Beckett vs. Sabathia: The Cy Young Debate

Last night (and probably today, too), there was a debate raging about the 2007 AL Cy Young winner. Some believes that Josh Beckett should be the winner, and numerous others (myself included), argued that C.C. Sabathia has had the more impressive season. Because the Cy Young is voted on prior to the beginning of the playoffs, Beckett's dominance in the first two rounds against the Angels and the Indians is irrelevant.

(Side note: Fausto Carmona has had an amazing season also, and he was probably the 3rd-best pitcher in the AL this year. Unfortunately for him, his numbers, while extraordinary, aren't quite on the same level as Beckett and Sabathia.)


Last night (and probably today, too), there was a debate raging about the 2007 AL Cy Young winner. Some believes that Josh Beckett should be the winner, and numerous others (myself included), argued that C.C. Sabathia has had the more impressive season. Because the Cy Young is voted on prior to the beginning of the playoffs, Beckett's dominance in the first two rounds against the Angels and the Indians is irrelevant.

(Side note: Fausto Carmona has had an amazing season also, and he was probably the 3rd-best pitcher in the AL this year. Unfortunately for him, his numbers, while extraordinary, aren't quite on the same level as Beckett and Sabathia.)

Josh Beckett

Beckett, the ace of the team considered to be the best in the major leagues for most of the season, led the majors in wins with 20. However, with wins being a terrible way to evaluate the performance of a pitcher and everything, this is really a side note, more a product of his offense scoring 6.42 runs per game he started. His 1.14 WHIP was good for 5th in the league. His ERA was 6th-best in the AL, a very good 3.27. Among AL pitchers with at least 180 IP, Beckett had a 4.85 K/BB ratio (4th-best), an 8.70 K/9 (6th), a .245 BAA (5th), and 194 Ks (7th).

In addition to these impressive statistics, Beckett was also the best pitcher on a Boston team that was considered by most to be the best team in MLB for most of this year. His "clutchness," which is one of Beckett's very highly touted qualities, didn't really come into play during the regular season.

C.C. Sabathia

Sabathia had a monster year, numbers-wise (and most likely, buffet-wise). His 19 wins were second, despite receiving over a run lower support (5.10 runs per game) than Beckett. Most of his numbers compare well to Beckett's, with a few more Ks (209, good for 5th), a slightly lower ERA of 3.21 (5th in the AL), a higher BAA of .259, and an identical WHIP of 1.14. However, in several important categories, Sabathia outdistances his competition. His 241 IP is not only good for the most in the majors, it's a 40-inning edge over Beckett, who finished with 200 2/3. Sabathia, despite pitching much more than Beckett, gave out fewer walks (37, to 40 for the Boston ace), and his 5.65 K/BB is by far the best among AL starters with at least 180 IP. By pitching the most innings in the majors, Sabathia has been able to pitch effectively late into games, leading to a more rested bullpen for the Indians. I'm not entirely sure that the ability for pitchers to save their bullpen is properly appreciated.

Who Should Win

Sabathia

Why? Because most things (Boston and Cleveland finished with identical records, most of their stats are pretty close) are equal, the numbers that Sabathia has in his favor, especially his walks and innings pitched, are all the more impressive. If I'm a voter, I give Sabathia the edge.

Who Will Win

Beckett

Why? Beckett's had a great season. The numbers he put up have been very impressive. In comparison to Sabathia, however, these numbers are, at least in 2007, second-best. So why does Beckett win? Because of the aforementioned Carmona factor. Cleveland, with it's two Cy Young candidates, will split the ticket, much the way 2 Democrats running for president would split the vote.

So, in conclusion, Beckett will win the Cy Young, Sabathia will finish second, and Carmona will finish third. However, Sabathia should win, followed by Beckett and with Carmona bringing up the rear.

A Mets Fan's Take

With the New York Mets losing to the Florida Marlins 8-1 today, combined with the Philadelphia Phillies beating the Washington Nationals 6-1, the Phillies earn the NL East crown. This continues a dubious distinction for the Mets; never in their 47 year history have they won division titles in consecutive years. Tom Glavine allowed 7 runs in 1/3 of an inning today, and the Phillies steamrolled the Nationals for the win.

My take on this whole thing?

It's said that pressure brings out true character. That is the justification for many people's attacks on Alex Rodriguez, that during pressure situations, he shows himself to be made of inferior mettle. For me, I agree with the statement, but not it's implementation against A-Rod. But I'm not here to write about A-Rod. I'm here to tell you what I learned from this year's pennant race, and I'm going to do it in the form of a list.

1) As I said above, character reveals itself in tenuous situations. Let's take a look at the shortstops from both teams. Jose Reyes wilted down the stretch (September stats: .214/.290/.348, with only 5 stolen bases in 9 chances), and showed his immaturity, failing to run out at least one play, and picking a fight with Marlins' catcher Miguel Olivo on Saturday. His smile disappeared as quickly as his team's playoff chances.

On the other side, Jimmy Rollins continued his inspired play, both on offense (September: .289/.321/523 with 12 steals in 12 chances) and defense (along with Troy Tulowitzki, should be the front-runners for the Gold Glove). His energy was infectious, and in today's game, he stole 2nd and 3rd in the same inning. There's been a lot written Rollin's MVP candidacy, but he should be in the top-5, without a doubt (some combination of Rollins, Prince Fielder, David Wright, Matt Holliday, and Chase Utley).

2) Despite losing a 7-game lead with 17 games to play, there were positive signs out of the Mets. Among these:

• The Mets finally seem to have found a leader. Wright has stepped up in the second half, and his September stats reflect that (.356/.438/.615), but his comments after Friday's loss, in which he called out himself and his teammates, showed that he wanted to be the leader on that team.

• Scott Schoeneweis finally showed some signs of life, and was actually the Mets' most reliable bullpen option in the last week of the season. Sure, it's not much to go on, but as he's signed to a 3-year deal, it would be nice if this was the start to a new, more successful era in his Mets career.

• Pedro Martinez's progress in his comeback from rotator cuff surgery has been nothing short of astounding. Since coming back, Pedro is 3-1 in his 5 starts, with a 2.57 ERA and 32 Ks in 28 IP. This is extremely encouraging, as the Mets have 3 solid pitchers (Pedro, John Maine, and Oliver Perez) in their rotation for 2008.

3) There was a lot of talk about the Mets not having any heart down the stretch (discussed a little in number 1, with Reyes), and while some of that seemed to be accurate (Lastings Milledge's behavior in this weekend's series disgusted me, to be honest), you can't tell me this team quit. A couple of examples:

• Paul Lo Duca tried to play after taking a foul ball off his kneecap. The most fiery member of the Mets, no one could ever convince me Lo Duca would just roll over and die.

• Luis Castillo has been playing on an extremely gimpy knee, and never once did I see him jog or take it easy. He continued to try bunting for base hits, legging out doubles and triples, and generally being a great example of how to be a professional. It's too bad Reyes wasn't paying attention. I know Castillo's 32 and has lost a step, but I wouldn't mind having him back as next year's second baseman.

• Moises Alou had better be back next year. He's a great veteran presence, and at 41, he can still rake, and it's obvious that he still loves to play the game.

4) Many people are clamoring for Willie Randolph to be fired. Apparently he's too stoic. As Rob Neyer pointed out in one of his ESPN.com chats, he'd be more worried about Randolph if someone had pointed this out when everything was going well for the Mets. I don't believe Randolph is as responsible for the Mets misfortunes as most people think. Managers always get more credit for success and more blame for failure than they truly deserve. His most serious problem was not that he was unemotional, but rather that he was handcuffed by a bullpen that became unreliable at the most inopportune time.

In September of last year, the Detroit Tigers had a 12-15 record. While not as dramatic a letdown as this year's Mets team, this was still an awful September for a team that had been in first place all season. No one mentions this when talking about that team, because they still made the playoffs and advanced to the World Series. My point is this: Without Philadelphia going 13-4 over the last 17 games of the season, we wouldn't be filleting the Mets. The Phillies were the single largest reason for the Mets collapse. I can't speak highly enough of the spirit and perseverance of Philadelphia over the past month. I know I may get killed by fellow Mets fans for saying this, but I look forward to watching the Phillies in the playoffs.

Debunking the McGwire Myth

Mark McGwire hit a lot of home runs in his career. Everybody knows this. However, I've heard people argue that McGwire was only capable of creating home runs and steroids scandals, and that his numbers don't warrant the Hall of Fame honor, regardless of steroids. I hear, "It doesn't matter that he took steroids, all he was good for was home runs." I think that's just crazy talk.

This is what Bill James says about McGwire, in his Historical Baseball Abstract: "...about 55% of McGwire's career value is accounted for by his home runs, a high figure, but not as high as players like Dave Kingman and Steve Balboni. McGwire does other things well, other than hit home runs."

Mr. James ranks McGwire #3 among first basemen in his player ratings, so he holds McGwire's contributions in high regard.

A caveat: Mr. James's almanac was published in 2001, so his analysis of McGwire's career does not include the 2005 Congressional hearing fiasco, the subsequent fallout, McGwire becoming a pariah and an outcast, and his paltry Hall of Fame voting total of 23.5%.

I'm not here to discuss the past. Well, actually, I am here to do that. But I'm not here to debate whether or not McGwire took steroids (looks like he did) or how much of his power was derived from steroids (impossible to tell). What I'm here to do is determine, based on the numbers, whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

In 1998, McGwire hit 70 home runs. Every baseball fan remembers #62 and most people remember #70. But does anybody remember #162? That was the number of walks McGwire drew, and until Barry Bonds became the the King of the Intentional Walk, McGwire's 1998 season was the 2nd-highest total of bases on balls ever, after Babe Ruth's 1923 total of 170. Even after the astronomical BB numbers that Barry Bonds had put up, McGwire's 162 remains tied for the 5th-best single season walk total of all time.

His 1998 season was one of the best ever put up: a career-high .299 BA, the 70 HR, 147 RBI, the .470 OBP, an astronomical 1.222 OPS (16th-best all time, and one of only three people in that top-16 not named Ruth, Bonds, or Williams), and 1 stolen base in 1 chance (100% success rate, best of all-time). That is an all-time great season.

One of the main criticisms of McGwire is that his career batting average (.263) means that he doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame. Looking it up, only six players from the Live Ball Era (post-1920) who are currently in the Hall of Fame posted lower batting averages than McGwire, which would lend credence to that theory.

Little tangent here: the six Hall of Famers mentioned above were Harmon Killebrew (.256), Bill Mazeroski (.260), and Gary Carter, Ozzie Smith, Reggie Jackson, Luis Aparicio, who all oddly enough had career averages of .262. Carter was a catcher, Smith was a defensive wizard (the wizard pun is a little cheesy, I know, but I couldn't help it), Jackson gets in on his HR and RBI numbers (563 and 1702, respectively), and I really can't explain what Aparicio is doing in there. That just baffles me. Bill Mazeroski is in because of his walk-off home run in the 1960 World Series, and that's just about it (I mean, come on, he had a .299 OBP!). Ok, I'm done with that rant. I'll come back to Harmon Killebrew in a minute.

As I was saying, McGwire's low batting average would seem to count against him. However, I think the fact that his batting average was so low made his OBP so much more impressive. His career OBP was .394, which was 131 points higher than his batting average. During seasons in which he played in more than 100 games, he drew an average of 102 walks per season. I don't know about you, but that's a pretty good total to me.

Now back to Harmon Killebrew: When he retired, his 573 home runs were good for fifth on the all-time list, behind only Aaron, Ruth, Mays, and Robinson. His batting average is 120 points lower than his OBP, much like McGwire. When McGwire retired with 583 home runs, his total was good for sixth, leaving him ten home runs ahead of Killebrew for career home runs.

Despite the fact that McGwire played for only 16 seasons, and Killebrew played for 22, their numbers are very similar. I've never heard anyone say that Killebrew doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame. If you just look at the numbers, I don't think that anyone can argue McGwire doesn't also belong there.

I honestly don't believe McGwire will be voted into the Hall of Fame, and I personally think that's the right call for the folks in Cooperstown. There's a high probability that he used steroids, and they helped him to hit the 583 home runs. If you want to argue that McGwire doesn't belong in the Hall because of steroid use, that's fine. But if you want to argue McGwire should be kept out because his numbers weren't good enough, that's ridiculous and I will flick you in the ear.

I've Moved

In case anyone actually reads this looking for updates (unlikely), I'm now writing at armchairgm.com. My username over there is tmil42.

Look me up if you want to.

Get Rid of the Error

Defensive scoring in major league baseball has almost completely deteriorated in the past couple of decades. This is common knowledge among baseball fans, of course. Everybody remembers the 1999 first base Gold Glove winner, Mr. Rafael "I have never taken steriods, period" Palmeiro, who played a total of 28 games in the field that year. I hate how when a guy loses a ball in the sun, it's called a hit, and when a guy gets an inside-the-park home run because the center fielder dives after a ball at the inopportune time. I've always known that the defensive scorekeeping in baseball has been somewhat lax, but I've believed that the defensive epidemic was a little overblown. Tonight though, I saw something that led me to believe that maybe we should just outlaw all errors and change ERA to just run average, and remove the unearned run altogether. Ok, that might be going a little far, but something has to be done. Tonight I was watching the Mets-Marlins game, and a play happened that was so very obviously an error, I was flabbergasted (yes, flabbergasted) that it was ruled a hit. Let me set the scene for you: It's the top of the third, and there are 2 outs. Emergency starter Chan Ho Park has given up a hit to the pitcher, and then walked the bases loaded. Miguel Cabrera lines the ball at the second baseman, Damion Easley. The ball is actually in the webbing of Easley's glove before he drops it. Two runs score, and the Marlins score 5 runs in this inning, all with two outs. The ball that hits Easley's glove is ruled a single. I mean, come on, it's INSIDE his glove before he drops it. If the Mets second baseman closes his glove, the inning is over and the Mets are out of the inning and still in the game. Instead, they're down 5 runs and the I turn off the game. For Park, the pitcher, he ends up having all 5 of these runs earned. He leaves the game after 4 innings with an ERA north of 15. If that play is called an error, only 2 of the 7 runs he gives up are earned, and his ERA is so much less appalling.

Best in Baseball, Part Two of Part IV

This is the final portion of my "Best in Baseball" series. Hopefully you've enjoyed the previous three and a half parts, and if you haven't, well, then I fail at life, apparently. The last part of this is the presentation and justification of my All-American League team. The same rules apply for this team that applied for the All-NL team (DH allowed, no stars in backup roles, 5 front-line starters, and blah, blah, blah…read the first part of part IV for the full details).

Well, let’s go straight to the team:

All-American League Team

Starting Lineup:

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

• Mauer won the AL batting title and was a serious MVP candidate in 2006. He’s in a familiar position so far this year, once again leading the American League in hitting with a .369 batting average. On top of that, he plays great defense and has tremendous sideburns. He’s got the whole package.

First Baseman: Mark Teixeira, Texas Rangers

• Yes, I did say that I thought Morneau was the best overall first baseman in the American League. His offensive numbers are through the roof, and he does have an MVP award to his credit. At the same time though, I value defense very highly when I’m building a team. That’s why Teixeira gets the nod, because of his two Gold Gloves and the fact that his offensive numbers (33 HR, 110 RBI) aren’t exactly putrid.

Second Baseman: Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers

• I personally think that Robinson Cano, because of his age and Polanco’s injury history, is the safer bet. That being said, I like Polanco because he strikes out so little (only 27 Ks in 461 ABs last year). I want a guy that can move the runner over, keep at-bats alive, waste away good pitches, and wear down pitchers. Polanco’s the best choice for that.

Third Baseman: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

• This is one position where I am sacrificing defense for offense. But come on, it’s A-Rod. He’s cooled off since clubbing those 14 quick home runs, which means that the boos should be back pretty soon at Yankee Stadium. Sure, he’s a little bit of a risk out there at third, but that’s a risk you take with one of the best hitters of all time.

Shortstop: Carlos Guillen, Detroit Tigers

• This really was the toughest choice I had to make. I could have gone with Captain Intangibles (Derek Jeter), Miggy the RBI Machine (Miguel Tejada), or Mr. Under/Overrated (Michael Young). Good thing A-Rod and Nomar aren’t AL shortstops anymore, or this group would be even more ridiculous. Why’d I pick Guillen? Well, he does a little bit of everything: he hits for power (19 HRs in 2006) and average (.320 BA), and he can swipe a base if need be (20 SB in 29 chances last year). Want to know what really sets him apart though? I think all these players are relatively close together, talent-wise. The only difference is in the salaries. Young just signed a ridiculous long-term deal, Jeter makes upwards of $20 million a year, and Tejada comes in at about $13 million per. Meanwhile, Guillen makes $5 million a year. He’s an absolute bargain compared to his contemporaries.

Left Fielder: Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

• Manny Ramirez is an offensive juggernaut, but for this team, I need to have some defense and intensity, neither of which Manny is especially famous for. I’m sacrificing Manny’s bat for Crawford’s defense and speed, because I’m going to have enough power with this lineup, but Crawford adds an element of speed that wouldn’t exist with Manny. Crawford stole 59 bases, good enough for first in the AL and second in the majors (behind Jose Reyes). I love having base-stealers batting leadoff.

Center Fielder: Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians

• Sizemore is set to be the next big superstar in baseball, as he’s great at almost anything. The only things he needs to work on are his strikeouts (153 in 655 ABs last year) and his batting against left-handers (only a .214 BA in 2006). Other than that, though, he’s outstanding.

Right Field: Vladimir Guerrero, California Angels

• A side note before I explain this choice: I’ve decided that from now on, I’m just going to refer to the baseball team from the Anaheim area as the California Angels, both because it’s easy to remember and because it reminds me of the movie Angels in the Outfield. Ok, back to Vlad. Like I said earlier, I put a premium on defensive players, and Guerrero has one of the strongest arms I’ve ever seen. He’s still a great offensive player (although Jermaine Dye was better than him last year), and I’ll accept the injury risk that swinging at everything within 26 feet of the plate incurs.

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

• Admittedly, I could have gone with Travis Hafner here, he’s also spectacular at the plate. Hafner’s nickname is Pronk, which is just awesome. I didn’t go with Pronk (even though that’s pretty much the best handle ever) only because Ortiz has been doing it longer and well, I’d like to see Hafner play more that 140 games in a season. I mean, it’s not like he has to take the field every day, he just has to pop the batting helmet onto his noggin and step up to the dish.

Batting Order :

1) Carl Crawford, LF (left-handed)

2) Placido Polanco, 2B (right-handed)

3) David Ortiz, DH (left-handed)

4) Alex Rodriguez, 3B (right-handed)

5) Mark Teixeira, 1B (switch-hitter)

6) Vladimir Guerrero, RF (right-handed)

7) Grady Sizemore, CF (left-handed)

8) Joe Mauer, C (left-handed)

9) Carlos Guillen, SS (switch-hitter)

Bench Players

Backup Catcher: Vance Wilson, Detroit Tigers

• I mentioned this in the last post, but I’ll do it again. Basically, for a good backup catcher, you need a guy who is good defensively and not embarrassing offensively. Wilson is that guy for the AL. He’s thrown out an impressive 40% of attempted base-stealers for his career, and last year he hit .283 in a backup role for the American League pennant-winners.

Utility Infielder: Alex Cora, Boston Red Sox

• It boggles my mind how the Red Sox could spend so much money on Julio Lugo (4 years, $36 million). I mean, the guy is just awful defensively, and he’s not a top-tier offensive player either. Good thing he’s got Cora backing him up. The thing about Cora is that he can play either second or short (or third in a pinch), and he’s a definite improvement over Lugo in that department.

Utility Outfielder: Melky Cabrera, New York Yankees

• You could also call him the only Yankee outfielder that doesn’t have a wet noodle for a throwing arm. He tied for the lead in outfield assists last year, and he’s only in his second year in the majors. Unfortunately, he’s been shoved to the back of the outfield line behind defensively-challenged Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, and Bobby Abreu.

Pinch Hitter: Wily Mo Pena, Boston Red Sox

• Pinch-hitters are hard to come across in the American League, what with the DH taking the pitcher’s spot in the batting order. I chose Wily Mo because he’s been stuck behind Coco Crisp on the depth chart, and because when he gets hold of a ball, he usually deposits it about 12 miles from its previous location.

Pitching Rotation

1) Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins (LHP)

· I don’t need to explain myself here, do I? As they say in MVP Baseball 2005, “this guy will have a cabinet full of Cy Youngs by the time he’s finished pitching.”

2) Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays (RHP)

· Santana’s obviously the best pitcher the game has to offer right now, but the gap between him and Halladay is not all that great. These are Halladay’s ERA numbers since 2001: 3.16, 2.93, 3.25, 4.20, 2.41, and 3.19. I mean, those are great numbers. The only thing holding him back is that last year was the first time he’d made 30 starts since 2003.

3) Chien-Ming Wang, New York Yankees (RHP)

· He’s got the deadliest sinker in the game (sorry, Brandon Webb), and he went 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA. It’s also significant to mention that he makes $489,500 this year. Why is that important? Well, Roger Clemens got $1.75 million last year for each win, and Wang had 19 wins last season for under half a million dollars. Now that’s what I call a bargain.

4) John Lackey, California Angels (RHP)

· The thing that I like most about Lackey is his reliability. He’s made 33 starts a season for four consecutive seasons, and he’s off to a good start this year, with a 2.35 ERA and 3 wins. He hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of his starts so far this season.

5) Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners (RHP)

· I’m worried about King Felix here. I really hope that his injury doesn’t turn into something more serious, because he has absolutely dominating stuff, and it looked like he had finally put it all together (a .107 opposing batting average, a 1.56 ERA, and a complete game one-hitter against the vaunted Red Sox lineup).

Bullpen

Closer: Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins (RHP)

• I’ve mentioned Nathan at least twice already in this series, and if you’ve read each part, you’ll notice that I hold him in very high regard. I mean, he has 123 saves in the past 3 years, with only 10 blown saves in that time. Trust me, I love Papelbon as much as anybody else, and if his shoulder holds up to a whole season of strain, then sure, we can talk about him in this conversation. But not yet.

Setup Man: Scot Shields, California Angels

• Shields is the best setup man in all of baseball right now. If you’re an Angel pitcher, and you throw seven innings and leave with the lead, you’re pretty much assured of getting the win. Shields is automatic in the 8 th, always has been, and Francisco Rodriguez is also great (with some help from his trusty rosin cap). Shields has never had an ERA higher than 3.33 (in 2004), and that was actually the only time his ERA rose above 3. That’s what you want out of a setup man. Joel Zumaya of the Tigers is also great, but he seems to be erratic so far this year

Left-handed Specialist: Mike Myers, New York Yankees

• Let’s be honest; Myers invented the lefty specialist role. For his career, he averages just under 2/3 of an inning per appearance. His batting average against for left-handed batters over the past three seasons is .213, which is just outstanding.

Middle Relievers: Fernando Rodney, Detroit Tigers, and Scott Proctor, New York Yankees

• Rodney was part of that great 2006 Tigers bullpen, with Zumaya and Todd Jones, that helped take the Tigers to the World Series last year. His 3.52 ERA was also pretty good, even though he’s gotten off to a slow start this year, just like Zumaya.
• Proctor’s also a very good reliever (also had a 3.52 ERA in 2006), but I’m worried about him. Last year he appeared in 82 games and pitched 102 1/3 innings, both of which are very high numbers. In 2007, he’s already appeared in 15 of the Yankees 23 games. Joe Torre’s going to blow out his arm sooner or later, and my money’s on sooner. Nobody can handle that type of workload for very long.

Long Relievers/Spot Starters: Darren Oliver, California Angels, and Hector Carrasco, California Angels

• Yeah, I’ve got a lot of Angel relief pitchers on this list. But there’s a reason that they’ve finished in the top-5 in bullpen ERA in the American League every year since 2000. Oliver did an exceptional job as a long reliever for the Mets last year, with eighteen relief appearances of 2 or more innings, and he had a 3.68 ERA.
• Carrasco was even more impressive than Oliver, as he made 22 appearances of the 2-inning or longer variety. He also finished with an ERA of 3.41 for 2006, which is great, considering the length of his appearances.

Best in Baseball, Part One of Part IV

This is the fourth and last part of my Best in Baseball series. At first, I thought I would just make a normal All-Star team for each league, but then I figured that would be too easy. Instead, I'm going to make the best team possible for both the AL and NL (the NL first and then the AL second), and then I'll let you guys decide which one is better. Each team will have 8 position players, a full-time DH, 5 starters, a 7-man bullpen (a closer, setup man, left-handed specialist, two middle relievers and two long relievers/spot starters), as well as a 4-man bench (a backup catcher, a utility infielder and outfielder, and a pinch-hitter). The thing that makes this tough is that only the starting lineup and starting pitchers can be front-line stars. For instance, if I pick Jose Reyes as the starting shortstop (which I will), I can't put Jimmy Rollins as my backup infielder. In the same vein, if my closer is Mariano Rivera (which it won't be), my setup guy can't be Jonathan Papelbon. Each player has to be at the position that they are playing. The only exception is my National League DH, for the obvious reasons. I think you get the general idea.

First, the All-NL Team:

Starting Lineup:

Catcher: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

• McCann's only 23, and he's already the best offensive catcher in the National League (.333 BA, 24 HR, 93 RBI). His defense is slightly below average, but like I said, he's got a lot of time to work on it. Watch out for Russell Martin, the catcher for the Dodgers. He had a good year last year too (.282, 10, 65), and he's only going to get better.

First Baseman: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

• He's got a Gold Glove, MVP and Rookie of the Year honors. Since he came into the league in 2001, he's averaged 42 home runs and 126 RBIs, with a batting average of .330. I mean, those numbers are unbelievable. He's got great defense, great power, he hits for average, he's clutch, and he has the ability to steal your soul (just ask Brad Lidge). What else do you want?

Second Baseman: Orlando Hudson, Arizona Diamondbacks

• Let's look at the options at second base in the NL.
  • Craig Biggio (Astros)- old and holding on for his 3,000th hit.
  • Orlando Hudson (D-Backs)- great defensively (Gold Glove last year), but only an average offensive presence.
  • Chase Utley (Philadelphia Phillies)- best offensive second basemen in the game. The only thing that bothers me a little is his defense (his 18 errors were tied for the most in the NL last season).
  • Jeff Kent (Los Angeles Dodgers)- Hall of Fame bound, but way past his prime.
  • Dan Uggla (Florida Marlins)- ROY last year, but overachieved last year, like the rest of the Marlins.
  • Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati Reds)- can run for days, but an average fielder and hitter.
  • Marcus Giles (San Diego Padres)- mediocre fielder, mediocre hitter, mediocre player.

• Why did I choose Hudson when Utley is clearly the superior overall second baseman? Well, for the best overall team, I had to make some tough calls. Because my team is not lacking in the hitting department, I decided to sacrifice a little offense for some Gold Glove defense, which is what happens when you replace Utley with the O-Dawg. Hudson's a decent enough hitter where he won't hurt my team.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes, SS

• This one was pretty easy. He's the best leadoff hitter in baseball right now (and one of the best overall), and he has improved his defense immensely since he came into the league. The most important quality of your first hitter is the ability to get on base. Reyes' OBP has increased from .300 in 2005 to .354 in 2006 to .462 so far in 2007. Once he's on base, he can steal second without breaking a sweat (64 SB in 2006) and just causes devastation on the basepaths. Also, who better to energize your team than the most electric player in either league? The only other NL shortstop that I would consider putting in this position is Raphael Furcal of the Dodgers, who is fast, although he's not as aggressive as Reyes, he actually got on base more often than Reyes last year (.369 OBP). I could have gone with Jimmy Rollins, but he doesn't get on base enough (.334 OBP last year and .330 for his career), and has apparently fallen in love with the long ball (25 HR last year).

Third Baseman: Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins

• I was an idiot in one of my earlier posts. I decided that the best overall third baseman in the National League was David Wright. Clearly, Cabrera is not very good defensively, but he's such an incredible offensive talent that I should have overlooked his shortcomings in the field. He's not THAT bad defensively, and his offensive numbers are through the roof. When he does eventually move to the outfield, I hope it's to right field, because he'd easily be the best hitter at that position too (you'll see what I mean about right field later).

Left Fielder: Jason Bay, Pittsburgh Pirates

• He's one of the best defensive left fielders in the NL (only 3 errors in 157 games last year) and he's a monster at the plate (.286 BA, 35 HR, 109 RBI, and 102 BB in 2006). He's the best player on the rapidly improving Pirates team that includes last year's NL batting king, Freddy Sanchez, and an amazing new Stadium.

Center Fielder: Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

• Beltran is the top outfielder in the game, hands down. He's got everything you would want in a player: speed (his 87% success rate on stolen bases is the best in major league history), power (his 41 HR last year tied Todd Hundley's Mets record for homers in a season), defense (won a Gold Glove last year), and perseverance (he played in Kansas City for almost 6 years without going nuts). In short, he's the best there is.

Right Field: Brad Hawpe, Colorado Rockies

• For my right fielder spot, which I've noted before is a weak point for the National League, I could have gone with Jeff Francoeur, who can mash (29 home runs last year) and has a cannon for an arm (13 outfield assists in 2006) but had a .293 OBP, drawing only 23 walks in 651 ABs. That's just god-awful plate discipline. Hawpe's batting average last year was .293, so he got a hit as often as Francoeur got on base. At the same time, he hit 22 homers and had 84 RBI (and yes, I know it's Colorado, but of his 22 home runs, only 6 came at home). Francoeur's defense and his power are his main selling points, but my team doesn't need more power and Hawpe may be a better defender (his 16 outfield assists were second in the National League behind Alfonso Soriano). I've got enough RBI men in my lineup that I can pass on having a free-swinging Brave and instead opt for the more solid Colorado player. Also, with the left-handed Hawpe, I can keep my lefty-righty balance in my lineup. (One caveat: I've never actually been able to see Hawpe play, so if I'm overestimating him due to being mislead by statistics, let me know and I will adjust accordingly.)

Designated hitter: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

• Any guy who hits 58 home runs in a season can have a place on my team. It's an added perk that he doesn't have to play defense, because he's just not a good defensive player. His OPS was a staggering 1.084 last year, and his power to all fields is just tremendous. Last year, I can't remember him hitting a HR that barely cleared the fence. Every one I saw was always at least a few rows up, and of course last year during the HR Derby he did hit a walk-off "Hit It Here" HR against David Wright. That was pretty awesome.

Batting Order:

1) Jose Reyes, SS (switch-hitter)

2) Carlos Beltran, CF (switch-hitter)

3) Albert Pujols, 1B (right-handed)

4) Ryan Howard, DH (left-handed)

5) Miguel Cabrera, 3B (right-handed)

6) Brian McCann, C (left-handed)

7) Jason Bay, LF (right-handed)

8) Brad Hawpe, RF (left-handed)

9) Orlando Hudson, 2B (switch-hitter)

Bench Players:

Backup Catcher: Henry Blanco, Chicago Cubs

• For me, your backup catcher is mainly supposed to be good defensively and good at handling pitchers, and anything he gives you offensively is gravy. Also, the catcher needs to have played at least 30 games to be considered. That being said, I'm going to go with Blanco, who you may remember as Greg Maddux's personal catcher for a couple of years in Atlanta and in Chicago last year. He's an exceptional defensive catcher, and for his career, he has thrown out 43% of runners attempting to steal, which is just remarkable. Sure, his hitting is a little weak, but like I said, if backup catchers could hit, they wouldn't be backup hitters.

Utility Infielder: Mark Loretta, Houston Astros

• I think Loretta was the best choice here. I still have trouble believing that the starting second baseman for the AL All-Star team couldn't find a starting job anywhere. He's 35 years old, and he's spent at least 1000 innings at each of the four infield positions. He's got some pop in his bat, and his experience at each of the four infield positions gives him the versatility you want in a utility infielder.

Utility Outfielder: Endy Chavez, New York Mets

• Seriously, I could put Chavez in here just for this. He's an amazing defensive outfielder, and his speed is outstanding. Last year, filling in for an oft-injured Cliff Floyd, he did a great job. He had nine outfield assists and no errors in 128 games last year, which is pretty damn impressive. He also always seems to come through at the plate, and he's a perfect late-inning defensive replacement.

Pinch-hitter: Julio Franco, New York Mets

• Well, if you want experience, he's your guy. He has been in the league for longer than I've been alive. He obviously knows how to hit. You don't stay in baseball for 22 years without knowing what you're doing. Franco's always ready to go, and he usually comes up big when the Mets need him.

Pitching Rotation: Note: For the pitching rotation, I'm allowed to pick the 5 best starting pitchers in the National League. 1) Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks:

• For my top pitcher, I'm going with the 27-year-old from the desert with the deadly sinker. He also won some kind of a record last year. What was it called? Oh yeah, the Cy Young, he's got one of those. He went 16-8 last year and had a 3.10 ERA, and in his four years in the majors, he's never started less than 29 games in a season.

2) Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros

• Oswalt might be my favorite pitcher in the NL. The highest ERA he's ever had in a season was 3.49, and in the past three seasons (2004-2006), he's won 20 games twice, and 55 total in that span, and had an overall ERA of 3.14. In the 2006 season, he went 15-8 with a 2.98 ERA, and was the victim of some poor offense by his teammates. If he had gotten more run support last year, he would definitely have won the Cy Young. Of his 8 losses,the Astros scored 2 or fewer runs 5 times, and were shut out twice.

3) Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs

• Zambrano is one of the few bright spots for the Cubs in the past couple of years. His walks are certainly a concern (his 115 BB last year led the league), and he gets too emotional on the mound, which I think hurts his concentration at times, leading to the high walks. That being said, he's got dynamite stuff and he knows how to win (although he's a Cub, so that might be an oxymoron). Also, he's probably the best hitting pitcher in baseball (he hit 6 home runs last year and his slugging percentage was .397, which is just outstanding for a pitcher.

4) Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

• I honestly think Carpenter is a better pitcher than Zambrano, but it's never good when your Cy Young winner and staff anchor goes down with elbow trouble. I can't put him any higher until I see how he comes back from his injury. He's been great for the Cards since he came over from the Blue Jays in 2004, going 51-18 in the three seasons since then. Even though I hate St. Louis with a passion, I respect Carpenter and I hope he comes back full strength from his injury.

5) Tom Glavine, New York Mets

• Of these five pitchers, this is the only lefty on the staff. Statistically, Glavine is the best lefty in the NL, better than Dontrelle Willis. I'm still not sure what to think about Barry Zito yet, I'm reserving judgement on him until he has at least a half a season in the NL and I've seen how he adjusts to the NL. Sure, Glavine is 41 years old, but Willis had an off year last year, going 12-12. Meanwhile, Glavine went 15-7 in 2006 and is already 3-1 this year, on pace to get 300 wins sometime in July. For me, that gives him the edge over the other lefties in the National League.

Bullpen:

Closer: Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres

• The all-time leader in saves, Hoffman is still the gold standard for closers in the National League. I mean, he's 39 and still going strong (46 saves last year, his 2nd-highest total ever). Also, the list of other closers in the NL is not exactly awe-inspiring. Derrick Turnbow finished 9th in saves last year, he of the 8 blown saves and the 6.87 ERA. I would go so far as to speculate that the only other elite closer in the NL is Billy Wagner, and the comparison between Wagner and Hoffman is not favorable to the Mets lefty.

Setup Pitcher: Scott Linebrink, San Diego Padres

• The Padres seem to always have a spectacular bullpen, and one of their best assets is this 30-year-old righty. He's been involved in many possible trade scenarios in the past year (including an often revisited but never consummated Linebrink-Aaron Rowand trade involving the Phillies). There's a reason everybody wants this guy.

Left-Handed Specialist: Pedro Feliciano, New York Mets

• The other Pedro on the Mets is just death against lefties. Last year lefties only hit .231 against him, and his ERA was 2.09. In the second half of last year (after Duaner Sanchez went down in a freak taxi accident) and at the beginning of this year, Feliciano has really stepped up and become one of the most reliable pitchers in the Mets bullpen.

Middle Relievers: Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cla Meredith, San Diego Padres

• Broxton is a big (6'4, 290 Lbs), young (22 years old), and very talented reliever. Yes, he is technically in that 8th-inning slot for a reliever, but I put him in the middle reliever category regardless. Pretty soon I'll only be able to put him as the closer, because that's what Saito is keeping warm for him.
• I told you that the Padres always had a loaded bullpen. Meredith had an absurdly low ERA in 2006 (1.07), and he is also very young, only 23 years old. The only thing that slightly taints his gaudy stats from last year was the relatively small amount of innings that he pitched last year (only 50 2/3). Even while taking that into account, an ERA anywhere near 1 for a 23-year-old pitcher is pretty impressive.

Long relievers/spot starters: Oscar Villarreal, Atlanta Braves, and Aaron Sele, New York Mets

• I went with these two because it's very hard, just looking at statistics, to see all the contributions that a long reliever brings. I mean, maybe Villarreal goes 5 innings, gives up a couple runs, but keeps the score respectable after the starting pitcher lasts 2 1/3 and gives up 6 runs, and he saves the rest of the bullpen for the next night. It's hard to catch that in a box score. I picked these two because I think Sele did something similar to this just last week, and he was very impressive. Villarreal gets the last roster spot because he lasted longer than an inning in 30 relief appearances last year, and 9 of those appearances were three innings or longer.

Best in Baseball, Part III

This is part three in my four-part series where I gather the best in baseball. This part is my favorite of the four. I take the best at each position in both the National and American Leagues, and I compare them to see which is the better overall player. Remember, I said overall player, not just the best offensive player. I say that because someone was bound to complain if I didn't mention why I didn't think Miguel Cabrera was the best third basemen in the NL.

For the most part, if you see statistics, they're from the 2006 season. The 2007 season isn't old enough to have a reasonable sample size from yet, so 2006 gives the most accurate information on a player's performance. If you don't agree with me on something (which is bound to happen), let me know and I'll do my best to explain myself.

Catcher

NL- Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

AL- Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

This might be my favorite position to pick. The great thing about these guys is that you could add their ages together (both 23) and they're still younger than Julio Franco. Going by 2006 stats, McCann has better power numbers (24 HR, 93 RBI to 13 and 84 by Mauer), but Mauer has the edge in batting average (.347 to .333) and OBP (.429 to .388) Offensively, I'd say their pretty even. Defensively, the two are almost identical in terms of fielding percentage. When it comes to throwing out baserunners, though ,McCann is at a disadvantage, as he only threw out 23% of runners trying to steal. Mauer's percentage is 38%, a large improvement over McCann.

All things considered, Mauer is a better defensive catcher and finished 6th in the 2006 AL MVP voting.

Winner: Joe Mauer

1st Baseman

NL- Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

AL- Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

Hey, it's the 2006 AL MVP against the guy who should have won the NL MVP. Morneau's great, honestly, I'm one of the people that believe he was the right guy to win the MVP last year, and he's going to have a great career. But honestly, Pujols is better than him in just about every way. Higher batting average, more home runs, more RBIs, higher on base percentage, higher OPS, and on top of that, Pujols is a Gold-Glove caliber first basemen.

This might just be the easiest choice of all of them.

Winner: Albert Pujols

2nd Basemen

NL- Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

AL- Robinson Cano, New York Yankees

This is another easy one. Robinson Cano, while admittedly having a high batting average of .442 last year, drew 18 walks in 482 at-bats the entire season. Only 18. In the National League, the Phillies' Utley had a higher on-base percentage (.379 to Cano's .365) despite having a batting average 33 points lower. Utley is, without a doubt, a superior second basemen right now. He hit 32 HRs last year and had 102 RBI, much higher than Cano's 15 and 78. (PS: I didn't put Placido Polanco here, but that's because he only played 110 games last year and only 109 the year before. I went with the young guy instead. It wouldn't have changed the outcome.)

Give Cano a few more years to develop, then check back here.

Winner: Chase Utley

Third Baseman

NL- David Wright, New York Mets

AL- Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

This is where the "best overall player" part comes into play. Miguel Cabrera is obviously a better offensive player than Wright, and Scott Rolen is undoubtedly the best defensive 3rd baseman of our time, but Cabrera's defense is lacking, and Rolen's bat has deteriorated the past few seasons. Nobody in the National League (except Ryan Zimmerman in a year or two) combines the two better right now than David Wright. In the AL, the choice is obviously A-Rod. Sure, he had some trouble last year that was extremely well-documented (thank you ESPN for the 24-hour Alex Rodriguez watch last summer), but, as evidenced by his monster start this year, he's still one of the top two players in all the game.

Bottom line: A-Rod's "down year last year consisted of a .290 BA with 35 HR and 121 RBI. I wish my "low scores" on exams were like that. I'd be top-ten in my class.

Winner: Alex Rodriguez

Shortstop

NL- Jose Reyes, New York Mets

AL- Carlos Guillen, Detroit Tigers

What!?! No Derek Jeter here? What the hell's going on? Oh, that's right, I went with Guillen, who has almost identical stats but is about $16 million cheaper and as underrated as Jeter is overrated. Last year, Jose Reyes had an awesome season, with 17 triples, 19 HR, 81 RBI, as well as a .300 BA and a .354 OBP, as well as 64 stolen bases. He led the majors in triples and stolen bases, and his much-improved defense makes him an amazing overall player. The scariest part of all of this? He's only 23, and getting better every year.

Bottom line: Reyes is universally known as the most exciting and electrifying player in all of baseball.

Winner: Jose Reyes

Left Field

NL- Jason Bay, Pittsburgh Pirates

AL-Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox

Going by reputation only, Manny should win the offensive portion of this hands-down. Based on last year though, Bay had better power numbers, and Manny had better on-base percentage and batting average, as well as slugging percentage. Who to choose, who to choose? I have an idea, let's go with the guy who doesn't mail it in at the end of the year (even though he plays in Pittsburgh).

As always, I go with the less lazy, less crazy player. Sorry Manny, but you know what that means.

Winner: Jason Bay

Center Field

NL- Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

AL- Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians

Yes, I know, this is the 3rd Met player I have as the best in his position. But honestly, you can't really make a case for Beltran not being the best here. Andruw Jones has lost a step and Jim Edmonds is still woozy from running into the wall too many times. Last year, Beltran combined Gold Glove defense and great power (he tied the Mets team record for home runs in a season with 41) to be the best outfielder in baseball. Grady Sizemore is quickly catching up to Beltran though. Sizemore is like a younger Beltran, with a ton of potential.

I said Sizemore was catching up to Beltran. I didn't say he has caught up yet.

Winner: Carlos Beltran

Right Field

NL- Ken Griffey Jr., Cincinnati Reds

AL- Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox

The American League was going to win this one no matter what, so I just picked my favorite right fielder in the National League. I could have gone with Jeff Francoeur of the Braves, the guy who has yet to discover the magical advantages of taking a pitch, but I went with Junior because he's Junior. In the AL, I had a tough time deciding between Dye and Vladimir Guerrero, but I eventually chose Dye because he had a monster 2006 and because Vlad seems to be more injury-prone nowadays.

The NL sucks at having right fielders, whereas the AL has all of the good ones.

Winner: Jermaine Dye

Designated Hitter

NL- Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

AL- David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

I know, I know, the DH isn't a part of the National League (and hopefully never will be). But still, it's my post, so I can do whatever I want with it. Anyway, if there were no DHs in baseball, David Ortiz would be the same liability at 1st base that Howard is. With DH positions, the only consideration is offensive production.

Bottom Line: Howard may have been better last year than Ortiz, but Big Papi is the more dangerous hitter. Just ask yourself which you would rather face with the game on the line, and you'll have the right answer.

Winner: David Ortiz

Starting Pitcher

NL- Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks

AL- Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins

For the best starting pitchers, I had to put the two most recent Cy Young winners up against each other. Roy Halladay is also in the conversation. In a year or two, we might be talking about Felix Hernandez or Daisuke Matsuzaka as the best pitcher in the game, but right now that honor belongs to one man, and it's not a very hard choice

It's got to be Santana.

Winner: Johan Santana

Closer

NL: Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres

AL: Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins

The NL might have the all-time leader in saves, but the AL has the best closer right now. Mariano's getting older, Papelbon's shoulder might not hold up, but Nathan's like the hot dog brand: a safe bet, and he'll always leave you feeling satisfied.

I just compared a closing pitcher to a hot dog brand. Fantastic.

Winner: Joe Nathan

Looking at this comparison, it's easy to see why the National League has been subordinate to the American League lately. Looking at pitching throughout MLB, the AL has many more elite pitchers than the NL. That might change in a few years, with the young guns in San Francisco (Matt Cain, Noah Lowry, and Tim Linecum, to name a few) showing promise, as well as others in different teams throughout the NL (Ian Snell, Mike Pelfrey, Cole Hamels). However, in the immediate future, the AL will continue to assert itself as the superior league.

Come back later and I'll show you my All-Star lineups for each league.

Best in Baseball, Part II

This is the second installment in my four-part series. In this post, I'll pick the best starting pitcher from each team. I'll also include the best relief pitcher on each team. For most of the relief pitchers, the closer will be the de facto answer, but I'll include an explanation every time it's someone else. To me, potential counts a little bit more for pitchers than hitters, and defense is slightly less important for pitchers (although it's still important, just ask the Tigers pitchers). As usual, let me know when I'm wrong, which is bound to happen pretty often.

AL East

• Baltimore Orioles: Erik Bedard, SP and Chad Bradford, RP
  • Bedard's one of the best young arms in the game today, and he's only going to get better. The Orioles also have Steve Traschsel, who I'm well acquainted with from his Mets days. Let's just say he's a decent 8th starter.
  • Chris Ray's the closer in a revamped bullpen, but I love Bradford, who throws so far from the side his arm almost hits the ground. A little Mets bias, maybe, but Bradford's still the man.
• Boston Red Sox: Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP and Jonathan Papelbon, RP
  • It was easier than I thought to pick this one. Curt Schilling is still a good pitcher, but no longer a great one. Josh Beckett has yet to harness his potential (and I'm not sure if he ever will), so I'm going with the Japanese import.
  • For the reliever, I wanted to pick Joel Pineiro, but then I remember how terrible he was.
• New York Yankees: Chien-Ming Wang, SP and Mariano Rivera, RP
  • The Yankees better hope Clemens comes back and pitches for them, because their rotation is just awful. Wang will help once he gets off the DL, but Andy Pettitte's over the hill, and Pavano hasn't pitched in years (and wasn't really that good to begin with).
  • Mariano Rivera = best closer in the history of baseball.
• Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Scott Kazmir, SP and Al Reyes, RP
  • For a team with so much young offensive talent, the D-Rays have absolutely no pitching other than Kazmir. Maybe that's why they're never very good.
  • This Reyes guy is a 37-year-old relief pitcher closing for the first time in his life. Doesn't sound very smart to me, but the guy's 4-for-4 on save opportunities and hasn't given up a run yet, so what do I know?
• Toronto Blue Jays: Roy Halladay, SP and B.J. Ryan, RP
  • Doc Halladay (cheesy nicknames are fun) is the number two pitcher in all of baseball right now, behind Johan. Halladay's palmball would always get me in MVP Baseball 2005. He was a killer.
  • The Jays better hope that Ryan didn't blow out his elbow, or else their season might be blown out. That's how important he is to the team.

AL Central

• Chicago White Sox: Jose Contreras, SP and Bobby Jenks, RP
  • This rotation was so strong during their championship run in 2005, but now I don't really like any of these guys anymore. I guess I'll take Contreras out of that mediocre rotation.
  • Like the starting pitchers for the White Socks, Jenks hasn't been the same since 2005, but he's still an above-average closer (and he's only 26).
• Cleveland Indians: C.C. Sabathia, SP and Joe Borowski, RP
  • Sabathia's definitely the ace of this staff, even though he doesn't bend the brim of his cap. It looks ridiculous, to be honest
  • I'll take the closer because I have to choose someone from this crappy bullpen. That's it.
• Detroit Tigers: Justin Verlander, SP and Joel Zumaya
  • The reigning AL Rookie of the Year, while not the ace of this staff, is the best pitcher on this very loaded starting rotation. Would I have picked Kenny Rogers if he had been healthy? In a word, no.
  • Sure, Todd Jones does a good job closing, but everyone knows he's just keeping the seat warm for the flamethrower Zumaya.
• Kansas City Royals: Gil Meche, SP and Joakim Soria, RP
  • Meche has had a great start to the season, but he's got a ways to go before he vindicates KC from that ridiculous contract (5 years, $55 million) that they signed him for. Am I crazy to think he can do it?
  • I picked Soria because he's got the same first name as the basketballer from Florida. Of course, I'm guessing Soria isn't as terrifying in HD as Noah is.
• Minnesota Twins: Johan Santana, SP and Joe Nathan, RP
  • Best current starting pitcher in baseball.
  • Best current closer in baseball.

AL West

• Los Angeles Anaheim Angels of the Southeastern California Seaside Region: John Lackey, SP and Francisco Rodriguez, RP
  • Lackey is severely underrated. His record is pretty good (27-16, 3.50 ERA over the past two years), but he's even better than that. Bartolo Colon is over the hill, Jared Weaver and Ervin Santana aren't quite there yet.
  • Despite the whole "K-Rod's Cheating" thing a couple weeks ago, the guy has absolutely filthy stuff, and he's got 92 saves over the past 2 years.
• Oakland Athletics: Rich Harden, SP and Huston Street, RP
  • If Harden could stay healthy, he'd be terrific. Too bad he has never done that.
  • Huston Street's an OK closer, but he did blow 11 saves last year. That's way too many.
• Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez, SP and J.J. Putz, RP
  • King Felix is going to be an elite pitcher. I mean, did you see him in Boston last week? He keeps this up and he'll be better than Santana is. I'm serious.
  • Putz, like Huston Street, is an average closer. He also probably won't get a ton of opportunities in games that Jeff Weaver's starting.
• Texas Rangers: Vincente Padilla, SP and Eric Gagne, RP
  • This pitching staff just sucks something awful. I went with Padilla because he had the best stats for 2006 (15-10, 4.50 ERA). He’s off to a spectacular start so far in 2007 (0-3, 6.62).
  • Gagne wins this one because the Rangers bullpen is terrible. It’s got to be bad when your best pitcher is a guy who has appeared in 17 games in 3 years. Remember how awesome he used to be, when he had 152 saves in 158 chances from 2002-2004.

NL East

• Atlanta Braves: John Smoltz, SP and Mike Gonzalez, RP
  • Tim Hudson's looking like his old self so far this year, but I'm going with the known quantity with Smoltz. I mean, he's got 194 wins and 154 saves. That's ridiculous. If Hudson stays healthy all year, he'll be the ace of the Braves staff. Not just because he'll be that good, but because Smoltz is a free agent after this season and the Braves tend to let their great pitchers finish careers elsewhere (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, anyone?)
  • Bob Wickman's a good closer for the Braves, but he's 38 and basically just keeping the seat warm for Gonzalez. Gonzales is only 28 and was 24-for-24 in save opportunities for the Pirates last year. The Braves also have Raphael Soriano and Tyler Yates, both of whom are pretty good arms. They have a really good bullpen.
• Florida Marlins: Dontrelle Willis, SP and Jorge Julio, RP
  • Willis is obviously the ace of this very young Marlins rotation. I keep hoping he'll get traded to the Mets or an American League team, because he absolutely destroys the Mets (11-2 career record).
  • I picked Julio because he's got great stuff and he reminds me of Armando Benitez. That is, he can't handle pressure situations and I'm glad he's out of New York.
• New York Mets: Tom Glavine, SP and Billy Wagner, RP
  • He's 41 and he's got 292 wins and he's the undisputed ace of this staff, until Pedro comes back and starts dominating again (Ok, probably not happening, but still, I can dream...).
  • Wagner's probably the second-best closer in the National League (after Trevor Hoffman), and the Mets bullpen, while still good, isn't as elite as it was last year.
• Philadelphia Phillies: Cole Hamels, SP and Tom Gordon, RP
  • Hamels is going to be a great pitcher, and he's already a very good one and the ace of that staff. Brett Myers is good too, but he beats his wife, so he doesn't count in my book.
  • Flash Gordon is really the only good pitcher in the entire Phillies bullpen. That's going to come back and bite them on the ass.
• Washington Nationals: Shawn Hill, SP and Chad Cordero, RP
  • This was easy. Hill's the only pitcher on the Nats that has even come close to being successful this season. John Patterson, the supposed "ace" of that rotation, has been awful, and so have all the other retreads that the Nationals have run out there.
  • Cordero's a good closer on a very very bad team. He might get 30-35 save opportunities all year.

NL Central

• Chicago Cubs: Carlos Zambrano, SP and Ryan Dempster
  • Zambrano's one of the top-5 pitchers in the NL, and the Cubs are working on a long-term deal with him. They better get it done, or it's more of the Mark Prior-Kerry Wood DL Merry-Go-Round.
  • Dempster's been a closer for a couple of years, and he's slightly above average, although he did blow nine saves last year. He'll be good for about 30-35 saves this year. That's all I have to say about that.
• Cincinnati Reds: Aaron Harang, SP and David Weathers, RP
  • Harang was the National League leader in both wins (16) and strikeouts (216) in 2006, and he got exactly 0 Cy Young votes. That seems moderately ridiculous to me.
  • Weathers already has 5 saves this year, and he's...experienced, being 37 years old and all.
• Houston Astros: Roy Oswalt, SP and Brad Lidge, RP
  • I think Oswalt is the number one pitcher in the NL. I mean, his highest ERA for a season is 3.49, and he's got two 20-win seasons and one 19-win season. And he got a bulldozer for getting the Astros to the World Series in 2005. He's just the best.
  • Everybody knows about the problems that Lidge has been having, but I still think that he's the better pitcher in comparison with Dan Wheeler. Lidge will get it together soon, I think, and be the closer again very soon.
• Milwaukee Brewers: Ben Sheets, SP and Francisco Cordero, RP
  • Sheets has had trouble staying healthy the past couple of years, but when he's on, he is electric. See his Opening Day complete game 2-hitter for details.
  • Cordero is a vast improvement over the wildness and unpredictability that is Derrick Turnbow.
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Zach Duke, SP and Salomon Torres, RP
  • I could have gone with either Duke or Ian Snell here, as both are bound for the Oliver Perez-Kip Wells career path (reclamation project for another team).
  • Torres is a 35-year-old first time closer. On almost any other team, that would be a problem, but this is the Pirates. I could close for the Pirates and it wouldn't make much of a difference.
• St. Louis Cardinals: Chris Carpenter, SP and Jason Isringhausen, RP
  • Carpenter is an easy pick, unless his elbow problems are more serious than they seem. He better get back if the Cardinals are going to be successful this year.
  • The Cardinals bullpen is not nearly as strong as it was last year, and I would have put Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper ahead of Izzy, who's over the hill.

NL West

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Brandon Webb, SP and Jose Valverde, RP
  • Here's a new rule: If you win a Cy Young, for the following year you are the best pitcher on your team. That would include Webb, he of the nasty sinker.
  • I don't know too much about Valverde, but he's got 6 saves already this year, so he must be decent, at least.
• Colorado Rockies: Aaron Cook, SP and Brian Fuentes, RP
  • I'm going to be honest, I don't know too much about the Rockies organization (which led to my omission of Garrett Atkins in Part I). I went with Cook because of all the pitchers on the Rockies, he seemed to have the best track record.
  • I went with Fuentes as the best reliever because he's the closer. Also, keep in mind that it is Colorado, which means that no pitcher will have really good numbers.
• Los Angeles Dodgers: Brad Penny, SP and Jonathan Broxton, RP
  • It's the same thing with Penny as it is with Ben Sheets in Milwaukee. If he's healthy, he's a very good pitcher. Penny was the starter for the NL in the All-Star Game last year for a reason. That Jason Schmidt signing isn't looking so great right now, is it?
  • I know Takashi Saito is the closer, and he's a good one, but Broxton is a huge guy with tremendous strength. He'll be the closer soon enough.
• San Diego Padres: Jake Peavy, SP and Trevor Hoffman, RP
  • Peavy anchors an extremely solid Padres rotation, with Chris Young, David Wells, and Greg Maddux behind him.
  • As always, the Padres have a very deep bullpen, and as always, it's led by the all-time leader in saves, Hoffman. I don't really have to explain that one very much.
• San Francisco Giants: Barry Zito, SP and Armando Benitez, RP
  • Zito is horrendously overpaid, but he's still a good pitcher. You can do worse than a guy who takes the ball every fifth day and has never missed a start. He's just not worth 7 years and $126 million.
  • I went with Benitez for the exact same reason that the Giants do: I just don't have any other viable alternatives.

I'll be back later this week with Part III. Let me know what I screwed up.

Best in Baseball, Part I

This is Part I of a four-part series in which I will choose the best in baseball. How will I do this? Well, I'll just pick the best position player from each team (Part I), then the best pitchers (starting and relief) from each team (Part II). Then I'll compare the best at each position in each league (Part III), and finally end up with the best AL and NL All-Star teams possible (Part IV). Why would I do this? Well, partly because I'm too unoriginal to come up with anything else, and partly because I have fun doing this sort of stuff. Anyway, if you think I'm wrong (and I probably will be on some of these), by all means, verbally abuse me.

Part I

In this part, I'm going to take each team in baseball and pick their best positional player. Designated hitters count (DH is a position too, but you have to be a damn good DH to make this list), and some positions are more highly valued than others. For instance, the physical rigors of being a catcher is more heavily valued than the wear and tear that left fielders take. Also, past performance counts for more than raw ability and potential. By that standard, rookies really shouldn't be the best player on any team (Of course, I'm going to violate that at least once).

AL East

• Baltimore Orioles: Miguel Tejada, SS
  • Come on, this was easy. Tejada is a ton of fun to watch, he has missed exactly zero games in the past six seasons, and he's an RBI machine even on a crappy team.
• Boston Red Sox: David Ortiz, DH/1B
  • It came down to either Big Papi or Manny Ramirez. Basically, Ortiz is a better hitter, and Manny is very bad in left field, so that he's not going to overcome the difference between him and Big Papi. Plus, Manny's bonkers, so that kind of counts against him.
• New York Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, 3B
  • It's got to be A-Rod. First off, he's going to go down as maybe the best player in baseball history. And I think Derek Jeter, captain of the Yankees, is overblown. He hasn't won a World Series since the days of Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez. I've got to give the edge to A-Rod.
• Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Carl Crawford, LF
  • The Devil Rays have the most young talent in the majors right now, with Elijah Dukes, Delmon Young, and B.J. Upton all having tremendous upsides. Right now, Crawford's number one on the D-Rays, and is one of the more under-appreciated players in all the game.
• Toronto Blue Jays: Vernon Wells, CF
  • This guy does it all. He's got power (32 HR, 106 RBIs in 2006), speed (17 SBs), and defense (3 Gold Gloves from 2004-2006), and a nice new $126 million contract.

AL Central

• Chicago White Sox: Jermaine Dye, RF
  • I was going to go with either Paul Konerko or Dye here. I struggled with both of them, and they're close enough together talent-wise that the only thing I could find to separate them was Dye's Silver Slugger award last season, so he barely edges Konerko.
• Cleveland Indians: Grady Sizemore, CF
  • Sizemore has just absolutely phenomenal talent. I know Travis Hafner is the best DH in the league, and he can absolutely rake, but he'd have to be the second coming of Babe Ruth to outweigh all 5 of Sizemore's tools.
• Detroit Tigers: Carlos Guillen, SS
  • Guillen, much like Crawford, is very underrated. He was one of the most important reasons for the Tigers' resurgence last year, and almost nobody noticed. Sheffield is still scary, but mainly because I'm scared his bat will kill somebody during an at-bat gone horribly wrong.
• Kansas City Royals: Alex Gordon, 3B
  • I said I'd end up putting at least one rookie as a team's best player. The Royals are filled with aging players who are past their prime, and so I took the player with the most promise and talent.
• Minnesota Twins: Joe Mauer, C
  • I had a really hard time with this choice. This is where the weighted positions come into play. I mainly believe that Mauer and Justin Morneau are both really great players, and the catcher's daily physical beating just has to count for something.

AL West

• Los Angeles Anaheim Angels of the Southeastern California Seaside Region: Vladimir Guerrero, RF
  • The Angels have a ton of young talent, just like the D-Rays, and their infield will be set for the next few years, what with Casey Kotchman at first, Howie Kendrick at second, Erick Aybar at shortstop, and Brandon Wood moving from short to third. For now though, Vlad the Impaler can still hit home runs on pitches from up his eyes to down in the dirt and can gun down a cheetah on a sacrifice fly.
• Oakland Athletics: Eric Chavez, 3B
  • Chavez isn't what he used to be at the plate, but he's still ridiculously good around the bag, with 6 consecutive Gold Gloves. That puts him ahead of the very mediocre pack of Oakland hitters.
• Seattle Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki, CF
  • Ichiro's not the player he was when he first broke into the league in 2001, winning the MVP and Rookie of the Year. Of course, he's still ridiculously fast and great in the field (like Chavez, Ichiro has also won 6 Gold Gloves in a row).
• Texas Rangers: Mark Teixeira, 1B
  • Teixiera had a slow start last season, but he absolutely tore it up after the All-Star break (24 HRs and 61 RBIs). Keep an eye on 2B Ian Kinsler, he's going to have a monster year.

NL East

• Atlanta Braves: Andruw Jones, CF
  • Andruw (I like him better than Larry Jones) has been around forever, it seems like. However, he's only 29, which is amazing, and he's got great power and will be a free agent in the offseason. Of course, he's one of the best fielders of all time (NINE consecutive Gold Gloves), so he's the winner on this one.
• Florida Marlins: Miguel Cabrera, 3B (OF later)
  • This one's pretty much a no-brainer. Cabrera's already one of the top hitters in the National League, and because his defense leaves much to be desired, he's going to be headed to the outfield at some point later in his career.
• New York Mets: Jose Reyes, SS
  • This was the toughest choice I had to make. Choosing between Carlos Beltran and Reyes was extremely difficult, but I chose Reyes because he has that intangible quality about him. Everyone agrees that Reyes is the most electric player in the game, and he might also be the best overall, now that he's learned to be much more selective at the plate.
• Philadelphia Phillies: Ryan Howard, 1B
  • The reigning MVP (even though Pujols was more deserving) has to be the best player on his team. And even though Jimmy Rollins is a ridiculously arrogant moron, he's not far behind Howard on his team.
• Washington Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
  • This one was a no-brainer, because Zimmerman's good and the Nats suck something awful.

NL Central

• Chicago Cubs: Alfonso Soriano, CF
  • I'm worried about this one. I like Derrek Lee better, but this is for right now, and nobody works a contract year like Soriano (unless it's Adrian Beltre). Don't be surprised if Soriano gets much worse this year playing a new position in a new place with lots of new money.
• Cincinnati Reds: Adam Dunn, LF
  • I'd love to pick Junior, but he's 37 and not that good anymore. Dunn strikes out a ton, but he hits the ball as hard as anyone.
• Houston Astros: Lance Berkman, 1B
  • It's so easy I didn't have to think about it at all. The only other hitter on that team worth mentioning is Carlos Lee, and it's not even close between Berkman and Lee.
• Milwaukee Brewers: Bill Hall, CF
  • The Brewers are another very young team, and I think by this time next year Prince Fielder will be my pick. Hall's also young and he's trying out the center field position for the first time, but he's so athletic that he'll be fine.
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Jason Bay, LF
  • Bay's one of the best outfielders in the NL, and he's also the pride of Canada. I thought it was great that he got to start last year's All-Star Game. Pittsburgh's fans deserve a better team.
• St. Louis Cardinals: Albert Pujols, 1B
  • If I have to explain this one, then you're reading the the wrong post.

NL West

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Orlando Hudson, 2B
  • The O-Dawg gets the nod because of his outstanding defense and because of the relative inexperience of his fellow position players.
• Colorado Rockies: Matt Holliday, LF
  • Until very recently, Todd Helton was the easy answer to this, but he's gotten old and his bat has slowed down. Holliday is a really good hitter who has gone unnoticed for quite some time. I think it's time he got his due.
• Los Angeles Dodgers: Rafael Furcal, SS
  • Furcal is the best player on what is both a very young and very old team. Perhaps they should let the young guys play (James Loney, Andre Ethier) instead of giving out contracts to aging has-beens (Nomar Garciaparra, Luis Gonzalez).
• San Diego Padres: Mike Cameron, CF
  • Cameron is a stellar defensive outfielder and distinguishes himself from his other offensively-challenged colleagues.
• San Francisco Giants: Barry Bonds, LF
  • Sure he's really old, and sure he's running on fumes and probably HGH, but he's the best hitter the Giants have (and that's not a good thing).

Check back later for my list of pitchers.

MLB Loves Cancer

Major League Baseball is cancer's #1 fan.

Ok, I should probably explain that a little bit. There are a couple of different definitions of a cancer, but there's only two that actually work with my premise. The first is the actual, medical definition of cancer. The other is the proverbial clubhouse cancer, the one that kills morale and chemistry within a team. Just to be clear here, I'm talking about everyone that makes decisions in baseball, not just Bud Selig, because you really can't blame the commissioner for everything that goes wrong in the baseball world. Well, you can, it's more fun that way, but it's not really fair to Bud.

If you ask a casual sports fan about what's wrong with baseball today, I guarantee that a majority of these people will say that steroids is #1 on their list. Obviously the face of the steroids scandal is Barry Bonds. However, to more intimate fans of baseball, HGH (Human Growth Hormone) is the more serious problem facing MLB today and in the near future. Just under a month ago, Los Angeles Angel of Anaheim (is that how you say that? I have no idea) Gary Matthews Jr., he of the catch that landed him a $50 million contract (tell me this catch wasn't better), was implicated in a raid on a pharmacy that sold steroids and other PEDs over the internet. Convicted steroid user Jason Grimsley was also among the names mentioned in the NY investigation. Bill Stoneman, the GM for the Los Angeles Angels of Anah...ah, screw it, I'm just going to call them the California Angels from now on...anyway, Stoneman said that there would be no plans to punish Matthews, and that essentially the Angels organization was passing the buck on to the commissioners office. So far, MLB has been remarkably quiet in their investigation, because, according to them, they feel it would be wrong to comment on an ongoing investigation. However, I seem to remember that didn't (and still doesn't) stop them from talking about Barry Bonds behind his back like he's their rival for homecoming queen. Believe me, I'm not a huge Bonds fan, but it stinks of hypocrisy that the governing body of baseball would take such a keen interest in Barry, but not in Matthews Jr. If only Gary Matthews Jr. was close to breaking Hank Aaron's RBI record, Bud would be on that like Pete Rose on anything that might make him relevant again.

Getting back to my original premise of MLB being allies with cancer. Barry Bonds has been a clubhouse cancer for years. So was Raphael Palmeiro after testing positive for steroids in the summer of 2005. Palmeiro's suspension sent the already faltering Orioles into a free fall that eventually ended in a fiery explosion. Raffy's punishment for this was a 10-day suspension, basically a slap on the wrist. Matthews Jr. has been a distraction for the California Angels all spring training, which will no doubt disrupt the team's chemistry. Also, this HGH scandal has taken the focus off of where it should be, on the rise of the great young stars. The Angels in the Infield (yes it was cheesy and no, I don't care, it felt good) include SS Erick Aybar, 1B Casey Kotchman, 2B Howie Kendrick, and future 3B Brandon Wood, and all four are going to be very good, very quickly. Too bad we had to talk about PEDs instead of great young players.

Apparently MLB also loves cancer, the deadly family of diseases. Most people have probably already seen this, but if you haven't, it's among the more ridiculous things baseball has ever been concerned about. Craig Biggio, future Hall of Famer and First-Team All-Good Guys, wears a pin on his hat during spring training. This pin is for the Sunshine Kids Foundation, a charity for young children with cancer. Biggio's been wearing this pin for most of his 20 years in the major leagues. Apparently, though, this will desecrate the sacred tradition that is spring training. FYI, he never wears the pin during the regular season, just in preseason when most of the pictures are taken for baseball cards. That'll teach you, Biggio, you selfless bastard. No more helping others, or else MLB will make you pay. You need to focus more on getting jacked up on steroids and HGH and acting like the last guy who got into the 3,000-hit club . And grow a damn mustache, would you? Maybe then MLB will let you do what you want.

Preseason Power Rankings

While everybody else is obsessing over March Madness (I somehow picked Villanova to go to the Elite Eight, enough said), I'm going to do my annual preseason power rankings for the upcoming MLB season. First game of the season is Mets vs. Cardinals on April 1st, which somehow ends up on ESPN2.

Anywho, here we go, and as usual, I'm probably wrong and will look like an idiot within a week.

1) New York Yankees: I hate putting the Yankees 1st in anything, but with Andy Pettite joining Chien-Ming Wang (haha, Wang) and Mike Mussina in the rotation (along with pitching phenom Phillip Hughes coming up from Triple-A sometime during the season), the Yankees have to be the favorites at this point.

2) Detroit Tigers: After a wildly surprising run to the World Series last season, the Tigers reloaded by adding the one of the fastest bats ever, Gary Sheffield. I would not want to be anywhere near him when he's swinging it, he could probably take your head clean off.

3) Boston Red Sox: I would have the Red Sox first if they had any idea who their closer was going to be. Joel Pineiro? They better hope he doesn't turn into Joel Pinyata. Still, with Manny and Big Papi, along with Schilling, Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox should still be in great shape.

4) Minnesota Twins: The Twins are like the Little Market That Could. Despite living in a frigidly cold state with more lakes than people (maybe?), they still have the reigning Cy Young, Batting Title, and MVP award-winners on their team, as well as one of the best and most underrated closers in the game, Joe Nathan.

5) New York Mets: Hey, finally an NL team on this list. I would have the Mets higher, especially after seeing Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez pitch lights-out the last couple times, but I'm still a little bearish on the starting rotation. I can live with a rotation of Tom Glavine, El Duque, John Maine, Perez, and Pelfrey. Lineup and bullpen are still awesome.

6) St. Louis Cardinals: This is a courtesy spot for the Cardinals. Truth is, they overachieved last year and are headed for a fall. Of course, they still have the best hitter in the majors in Albert Pujols, and a certified ace in Chris Carpenter. They'll win their division again, which will piss Cubs fans off (which also makes me happy).

7) Chicago White Sox: Their pitching will be better than last year, and they even won 90 games with the pitching they had last year. They do need to bail their shortstop out of jail, but it probably wouldn't have been the first time.

8) Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles Southern California Metropolitan Area and Surrounding Islands Under US Jurisdiction: Despite the ridiculous name, the Angels are gearing up for a return to the playoffs. Howie Kendrick is going to be a hitting machine.

9) Philadelphia Phillies: While I admit that the Phillies did get better, they're definitely not the "team to beat" this year, as Jimmy Rollins suggested (several times). The last time they had expectations on them, they sucked, so let's not start printing those playoff tickets just yet.

10) Toronto Blue Jays: Yes, the Jays did get better during the offseason. Unfortunately for them, so did the Red Sox and Yankees, so that leaves the Canadians exactly where they were last year: out of the playoffs.

11) San Diego Padres: The pitching roster for the Padres is ridiculous. They have Greg Maddux, Jake Peavy, David Wells, and Trevor Hoffman all on the same staff. Let's see: three future Hall of Famers and one with lights-out stuff. Chris Young is a very very good young pitcher, and that just adds to the potential of this Padres starting rotation.

12) Oakland Athletics: The A's replaced their best hitter (Frank Thomas) with Mike Piazza (who's a personal favorite but can't be considered an improvement over the Big Hurt). Also, they replaced Barry Zito with a healthy Rich Harden (at least they hope he's healthy. That would be new for him).

13) Los Angeles Dodgers: See, the Dodgers only have one LA name. I think the Angels are jealous of the Dodgers. The Dodgers are a very young team that is going to be good really quickly. I'd have them higher if their big offseason pickup wasn't Juan Pierre.

14) Chicago Cubs: The Cubs are trying to get really good really fast. Let's recap: they spent $136 million on a centerfielder who has never played center field (hadn't even played in the outfield before last season), they spent $21 million on a pitcher with a career 56-52 record, and they have failed (so far) to sign their ace Carlos Zambrano to a long-term deal. Good offseason, nice try. Hope you like second place and sitting home in October. You would think they would be used to it by now.

15) Cleveland Indians: I'm not as high on the Indians as everyone else is. I obviously think they're going to have a better season than they did (78-84), but they don't have a closer and their starting rotation is a little shaky. They're going to finish 4th in a ridiculously loaded AL Central Division.

16) Arizona Diamondbacks: They got Randy Johnson back from the Yankees to go along with Cy Young winner Brandon Webb and a whole bunch of young kids. Johnson will be taking the role of Team Babysitter from Luis Gonzalez, who was let go after an unfortunate incident with little baby Carlos Quentin's puppy dog. Ok, I just made that last part up, but I won't apologize for it.

17) Atlanta Braves: The Braves missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 1856, and they look to get back this year. It probably won't happen, but I'm nervous as long as Larry "Chipper" Jones, John Smoltz, and Bobby Cox are still on that team. They give me the jitters. By the way, which team knocked the Braves out for the first time in ages? Oh yeah, that's right...it was the METS.

18) Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers have gotten alot better recently, and they are alot of people's sleeper team to take the NL Central. I don't really understand why. Yeah, they're alot better, but they haven't shown why they can suddenly jump into that higher echelon of teams. Ben Sheets needs to stay healthy and Jeff Suppan needs to pitch like he did during the NLCS against the Mets. The first one might happen and the second one almost certainly won't.

19) Houston Astros: The Astros don't have Roger Clemens (yet) or Andy Pettite (at all), and with their mediocre hitting (besides Lance Berkman, who is a beast), the Astros aren't going anywhere, even with Roy Oswalt and newly-acquired Jason Jennings. By the way, it's been a year and a half and Brad Lidge still hasn't recovered from Pujols destroying that slider during the 2005 NLCS. Methinks he never will. (Methinks that me should never write methinks again too.)

20) Texas Rangers: Still don't have any pitching...but they've got Sammy Sosa back. Would you rather have him from the last time he played, period (with the Orioles in 2005: .221 avg, 1 HR, 14 RBIs) or the last time he played with the Rangers (.238, 1, 3)? Yeah, I would pick neither.

21) San Francisco Giants: Speaking of old suspected steroid users, it wouldn't be the Giants unless Barry Bonds was being followed around by Pedro Gomez. In other Giant-related news: the Giants made a huge mistake in signing an above-average pitcher to the highest salary ever for pitchers (Barry Zito, 7 years, $126 million). Doesn't anyone remember Denny Neagle?

22) Cincinnati Reds: The Reds, like the Brewers a couple spots above, are heading in the right direction, with NL strikeout and wins leader Aaron Harang (wait, who?) and Bronson Arroyo anchoring a pitching staff that expects to get even better when Homer Bailey, the lefty with incredible stuff, finally makes his way to the big-league club sometime during the season (probably after the All-Star Break).

23) Colorado Rockies: Despite playing in that stadium in the sky, the Rockies were actually respectable. They're going to be ok this year too, but look for them in 2008 to challenge in the very young NL West.

FYI: These last seven teams are pretty bad, so it's hard to rank them accurately.

24) Florida Marlins: The Marlins will come down to earth this season, as they oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooverachieved (yeah, that much) last season. It doesn't help if your stupid owner forces out the Manager of the Year (Joe Girardi). Apparently Jeffrey Loria doesn't like it when people make his team win games. He's like the owner in Major League, except she was at least easy on the eyes.

25) Tampa Bay Devil Rays: The Rays still have just Scott Kazmir (I want him back) and loads of young hitting, especially in the outfield. Their farm system is absolutely loaded though, so give them a couple years and I think they will actually be able to compete with the big boys.

26) Kansas City Royals: It's weird not to have the Royals in last place. Of course, it helps when you actually spend money, even if it is $55 million on Gil Meche. Helps even more if you have a ridiculously talented rookie 3rd basemen. Any time you hear comparisons to George Brett, you have to be impressed.

27) Seattle Mariners: The Mariners new DH is Jose Vidro. Their big offseason pickup was Jeff Weaver, who was awful in the American League last year. Better watch Ichiro while he's still there, because you can bet that he won't be there when his contract's up.

28) Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates seem like they should be better. They have Jason Bay, one of the top outfielders in the major leagues. They have Freddy Sanchez, the reigning NL batting champ. They have a brand-new stadium that is absolutely gorgeous. Still, they don't have much else, so they're relegated to the bottom of the standings, both mine and the NL Central, for the umpteenth year in a row.

29) Baltimore Orioles: Peter Angelos seems to not care about his team at all. He makes absolutely no effort at all to improve it, and that's just not fair to Miguel Tejada, one of the most fun people to watch in all of baseball. Seriously, sell the team if you don't care about winning.

30) Washington Nationals: You can't really blame the Nationals for the situation they're in. It's going to take them a while to rebuild this team. That being said, the Nationals are going to be absolutely, breathtakingly awful this year. It'll be historic. Their best player is a second-year third basemen, and they have no pitching to speak of. I almost feel bad for people that have to watch their games.