Kuzul

Typically, in the game of baseball, there are positions that are expected to generate a lot of offense, and some that are more defensive-oriented with little power threat.

In general, the latter positions are usually second base, shortstop, center field and catcher. But the corner infield and outfield positions have historically produced higher offensive numbers. But, so far in 2011, one position has neglected that precedent—third base.

Some examples for this power outage are injury-related, some are due to aging athletes playing past their prime, and some are just anomalies. But whatever the reason, many teams around baseball have had poor power numbers from their hot corner patrols.

Case in point: Last season, Major League third basemen combined to hit .263 with 567 home runs, to go along with a .418 slugging percentage. In 2009, they totaled 588 home runs, and slugged at a .421 mark.

But so far in 2011, third baseman have hit just 146 home runs (just five more than ML second basemen), with a .245 batting average and a .368 slugging percentage.

We can take a look at some individual performances to truly get to the bottom of this head scratcher. For instance, two of the game’s brightest third baseman over the past five or six seasons have been sidelined much of the year with injuries.

The Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman has appeared in just eight games in 2011, and none since injuring himself on April 9. Zimmerman has been on the 15-day disabled list ever since, suffering from a torn abdominal muscle. He is currently on a rehab assignment, but no definitive timetable has been established for his return to the lineup.

Mets’ third baseman, and good friend of Zimmerman’s, David Wright is also sidelined on the disabled list. Wright suffered a stress fracture in his back while making a defensive play against the Astros on April 19. A month later, he was placed on the disabled list, and is now expected to be sidelined until some point in July.

The Rays’ Evan Longoria played the first two games of the season, and then missed a month due to an oblique injury. Since his return on May 3, Longoria has just four home runs and a .244 batting average. He endured a span of 56 at-bats without a long ball earlier this year, and just hasn’t been able to find a groove at the plate so far.

There are some third baseman that are overall healthy, but just haven’t produced to their precedent standards.

For instance, Cubs’ third baseman Aramis Ramirez has averaged 28 home runs per season from 2001-2010. So far in 2011, he has three—and he hit his second and third each with the last 10 days. He does have a respectable .288 batting average on the season, but so far his offensive stats resemble more of a middle infielder than a third baseman.

Scott Rolen has just two home runs so far in 2011 and a .245 batting average. He missed about 19 games for the Reds earlier this year with a neck injury, but at 36 years of age, Rolen’s days as an offensive threat could be close to over.

Similarly, Chipper Jones could be nearing the end as well. He has just six home runs on the year, and his slugging percentage is 100 points lower than his career mark.

After a 23-home run campaign in 2010, the Brewers’ Casey McGehee has struggled much of 2011. He has just four home runs on the year to go along with a paltry .227 batting average.

There are also some teams that don’t currently have a legitimate, typical third baseman. The Florida Marlins, for instance, have used a combination of Emilio Bonifacio, Wes Helms and Greg Dobbs to man the hot corner. And though they are all professional hitters, none of them have the proven ability to smash 20-plus home runs on a consistent basis.

The same holds true for the Angels (Alberto Callaspo), Indians (Jack Hannahan), Diamondbacks (Ryan Roberts) and the Royals (Wilson Betemit).

The Toronto Blue Jays are a team worth highlighting. They have the game’s best home run hitter over the last season and a half playing right field, when he has spent much time at third base in his career.

Jose Bautista hit an MLB-best 54 home runs a year ago, and is once again leading the world in big flies with 20. And though he’s played over 350 games at third base, the Jays are content in letting Jayson Nix and Edwin Encarnacion (who have combined to hit six home runs all year) waste away at third base.

Of course, not every Major League third baseman is having a poor season. Adrian Beltre is certainly proving his worth to the Texas Rangers, who signed him to a blockbuster five-year, $80 million contract this past winter. Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Youkilis and Placido Polanco all have quality seasons so far in 2011.

There may be a shift coming in Major League Baseball. Several perennial third base All-Stars are now past their primes and have shown serious decline in offensive production. A new generation of hot corner patrol is on it’s way (witness Mike Moustakas’ debut for the Kansas City Royals Friday night).

Bottom line, if the All-Star game was today, who would you choose to be play third base for either league? The choices this year seem to be awfully thin…perhaps the thinnest the game has seen in the last decade.

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When players are on the final year of a contract, it’s not uncommon for them to have some of the best years of their career. Whether it be because players are more motivated, are more focused on their performances or because they simply work harder, it always seems that the biggest seasons come when it’s a walk year. 

In this article I will look into who are the best players, at each position, that are on a contract year. 

NOTE: Players that have options are NOT included on this list (regardless of whether their options are likely to vest/be picked up or not). 

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Last week I wrote about my hope for the 2011 Cubs. For the first time in a long time, I look at the Cubs organization and see reasons to be optimistic about their short and long-term future.

Almost immediately after posting that story to Facebook, I got a message from one of my college buddies—and fellow long-suffering Cubs fan—that was, uh, not so optimistic. He stopped short of calling me a total idiot, but did suggest rather strongly that I needed to immediately go outside, turn around three times and spit.

It’s not that he thought I was an idiot for being hopeful, just for saying it publicly.

This is how most Cubs fans are wired. They are like that girl in high school who had her heart broken one too many times and overreacts at even the smallest male indiscretion. Everyone understands, but no one wants to be the next person to cross her.

Logic says I should be more guarded like my college buddy, but for me, hope springs eternal.

They won’t be on anyone’s list of favorites this season, but I think the Cubs can win the NL Central.

Here are five things that will help get the Cubs back on top.

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The Cubs player to pay most attention to this spring is Aramis Ramirez.  He has come into camp claiming to have worked harder than ever this off-season and has even taken twice as many at bats this spring to fight the chance of a slow start.  While Cubs manager Mike Quade may not have mentioned Ramirez as one of the veteran leaders on the 2011 version of the Cubs, he is the most important player if they have any chance at taking back the Central Division title.  Why?  When Ramirez is healthy and productive, the Cubs are winning.  When he is combating pesky injuries and racking up strikeouts, they might as well not even show up to the ballpark. 

When the Chicago Cubs traded for Aramis Ramirez from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2003, they knew they were getting a poor fielder with the potential to become one of the better sluggers in the National League.  Ramirez may still be one of the worst fielders in the league, but he has become one of the cornerstones of Chicago’s favorite franchise and one of the most clutch players to put on the blue pinstripes. 

Along with Derrek Lee, Ramirez was relied upon to tally the team’s RBI’s and game-winning hits.  But with Derrek Lee in Atlanta, and a lineup full of question marks, Ramirez must step up as the main cog in the lineup if the Cubs have any shot to win the Central crown.  Any Cubs fan will tell you that they wouldn’t want anyone else standing in the batter’s box during winning time in the ninth inning.  His knack for the clutch home run can’t possibly be explained with stats.  Who can forget the three-run ding dong he hit in 2007 against the Brewers to give the Cubs momentum to overtake Milwaukee and win the Central division that year?  Or the dramatic shots against their biggest rivals the White Sox in 2008 and Cardinals in 2009?

But remember this: When the Cubs were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007 and Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008, Ramirez went a combined 2-23 with 7 strikeouts.  And since winning back to back division championships, the Cubs have hovered around the .500 mark, going 158-165.  Much of that is due to the fact that Ramirez missed almost half the 2009 season when he suffered a dislocated shoulder against the Brewers, missing 50 games.  Ramirez could only watch helplessly from the bench as the Cubs went 24-26 during that stretch.  In 2010, Ramirez was forced to the DL after combating a nagging shoulder and thumb.  And although he tried to fight through the pain, he started slow, hitting below.200 until July.  Not even a roster with the third-highest payroll in 2010 ($147 million) can succeed when their best power hitter is sitting on the bench. 

Cub fans are hoping that Ramirez went through rehabilitation similar to RoboCop and comes back in 2011 murdering baseballs and launching missiles like America’s most violent android.  So far, everything is going fine.  Ramirez has hit .300 with 6 RBI’s this spring.  If he can stay healthy and capture the magic he bottled up from 2003-2008, Ramirez has a chance to be the veteran leader the Cubs need for them to have a shot at making this year next year.

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Chase Utley is a ballplayer who should at the very least be respected and admired—even in the eyes of opposing fan bases.

A tireless worker, Utley is a rare breed of middle-infielder with the ability to hit for both power and average.  Additionally, he is a very reliable defender and is known to raise his level of play at the largest of moments.

Unfortunately for the city of Philadelphia, this battler has another fight on his hands—though this one is not taking place between the white lines of Citizen’s Bank Park. It is instead an internal war with cartilage, bone and tendons in his balky right knee.

The Phillies already have lost promising rookie Domonic Brown, and are looking for ways to compensate for the loss of clutch slugger Jayson Werth.

Add in uncertainties over Raul Ibanez’ age and Jimmy Rollins’ injury history, and question marks have suddenly been placed next to one of baseball’s most imposing offensive attacks.

Utley is a tough man, and one who would refuse to let down his teammates under any circumstances. As such, let us assume he attempts to tough it out with injections and rehabilitation over the season’s opening months.

Here we are now in the middle of June, and the situation has simply deteriorated too far for Utley to ignore further. Doctors recommend a procedure that could have him ready for the postseason, but he is otherwise lost for the regular season.

Simultaneously, a struggling Chicago Cubs team is mired in fourth place in the NL Central and looking for a way to shed salary in a season lacking playoff contention.

Needing some added pop in a solid but inconsistent lineup, would the Phillies make a call to Jim Hendry for third base slugger Aramis Ramirez?

Current Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco is truly a second baseman by trade—earning two Gold Gloves in his time at the position in Detroit. He could very easily transition back to his old home to leave room for a power hitter at a traditional power position.

Philadelphia is far from a small-market team, and they will have virtually no issue taking on the then $7-8 million left on his deal (one that can be bought out for $two million after the season). They would essentially be renting a quality hitter who can handle big cities in a risk-free scenario.

A team that has previously been exposed in the heart of their lineup by left-handers (Howard and Ibanez vs. Pettitte, Sabathia, Marte) would now have replenished the righty power they lost in Werth’s defection to Washington.

Their lineup would be more balanced, and they would have some added firepower to knock out a stubborn Giants team likewise loaded with pitching talent.

While the Phillies could potentially boast the best pitching staff since the 90s Atlanta Braves, there is nothing wrong with ensuring a few more runs will be thrown up on the scoreboard in postseason action.

Another option in this midseason scenario would be Texas Rangers infielder Michael Young, but the $32 million left on his deal beyond 2011 makes him an unrealistic and irresponsible trade target for Philadelphia.

The deal would also make sense for the other franchise involved, as the Cubs are looking to get younger and cheaper in some areas to entertain making a push for Albert Pujols’ services at first base.

Chicago could request a quality but unproven arm like Kyle Kendrick from an already crowded and star-studded rotation—while also discussing the inclusion of supplementary prospects.

An expiring contract attached to an aging player would not provide a large haul in return, but grabbing a back-end starter like Kendrick while receiving added payroll relief would be a solid move for the Cubs if in fourth place come June.

Hopefully this will not come into the equation for the Phillies in 2011, and perhaps Utley will make it through 140 plus games with consistent production in the middle of the lineup.

Vegas odds would likely not lean in favor of that scenario, however, and it is not unreasonable to expect a risk-free splash like this one to take place midseason.

Fans in Philadelphia should keep a very close eye on the standings in the NL Central throughout the early months of the season, as a dangerous veteran like Ramirez could be re-energized by a change of scenery and World Series contention.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Heading into the start of last season, the Cubbies had the third largest payroll in baseball, but had just 75 wins by the end of the year to show for it.

During the offseason, Chicago went out and got a power pitcher and hitter in Matt Garza and Carlos Pena.  They also added Kerry Wood to provide punch in the back of the bullpen.

This is a squad that won 97 games just three years ago.  They’re capable of making a run, but inconsistency has hampered their chances the past two years.  Plus, the NL Central has improved dramatically since 2008.

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The 2011 MLB season is right around the corner.

Spring training is upon us and players are looking to standout and build up momentum heading into the upcoming season. 

While many of these players are rookies and young talents trying to land a roster spot in the big leagues, some are veterans and proven players who are trying to rebuild their reputation.

Whether they’ve been traded from the AL to the NL, are finally healthy, or were unable to perform in 2010, these players are looking to prove their worth to the baseball community.

The success of these players could make or break their teams success in the coming year, while the second half of their careers could hang in the balance.

We take a look at those once “prime-time” players who are looking to rebound in 2011 after a disappointing 2010.

The top 10 rebound candidates are…

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Carlos Zambrano has been to the mountaintop and back.

He has braved the treacherous climb, studied with the celebrated Dharma bums in the Himalayas, found inner peace with the spirit of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and even spent a few months in the swamps of Dagobah under Jedi master Yoda.

He is ready.

Of course, Luke Skywalker also thought he was ready and then hurried off only to have his hand cut off by his asthma-bound father Darth Vader at Cloud City. While I’m pretty sure Zambrano’s appendages are safe, he still controls much of the Chicago Cubs’ density—I mean, destiny—this season.

Sure, he may do as much damage to the dynamic of the Chicago Cubs this season as Anakin Skywalker did when he basically killed all the Jedi Knights once he joined the “Dark Side,” but he could also do as much good as the Skywalker family eventually did for the freedom of the galaxy. You see, the problem with Zambrano is that too much can be a bad thing but—and hear me out on this—too little may also.

Zambrano was the only semblance of passion in last year’s lifeless, heartless and pathetic Cubs campaign. Derrek “6-4-3 inning-ending double play” Lee deserved plenty of guff for his lack of obvious concern. Aramis Ramirez couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat at the time, Alfonso Soriano looked like Wyle E. Coyote in left field and Kosuke Fukudome did more spinning in the batter’s box than the late DJ AM ever did in the booth.

The whole season lacked anything special, and the entire roster looked as if it was joining manager Lou Piniella in his impending retirement.

Heck, even the hot dog vendor deserved a little bit of the fury. It was THAT bad. Honestly, Zambrano’s outburst in late June was not the worst thing to happen and, as usual, Jim Hendry blindly threw him under the bus to maintain appearances and the status quo. The same GM who hired Piniella—a manager that had thrown more temper tantrums than all of the ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ put together—now was condemning a MUCH younger man for doing the same thing.

While I don’t condone showing your teammates up, I do support players calling a spade a spade when calling out an entire team that hadn’t shown positive life since their brilliant general manager thought adding clubhouse great Milton Bradley was a good idea. Zambrano hit the boiling point many Cubs fans had been at all season, yet he was entirely at fault according to Cubs brass and the Chicago media machine, but they all failed to see that he was calling himself out as well.

Hendry, as usual, missed a real opportunity to call out his cast of wayward (and overpriced) toys, but—just like he did when he failed to handle the Ryne Sandberg managerial situation professionally—he showed he lacked the stones to lead. Having the guts to gamble is not the same as having the intestinal fortitude to be a leader. Hendry unfortunately lacks this, which is why he couldn’t bring himself to hire a manager who just might challenge him on how he ran the ballclub.

Mike Quade is a good man, and a solid coach, but make no mistakes about it: He is a “yes” man from head to toe. Zambrano, on the other hand, is not. He speaks from the gut, which can be misinterpreted in the sound bite world we live in these days, especially in Chicago, where the media calls fall and winter “QB Hunting Season” and the summer becomes a hot mess of pessimism.

The awfully negative Chicago media loves to give stupid nicknames like “Old Z” and “New Z,” or “Good Rex (Grossman)” and “Bad Rex,” but here’s a little secret for you: He’s the same guy no matter if you change his name to “Good Z,” “New Z,” or even Pee-Wee Herman. The Cubs have spent four years trying to reign in a wild horse and it obviously isn’t working.

If memory serves, the last major blowup Zambrano had was in 2007 when he gave catcher Michael Barrett a judo chop to the grill. The result? Piniella blew his fuse a few games later and the Cubs went on a magical run to the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Don’t let the media fool you: Emotion and getting in a teammate’s face can work magic when the gauge is on empty. It’s the “crawling into a hole and quietly fading” that gets me worked up, and Zambrano’s emotion doesn’t tolerate that. He wants to win that bad, and if you don’t want it at the same level, then you better take some self-defense classes because you deserve anything Zambrano brings to you.

After 102 years without a World Series, I’m sure plenty of Cubs fans would agree that enough is enough. You’ve got to want it as bad as he does, or this isn’t going to work.

I’d love, for once, to see the Cubs and their management give Zambrano all the slack he needs to be himself. It’s not a coincidence that his performance has gone down since they began worrying about his psyche. The minute you tell someone to not be themselves, you’ll also see their performance resemble someone else as well.

You can’t have both.

In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker had the greatest potential as a Jedi Knight but he gave into his anger and emotion too much, which led to his destructive nature and him becoming Darth Vader. But when given unconditional love regardless thanks to his son, who believed in him, it was Anakin (as Darth Vader) who eventually defeated the Emperor by throwing him down the reactor shaft.

Unconditional love and support throughout the early part of his career fostered in the golden age of Carlos Zambrano. Perhaps a little freedom, some support and some emotional space might bring him back to the days when he mowed down opponents like defenseless Ewoks and gave a team in contention the emotional boost it needed down the stretch.

Too much of anything is a bad thing, and that goes for restraint as well.

Me, personally, I’d rather not see “New Z” or “Old Z.” I just want to see Carlos Zambrano, the pitcher who has shown electric brilliance more than a few times and still has plenty left to showcase. If you bottle that up with the right mix, you’ve got something sweeter than Yoo-Hoo and more potent than any ginger root west of the Great Wall of China.

If you don’t, all you’ll have is a regretful son of a Jedi staring at a two-starred sunset, wondering what might have been had he left Tatooine with the old hermit, Ben Kenobi.

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If we were discussing Aramis Ramirez three years ago, things may be a little bit different.  From 2004-2006, he averaged 35 HR a year.

He followed that up with years of 26 and 27 HR (though he had over 100 RBI in each of those seasons).  He was considered one of the better options at third base, and rightfully so.

The past two years, however, have dramatically changed our opinion of him.  He’s missed time in both 2009 and 2010 thanks to a dislocated shoulder and bruised thumb.

If that were the only problem, then maybe he wouldn’t have fallen so far.  However, his 2010 campaign was not very impressive overall:

465 At Bats
.241 Batting Average (112 Hits)
25 Home Runs
83 RBI
61 Runs
0 Stolen Bases
.294 On Base Percentage
.452 Slugging Percentage
.245 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Obviously the average was bad, but there are two clear-cut reasons for it.  First of all, his BABIP, which has to jump out at you.  That’s a tremendously unlucky number on the surface, though there is a little bit more behind it.

Since 2002, Ramirez has posted a fly ball rate of 45.7%.  In 2010 his mark was at 56.8%.  If that wasn’t enough, he had just one previous season higher than 46.7% (48.3% in ’08). 

There is a lot less “luck” involved in fly balls, so while the BABIP may seem unlucky on the surface, given the fly ball rate, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise.

Then again, you have to think that his fly ball rate is going to decline back towards his career rate.  He has too long of a history of being in the mid-40s to think that last year’s number is believable.

It is possible that he was trying to hit more home runs in order to prove that his shoulder injury was not a concern.  Maybe there is another excuse. 

Whatever the answer, I would look for him to correct it prior to the 2011 season.

The other concern with his average was his strikeout rate.  He has a career strikeout rate of 15.5%, though he posted a 19.4% mark in 2010.  Again, given his career history, you have to expect him to correct the problem prior to 2011.

He’s a .282 career hitter, though he had been above that mark every season since 2004:

• 2004 – .318
• 2005 – .302
• 2006 – .291
• 2007 – .310
• 2008 – .289
• 2009 – .317

Are we supposed to believe that he simply forgot how to hit?  He’s more than a year removed from the shoulder problem, so it is safe to think that it is not going to be a lingering issue. 

You wouldn’t expect him to get back to his mid-to-high 30 HR days, but once again coming in between 25-30, even with an expected drop in fly ball rate, is fair.

Couple the power and the expected average rebound with hitting in the middle of the Cubs order and there is a lot to like.  We all know what type of potential he has, and at 32 years old, it is fair to assume that he hasn’t simply lost his skill. 

Third base is an extremely weak position, and getting him around Round 9 or 10 is certainly worth the gamble if you miss out on the top options.  Just look at the other options that are going after him (on average according to Mock Draft Central):

• Casey McGehee
• Ian Stewart
• Mark Reynolds
• Pablo Sandoval

Outside of Sandoval (maybe), is there anyone that you would trust more? 

What are your thoughts of Ramirez?  Is he a player you wouldn’t mind owning as your 3B?  Why or why not?

**** Make sure to order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here. ****

Make sure to check out some of our 2011 projections:

• Buchholz, Clay
• Butler, Billy
• Choo, Shin-Soo
• Ethier, Andre
• Freese, David
• Hughes, Phil
• Jaso, John
• Johnson, Chris
• Morrow, Brandon
• Uggla, Dan
• Reyes, Jose
• Suzuki, Kurt
• Wieters, Matt
• Willingham, Josh
• Young, Michael

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Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The key to a successful fantasy baseball draft is maximizing the return value on each of your picks. At the start of each draft, everybody will have an equal value’s worth of picks; therefore, unless you target players who could potentially exceed the value of the pick they were drafted with, you will finish your draft in the middle of the pack. One of the best types of player to target when attempting to maximize value is the player who disappointed the previous year. Logically, his value will be its lowest following a poor season; hence the appeal to targeting these players. In this article, I will provide you with four players who should at least be on your radar entering your 2011 drafts. 

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