Kyle Schwarber played in 21 games at catcher for the Cubs, proving that Joe Maddon loves us.
While the eligibility thresholds vary somewhat from league to league, and site to site, based on default settings, all of my leagues require that a player appear in at least 20 games at a position in the previous season to have eligibility entering the upcoming one.
When a player hasn't played 20 games at any position, the position they played the most typically becomes the default.
Thanks to a completely unwatchable matchup between Wisconsin and Purdue, my Saturday has been spent updating default positions in the RotoWire player database.
I found the task to be enjoyable.
Here are the changes I unearthed.
- Prince Fielder will be DH/UT only for 2016, as he only played 18 games at first base compared to 139 at DH.
- Victor Martinez also becomes DH/UT only.
- The same holds true for A-Rod.
- Ditto Evan Gattis.
- And Kendrys Morales.
- And Miguel Sano.
- And Billy Butler (what a magnificent crash).
- John Jaso no longer qualifies as a catcher (he's also DH/UT only).
- Ryan Zimmerman can only be used at first base.
- Hanley Ramirez will only qualify in the outfield, until he plays enough games in 2016 to add first base eligibility. It was a lot more fun when he was eligible at shortstop.
- Javier Baez only qualifies at second base (17 games) in some leagues as he played just 11 games at shortstop this season.
- Wilmer Difo's brief taste of Washington cost him shortstop-eligibility in many leagues (his only two appearances were at second base for the Nats).
- Joey Gallo will begin with outfield-only eligibility in some leagues (19 games) after playing just 15 games at third base.
- Devin Marrero, who will be a shortstop long term, qualifies only at third base (13 games).
- Peter O'Brien's only three appearances with Arizona came in the outfield (adios, catcher-eligibility).
| Player | Now | Lost |
| Hanser Alberto | 2B | SS |
| Pedro Alvarez | 1B | 3B |
| Alexi Amarista | SS | 2B |
| Mike Aviles | SS/3B/OF | 2B |
| Gordon Beckham | 3B | 2B |
| Andres Blanco | 2B/3B | SS |
| Billy Butler | DH | 1B |
| Alberto Callaspo | 3B | 2B |
| Eric Campbell | 3B | OF |
| Chris Carter | 1B | DH-only |
| Derek Dietrich | 3B/OF | 2B |
| Stephen Drew | 2B | SS |
| Yunel Escobar | 3B | SS |
| Prince Fielder | DH | 1B |
| Adonis Garcia | 3B | OF |
| Evan Gattis | DH | C |
| Hector Gomez | 2B | SS |
| Jedd Gyorko | SS/2B | 2B only |
| Enrique Hernandez | OF/2B | SS |
| Odubel Herrera | OF | 2B |
| Jonathan Herrera | 2B | SS |
| Chris Herrmann | C | OF |
| John Jaso | DH | C |
| Marc Krauss | 1B | OF |
| Jed Lowrie | 3B | SS |
| Victor Martinez | DH | 1B |
| Kendrys Morales | DH | 1B |
| Hector Olivera | 3B | 2B |
| Jimmy Paredes | DH | 3B |
| Hernan Perez | 3B | SS |
| Jose Pirela | 2B | SS |
| Hanley Ramirez | OF | SS |
| Alex Rodriguez | DH | 3B |
| Sean Rodriguez | 1B/OF | 2B |
| Jason Rogers | 1B | 3B |
| Wilin Rosario | 1B | C |
| Josh Rutledge | 2B | SS |
| Brendan Ryan | 2B | SS |
| Tyler Saladino | 3B | SS |
| Carlos Sanchez | 2B | 3B |
| Miguel Sano | DH | 3B |
| Nick Swisher | OF | 1B |
| Ryan Zimmerman | 1B | 3B/OF |
Failed to play 20 games, but have a new eligibility based on where they played the most:
| Player | Played Most | Others |
| Javier Baez | 2B (17) | SS (11) |
| Wilmer Difo | 2B (2) | SS (0) |
| Joey Gallo | OF (19) | 3B (15) |
| Devin Marrero | 3B (13) | SS (6) |
| Peter O'Brien | OF (3) | C (0) |
| Sean O'Malley | OF (16) | Listed at SS previously |
| Yadiel Rivera | 2B (4) | SS (2), 3B (1) |
| Luis Sardinas | 2B (16) | SS (14) |
Please be sure to let me know on Twitter @DerekVanRiper if there are any notable omissions.