Brewers’ Braun are top rookies – MLB

ESPN

Ryan Braun deserves the Rookie of the Year award, though you can make a case for Troy Tulowitsky, too. The problem looking forward is Braun’s defense. He says: “Everybody has things they need to work on.”

This is true, but kind of irrelevant. It seems unlikely that Braun is going to be able to fix his defensive problems at third base, and in the outfield he will be playing in a totally different context. He may end up being a prodigious performer there. Or he may end up hanging at third for a while despite his deficiencies. Miguel Cabrera has held the fort at third base, though he’s really not suited for it.

But that’s the issue. These guys can hit. Can they find a position (and will their team commit to it) that does their skills justice? And as fantasy players how long will we be able to exploit this inefficiency (since we don’t count defense)?

Players changing positions are always a risk, and I would think doubly so when coming off such an unconscious season as Braun’s. That’s a little reason to doubt, and to not push him up the extra dollar when someone else is.