2016 MLB Draft Guide: Targeting Multi-Position Players

Anyone who has played fantasy baseball for more than a year or two knows it is nice to own players with multi-position eligibility. It is always nice to have options, especially when it comes down to filling out your roster on draft day or filling holes during the season through the trade market or the waiver wire. Owning one or more players who are eligible at multiple positions can save you from having to pick up somebody terrible like Carlos Sanchez or overpaying in a trade for Dustin Pedroia to fill your 2B position. That flexibility is nice, but how much is it really worth?

At the end of the day you have to get as much production as possible from every player on your roster, and reaching too far for multi-position players can be just as big a mistake as failing to roster a couple. In general, I am not going to reach more than a round for a multi-position player. Even if Jason Kipnis produces more than Anthony Rendon in 2016, the fact that Rendon can also play third base might be enough to make up for that.

If two players are close I will generally go for a guy who can play more positions, but there are several factors that influence the value of multi-position eligibility. This is why it is important to know your rules. The most important rule to know is how your league determines eligibility. In most leagues, hitters need 20 games played at a position to be eligible there the following year while pitchers usually need five starts or eight relief appearances. We will use those benchmarks for the purposes of this article. Your league may be different, and you need to know that while you prepare for your draft or auction.

Later we will discuss players who should add eligibility in 2016, and knowing the requirements for in-season eligibility is extremely important. Most leagues require 10 games played at a position to add eligibility during the season (some five). For pitchers, the standard is usually three starts or five relief appearances. Of course, some leagues require just five games at a position, or three, or perhaps even one. Drafting multi-position eligibility is far less important if you need just one game at a position to add eligibility.

The deeper your league, the more important multi-eligibility becomes. In deep mixed leagues every at-bat is valuable, and you may have to play Mike Aviles at four or five different positions to try to maximize your at-bats. In shallow leagues, where the replacement level at most positions is pretty high, owning somebody who can play the infield and outfield is more of a luxury than a necessity.

To this point we have discussed multi-position eligibility as a whole, but not all multi-eligibility is created equal. For instance, multi-eligibility almost doesn’t matter for catchers. Unless you have a ton of injuries or your backup catcher has a breakout year, you are starting guys like Buster Posey, Kyle Schwarber and Stephen Vogt at catcher.

Similarly, second base/shortstop eligibility is nice, but not worth paying a ton for in many instances. When injuries do hit, there is probably some 2B/SS eligible player you can add.

I am, however, a sucker for guys like Brett Lawrie and Anthony Rendon who are eligible at second and third. First of all, I like that those two guys are young and have some upside if they can stay healthy. Just as important, for our purposes, is their ability to fill either the middle infield or corner infield slots. That difference could be huge when you are shuffling your roster in July. In deeper leagues, Logan Forsythe and Yangervis Solarte could be worth targeting for flexibility.

Similarly, players with outfield and infield eligibility can be quite valuable. It used to be you would definitely play somebody like Chris Davis in the outfield, but first base isn’t nearly as strong as it used to be, and you could easily play Davis at first base, corner infield or outfield depending on how your draft shakes out. The same goes for guys like Ben Zobrist, Brandon Belt, Mark Canha and Danny Valencia. Valencia’s versatility and ability to hit left-handers makes him one of my favorite AL-only plays.

One thing that stood out while looking at positional eligibility for 2016 is the lack of mixed-league players eligible at more than two positions. Guys like Ben Zobrist, Daniel Murphy and Luis Valbuena are only eligible at two positions this season. You have to go deeper for guys like Brock Holt, Marwin Gonzalez, Mike Aviles and Kelly Johnson to find players who will begin the season eligible at more than two positions. Of course, as I discussed above, those players have more value in deep leagues which is why I will try to draft at least one for my NL- and AL-only rosters.

The other thing to keep in mind while you draft is where players will gain eligibility during the season. Hanley Ramirez will begin the season outfield-eligible, but should gain first base eligibility a couple of weeks into the season if he sticks there – as is the plan. Javier Baez played all four infield positions last season but failed to reach 20 games at any of them. In many leagues, he will begin the season eligible only at second base but he should add eligibility at other positions as the season goes on, including outfield.

Here’s a list of some of the most notable multi-position players heading into the 2016 season.