By Jim Higgins
As the days of February begin to tick off, many of you are probably in the same situation I am – trying to determine which players are your keepers for the 2010 season. I know who the majority of my keepers are but my headaches come from the fact that I have about four or five guys for my last one or two spots.
Looking over the names, the player I am having the biggest problem with is Jose Lopez.For the last couple of years it has been rumored Lopez will change positions, moving to 1B, or be traded but with only a couple of weeks left until Spring Training opens, Lopez is still the guy at 2B for the Mariners.
The thing I really like about Lopez is the fact that he has been a full time major leaguer for the last 4 years but is only 26 years old. He has excellent power for a 2B and hits for enough average that he won’t hurt you.
My biggest problem is the fact that he has only a 4% BB% and in an OBP league (which my keeper league uses instead of runs), hovering around .300 almost every year really hurts.
I already have a 2B keeper in Aaron Hill, making this call that much harder, and having two power hitting MI seems to be a luxury when I have the worst set of CIs in the history of fantasy baseball. Ideally I would trade one and keep the other but with no interest in either player and my declaration deadline next Friday, it is looking like I have to make this decision.
The closer I get to my deadline, the more likely it is I am keeping Lopez but it really comes down to the setup of your league. If you use OPS as a category, Lopez won’t hurt you as much given his power but in most formats you will definitely need to plan to offset his low on-base skills. And given the fact that he has had more than 600 ABs in three of the last four years, you may need two players to accomplish that.
My recommendation is you keep Lopez, but use caution.
To all the other Lopez owners out there, what are your thoughts? Are you holding onto this power hitting MI? If not, who are the guys you are keeping? Let me know in the comments below.
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