This would be the location at which there’s the largest drop between the head two players — Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Reyes — and the remainder of the sphere.
With Hanley Ramirez playing third base now that Reyes is with the Marlins, our No. 3 shortstop is the Tribe’s Asdrubal Cabrera. At the surface, Cabrera’s numbers were pretty darn good last season — 25 homers, 92 RBI, 17 steals and 87 runs. Take note of, however, that, after posting a .293 average and .836 OPS within the first half 2011, Cabrera batted .244 with a .729 OPS within the second half.
Throw inside the indisputable fact that Cabrera’s previous career highs were six homers and 68 RBI, and there’s cause for concern.
Will Cabrera be productive again this season? Probably. But we do not expect him to be as good as Tulowitzki (.302, 30 homers, 105 RBI and nine steals in 2011) and Reyes (101 runs, 39 steals and a .337 average last year).
Our top five shortstops are solid, as you might expect, but after that, it gets dicey. The No. 6 player on the position (no less than in my mind), the Rangers’ Elvis Andrus, scored 96 runs and had 37 steals, but he hit .279 last year and has no power. No. 7 J.J. Hardy had 30 homers and 80 RBI in 2011, but he had a combined 17 homers and 85 RBI in 2009 and ’10.
On to the head 20 …
Note: All players are ranked on the positions at which they’re expected to spend the foremost time in 2012, not all positions at which they’re eligible. … Stats are from 2011.
Rank, player, team R-HR-RBI-SB-Avg.
1. Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies 81-30-105-9-.302
2. Jose Reyes, Marlins 101-7-44-39-.337
3. Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians 87-25-92-17-.273
4. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies 87-16-63-30-.268
5. Starlin Castro, Cubs 91-10-66-22-.307
6. Elvis Andrus, Rangers 96-5-60-37-.279
7. J.J. Hardy, Orioles 76-30-80-0-.269
8. Derek Jeter, Yankees 84-6-61-16-.297
9. Jhonny Peralta, Tigers 68-21-86-0-.299
10. Erick Aybar, Angels 71-10-59-30-.279
11. Alexei Ramirez, White Sox 81-15-70-7-.269
12. Dee Gordon, Dodgers 34-0-11-24-.304
13. Yunel Escobar, Blue Jays 77-11-48-3-.290
14. Ian Desmond, Nationals 65-8-49-25-.253
15. Rafael Furcal, Cardinals 44-8-28-9-.231
16. Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks 44-5-45-4-.252
17. Alcides Escobar, Royals 69-4-46-26-.254
18. Jed Lowrie, Astros 40-6-36-1-.252
19. Alex Gonzalez, Brewers 59-15-56-2-.241
20. Zack Cozart, Reds 6-2-3-0-.324
Last three out: Cliff Pennington, Athletics; Jason Bartlett, Padres; Ruben Tejada, Mets.
Eligibility notes: We’ve the Marlins’ Ramirez ranked as our No. 2 third baseman, but he’ll be eligible at shortstop. … Marco Scutaro was traded from Boston to Colorado, where he’s going to move from shortstop to second base. … Another Marlin, Emilio Bonifacio, is ranked at second base on many sites, but he’s an outfielder.
Key stats: The only concern with Tulowitzki is injury. The last four seasons, he has had 377, 543, 470 and 537 at-bats. That’s a median of 482 at-bats. He missed 14 of the Rockies’ last 19 games in 2011.
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