The game of baseball is always changing. The biggest trend in the past few years has been the increasing number of line drives and fly balls, but another transformation has been taking place on the defensive side at the same time. Defensive versatility has become a trait that is valued by all teams and in particular the past two World Series – winning ones, the Cubs and the Astros. For the Cubs, it was Javier Baez; for the Astros, Marwin Gonzalez. Both played over 20 games at three different positions in their title-winning years, while Gonzalez reached the 10-game threshold at an additional two. That latter threshold is what counts for fantasy on many sites, and even though Gonzalez-and his five eligible positions-isn’t included among the best multi-position players, that’s only because there are so many other quality players who are.

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Kris Bryant (3B/OF – CHC)
This will be the third consecutive year that Bryant will be eligible at both the hot corner and the outfield, so the multi-position eligibility is nothing new for the former MVP. If you’re spending one of your top two picks on him, he’ll likely slot in at third base for you, but having the additional versatility never hurt anybody. Whichever position you end up using him at, you can bank on 30 home runs to go along with a healthy share of runs and RBIs and even a few stolen bases thrown in there-all while hitting .290.

Freddie Freeman (1B/3B – ATL)
This will be Freeman’s first season with multi-position eligibility, and perhaps also his last. He played some third base last year in order to keep Matt Adams in the lineup, but don’t count on him getting any more time there this season. Regardless, he’ll have the eligibility there for all of 2018, adding to his already impressive value.  Since adding some power to his game in 2016, he’s become one of the elite at the first base position, smacking 30-plus home runs while batting .300. He technically only hit 28 last year, but that was in 117 games-a 36 HR pace over 150 games. Seeing as he’s not exactly been injury prone during his career, it feels safe to say that Freeman is ready to put up a dominant fantasy season.

Anthony Rizzo (1B/2B – CHC)
Perhaps the most surprising of the multi-eligible players if you weren’t paying attention last year, Rizzo earned second base eligibility after taking a few steps closer to home plate on anticipated sacrifice bunt attempts last season. Regardless of the reason, if Rizzo is eligible at second base in your league, he becomes immensely more valuable. He was already an upper-tier first baseman, but he’s an elite second baseman-at least offensively. He’s hit at least 30 home runs in each of the past four seasons, something only done by second baseman six times in that timespan, and by only four different players (Brian Dozier and Rougned Odor twice, Robinson Cano, and Jonathan Schoop). There’s no reason to think he won’t do so again.

Jose Ramirez (2B/3B – CLE)
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming. Ramirez is another player who’s found himself on this list before, albeit at different positions. Last year, he was eligible at third base and outfield. He’s arguably more valuable now, swapping that outfield eligibility for second base, and he’s unlikely to get it back after playing a whopping zero games the outfield in 2017. That’s ok, as Ramirez will put up numbers wherever he’s playing. Here’s a trivia fact that can win you a few bar bets: who were the only two players to hit 25 home runs, steal 15 bases, and hit .300 in 2017? One was Mike Trout. The other was Ramirez.

Cody Bellinger (1B/OF – LAD)
First base and outfield are the cheapest of the multi-position eligibilities, but hey, it still counts. Even if the guy can’t play defense, there’s a reason a team does everything it can to get him in the lineup, and Bellinger is no exception to that. He finished second in the NL in home runs in his rookie season with 39, and while he’ll certainly have to face an adjustment from pitchers in his sophomore campaign, his increased number of games should help to offset that. Adrian Gonzalez is now with the Mets and out of the picture, so Bellinger has the first base gig all to himself. He’s projected to hit 38 dingers in 2018-along with 89 runs and 102 RBIs-and if he can do that, he’ll be worth what you pay for him on draft day.

Rhys Hoskins (1B/OF – PHI)
Hoskins is another first base/corner outfield combo, although unlike Bellinger, he’s expected to see the majority of his time at the latter with Carlos Santana manning first for the Phillies. It shouldn’t matter where he plays, though, because if he puts up numbers anywhere close to last year’s, he would lead the rankings at either position. Realistically, though, he won’t be able to continue his 58-home run pace and the projections have him hitting 35 with solid numbers all around. Barring a sophomore slump, Hoskins will provide value at either position in your lineup.

Alex Bregman (3B/SS – HOU)
Bregman came up through the Astros farm system as a shortstop, but he began 2017 with only third base eligibility after being blocked at his natural position by Carlos Correa. Fortunately, he amassed enough games at short to be eligible for 2018, and even though the shortstop position has improved in the recent years, there’s no doubt that it’s still inferior to third base in fantasy. Having that extra eligibility makes Bregman a much more enticing player for this year as if you needed any more reasons to draft him. Bregman nearly went 20/20 in his sophomore campaign with 19 home runs and 17 stolen bases, and he did it while batting .284 in a dangerous Astros lineup. He’s expected to bat second this year as he did in the latter half of 2017, and with that bump in the lineup should come a similar bump in his runs and RBIs.

Buster Posey (C/1B – SFG)
Posey is another player who is quite familiar with his dual eligibility, although there aren’t likely too many people who use him anywhere but catcher. Still, it’s nice to have the roster flexibility, especially in daily lineups where you might be able to squeeze out an extra game’s worth of plate appearances for your roster by moving him around. Otherwise, enjoy the .300 average you get from your catcher position and the consistent numbers that Posey puts up year after year.

Other notable multi-eligible players:

• Whit Merrifield (2B/OF – KC)
• Miguel Sano (1B/3B – MIN)
• Ian Desmond (1B/OF – COL)
• Matt Olson (1B/OF – OAK)
• Matt Carpenter (1B/2B/3B – STL)
• Carlos Santana (1B/OF – PHI)
• Joey Gallo (1B/3B/OF – TEX)
• Chris Taylor (2B/SS/OF – LAD)
• Nick Castellanos (3B/OF – DET)
• Javier Baez (2B/SS – CHC)

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Brian Reiff is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Brian, check out his archive and follow him @briansreiff.