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Carlos Santana is in an interesting position heading into 2015 for few reasons and I'm interested to see where people think he will be Drafted / Valued on Draft Day.
FUN FACTS
- No Longer Catcher Eligible
- 1B & 3B Eligible for 2015
- Will likely play mostly 1B in 2015… he hit better once playing regular 1B in the 2nd half of the year.

All that being said, his value is a bit less in my opinion not being C Eligible. 1st Base is SO DEEP its scary and it appears after next year, Santana will only be 1B Eligible going forward. But next year he is 3B Eligible, which to me appears to be a very shallow position. Will he settle in at the plate and bump that BA? He has always a had a solid OBP, can he score 90-100 runs after hitting 30 HR w/ 100 rbi's? Is a .275-.280 ba possible?

Thoughts?

He will be an interesting person to rank. At first blush, I was tempted to knock him down at least several rounds from his (approximate) 5th round slot last year based on the loss of catcher eligibility. Having 1B eligibility does not do much because, as you mention, 1B is extremely deep. I would not expect most owners would want Santana as their starting 1B. All that being said, he came on strong last year, and showed HR power that cannot be overlooked, especially nowadays when 25+ HR power is relatively rare. That was my initial reaction when I first thought of Santana for next year. However, as I start prepping for the upcoming draft season, I can see him maintaining his (approximate) 5th round value, or something close to it, because of just how shallow 3B has become. Really, there is not a ton at 3B for next season. Beltre seems likely to be first off the board. Longoria and Wright will be downgraded; especially Wright. Todd Frazier will be bumped up (but can he repeat?). Chris Davis now is 3B eligible, but which Chris Davis will you get? There are a few others that some may like better than Santana (e.g., Josh Donaldson). Seriously, 3B may be the most challenging position to maneuver - some may elect to "reach" slightly for a solid option while others may wait on it as there is a lot of mediocrity that should not require reaches. Thus, I'm currently of the opinion that Santana generally maintains all or most of last year's draft value. I guess I would be surprised if he falls below the 7th round on many drafts.

Just my two cents based on some early preparation efforts. Maybe 3B will look stronger to me once I get into it a little more.

Mike

Totally agree, at first look you would think his Value / ADP takes a dip, but for next year I think its only upside for his #'s. Settling in at 1B proves to be good for guys bats and at his age, now is the time for him to go BOOM. 2015 might just be the year to grab Carlos Santana as it will be his last year Eligible at a thin position like 3B.

Max' 3B rankings start with Kris Bryant!

JohnP wrote:Max' 3B rankings start with Kris Bryant!

Would like to leave him on the bench for 1 year and let my time with Donaldson in the 24th Rd have 1 more year

Santana might deliver the same production as Kris Bryant in his 1st year in the bigs.