I'm just glad they didn't end up with the worst, most overpaid of the bunch, Orlando Cabrera.

Here's the full article for you guys with the Insider...Enjoy! BTW...great site...Go Cardinals!
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In a span of a few days back in mid-December, the Red Sox, Angels and Cardinals completed a neat little three-way "trade" of their shortstops, though nobody was "technically" traded. I watched it happen, in one case as a pretty big story, another it was mild, the third as an afterthought on SportsCenter's bottom line. I took an even closer look at the stats, and wondered again out loud if real life GMs actually knew what they were doing.

Edgar Renteria left one World Series team for another, cashing on with a huge four-year deal worth 10 mil a season. Seemed like a lot at the time. Once Renteria signed, then Orlando Cabrera could see he wasn't wanted in Boston, despite doing a nice job in his half season after the Nomar trade. So Cabrera bolted for Anaheim, which showered him with a four-year deal for $32 million. Of course, that deal meant spunky little David Eckstein no longer was wanted. So the Cardinals watch all this green get thrown around. They need a shortstop and a leadoff hitter anyway. Did they end up with the best one? Nope. They ended up with Eckstein, by far the best bargain.

You say you don't care about real-life contracts in fantasy? It's the same in fantasy. Value is key to molding a winning team, unless you have six picks in the first round.

Go ahead and draft Renteria in round three. Waste a fifth-rounder on Cabrera. I'll just calmly wait for round 15 and grab Eckstein, easily the best value of this threesome. The Cardinals got Eckstein for three years, $10 million. You can get him far cheaper than that.

What's this fascination I have with Eckstein, you may ask? Well, that's not it at all. I do like him as a fantasy player - within reason - because you know what you're getting. Eckstein offers nothing power-wise, but that's OK. Look closer at Renteria and Cabrera and you'll see they don't offer nearly as much power as most people think. Eckstein steals bases, scores runs, generally wreaks havoc, and one more thing: He's the leadoff hitter for a team that has Larry Walker, Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds behind him. And the Cards paid a quarter of what Renteria got.

Eckstein's 2004 was viewed as so horrible by the Angels that they hit him leadoff for 520 at-bats, where he had nearly as many walks as strikeouts, stole 12 bases, scored 83 runs and had a passable .343 OBP. Overall, he scored 92 runs. I expect he'll do about the same thing in St. Louis, but possibly return to the numbers of 2001-02, where he averaged 25 steals, hit near .290, scored 107 runs once. Not a bad 15th round pick, eh? But this column isn't totally about Eck, who I view as a mild sleeper. I'm just reminding you not to forget about him.

This column is really about how overrated Renteria and Cabrera have become. Forget about the real-life contracts they got. Heading into 2004, Renteria was actually viewed as a top-5 fantasy shortstop. He was coming off a career season, with a .330 average and 100 RBI. You don't often see a guy with 13 homers knock in 100. That's because it was a fluke. Renteria had other important numbers, with 34 steals - by far his most over the last five years - and 47 doubles. The Cards batted him in an RBI spot in the order, accounting for the RBI, the extra walks (he was protecting Pujols), probably the average, too. In 2004, Renteria wasn't a bad player, he was a disappointment based on the high expectations. Every stat of Renteria's last year was on par with his career averages; the 10 homers, 17 steals, .287 average. Wonderful. You know what Eckstein did? Only two homers, but 16 steals, .276 average, and more runs scored. Who would I rather have? Renteria, of course, he's a better player, and a better fantasy option. But by 10-to-15 rounds, at the least? No way. Remember, the word is value.

I'll give you that Boston - and the American League in general - is a better place to hit in. Maybe Renteria knocks 50 doubles off that wall. But where will Renteria hit in the Boston order? He doesn't walk much. Do the Sox bat him second between Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez/David Ortiz? Or does walk machine Mark Bellhorn or contact hitter/former batting champ Bill Mueller go there? Renteria might hit seventh in this order. He should. Anyone who looks at OPS would do that. He'll knock in runs, and do the same thing he does every year - except 2003. I ranked Renteria seventh at shortstop. I don't expect homers as high as the teens, or more than 15 steals. I do expect Jimmy Rollins, who I ranked sixth, to do that. Renteria's stats don't translate into being picked in the first five rounds, unless he hits .330 again and steals 30-plus. I ranked Eckstein 11th at shortstop.

Remember, it's all about supply and demand, and value.

Cabrera, like Renteria, is a fine player, just not the guy fantasy owners think he is. He's not a 20-homer guy. He played 161 games last season, more than a third at Fenway, and hit 10 homers, stole 16 bases. His career OBP is .316, so he's really not a good option to hit at the top of any order, and I suspect in Anaheim he bats seventh or eighth. His career mark in homers is 17. He once knocked in 96 runs, but only one other time has he topped 62. He's a good percentage base-stealer, and twice topped 20, but I kind of throw out all his Montreal numbers now. He won't hit third in Anaheim or be asked to run. In relation to Eckstein's numbers, I cannot understand how Cabrera's worth $8 mil a year for them. But, I'm not the GM.

In fantasy baseball, I ranked Cabrera 10th at shortstop, Eckstein 11th. Based on perception of these players, I guarantee someone will draft Cabrera a few rounds before I'm ready to, and my chances of landing Eckstein if I care to are good. But I like a lot of shortstops as sleepers - Angel Berroa, Omar Vizquel, Julio Lugo - so chances are good my MI spot won't go to a star player.

The important thing to remember here is not that Eckstein is a better player than Renteria. C'mon, who would admit that? What I'll be doing is letting someone else draft Renteria in the early rounds while I grab a 30-HR outfielder, or ace starter, and an hour or two later I'll be satisfied with the shortstop I draft. Position scarcity can be a dangerous thing if you're fooled into thinking an average player at a needy position is better than he really is.

TAKING E-MAIL
From Blake in San Jose

With Justin Morneau's big season as a part-time player, what numbers can we expect out of him as a full time starter at first base or DH? I know he has the potential to hit .290/40/100, but do you think he could perhaps hit .270, 30 HR and 90 RBI this year?

Eric:
Here's one of those guys who could have a really high ceiling, or maybe we're just overrating him. In our experts consensus first base rankings, I apparently liked Morneau a lot more than the other guys. I ranked him seventh, ahead of Carlos Delgado, Aubrey Huff and Derrek Lee. The other guys had him ranked 10th and 18th. So who is right? Well, time will tell. When I make my rankings or draft my teams I generally pay little attention to what the consensus thinks. If you like a player, who cares if he's "supposed" to be a 10th round pick, but it's round five and you really want him? Morneau hit 19 homers and knocked in 58 runs in LESS than half a season. He played 74 games, had 280 at-bats. Extrapolate his stats, he's nearing Jim Thome territory, maybe better. Now obviously we need to see an entire season first. But...the minor league stats were tremendous. The guy had gap power, took walks, is big and tall and has a classic lefty power swing. Morneau hit 17 homers after the break last season. Only 13 players had more than the 55 RBI he had in that span. He's legit. I won't predict a 40-120 season, despite the fact his projections may say it. But I say Morneau comes close, and his stats look a whole lot like a David Ortiz, Thome or Mark Teixeira.