Everth Cabrera's Fantasy Baseball Profile: Is He a No. 1 Shortstop?

Everth Cabrera has the makings of an elite base stealer.

Not only did he have 25 stolen bases in 103 games last year (which projects to 39 in a full season), but he had 73 for Single-A Asheville in 2008. 

The problem is: you’re getting zero power from him.

He had 2 HRs for the Padres last year and only seven in 879 minor league ABs. Power isn’t why you’re drafting him though.

You want him because he’s a value pick if you missed out on earlier speed options.

He should come at a reasonable price too, thanks to the aforementioned lack of power and his meager .255 batting average—an average that was nearly identical in 29 first-half games as it was in his 74 second half games. 

I’m not overly concerned with that batting average though.

Considering that, aside from 27 ABs for Triple-A Portland, the extent of his minor league experience was at Single A+ or lower, hitting .255 with minimal high-level experience is impressive.

I expect that number to improve with a year at the Major League level under his belt.

He also had an impressive on-base percentage (.342) compared to that average. He’s going to pick up his share of walks, which will mean more opportunities to steal bases and score runs.

Runs are the other thing he did relatively well last year. He scored 59, which projects to 92.8 in a full year. Given that I expect his average to increase, that number (or better) could be attainable in 2010.

Projection:  .268, 85 runs, 3 HRs, 45 RBIs, 45 SBs

Does that make him a viable No. 1 shortstop? I think so.  

I have him as the 11th ranked SS in 2010 (click to see rankings ). Depending on where you get him in your draft, you should be able to get a big bat with an earlier pick to compliment Cabrera and give you a nice mix of the five standard batting categories.

Past profiles :
Arizona Diamondbacks:  Brandon Webb
Atlanta Braves: Yunel Escobar
Baltimore Orioles:  Adam Jones
Boston Red Sox:  Clay Buchholz
Chicago Cubs:  Geovany Soto
Chicago White Sox:  Jake Peavy
Cincinnati Reds:  Joey Votto  
Cleveland Indians:  Grady Sizemore
Colorado Rockies: Ubaldo Jimenez
Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera
Florida Marlins: Cameron Maybin
Houston Astros: Lance Berkman
Kansas City Royals: Billy Butler
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Howie Kendrick
Los Angeles Dodgers: James Loney
Milwaukee Brewers: Corey Hart
Minnesota Twins: Joe Nathan
New York Mets: Jason Bay
New York Yankees: Robinson Cano
Oakland A’s: Kevin Kouzmanoff
Philadelphia Phillies: Jimmy Rollins
Pittsburgh Pirates: Octavio Dotel


Originally published at LestersLegends.com .