Elvis Andrus

As I was growing up during the mid to late '90s, a shortstop revolution changed the way we thought about the position’s offensive capabilities. Guys like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, and Miguel Tejeda blazed onto the scene and quickly proved that shortstop was more than just a position for defensive prowess. Over the last few years, another wave of dynamic offensive talents has graced the shortstop position. Just look at the top-10 of these rankings. The "old" man of the top-10 is Elvis Andrus at 29,…

As I was growing up during the mid to late '90s, a shortstop revolution changed the way we thought about the position’s offensive capabilities. Guys like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, and Miguel Tejeda blazed onto the scene and quickly proved that shortstop was more than just a position for defensive prowess. Over the last few years, another wave of dynamic offensive talents has graced the shortstop position. Just look at the top-10 of these rankings. The "old" man of the top-10 is Elvis Andrus at 29,…

Player Rater Report Each week this season, I have looked at ESPN’s Player Rater for the past 15 days to identify players surprisingly performing above expectations and to analyze the reasons for and sustainability of their overperformance. With the season all but complete, and nine of the ten postseason spots locked down, this presents a good opportunity to look back at the league’s top players this year as a whole. As for the predictive value of this exercise, it is worth noting that the position most accurately…

The All-Star Break seems like an appropriate time to reflect on the performances that we have seen so far this season. Using ESPN’s Player Rater, we can see which players have performed at the top of their respective positions across the league this season, noting those whose performances have been surprising or remarkable in some way. Catcher 1. Salvador Perez 2. Buster Posey 3. J.T. Realmuto 4. Gary Sanchez 5. Yadier Molina 6. Willson Contreras 7. Alex Avila 8. Evan Gattis 9. Brian McCann 10. Yasmani Grandal…

It can often be difficult to place into context how well (or how poorly) certain players have performed recently. A glance at ESPN’s Player Rater, which attempts to quantify a player’s overall fantasy value by analyzing their performance in each facet of the game, can focus targets for fantasy owners looking for help on the waiver wire. Of course, when dealing with small sample sizes, a player’s results can be fluky, but placement at or near the top of these lists could be indicative of a substantive change to a player’s…