Which 3rd Baseman is going to be better this year- B.J. Upton, Edwin Encarnacion, Akinori Iwamura, or others?

Question

Other would be like Ty Wigginton and Mark DeRosa. Its a 10 person league, head to head. with Ty Wigginton, Mark DeRosa, Edwin Encarnacion, and Akinori Iwamura all on FA.
this is my team batting wise:

C-K.Johjima
1b-P.Fielder
2b-H.Kendrick
3b-B.J. Upton(TB)
SS-J.Reyes
Of-M.Holliday
Of-J.Bay
Of-R.Baldelli
Util-T.Hafner
Util-R.Furcal
Bench-B.Hawpe

Answer 1

The safer choice is Encarnacion, but I'd go with Iwamura. He is smoking hot so far and he MAY be the real deal. If not and he fades, Edwin will probably still be sitting there.....I do like DeRosa's multi-position eligibility too.

Answer 2

Akinori for sure, and Upton/DeRosa as a second choice... Akinori is batting 5th, with a .600 average, and he has been consistent over the past few years; the rest of the players, on the other hand are complete flops. Wigginton, and Encarnacion may start off hot, but toward the end of the season I guarantee they will not live up to the their standards, like every year. DeRosa is pretty consistent with a .275 average, but Akinori is a good bet. Upton is batting 9th, and there are no real signs that he is living up to the potential of being the 2nd overall draft pick.

Answer 3

I would go with Encarnacion. He had a very good rookie year last season and has the added luxury of hitting in a bandbox for one half of his games this year. He looks like a star in the making....the other 2 are unproven, therefore a bigger question mark and risk. Upton will be a very good one but he has some maturing to do and I dont think his bat is quite up to the abilities of major league pitching just yet. Plus he has the burden of learning a new position (2nd base) and that takes some away from his offense.

Answer 4

It depends on what you're looking for. Encarnacion will hit the most HR's and probably get the most RBI's out of the group. Wigginton has multi-position eligibility, which allows you to plug him in at many different spots. However, he's just a run of the mill player that won't help significantly in any one category. Iwamura we will have to wait and see on. He had plenty of success in Japan, but that hasn't always translated into success in the USA. I'd wait and see on him. BJ Upton could go either way too, but he has loads of potential. He's a very good hitter, and has the potential for 40 SB's if he's an everyday player. I'd take Encarnacion if you want HR's and RBI's, and I'd take Upton if you felt you needed SB's more.

Answer 5

I think Akinori Iwamura, he is a vet and is looking really good so far.