An Early Look at Defense ...

With the range ratings coming out over the weekend, I thought it would be interesting to see what DBA defenses look like going into the final week of the bidding and the FA Auction on February 28th (mark your calendars!).  There are no error ratings calculating in these rankings, and that could change a few things.  However, I don't think any error rating will make Burmese's defense better than Altenberg's :-).  To the ratings ...

THE LINK ... http://www.strat-o-matic.com/2008rate.htm

Williams

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Altenberg (54) -- Cream of the DBA right now with 1's in Pedroia (2b), Gonzalez (1b) and Victorino (cf).  Longoria is a 2 at third and Sweeney is a 2 in RF.  All defensive backups filled.

Bloomington (59) -- Second in the division and third overall with a 1 in Rollins (ss) and 2's across the IF; Swisher, Casilla and Wright.  Outfield is a part-time mess, but should stay average at all times.  All defensive backups filled.

Fairfax (63) -- Third in the division, 5th overall with Beltre (3b) as its only 1.  2's everywhere else, except firstbase (hodge-podge of 4's) and non-existant catcher.  FFF needs two catchers and a secondbaseman.

Normandy Lake (66) -- Derrek Lee is NLL's only 1 at first.  2's across the infield and 3's everywhere else (except LF).  The Landsharks still need a backup catcher.

Denver (70) -- Hudson (2b) and Sizemore (cf) are DEN's 1's.  A-Rod is a 2 at third.  4's at catcher, first and right really hurt.  DEN needs a backup shortstop.

Burmese (93) -- Coming in at dead last, BBM's has a lone bright spot of Scott Rolen as a 1 at third.  No twos and 4's at SS (Peralta), 2B (Hall) and LF (Soriano) doom this defense.

Koufax

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Elkhart Lake (58) -- First in the division, second in the league, ELR is led by Beltran (cf) and Iwamura (2b) with 1's.  2's in LF (Blanco) and RF (Drew) along with SS (Cabrera) make the three-headed 4 at 3B not hurt as much.  All defense backups filled.

Ottawa (63) -- Russell (ca) and Kotchman (1b) are OTT's 1's.  2's at SS (Jeter) and CF (Gonzalez) make up for the 4 (Braun) in LF.  All defensive backups filled.

West Huron (68) -- With one of the shallowest offensive rosters in the DBA (only 10 players), WHW puts together a league average defense.  The Whitecaps have no 1's, but 2's at five positions (Molina, Polanco, Hardy, Crawford, Francoeur).  If a CF is signed at the Auction, Crawford becomes a 1 in LF.

Ridgecrest (73) -- Put Jack Wilson at ss (he's a 1) and this is one of the DBA's best defenses.  As it stands, its near average.  A trio of CF will man the OF, all with 2's; Upton, Gomez and Wells.  Zimmerman (3b) and Soto (ca) are RID's other 2's.  Guzman, a 3, will man the ss position most of the year.   

Y-D Screaming (79) --  Another solid OF in the Koufax.  Pence, Granderson and Gutierrez (a 1 in RF) will all be 2's.  Howard (1b) is the only 4 in the lineup.  The rest of the starters are 3's.  YDL still needs backups at 1b and ss.

Cleveland (88) -- Ruiz is this team's lone 2 at ca.  The rest of the defense is in disarray and might see a pair of 5's in the OF (Burrell and Stairs).  The best CF on the roster now is a 4.  Look for some defensive upgrades at the auction.  CLE still needs a backup at 1b.

Gibson

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Homer (59) -- Youkilis (1b), Markakis (rf) and Phillips (2b) are 1's for the DBA's third best defense.  Add in a pair of 2's in the OF (Crisp, Ellsbury) and the rest of the defense are 3's.  A nice defensive ss will elevate this team even further.

Lebanon (66) -- A very nice middle-of-the-defense on LEB with 2's at each (Utley, Escobar and Young).  Add in a part-time 2 in RF (Church) and threes everywhere else.  LEB is shallow in theOF and still needs backups at lf and cf.

Carbondale (72) -- Pujols (1b) is a 1.  Young (ss) is a 2.  Bruce (lf/rf) is also a 2.  Threes everywhere else, except a four at 3b.  Minor upgrades in the middle would help this defense out.

Lehigh Valley (76) -- Pena (1b) is LVP's lone one.  Roberts (2b), Winn (lf) and Hamilton (cf) are all twos.  Keppinger's 4 at ss is killing this defense.  The Iron Pigs still need backups at 3b and ss.

Rio Brazos (79) -- An outfield of Ross, Hunter and Rowand is a bit above average, but the infield is a mess with Uggla (a 4) at second and Theriot (a 3) at short.  RBC still needs backups at 2b, 3b  and ss.

Saint Gabriel (80) -- You would think a defense with Mauer (ca 1) and Ichiro (rf 1) would be better than this.  Ichiro moves to cf and Ludwick (rf 2) plays rf.  The rest of the defense is bad at best, with Jacobs (1b 5), Headley (3b 4), Hanley (ss 3) and Lewis (lf 3).  ILL still needs a backup at ca and 1b.

When the complete defensive ratings come out later, the order will be jumbled up a bit.  But, you can get a good idea of which pitchers will be benefiting from this listing.