MLB Showdown Cards

            Want to know what gets under my skin? Players who can play multiple positions and can hit. Why Jose Bautista is not the starting whatever he wants to be for the Blue Jays is a testimony of how selfless he is. The trend of good hitting catchers who play first base to save their knees does not bug me as much. I would want Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli to stay healthy and bat as much as possible too. Players like Michael Young and Ben Zobrist who play everywhere and produce offensively deserve some sort of medal of honor. Players like Berkman and Morse who rotate between corner outfield and first base need to go sign a deal with an American League club who can DH them. With all those extra positions they play how are you going to use them?

            Power hitters have a lot of fun options on the utility page. The most powerful play in the 2011 class is 650 point 11 Jose Bautista with his 18-20 HR. He plays Third base at +1 and corner outfield the same. He is a first pick worthy player. Never enough good things to say about Joey Bats. Mike Napoli is one of the few people on the next tier of power in the league. He is a 10 who has a 18-20 power who catches with a +7 arm. He plays first base as well. In a real power line up we know he is not going go play first but He can in a switch. 530 points is a lot but not unbearable. Likely a second round pick. Michael Morse is a nice option for a corner outfield/firstbase +0 guy. He is 390 points and can do some nice things. Morse is a 15-20 round player. Not a lot of other power but there is not a lot of power in the league.

            Pingers will always have options at the utility spot. There is always some guy who slaps a .315 average and walks enough to get up to be productive. Daniel Murphey is the nice cheap option for a 250 point 9 with a 20 homer. He player 2B+3 and 1B+0. He is a much better option at second. Lucas Duda is really a bargain player. 220 point corner outfield and firstbase +0. Lance Berkman may actually be a good 4 hitter for a cheaper line up. He plays first and corner outfield for +0. He is a better corner outfield as a 10 speed C (10) 19-20 HR. These guys are all 10-15 round players. Money Ballers have Michael Young as a great option 10 for 350 points who plays 2B/3B+2 1B+0. He is likely best at third but Money Ballers have a great 3B option in Headley. There are not a lot of good Money Ball second basemen. Young is a 6-10 round player. Another great option is Jamey Carrol. He is a 9 speed B (17) who is a SS+5 and 2B+4. He fits both spots very well and is a 4-7 round player.

            Small Ballers often Like the utility spot because of general high speed of the players. Emilio Bonifacio for 280 points is not very much of a deal at 280 points but plays OF+0 and SS/3B+1. He is a problem solver and allows for some interesting plays off the bench. Brent Lillebridge is a 420 point speed A (20) 8. He plays OF+1 and 1B+0. He has 17-20 HR power. He is basically a very awkward card that fits no where in any line up I can think of. That means one of you will find a great spot to put him and tell me about it. Howie Kendrick is very similar with a little less raw power and plays 2B+4. He is an 8 for 360 points. Both are likely 10-15 round players if you like them.

            Lots of good cheap options for bench players. Nice to have players to pinch hit or play the field. Omar Vizquel is a great punt option. I hate to say such things about such a great player in his career but for 40 points he max fields at 3B+3 and SS/2B+5. He is a 5 speed B (16). He is a problem solver.  Skip Schumaker is a nice 30 point option as a pinch hitter. He is a 7 for 30 points. 2B+3 and LF/RF+1 is not a bad option on a punt ether. These are all late round options except Vizquel who is a 6-10 round player if not sooner.