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During the off season we plan for the worst, and try to avoid it.

We scour Roto tips looking for signs of injury or GM's or Managers expressing little faith in some players. Then, in most instances, we avoid those players.

One player that stood out for me during this process was Justin Morneau. I was afraid to take him, not only fearing that he wouldn't play, but worse, fearing he would play.

Morneau gave us no hint that he was fully recovered from his concussion. In fact, he related to reporters about how the concussion has changed his life.

Fantasy players fear the big injury. It's not the worst thing that can happen. A player underperforming and then off and on hitting the dl, while the fantasy player waits for him to 'snap out of it' is worse.

Angel Pagan and Vernon Wells owners would probably quickly agree.

Even though Morneau owners were happy that he sucked it up and is playing, they may be worse off for it now.

Morneau is playing like a guy that needed more time to get ready for the season, but like Wells or Pagan, it is tough for owners to take him out of the lineup while he's playing.

Called a 'value pick' in the sixth or seventh rounds, Morneau is now being called something else now by his owners.



So, since I started on the premise of avoiding pitfalls during the off season, let's have a list of the worst hitters at their positions.

The pre-requisites will be no injuries and a lot of playing time.

No injuries because they can be somewhat helped by faab, leaving out guys like Wells and Pagan, who have been miserable for fantasy owners.

By the way, after the Angels game last night, Torii Hunter was saying how Wells veteran leadership would be missed and called for the young players to step it up.



Trumbo- .266/6/17

His six homers and 17 rbi lead the Angels



Bourjos- .298 and brilliant defensively



Conger- .297/3/11



Abreu- .267 and one homer



Mathis- .197



Wells- .183



Hunter- .234



The youngsters have stepped it up, Torii. They're probably just hoping for a little more of that 'veteran leadership' ON the field.



Alright, enough ranting, on with the list



Worst catcher-



Josh Thole

Thole has no homers, the only other catcher that can say that is Quintero who is still available through faab in a lot of leagues. Thole does not stop there though, he has four runs scored all year. Even Matt Treanor, also available through faab in a lot of leagues, who is hitting below Mendoza and 40 points less than Thole has 11 runs scored.



Worst 1b-



Dan Johnson

Nope, not Morneau.

Johnson is hitting .129 with three rbi for the season. The Rays have Johnson and Kotchman at first base. Johnson and Kotchman are to first basemen, as Boy George and Elton John are to manlihood.



Worst 2b-



Mark Ellis

I know, I know, Kelly Johnson has been horrible this year, but, did you know that only two 2b have at least four home runs and four stolen bases this year? That's right, Kelly Johnson is one of them, the other being Ian Kinsler.

Will Rhymes was sent down with two rbi in 68 at bats out of the two-hole. You'd think he would trip on more rbi.

But, Ellis has 'outperformed' everyone else for this honor. Though he does have four stolen bases, he is batting .190 in the middle of the A's lineup with no homers and a paltry six rbi and seven runs. Blecccch.



Worst 3b



Pedro Alvarez

He has one homer and single digit rbi and runs. Owners were hoping for those stats in a week. Six weeks later, he is averaging an rbi every seven days.

This could be a 'Pablo' season for Alvarez.

A special award goes to Alvarez for being the only 1-10 round pick on this list. Bravo.



SS



Reid Brignac

This was supposed to be 'the' year for Brignac. He has zero homers, zero sb's, and single digit rbi and runs. He is being replaced by an also ran at shortstop for the Rays who may be replacing an also ran shortstop.



OF



Magglio Ordonez

Michael Morse

JD Drew

How in the heck can any player who has hit in front of Miguel Cabrera for most of the year have only five rbi and four runs scored?

Someone needs to tell Leyland that a third hitter is usually the best hitter, not worst, By the way, the middle of Ordonez name is 'Done'

Morse had a great spring.

And that is what will probably be said of him after the regular season is over. He had a great spring.

Drew has two homers, no sb's, and eight rbi, while hitting .228.....

JD, in this case, stands for

Just Drivemetothebank.





If one of these players is on your roster, you've probably benched them or put them out on the curb.

If two, three, or four are on your roster, my condolensces.

Wow! Look at all those "buy-low" candidates!



Sorry, I was channeling a pundit for a minute....

I would restate Doughie's list of hitters as "the worst MLB starters that might be on a fantasy roster", but I don't think these guys are the top fantasy killers. Players like Brignac, Eliis, & Dan Johnson weren't selected on fantasy teams until Round 20 or later. As such, I don't see fantasy owners laying off the jettison button on these folks.



The true fantasy killers are those players who are significantly under performing and who were taken at a level where great talent was available as alternative choices.



Here's my list:



1B: Adam Dunn



2B: Dustin Pedroia



SS: Hanley Ramirez



3B: Alvarez and Ian Stewart skipping hand in hand



C: Jorge Posada



OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Alex Rios, & Nick Markakis



These are the players that fantasy teams are counting on big time and can't afford to bench. Barring injury, you have roll with these guys. If they don't rebound, your team is toast.

If you're wondering why your NFBC teams are missing their offensive marks, this article by SI's Tom Verducci might help explain it:



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... tml?hpt=C2



I think this part of the article sums it up best:



There have been 72 shutouts thrown already this season, a pace that would leave baseball with more shutouts this year than in any year but two: 1968 and 1972, when offense was so putrid Major League Baseball changed its rules both times to inject more scoring into the game. It lowered the mound in 1969 and added the designated hitter in 1973.



Expansion has brought about far more games overall, of course, but your chances of seeing a shutout are greater now than in any of the 14 seasons with 30 clubs. Here are some of the shutout trends of 2011:



• When Justin Verlander of Detroit threw his no-hitter Saturday, it was just one of a half dozen shutouts on that one day.



• The White Sox shut out the Angels on Monday night, 8-0, marking the 11th straight day with at least one shutout in the majors.



• The Padres have been shut out eight times in their first 35 games, putting them on pace to shatter the record for a 162-game season: 30 by the 1963 Mets.



• At current rates, for the first time since 1992 you will see teams get shut out more times than they score 10 runs.





Wow, amazing lack of offense in MLB this year. I'd say there are a LOT of bad offensive teams, but this is crazy. Goodbye Steroid Era, hello Dead Ball Era.

Great stuff, Greg!



The decline in batting averages is very noticeable from a fantasy point of view as well. If your team is hitting over .260 then you are probably in the top third of your league.



I haven't looked at power numbers (HRs) in MLB compared to the last few years but I would venture to guess that they are way down as well.



It's a whole new ballgame, for fantasy players as well as MLB.

Originally posted by Cowboy Joe:

I would restate Doughie's list of hitters as "the worst MLB starters that might be on a fantasy roster", but I don't think these guys are the top fantasy killers. Players like Brignac, Eliis, & Dan Johnson weren't selected on fantasy teams until Round 20 or later. As such, I don't see fantasy owners laying off the jettison button on these folks.



The true fantasy killers are those players who are significantly under performing and who were taken at a level where great talent was available as alternative choices.



Here's my list:



1B: Adam Dunn



2B: Dustin Pedroia



SS: Hanley Ramirez



3B: Alvarez and Ian Stewart skipping hand in hand



C: Jorge Posada



OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Alex Rios, & Nick Markakis



These are the players that fantasy teams are counting on big time and can't afford to bench. Barring injury, you have roll with these guys. If they don't rebound, your team is toast. My list was just one of worst hitters at their positions, not fantasy killers.

I hesitate to make a list like yours because these players are good enough to rebound and April could turn out to be their worst month.

The players on my list are players that were so bad in April that if there is no improvement SOON, a ticket to the minors or worse, an unconditional release could be staring them in the face.



Alvarez should be ready for what may be the ultimate insult.....

Being sent down to the minors and replaced by (gulp!) Brandon Wood

Love that kind of stuff, Greg.



For some reason, I don't see the Overall Standings for last year on the Overall Standings page. but looking back through other years, most batting average leaders were in the 290's or 300's.

This year in the NFBC Main Event, there are only 13 teams with a batting average of .280 or better.

And real baseball is even worse. The St. Louis Cards with two of the hottest hitters on the planet are hitting .285 as a team. No other team is hitting above .270!



One more thing, I am not convinced that it is the pitcher that should get all the credit for a year like this. Hitters, real hitters are getting fewer and farther between. I am not a Milton Bradley fan, never have been, never will be, but look at the fall out of his leaving the Seattle lineup.

Granted, Smoak will probably be a force for a long time, but take a gander at the rest of the Seattle starting lineup tonight following Smoak:



1. Ichiro

2. Figgy

3. Smoak

4. Olivo

5. Cust

6. Kennedy

7. Peguero

8. Ryan

9. Saunders



It is a collection of players that would be better suited as a backup, fodder for the minors, or retired.

If one of these players, besides Smoak, hit just 20 homers, it would be a surprise.

And this is not the only team.

Scary bad offense out there right now.



[ May 10, 2011, 05:54 PM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]

Al Leiter just said that MLB was on pace for 16 pitchers to have at least 200 K's. In 2006 there were only 6 such pitchers.



I wonder if the Year of the Pitcher will turn into the Decade