There’s a new method for evaluating your draft pools. An article today on Seamless Baseball discussed the notion of position scarcity; a concept which I’ve been taking into account in my drafts for a few seasons now and I’ve finally got a way to put numbers to it…so I’m stoked about that.

Really though, this is something that transgresses fantasy baseball because in reality, front offices better be accounting for position scarcity because when you look at championship teams, many of them get good production out of the skill positions like middle infield and centerfield. Take Grady Sizemore for example: his numbers become more exceptional when you consider the fact that the majority of top performing outfielders are corner outfielders. So centerfield is a position which I feel is somewhat “scarce”, including shortstop and second base. Derek Nelson, the author of the article calls his evaluation a “Seamless Score”. Here is how he ranks the top fantasy players based on this tool.

PLAYER / POSITION / SEAMLESS SCORE
1. Alex Rodriguez, 3B (8.84)
2. Hanley Ramirez, SS (8.07)
3. Magglio Ordonez, OF (6.52)
4. Jose Reyes, SS (6.34)
5. Jake Peavy, SP (6.15)
6. Jimmy Rollins, SS (5.87)
7. J.J. Putz, RP (5.73)
8. Jorge Posada, C (5.6)
9. Matt Holliday, OF (5.58)
10. Erik Bedard, SP (5.54)
11. Victor Martinez, C (5.5)
12. Johan Santana, SP (5.39)
13. Russell Martin, C (5.29)
14. Chase Utley, 2B (4.96)
15. Dan Haren, SP (4.89)
16. Prince Fielder, 1B (4.75)
17. David Wright, 3B (4.62)
18. Gary Sheffield, OF (4.54)
19. Eric Byrnes, OF (4.5)
20. Josh Beckett, SP (4.48)

Obviously this method has its flaws: no one is drafting Jorge Posada or JJ Putz in the top ten, but its definately a good start to figuring out how to get production from your entire lineup, whether that lineup is a fantasy or reality.

• Measuring Position Scarcity: The Seamless Score (Seamless Baseball)