» Third base

When the Red Sox acquired Josh Beckett in 2006 Mike Lowell was seen as just a throw-in. Instead, Lowell brought Gold Glove defense and a very effecient number 5-6 hitter.

Let’s break down that trade a little. While it benefits the Marlins more in the long run,

Mike Lowell hopes to return to his All-Star form of 2007.

the Red Sox got just what they needed to win the World Series in 2007. Beckett had a tough season in 2006, but rebounded in ‘07 with a Cy-Young deserving performance, and he has been consistent ever since. Lowell brought all of what I mentioned earlier, though his hip may be a concern this year. They also got Alex Gonzalez for a year, but this probably did more bad than good since Julio Lugo had to play in the shadow of Gonzo’s spectacular defense.

The Sox gave up a handful of prospects, one of which threw a no-hitter (Anibal Sanchez) and the other is currently the most complete youngster in the game (Hanley Ramirez) today, but with their minor league system, it really doesn’t have much of an impact.

Lowell’s hip in injury may be an issue early, in which case Youkilis will most likely start at third and Brad Wilkerson will play first while Lowell and Mark Kotsay recover. Whenever Lowell is 100% he will have an imediate impact and he will be a great leader for the team.

Not So Fast Evan!

Evan Longoria was one of the best hitting prospects to come up in 2008, making a big splash in limited time for Tampa Bay.  He also rose to the occasion in October, doing serious clutch damage against numerous playoff pitchers.  In just 122 games during the regular season Longoria put up the following impressive numbers:

Fantasy Spin:  Great power potential from a less deep 3B position in ‘09 is the reasoning behind fantasy managers’ selection of Longoria in the middle of the 2nd round in drafts.  His exact ADP is 21 which is well ahead of Aramis Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis, Chipper Jones, and Chris Davis.  Longoria, at 23 years of age, is a great young hitter who is not expected to peak till another 4-5 years.  He’s always racked up his fair share of strikeouts with more than one K in every five at bats in the minor leagues.  This signifies he will not hit for a great average in 2009, so you are pretty much banking on 35+ homeruns when drafting him as early as he’s going.  Longoria further demonstrates one-dimensional abilities as his steal numbers is 2008 were flukish; he had only 8 in 758 minor league at bats. 

In addition, it was recently reported by Rotoworld.com that BJ Upton will be leading off for the Rays in ‘09.  This presents less RBI opportunites for Longoria as he will no longer hit behind the plate discipline guru Upton, who walked 97 times last year.  This does not do anything to boost Longoria’s value and should be the final straw bouncing him to the end of the 2nd or early 3rd round.