2010 MLB Fantasy Prep ~ Assume The Position

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

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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