Crooked Pitch

With Orlando Cabrera gone, the everyday shortstop job is open for three candidates. Brandon Wood checked out of the race early, leaving Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis to fight it out in Spring Training. They aren’t doing a whole lot, so far, to differentiate themselves.

Neither has made an error in the first eight spring games. Both have hit well enough — Aybar is 4 for 11, Izturis 4 for 13 after getting an RBI double in Friday’s 11-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

But Manager Mike Scioscia said he would just as soon the two candidates to replace last year’s Gold Glove winner, Orlando Cabrera, did nothing to separate themselves.

“Hopefully, they’re going to both come up and play to their level, and we’re going to be able to see which one gives us the better look,” Scioscia said. “If some guy is really struggling with something or something sets him back, then obviously there will be a separation. Right now, they’re both going strong. That’s what we want — for both of them to get into their game and play as well as they can.”

Neither player is really much of a mixed league option. But, if you had to take one, it would probably be Aybar. In AL only leagues, Izturis still trails Aybar in Average Draft Position (ADP) and in draft percentage. Aybar is being selected in 95.8% of AL only drafts while Izturis only 33%. Aybar’s ADP is 202.75, compared to 277.63 of Izturis.

If neither player wins the job outright, they’re fantasy value goes down. Both players project to hit anywhere between .260 and .280 and steal 12-15 bases. Many people feel Aybar has more upside potential, but I feel Izturis give the Angels more punch, right now for 2008. Aybar may be further away, but Izturis could steal 20+ bases and hit .280 if given 600 at-bats. Aybar isn’t ready for those kind of numbers yet. His average has been steadily declining every year for three years as has his stolen bases.

There are only two reasons to watch this battle progress, whether it ends in Spring Training or at some point in the season. The first is a source of cheap stolen bases for your fantasy team. The second is to monitor how long it take both players to step aside for Brandon Wood, who will eventually take over at shortstop.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 10:13 am and is filed under Fantasy Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.