LestersLegends.com

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Rafael Furcal is on fire to start the season, ranking among the league leaders in batting average and stolen bases in the early going. Can he keep it up?
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With a career average that is +.280 and 300+ stolen bases, you know that he can produce. He has nine seasons with twenty or more stolen bases and five seasons (or partial seasons) that he has hit .290 or better. Obviously if he can stay healthy, he has the pedigree.
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That has been his biggest issue though. Since 2008 he has only played in 100 games one year (2009). Over the past two seasons he has missed 140 games and over the past four seasons he has missed an average of 69.5 games per year.
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At 34 he isn’t a lock to remain on the field. If he can, however, he should continue to be a solid contributor.
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Even last year, where he struggled mightily producing a career low .231 batting average (he had never hit below .269) he was remarkably better in St. Louis. After hitting .197 in 37 games for the Dodgers, he improved 58 points with the Cardinal.
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Furcal has found a comfort level in St. Louis so there is little reason to think he won’t be able to produce.
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Rafael could be available in your league. He is owned in a little over half of Yahoo! and close to nearly three-quarters of ESPN leagues. He is best utilized in the middle infielder slot when applicable, but he can also be used in the starting shortstop role.
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As you would expect with a player of his age and injury background you’ll want to keep good tabs on Furcal. Play him while he’s hot and healthy, but be ready if the other foot drops.
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Also check out:

• Closer Talk
• Can Jason Vargas Continue to Roll?
• Will the Return to Tampa Continue to Energize Carlos Pena?
• Should You Own Erik Bedard?
• Fantasy Baseball 2012: Early Trade Targets

With Rafael Furcal and Yunel Escobar landing on the DL, there will be some fantasy owners in the market for a new fantasy shortstop. Here are some reasonably available options.

Yuniesky Betancourt, Kansas City Royals
The Royals are 23rd with 104 runs scored, but Betancourt has been decent. He’s hitting .278 with 10 runs, 2 HRs, and 8 RBIs. He’s owned in 14.7 percent of ESPN and 18 percent of CBS leagues.
***Update***
With Mike Aviles back in the mix, he’s probably a more attractive option.

Cliff Pennington, Oakland A’s
Oakland isn’t an offensive powerhouse either, but Pennington is hitting .272 with 10 runs, 3 HRs, 16 RBIs, and 4 SBs. He’s owned in 18.9 percent of ESPN and 46 percent of CBS leagues.

Cristian Guzman, Washington Nationals
Guzman qualifies at SS despite playing 2B for the Nats. He’s hitting .271 with 10 runs, 8 RBIs, and 1 SB. He’s owned in 6 percent of ESPN and 15 percent of CBS leagues.

Juan Uribe, San Francisco Giants
Uribe qualifies at 2B, 3B, and SS making him very valuable. He’s hitting .292 with 11 runs, 3 HRs, 16 RBIs, and 1 SB. He’s likely not available in ESPN leagues (74.2 percent ownership), but may be had in CBS leagues (48 percent).

Orlando Cabrera, Cincinnati Reds
Cabrera is the opposite of Uribe. He’s owned in 59 percent of CBS and 19.3 percent of ESPN leagues. He’s hitting .253 with 10 runs, 2 HRs, 14 RBIs, and 3 SBs.

Derek Jeter – I don’t see a huge jump for Jeter, but I expect him to score 100 runs and collect 200 hits, which is something he didn’t do in ’08 (88 & 179).  His .300 is below his .316 career mark, and I expect that to increase to around .310.  I don’t see much movement for Jeter in HRs, RBI, or SBs.

 

Édgar Rentería – So Rentería moves on to his sixth team.  Say what you want about him, the guy can hit.  Like most Tigers, Rentería had a down year hitting .270 with 69 Runs, 136 Hits, and 22 Doubles.  His RBIs were at 55, but he only had 57 the year before in Atlanta while hitting a career high .332.  From 2002-2007 he averaged 90.7 Runs, 173.2 Hits, 37.7 Doubles, and hit .303.  I expect he’ll produce somewhere in between last year’s stats and those averages.  That would put him at .287, 80 R, 155 H, and 30 Doubles.

Khalil Greene – He’s not much of a hitter, but clearly a move to St. Louis from San Diego has to help the paltry .213, 30 R, 83 H, 15 2B, 10 HR, 35 RBI he produced in 2008.  I don’t expect him to reach his 2007 numbers (89 R, 155 H, 44 2B, 27 HR, 97 RBI), but something more in line with what he did from 2004-2006 when he averaged .257, 58 R, 29 2B, 15 HR, and 63.3 RBI.

Robinson Canó – Canó digressed in 2008 hitting a career low .271.  He’s traditionally a slow starter with April (.237) and May (.271) being his worst two months.  Though he did hit .307 after the All-Star break, he never quite recovered from the .151 he hit in April.  His average wasn’t the only thing that suffered though.  He stats were down across the board.  He’s too good of a hitter in too good of an Offense to struggle again next year.  Hopefully the World Baseball Classic well allow him to hit the ground running on Opening Day.  

Freddy Sánchez – After hitting .315 in his first three years with the Pirates, Sánchez saw his average drop to .271. In 2006 & 2007 he averaged 191.5 Hits, 47.5 Doubles, 83 RBI.  Last year he had 154, 26, and 52.

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