All-2000’s: Libra
In the years leading up to when I created the first Fantasy Astrology Baseball League (which was in 2012), Libra was in the midst of a mini-dynasty. They had an infield almost as star-studded as their outfield, plus enough pitchers ranging from solid to great, that they were able to score the most fantasy points in the league three times in a row, despite having basically no depth at first base or catcher. This shortage wasn’t always the case, at least in the case of the former position, as evidenced by the top-scoring Libra player out of any starter from the 2000’s so far:
Rafael Palmeiro was one of the most productive first baseman of the 80’s and 90’s, scoring more than 40,000 points in his 20-year career. There is some question about Palmeiro’s body of work, given a positive test for steroids in 2005, but all evidence points to that being the result of a tainted supplement rather than intentional wrongdoing. Someone with a much more tangible link to performance enhancing drugs is the next player on the Scales first base depth chart: Mark McGwire, who was undoubtedly popping roids when he broke Roger Maris’s single season home run record in 1998. Although it is curious to note that both these Libra first baseman were teammates of Jose Canseco, an admitted Cancer steroid user and attention-hound.
The numbers columns from left to right are: total career points, points-per-season, and points-per-game.
Sticking with the P.E.D. theme, Libra’s all-2000’s second baseman, Robinson Cano, is currently serving his SECOND suspension under MLB’s newest drug policy, although his loss doesn’t seem to be affecting the first place Mets very much. Both the top two Scales All-2000’s third baseman are also active, although Evan Longoria is out with a shoulder injury and Ryan Zimmerman is confined to first base at this stage of his career. Defensive versatility was the name of the game for shortstop Michael Young, even though Troy Tulowitzki had a more impressive career in the points-per-game department.
Any conversation about the Libra All-2000’s outfield had to start with Ichiro Suzuki, who is currently second in offensive points, behind Palmeiro. From an international standpoint, Ichiro and Palmeiro are the top all-2000’s point scorers born in Japan and Cuba, respectively. It’s strange to see that Ichiro averaged just over 11 points-per-game in his remarkable career, but he was relegated to pinch hitting and fourth outfield duties towards the end. Like Aries, Libra is much deeper in right field than left, with Juan Gonzalez (a longtime teammate of Palmeiro in Texas) next up in points. Counting 2021 stats so far, Andrew McCutchen has already surpassed Matt Kemp as the leading All-2000’s centerfielder, even though both players had long ago moved to corner spots.
The dates columns from left to right are: first year in MLB, last year in MLB, and total years in MLB.
The above two centerfielders were joined by Jose Bautista and Carlos Gonzalez in the 2009-11 mini-dynasty I mentioned earlier. While LIB’s right field mix is undoubtedly stronger and deeper, at least they have a viable left fielder in Pat “The Bat” Burrell. On the lower end of the career points spectrum, we have the still-active superstar Bryce Harper and his former manager Dave Martinez. While Kurt Suzuki hasn’t had a spectacular fantasy career, he has been consistent, and he’s still going strong.
While the 37-year-old Zack Greinke seems miscast as the ace of the 2021 Astros, that perception might be skewed by the recent presence of Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole in that role. Greinke briefly played for the Angels, but the next two pitchers in Libra’s All-2000’s rotation spent most of their best years in Anaheim. Jered Weaver, brother of Jeff, is right there with Greinke in career PPG, while John Lackey was born so close to the cusp that I had him mis-identified as a Scorpio for years.
A player needs at 20% career appearances at a position for me to include it in the POS2 column.
Freddy Garcia was the third highest-scoring Venezuelan all-2000’s starting pitcher, but the year after he left the Mariners, they called up #1 on that list: Aries star Felix Hernandez. Kenley Jansen has had a fine career, and he’s still closing games for the Dodgers, but there’s no way he’ll catch the All-2000’s Libra closer Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman. Not only does this sign have a good mix of closers and middle relievers, but they also have a top lefty in the mix, in “Everyday” Eddie Guardado.
Next week, we’ll return to the Negative Polarity and feature the sign that has the most players in the top 50 career Wins Above Replacement, according to baseball-reference.com - Virgo.