All-2000’s: Aquarius

I left the Aquarius All-2000’s roster for last, because that’s the place in the standings where the Water Bearers most frequently found themselves in the last two decades. You might look at a player pool that incudes the likes of Vladimir Guerrero (Sr.), Roberto Alomar, and Lance Berkman, and wonder how they performed so poorly overall, but… the fantasy points don’t lie. Maybe a deeper look into the top career point-scoring Aquarians who made their sign’s starting roster at least once in the last 20 years will give us a more complete understanding.

While the original (and literal) “Big Daddy Vladdy” Guerrero is the overall All-2000’s Aquarius points leader, second baseman Roberto Alomar finishes a close second by a margin of just under 600 points. Except for a big power surge in the late 90’s (when the entire sport was in the midst of a big power surge), Alomar profiled as a speed-and-defense type for most of his career. Even though 53% of Lance Berkman’s career games came in the outfield, it makes more sense to put him at his most common single position of first base, as we’ll see in the next section. The versatility trend continues across the infield, where both Melvin Mora and Chone Figgins also have multi-position eligibility.

The numbers columns from left to right are: total career points, points-per-season, and points-per-game.

Shortstop Alex Gonzalez (not to be confused with Alex S. Gonzalez, an Aries) was never an impact player, but he had a very nice career, spanning 16 seasons and seven teams. David Eckstein (a longtime teammate of Figgins and Guerrero) had a higher impact bat, to the tune of almost 400 points-per-season and almost 1.0 points-per-game, but longevity wins out over production for the project. It’s interesting that Aquarius has an active player in the top three of all four infield spots: Jose Abreu and Brandon Crawford both play for first place teams, while Rougned Odor and Todd Frazier both found new jobs after being cut loose by their original 2021 teams – Odor with the Yankees, Frazier with the US Olympic team.

The dates columns from left to right are: first year in MLB, last year in MLB, and total years in MLB.

The above-mentioned Vladimir Guerrero Sr. was the last Aquarian to win a league MVP award (2004 with the Angels) until Abreu in 2020. Guerrero leads a very strong crop of Aquarius right fielders, including one who spent a significant amount of games in center field. While Brian Giles’s 303 games in center (16%) were not enough for him to officially have it listed as a secondary position, I would have no problem shifting him over in a simulation environment, especially with Austin Jackson on hand as a late-inning defensive replacement. Magglio Ordonez and Jermaine Dye would occupy the left field/DH spots, again with defensive standout Alex Gordon available to take over in the late innings. Russell Martin was one of the premier catchers of his time, but depth behind the plate is an issue, as evidenced by Carlos Ruiz and his less-than-10,000 career fantasy points as a backup.

A player needs at 20% career appearances at a position for me to include it in the POS2 column.

Watching Johnny Cueto on the mound, you might think of him as the quintessential Aquarius pitcher, with a different windup rhythm on every pitch and exuding a feeling of genuine enjoyment. And according to All-2000’s fantasy points, you’d be right, as only Jason Schmidt was within 2,000 career fantasy points of Cueto (with Kevin Tapani not far behind). I have Scott Kazmir listed as active, thanks to a handful of relief appearances with the Giants in 2021, but he is no longer the rotation mainstay he was for most of his career (when healthy). After Cueto, Hiroki Kuroda, and Schmidt, the top two Water Bearers in terms of career points-per-game are a pair of active Colombians Jose Quintana and Julio Teheran, although they are both entering the twilights of their respective careers.

The top Aquarian All-2000’s reliever in terms of per-game and per-season production is Roberto Osuna, although it’s unlikely he’ll regain his foothold in the majors following a heinous assault conviction. (It remains to be seen whether defending Cy Young Award winning Capricorn Trevor Bauer will face a similar fate after the latest allegations against him.) Ugueth Urbina is next in PPG and PPS, although he lags behind the durable Bob Wickman in overall career points. Lefty reliever Dan Plesac, veteran of an Aquarius-leading 18 MLB seasons, currently works as an analyst for MLB Network, and has a nephew pitching in the majors. I have Tyler Clippard listed as active since he signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks this February, although he has yet to pitch at any level this year.

And that’s it for my All-2000’s project for all 12 Astrology Signs! With the All-Star game coming up next week, I’ll spend the next post analyzing the rosters and what the stars might have in store for the festivities in Denver.