Notable fantasy baseball players in contract years

January 12, 2009 @ 00:00:00

By Herija C. Green
Edited by Tim Heaney

Historically, according to Baseball HQ, approximately half of the position players in contract years have performed above their normal production, relative to the rest of their careers. For pitchers, that fraction falls drastically; roughly three in 20 post considerably better lines than normal in contract years. Keep that in mind when you consider the value of these fantasy baseball players on draft day.

Catchers

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Victor Martinez	Cleveland Indians	Yes
Bengie Molina	San Francisco Giants
Ramon Hernandez	Cincinnati Reds	Yes
Miguel Olivo	Kansas City Royals
Rod Barajas	Toronto Blue Jays
Brian Schneider	New York Mets
Jason Kendall	Milwaukee Brewers

 

First basemen

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Aubrey Huff	Baltimore Orioles
Carlos Delgado	New York Mets
Adam LaRoche	Pittsburgh Pirates
Nick Johnson	Washington Nationals

 

Second basemen

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Brian Roberts	Baltimore Orioles
Mark DeRosa	Cleveland Indians
Placido Polanco	Detroit Tigers
Freddy Sanchez	Pittsburgh Pirates	Yes
Adam Kennedy	St. Louis Cardinals

 

Third basemen

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Chipper Jones	Atlanta Braves
Chone Figgins	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Melvin Mora	Baltimore Orioles	Yes
Adrian Beltre	Seattle Mariners
Troy Glaus	St. Louis Cardinals
Pedro Feliz	Philadelphia Phillies	Yes
Chad Tracy	Arizona Diamondbacks

 

Shortstops

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Miguel Tejada	Houston Astros
Khalil Greene	St. Louis Cardinals
Bobby Crosby	Oakland Athletics
Jack Wilson	Pittsburgh Pirates	Yes
Marco Scutaro	Toronto Blue Jays

 

Outfielders

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Matt Holliday	Oakland Athletics
Jason Bay	Boston Red Sox
Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Rays	Yes
Vladimir Guerrero	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Magglio Ordonez	Detroit Tigers	Yes
Jermaine Dye	Chicago White Sox	Yes
Johnny Damon	New York Yankees
Xavier Nady	New York Yankees
Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies
Hideki Matsui	New York Yankees
Rick Ankiel	St. Louis Cardinals
Andruw Jones	Los Angeles Dodgers
Coco Crisp	Kansas City Royals	Yes
Mike Cameron	Milwaukee Brewers
Randy Winn	San Francisco Giants
Marlon Byrd	Texas Rangers
Austin Kearns	Washington Nationals	Yes
Brian Giles	San Diego Padres
Reed Johnson	Chicago Cubs

 

Designated hitters

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Hank Blalock	Texas Rangers
Gary Sheffield	Detroit Tigers
Matt Stairs	Philadelphia Phillies

 

Starting pitchers

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Brandon Webb	Arizona Diamondbacks	Yes
Cliff Lee	Cleveland Indians	Yes
Josh Beckett	Boston Red Sox	Yes
John Lackey	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Rich Harden	Chicago Cubs
Brett Myers	Philadelphia Phillies
Randy Johnson	San Francisco Giants
Erik Bedard	Seattle Mariners
Justin Duchscherer	Oakland Athletics
Tim Hudson	Atlanta Braves	Yes
Brad Penny	Boston Red Sox
Kelvim Escobar	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Todd Wellemeyer	St. Louis Cardinals
Daniel Cabrera	Washington Nationals
Jason Schmidt	Los Angeles Dodgers
Vicente Padilla	Texas Rangers	Yes
Jose Contreras	Chicago White Sox
Doug Davis	Arizona Diamondbacks
Jarrod Washburn	Seattle Mariners
Joel Pineiro	St. Louis Cardinals

 

Relief pitchers

Player	Team	2010 Option?
Jose Valverde	Houston Astros
Mike Gonzalez	Atlanta Braves
J.J. Putz	New York Mets	Yes
Billy Wagner	New York Mets
Rafael Soriano	Atlanta Braves
Kevin Gregg	Chicago Cubs
Hideki Okajima	Boston Red Sox
Fernando Rodney	Detroit Tigers
Masahide Kobayashi	Cleveland Indians	Yes
Rafael Betancourt	Cleveland Indians	Yes
Octavio Dotel	Chicago White Sox
Matt Thornton	Chicago White Sox	Yes
Ryan Madson	Philadelphia Phillies
John Grabow	Pittsburgh Pirates
Joaquin Benoit	Texas Rangers

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Herija C. Green

Herija is a graduate from California State University - San Marcos. He was a contributing writer and editor with KFFL.com

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