Lance Berkman Drops on Top 15 Fantasy Baseball First Basemen List

While the news was far from as damaging as that of Jose Reyes and Joe Nathan, today we learned that Lance Berkman will have knee surgery—sidelining him for two to four weeks, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle. (Click here for the full article.) 

The thing is, there’s no guarantee that he even misses Opening Day, so how far you drop him—if you do at all—depends entirely on your risk tolerance.

What is concerning is that at his age (34), you have to wonder exactly how he is going to bounce back.  He’s been relatively healthy throughout his career—he’s played at least 132 games every year since 2001—so you have to think that he’ll be fine once he returns. But that certainly is no guarantee.

Those doubts drop him down a few spots on my draft board—he was originally ranked 12th.  So let’s take a look:

1. Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals
2. Mark Teixeira - New York Yankees
3. Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers
4. Ryan Howard - Philadelphia Phillies
5. Prince Fielder - Milwaukee Brewers
6. Justin Morneau - Minnesota Twins
7. Kevin Youkilis - Boston Red Sox
8. Adrian Gonzalez - San Diego Padres
9. Mark Reynolds - Arizona Diamondbacks
10. Kendry Morales - Los Angeles Angels
11. Joey Votto - Cincinnati Reds
12. Pablo Sandoval - San Francisco Giants
13. Billy Butler - Kansas City Royals
14. Lance Berkman - Houston Astros
15. Victor Martinez - Boston Red Sox

Basically, the doubts knock him out of being a starting first baseman, but I would still be willing to take him as my corner infielder.  He’s proven to be too good for too long to simply think that he’s just going to fold and be unusable.

What about you?  Does his injury scare you off at all?  Is he a player you’d be willing to use?

If you would like to see a free preview of the Rotoprofessor 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide (available for just $5), now including a Top 50 prospects for 2010 List, click here .

Make sure to check out our 2010 yearly league rankings:

• Catchers
• Second Basemen
• Third Basemen
• Shortstops
• Outfielders
• Designated Hitters
• Starting Pitchers
• Closers

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