Yahoo! Sports 2B Primer

As opposed to the 1B Primer posted last week on Yahoo! that had Pena ranked so low, which I talked about here, the 2B Primer shows a Ray some love. Andy Behrens ranks BJ Upton as the second best 2B for fantasy, behind the obvious number one Chase Utley. He has this to say about Upton:


"Now entering his sixth year of breathless hype, Upton finally has a great fantasy season to his credit. He delivered 24 HR and 22 steals in only 129 games in 2007 while hitting .300/.386/.508. Those rates weren't out of line with his career minor league production, but since you can't expect Upton to repeat last year's .399 BABIP, you shouldn't expect another .300 average. Of course, his value isn't really in his batting average. In 2005, Upton hit 36 doubles and 18 HR in Triple-A, and he stole 44 bases. Then he swiped 57 the following season, splitting time between Durham and Tampa Bay. He's still only 23, yet he has short-term 20/40 potential. Don't fret excessively about last season's 154 strikeouts. Upton is a selective hitter who sees a ton of pitches (4.06 P/PA in '07) and gets himself on base at an impressive rate (.391 minor league OBP).

Forecast: 540 AB, 95 R, 26 HR, 94 RBI, 35 SB, .281 AVG. "

This will be the last year that he can play 2B for fantasy purposes, so enjoy while you can.