After each MLB season, we go through our cheat sheets and rankings and remove old position eligibility (i.e. Alexei Ramirez won't be eligible at 2B in 2010). Occasionally, this process reveals an overlooked surprise or two, which we'll pass along throughout the offseason for those who remain hungry for baseball nuggets over the winter.

During the most recent sweep, Ramirez was removed from our cheat sheets at second base, but Ian Stewart has been added after he played 21 games there this season. There's little reason to believe that Stewart won't exclusively play third in 2010, but that's a pretty nice bonus for Stewart owners in keeper leagues or those looking ahead to their 2010 drafts, since a 20-game requirement is usually the standard for positional eligibility.

A few things to consider when looking at Stewart's 2009 numbers -- .228/.322/.464, 25 HR, 70 RBI, 7 SB.

First, he had an abnormally low .275 BABIP. At all of his minor league stops, he's been above .300 and something closer to .320 might ultimately be the norm.

Second, even though he strikes out a lot, Stewart managed to walk 12 percent of the time. In addition, he cut back on his strikeouts from one in every 2.83 AB in 2008 to one in every 3.08 AB in 2009. For a 24-year-old, I'll take a small improvement over none.

Third, he's not a defensive liability, so getting yanked because he can't field his position at third base shouldn't be a concern.

If he were to repeat his 2009 season, Stewart's .786 OPS would have ranked 10th among second basemen. 25 homers would have tied him for sixth, while 70 RBI would have ranked him 14th among positional leaders. At third base, his OPS was 18th in the league, home runs were sixth and his RBI were 15th. Other than highlighting the bath that third-base production is apparently taking, it doesn't illustrate much, but let's throw out an early projection for Stewart:

2010 - .262/.358/.497 (.855 OPS) with 32 HR and 94 RBI, 11 SB.

Again those rankings at second base: OPS -- 4th, HR -- 2nd, RBI -- 4th
and again for third base: OPS -- 9th, HR -- 4th, RBI -- 5th

Stewart was going to be an intriguing potential breakout player in 2010 anyway -- particularly for those looking to capture next year's Mark Reynolds -- but having that 2B-eligibility is a good crutch if he doesn't make that leap forward in offensive production. Beyond that, his eligibility to fill a middle-infield utility spot makes him even more valuable in deeper leagues where the drop off becomes more pronounced in the later rounds.