Top 5 Oakland Athletics Position Battles - Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide 2009

Here are the top 5 position battles for the Oakland Athletics Fantasy Baseball 2009. Each position has several players that are vying for game play.

#1 Oakland Athletics Position Battles: Pitchers - Fantasy Baseball 2009

Justin Duchscherer, with the highest overall rating, and Dana Eveland, both have played during the 2008 season. Against Minnesota, on August 18th, Justin Duchscherer had a 0.00 earned runs average. For 2009, he should be able to maintain an ERA below 2.90. Dana Eveland, who has had a 0.00 earned run average on September 19th, has had considerable playing time with the Oakland Athletics, with 168 innings played in 2008. His pitching should improve with more innings played.

#2 Oakland Athletics Position Battles: Outfielders - Fantasy Baseball 2009

There is Matt Holliday, Jack Cust, Ryan Sweeney, Rajai Davis, and Emil Brown. Mattt Holliday has played at left field, starting over a hundred games each season. He has worked to reduce the number of errors and also had a personal record-high number of putouts in the 2007 season with Colorado Rockies. Jack Cust has played both left and right field for the Oakland Athletics since 2007. He seems to have a higher fielding percentage at right field. He might want more games at right field. Ryan Sweeney has played 61 games as center fielder, with 1.000 fielding percentage. Rajai Davis has 146 games as center fielder, with a .996 fielding percentage. Emil Brown has close to 200 games started as left fielder and right fielder during his 8 years of experience.

#3 Oakland Athletics Position Battles: 1st/3rd baseman - Fantasy Baseball 2009

Top 3 1st basemen are Jason Giambi, Erubiel Durazo, and Daric Barton. Jason Giambi has had 493 game starts as 1st baseman. In those 493 games he has had a scant 83 errors, putting his fielding percentage at .992. Erubiel Durazo has had 236 games played as 1st baseman, and in those games played he's had only 22 errors, putting his fielding percentage at .988. Daric Barton has had 152 games played as 1st baseman, and holds a fielding percentage of .990.

Top 3 3rd basemen are Jack Hannahan, Eric Chavez, and Jeff Baisley. Jack Hannahan has 146 game starts as 3rd baseman, holding a .970 fielding percentage. Eric Chavez has 809 game starts as 3rd baseman, with a .969 fielding percentage. Jeff Baisley has 10 games played as 3rd baseman, with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

#4 Oakland Athletics Position Battles: 2nd baseman/Shortstop - Fantasy Baseball 2009

Top 3 2nd basemen are Mark Ellis, Yung Chi Chen, and Eric Patterson. Mark Ellis has a.989 fielding percentage as 2nd baseman. Yung Chi Chen has yet to play. Eric Patterson, as 2nd baseman, has a .962 with 22 games played.

Top 3 Shortstops are Bobby Crosby, Cliff Pennington, and Gregorio Petit. With a .973 fielding percentage, Bobby Crosby has over 5000 innings as short stop. Cliff Pennington has 10 games played, and a .867 fielding percentage. Gregorio Petit has 8 games played as short stop, with a fielding percentage of .905.

#5 Oakland Athletics Position Battles: Catcher - Fantasy Baseball 2009

Catchers for the Oakland Athletics include Kurt Suzuki, Jeremy Brown, Rob Bowen. Kurt Suzuki has a fielding percentage of .994, with 1754 innings played from 2007-2008. Reducing the number of errors in his fielding would lower his fielding percentage. Jeremy Brown played in 2006 and played an inning of a game, with 2 put outs and a 1.000 fielding percentage. Rob Bowen has 174 games played as catcher, with a fielding percentage of .986. Fewer strike outs could improve his batting average.

Sources:

1. http://games.espn.go.com/flb/playerrater?.