Would you rate my hitting squad?

C Mike Piazza (Oak - C) 1B Paul Konerko (CWS - 1B)


2B Brian Roberts (Bal - 2B) 3B David Wright (NYM - 3B)


SS Hanley Ramírez (Fla - SS) OF Andruw Jones (Atl - OF)


OF Eric Byrnes (Ari - OF) OF Austin Kearns (Was - OF)


Util Ryan Freel (Cin - 2B,3B,OF)


BN Jim Edmonds (StL - OF) BN David Ross (Cin - C)

Would you rate my hitting squad?
I assume you are playing in a 5x5 (R,HR, RBI, AVG, SB) league since you have some speed in the line up. Based on that premise, I would say you are above average at C,1B, 3B, and SS. If you Roberts plays well again this year, I would guess that you would have one of the top 3 infields in a 12 team league.





Your Bench players are not very strong. I would dump Edmonds, as his best days are far behind him. Ross is a decent catcher, but there will be at least one who emerges later during the year who will be as good - so dump him as well. Piazza will be playing DH anyway, so he should be able to avoid injury.





I would move Kearns and Freel to the bench early in the season. Both could emerge as starters later on, but I wouldn't feel comfortable counting on their production as starters. Both can be rather up and down players.





I am not sure who is available in your league, but I would look for guys like Jacque Jones, Kenny Lofton, Willy Taveras, Chris Duncan, Moises Alou, Brad Hawpe, or Aubrey Huff. These guys are all available in more than 40% of the leagues I am in right now. All would be significant improvements over Edmonds.
Reply:I would say 8 out of 10





I really like your blend of power (Konerko, Jones, Wright) and speed (Hanley and Freel) with some guys that can do a little of both (Roberts and Byrnes).





The only room for improvement I think you have is at the third outfield spot with Kearns and possibly with the Util spot and Freel. I personally think Kearns isn't as good as people give him credit for and because he's going to be hitting in a pitchers park for half of his games i think his numbers will drop off... and as for Freel - he has never been able to hit with a high enough average and he doesn't have any power at all... I do like the idea of having Freel on the bench though in case someone gets hurt and he will give you those extra steals...





But all in all - good drafting and good luck this season!
Reply:If its a 12 team league then I guess it would be a 7 or 8.
Reply:8/10





I preferred Utley at 2B


and Pujols at 1B and Soriano over Kearns
Reply:It's not bad. Piazza and Jones could be great because Piazza is just DH-ing and Jones is in a contract year. Ramirez is going to get tons of steals. David Wright is awsome and hopefully, for you, Brian Roberts comes back strong. Brynes, Kearns, Freel Edmonds are definitely a stretch though.
Reply:8/10
Reply:I'd give it a 6 out of 10. You have a decent average potential, but for the most part, your squad lacks true power and rbi potential. The runs generated from Roberts, Wright, Ramirez, Byrnes and Freel, as well as the steals, should allow you to be near the top of the league in that category.





But your hitting isn't very complete, and if you're in a head-to-head league, I wouldn't trust relying just on my hits/runs/steals because they're are better potential teams out there. In fact, head-to-head my fantasy team would lead your team in all those categories.
Reply:Piazza, decent but getting too old


Konerko, a stud


Roberts, best all around 2b in the game


Wright, solid hitter with protection all around him


Ramirez, young, but good. Still needs some work


Jones, will produce some runs for you but Braves suck


Byrnes, solid player, but you can do much better on OF


Kearns, way too streaky, last year came on strong, but overall average


Freel, a lot of heart, decent numbers


Edmonds, done, get rid of him


Ross, ???
Reply:Very good - good power, decent speed. Byrnes and Kearns are weak links, I would try to upgrade there. And Freel can't be counted on as he has no given position and ends up hurt all the time.
Reply:7/10
Reply:i would give it 6/10. But i would perfer Manny,Soriano and jermain Dye in the OF