Aries Rams: In-Depth Analysis

Aries Rams

A quick look at the depth chart shows that Aries has a lot of depth at RF and C, and floating depth at 1B and 3B.  The "floating" aspect has to do with ever-changing positional eligibility: their top-ranked slugger Miguel Cabrera started the season as a first baseman, but after starting all 17 of his appearances at 3B this year he now has eligibility across the diamond.  This is good because moving Miggy (once a nickname reserved for Miguel Tejada) opens up a spot at 1B for Mark Teixeira.  But it's also complicated (I won't say bad) because it would supplant incumbent 3B Adrian Beltre.  

In a setting that has anything at all to do with defense, the choice seems clear to do what the Tigers didn't: confine Cabrera to the DH spot and keep the better fielders on the field.  For fantasy purposes however, that might not be the best option.  Teixeira's a historically slow starter and Beltre has already missed a couple of games due to injury.  What's more, neither of those two top-30 ranked players finds themselves within the top 50 point scorers in batting.

Aries's surprising top scorer is someone who didn't even begin the season on their roster: Corey Hart, who's doing his best to replace the Brewers' former star slugger who left to join Cabrera on the Tigers.  Hart started the season an astonishing 5th on the Aries depth chart in RF behind Hunter Pence, Jay Bruce, Michael Cuddyer, and Andre Ethier.  Ethier and Cuddyer join Hart and fantasy "tentpole" Cabrera in the coveted top-50 category, along with star-on-the-rise Shorstop Starlin Castro of the Cubs.  Speaking of the Cubs, we were all set to watch them take on the Phillies tonight on MLB Network, but the long-anticipated major league debut of #2 Prospect Bryce Harper for the Nationals will apparently take programming precedence.  Perhaps I'll have to revamp my proposed schedule after just one day...

RF is not the Rams' only strong position: 3 of the top 5 ranked Catchers were born under the Aries constellation.  Interestingly enough, all 3 of these stars have missed significant time due to injuries in recent years: Carlos Santana and Buster Posey were involved in brutal home plate collisions, and Joe Mauer's body just happens to be tied together with string.

After Felix Hernandez - one of the rare first round pick worthy pitchers, someone around whom you can build a whole team - the pitching staff looks pretty thin: King Felix (baseball's 4th best current nickname according to Jerry Crasnick) is ranked in the top 30, while the next best pitcher on the team (AL ROY Jeremy Hellickson, who was incidentally born on Felix's first birthday) didn't even crack the top 160.  Chris Sale became eligible as an SP not a moment too soon, and his pleasantly surprising success in the rotation could help bolster this staff.

Injuries haven't hit this team too hard, unless they happen to be building a roster in a fantasy league that differentiates between corner outfield positions, because Michael Morse hasn't yet played in a game all season.  Kyle Farnsworth is a bit of a wild card given all his years not closing, but his return will be welcome, as Axford and Valverde haven't exactly been on point.  Also, Jeremy Guthrie just went on the DL this morning, but I'm too lazy to redo my graphic.

I don't know if it's the Aries tendency to be competitive and impulsive that caused Posey and Santana to throw caution to the wind while defending home plate against that one extra run.  Has Felix Hernandez blossomed into one of the best young pitchers in the game due to the "prophetic" nature imbued in Aries signs?  Maybe the fact that many Aries "lack in social graces" explains Miguel Cabrera's domestic/alcohol troubles.  And I wonder if it's a coincidence that Cabrera won Player of the Week honors for the first week of the season, smack-dab in the middle of his sign.  Of that helped Beltre and Ethier hit home runs on their birthdays.  I guess only the stars will know...