Position Eligibility
Much is made each season about the importance of position eligibility. How much it really matters is a question unique to each league, and the drafting strategies of each team manager. For the sake of argument though, most would agree, more is better.
Each season we see players add or lose eligibility and different positions. So below I have created a little cheat sheet of those who will see those changes in 2010. Some of these changes may have appeared last season, but just to be safe... This is based on 20+ plate appearances at a position last season. Not all leagues require 20 appearances, so it's important to know your league guidelines, be it Yahoo, ESPN, CBSSportsline, or any number of other professional or private fantasy sites. Most major sports sites can give you a breakdown of games played for each player by position.
I have listed in bold, gains or losses I think managers should be aware of the most. As an example, Brandon Inge and Pablo Sandoval both lose Catcher eligibility. That hurts their value for a thin position. Several string bats are relegated to DH only. This is not to say at some point this season they may not gain positions back. This is just more for positional awareness going into the season.
| On The Plus Side | On The Minus Side | ||||||
| C | Victor Martinez, BOS | + 1B | 1B | Kendry Morales, LAA | - OF | ||
| DH | Jason Kubel, MIN | + OF | 1B | Chris Davis, TEX | - 3B | ||
| 2B | Eugenio Velez, SF | + OF | 1B | Hank Blalock, TEX | - 3B | ||
| 2B | Luis Valbuena, SEA | + SS | DH | Nomar Garciaparra, OAK | - SS, 1B, 3B | ||
| 2B | Adam Kennedy, WAS | + 3B | DH | Hideki Matsui, NYY | OF | ||
| 2B | Mike Fontenot, CHC | + 3B | DH | Ken Griffey, Jr., SEA | OF | ||
| SS | Jhonny Peralta, CLE | + 3B | DH | Vladimir Guerrero, LAA | OF | ||
| 3B | Martin Prado, ATL | + 1B, 2B | DH | Pat Burrell, TB | OF | ||
| 3B | Juan Uribe, SF | + SS | 2B | Clint Barmes, COL | SS | ||
| 3B | Casey McGehee, MIL | + 2B | SS | Alexei Ramirez, CHW | 2B | ||
| 3B | Mark Reynolds, ARI | + 1B | SS | Marco Scutaro, BOS | 2B, 3B | ||
| 3B | Craig Counsell, MIL | + 2B | 3B | Casey Blake, LAD | 1B | ||
| 3B | Ian Stewart, COL | + 2B | 3B | Mark Derosa, SF | 2B | ||
| OF | Skip Schumaker, STL | + 2B | 3B | Brandon Inge, DET | C | ||
| OF | Daniel Murphy, NYM | + 1B | 3B | Michael Young, TEX | SS | ||
| OF | Chase Headley, SD | + 3B | OF | Nick Swisher, NYY | 1B | ||
| OF | Mark Teahen, CHW | + 3B | OF | Matt Laporta, MIL | 1B | ||
| OF | Michael Cuddyer, MIN | + 1B | |||||
| OF | Garrett Jones, PIT | + 1B | |||||
| OF | Adam Dunn, WAS | + 1B | |||||
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
| Gains and Losses | Add | Subtract | |
| 3B | Gordon Beckham, CHW | 2B | SS |
| DH | Russell Branyan, CLE | 1B | 3B |
| 3B | Bobby Crosby, PIT | 1B | SS |
| 3B | Ty Wigginton, BAL | 1B | OF |
| 3B | Pablo Sandoval, SF | 1B | C |
| 2B | Ben Zobrist, TB | OF | SS |
| 3B | Emilio Bonifacio, FLA | SS | 2B |
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Closer Rankings, Sholty’s Drafting Tips, 1B Rankings, 2B Rankings, Catcher Rankings, OF Rankings
