There are only so many Juan Pierres and Rajai Davises in the MLB. When drafting a fantasy baseball team, it is crucial that you do not overlook the stolen base category because the talent here can thin out before you even have a chance to react. In 2010, there were 17 players who stole 30+ bases, which is about how many players hit 30+ home runs in 2010. However, whereas there were 69 players who hit 20+ home runs, there was a mere 30 20+ base stealers. So what is the moral? Unless you are able to snag a few base stealing specialists, it is imperative that you find all-around players who can contribute a decent amount of steals for you.
While you may not think so, these stolen bases do add up; if you are able to draft a 30-base stealer and you make sure the rest of your team averages about 10 stolen bases per year, that gives you approximately 150 stolen bases, excluding bench players.
On the other hand if you ignore stolen bases after drafting two speed demons who steal about 40 bases per year so that your average player steals five bases, that adds up to 135 stolen bases.
In the first scenario, by drafting players who can steal, but are not known for their speed, not only do you get more steals, but you do not have to draft a second speed specialist, allowing you to focus on other categories.
So in this article, I’ll provide you with a few options at each position of players who you may not think of as being base stealers. I’ll try to avoid players like Albert Pujols who would be drafted too early to be relevant in this article. For the most part, these are players who you can grab late.