMahon is in the midst of a career year, boasting a 137 OPS+ that is far beyond anything he’s posted before. He significantly reduced his strikeout rate, mainly because he’s making much better contact in the strike zone. And the most shocking thing about the shocks is that your bar is actually much better on the road (100 point OPS increase). This escape seems legitimate.
Talk to them, talk to them
I admit it’s a little depressing to look at that Angels lineup without Ohtani, Trout injured and Rendon perhaps forever irrelevant, but there are some usable pieces here. Rengifo has taken control of the second spot in the lineup, has occasional pop and runs aggressively in the spirit of coach Ron Washington. There are no handedness issues here; Rengifo is a hitter. And he’s a super utility hero at Yahoo, qualifying in four different positions. These are the glue guys who help you win.
Bregman still has elite pitch recognition skills, but he just doesn’t hit the ball hard enough when he makes contact. All your Hard-hit sliders are pushed to the left side, the depressing side. To this point, he has earned a .216 average and batted .335. Bregman’s career has always had a tilt in the second half, which may or may not be predictive. I’m not ready to accept that he ended it at 30.
Some plausible advantages
Look beyond Moore’s average and enjoy the juice of the category (six homers, eight steals, good real estate lineup too). He is a blessing in OBP leagues, and a 143 OPS+ should mark his territory in the order. He is also capable of playing almost anywhere on the field.
Pasquantino is one of my favorite trade targets, as the Royals have been better than expected on offense and their first baseman has been comically unlucky. Pasquantino should be batting .274 and slugging .493 according to your Statcast metrics, and his production has been reasonable (on pace for 99 RBI). Tell your opponent you want to “trade for a corner” and see if you can sneak in a Pasquantino deal.
