Value-Under-Maximum Roto Projections

Here's the 5x5 VUM-based rankings for each position. I thought you might like to see how they stack up. For hitters, the range is zero to five (since all categories are positive). For pitchers, the range is negative two to three (five categories, three positive but two negative). The VUM-values in parenthesis are added across all standard categories. In each category, VUM is a position-scaled percent of the best possible performance you could get in that category. That makes anything greater than 4 absolutely otherworldly, since that player is giving you more than 80% the best conceivable performance.

As a side note, pitchers will generally have low VUM rankings. Even a great ERA/WHIP is more than 50% the maximum value. That means the greatest starting pitcher, one who leads the league in Ks, Wins, WHIP and ERA, will likely only have a VUM of 1 or less (since Ks/Wins would each be one, but subtracting about 0.5 to 0.75 each for WHIP/ERA, leaving you with something between 0.5 and 1). As such, it's not a good idea to compare VUM between pitchers and hitters without some sort of standardization (e.g. dividing by the maximum score or creating a z-score). If that were the case, I'd recommend adding something between two and three to a pitcher's VUM to shift the range up to the same 0-5 range that hitters occupy. Without further ado (and as always, based on ESPN's 2011 projections):

First Base:

Albert Pujols (4.288), Adrian Gonzales (3.758), Miguel Cabrera (3.746), Joey Votto (3.732), Adam Dunn (3.558), Mark Teixeira (3.493), Ryan Howard (3.461), Kevin Youkilis (3.449), Prince Fielder (3.395), Paul Konerko (2.964)

Second Base:

Robinson Cano (3.451), Dan Uggla (3.349), Dustin Pedroia (2.955), Ben Zobrist (2.844), Ian Kinsler (2.829), Rickie Weeks (2.825), Martin Prado (2.786), Brandon Phillips (2.770), Aaron Hill (2.728), Kelly Johnson (2.714)

Third Base:

Evan Longoria (3.969), David Wright (3.777), Jose Bautista (3.745), Alex Rodriguez (3.597), Ryan Zimmerman (3.383), Adrian Beltre (3.352), Mark Reynolds (3.151), Pedro Alvarez (3.013), Ian Stewart (2.965), Michael Young (2.945)

Shortstop:

Hanley Ramirez (4.110), Troy Tulowitzki (3.838), Jose Reyes (3.182), Alexei Ramirez (3.014), Derek Jeter (3.001), Jimmy Rollins (2.996), Elvis Andrus (2.991), Rafael Furcal (2.911), Stephen Drew (2.879), Ian Desmond (2.643)

Catcher:

Joe Mauer (2.615), Victor Martinez (2.485), Brian McCann (2.283), Buster Posey (2.254), Carlos Santana (2.282), Kurt Suzuki (2.052), Miguel Montero (1.979), Matt Wieters (1.985), Geovany Soto (1.889), Carlos Ruiz (1.718)

Outfield:

Carl Crawford (3.987), Carlos Gonzales (3.8), Nelson Cruz (3.717), Ryan Braun (3.716), Matt Holliday (3.613), Justin Upton (3.583), Matt Kemp (3.52), Jayson Werth (3.426), BJ Upton (3.423), Curtis Granderson (3.364)

The next ten outfielders (in order) are: Shin-Soo Choo, Hunter Pence, Andrew McCutchen, Chris Young, Shane Victorino, Jay Bruce, Alex Rios, Jason Heyward, Josh Hamilton, Mike Stanton.

Starting Pitcher:

Roy Halladay (0.547), Tim Lincecum (0.359), Felix Hernandez (0.348), Jon Lester (0.334), Cliff Lee (0.308), CC Sabathia (0.299), Justin Verlander (0.225), Clayton Kershaw (0.151), Cole Hamels (0.127), Mat Latos (0.112).

The next ten: Roy Oswalt, Ubaldo Jimenez, Dan Haren, David Price, Tommy Hanson, Jered Weaver, Chris Carpenter, Yovani Gallardo, Francisco Liriano

Relief Pitcher:

Heath Bell (0.461), Neftali Feliz (0.397), Brian Wilson (0.338), Matt Thornton (0.264), JJ Putz (0.263), Mariano Rivera (0.208), Joakim Soria (0.202), Carlos Marmol (0.113), Jonathan Paplebon (0.104), Huston Street (0.097)

Not too bad, but we do see a few surprises. Ian Stewart and Pedro Alvarez cracking the top-10 at 3B is certainly one of them, but they may sniff the bottom of that at the end of the season. The whole order at 2B, if not necessarily the players involved, seems really odd. Dan Uggla a top-5 2B, yes. Dan Uggla the number two 2B? It could happen if he hits enough bombs. I don't quite buy Zobrist as top-4 at the position, as much as I might like him, but it's pretty closely bunched in the 4-6 (or even 4-10) range.

And lastly, catcher is horrible. The hitter rankings are directly comparable, which means the top catcher (Mauer) falls outside the top 10 at every other hitting position. And this in spite of the fact that Mauer is predicted to pace the league in batting average! He starts off with a guaranteed VUM of at least one, and still can't tack on enough to crack the top 50 (actually, I have him as the #108 hitter in a 5x5 league).

VUM is a ratio statistic within positions, meaning that if player A has a VUM twice as high as player B then player A is twice as valuable assuming they have the same eligibility. Kurt Suzuki, who you can probably pick up in round 20 or so, has a VUM that is 78% that of Mauer, who is off the board by round three. That means you can get 78% Mauer's production some seventeen rounds later. If ever you needed proof to wait on a catcher, that's it.