Three's Company

I’m going to hit on three topics today. First, I’ll discuss the move of Manny to the White Sox. I’ll then break down why I think there are two full fledged aces with the Phillies though many only see one (Roy Halladay). Finally, I’ll play a little game of “Who am I?’ with you to see if you can guess which pitcher I’m talking about.

Manny to Be Manny in Chi-Town

Manny Ramirez is an amazing hitter. In fact, he is likely one of the 10 best right-handed hitters that the game has ever seen. Just look at how he stacks up historically amongst righties (minimum 3,000 plate appearances).

4th with 1,120 extra bass hits
8th with 554 home runs
6th with 1,828 RBI
8th with a .411 OBP
5th with a 1.000 OPS

Those are some mighty impressive numbers indeed. He’s also been pretty darn effective this season as well, albeit in limited work because he just can’t see to get, and then stay, healthy. Still, he is hitting .311 – just two points below his career rate – while his .405 OBP is six a points down. Mere mortals would be enthralled if the back of their baseball card had a season with an .915 OPS, but for Manny that is a disappointing total considering that his OPS has been under .949 only one time since 1995. The guy can still hit, and he should offer the White Sox a tremendous boost as a middle of the order thumper – provided his calf is healthy. If you are in an AL-only league dump whatever remaining FAAB dollars you have to acquire the aloof yet stupendous gifted slugger in his return to the AL.

Cole Hamels is Pitching Very Well

Has anyone noticed just how well Hamels is hurling of late? I kind of doubt it because all anyone seems to see is that pathetic 8-10 win-loss record. Much like Felix Hernandez who is a mere 10-10, Hamels has actually pitched very well this season, particularly as the summer has dragged on. Here is what you should know but may have overlooked.

On the year Hamels has a 3.31 ERA which is better than Francisco Liriano (3.41), Ryan Dempster (3.42) and Yovani Gallardo (3.50) to name a few.

On the year Hamels has a 1.20 WHIP which is better than Zack Greinke (1.21), CC Sabathia (1.23) and David Price (1.26) to name a few.

On the year Hamels has 176 strikeouts which are more than any lefty in baseball not named Clayton Kershaw (180) or Jon Lester (176).

Moreover, Hamels has pitched wonderfully the past month an a half since the All-Star break. Here are his numbers over his nine starts.

2.47 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 10.01 K/9, 6.27 K/BB

If you pitch like that over the course of a season they call you the Cy Young Award winner, so how in the world is he just 1-3 in that time? Man that Phillies offense has been a letdown this season.

Who Am I?

I’m a really good pitcher, but no one seems to notice. Here are some facts to help make clear just how good I’ve been this year.

I own a 3.39 ERA over 162 innings. It’s not really odd that I’m posting such a strong number. After all I have a career mark of 3.62.

I currently have a WHIP of 1.19. Again, it’s not at all surprising to me considering that my career mark is the same – 1.19.

I currently have a 3.28 K/BB mark that is 20th best in baseball.

Any idea who I might be?

No, I’m not Francisco Liriano, Ryan Dempster or Johnny Cueto. I’m also not Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt or CC Sabathia. Who am I?

I pitch for the Dodgers.

I’ve been in the United States for three years.

My name is Hiroki Kuroda.

Will someone please show me some respect?

Arigatou
(Thank you in Japanese)

By Ray Flowers

Did You Know?

Did you know that I’m tall (6’3″)? Did you know that I wear size 13 shoes? Did you know that I have a rule that I don’t get up before the sun? I know that isn’t the type of did you know that you were planning to read, so before I lull you into a semi-comatose state with more mundane “Ray facts” let’s get to the meat of this piece.

Mike Napoli leads all catchers with 20 homers. Only 12 of those bombs have come as a catcher, eight have come as a first basemen, but you get the point. Moreover, the 20 homers from a catcher eligible player are more than the combined total of Buster Posey (nine) and Joe Mauer (eight) who are hitting a combined .335.

Albert Pujols is pushing for the NL Triple Crown with a .319 average (third – Joey Votto leads the league at .323), 33 homers (first) and 92 RBI (first). He’s also second in the league in OPS at 1.013 (two percentage points behind Votto). But did you know… Albert Pujols also leads all first basemen in the game with 12 steals. And he’s having a down season?

There isn’t a single second basemen, who qualifies for the batting title, who has an OBP of .400 as Robinson Cano has a .390 mark. Can also leads the position with a .326 batting average, a .568 SLG, a .958 OPS, 35 doubles and 87 RBI. Yeah, Cano has been pretty good, which is kinda like saying that Adrianna Lima is hot.

Casey McGehee has been insanely good given his draft day cost. McGehee has hit 20 homers this season which just so happens to be one less than Alex Rodriguez. Moreover, McGehee has more homers than a litany of fantasy stars at the hot corner; Michael Young (19), Kevin Youkilis (19), David Wright (19), Aramis Ramirez (19) and Evan Longoria (18). Casey’s total of 82 RBI is also more than Wright (81), Mark Reynolds (71), Young (70), Ryan Zimmerman (70).
Yunieksy Betancourt has more RBI (61) than any shortstop in the American League. Read that again to make sure you’ve got it. For that matter, any idea who leads NL shortstops in RBI? In another minor miracle, it’s Juan Uribe (66). Let’s keep building on the craziness. I haven’t even mentioned the man who leads all shortstops in RBI – Alex Gonzalez who has 70. He had 50 as a member of the Blue Jays and 20 as a member of the Braves.
Brennan Boesch hit .342 with 12 homers and a .990 OPS in 65 games before the All-Star break. Since that point he has played 37 games and he his hit a sickly .145 with two homers and a .429 OPS. Think about that. He has literally been less than half the player he was in the first half.

Juan Pierre has 49 steals leaving him one short of a fifth season of at least 50 thefts. Since he began his career in 2000, there are only two men that can rival that level of production. Jose Reyes has four 50-steal seasons in that time whereas Carl Crawford has five 50-steal efforts. Mr. Crawford needs nine more steals this season to push his career mark to six 50-steal seasons.

The Giants’ Andres Torres is having a special season. Amongst players who qualify as a right fielder, Torres is sixth in OPS (.866), sixth in OBP (.370) and seventh in SLG (.499). Torres also has scored 71 runs – one more than Justin Upton – and his total of 23 steals makes him one of only five qualifiers at the position with at least 20 (Ichiro Suzuki, Angel Pagan, Will Venable and Ben Zobrist).

Everyone has been talking about Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright, Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Johnson, but has anyone noticed who is leading the AL in ERA this season with a 2.26 mark? The answer is none other than Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox. Clay hasn’t given up an earned run in his last three starts, and five times in his last nine trips to the hill he has emerged unscathed. Not bad for a guy who entered the year with a grand total of 36 games under his belt.

Not many have taken notice, but Neftali Feliz is about to make history. After tossing a total of 31 innings last season, Neftali still qualifies for the AL Rookie of the Year award. If that isn’t cool enough, how about the fact that he is a mere seven saves from setting an all-time rookie record. The current mark is 37 held by Kaz Sasaki. Of course, Sasaki was 32 years old when he came to the States after a career of success in Japan, so that number really shouldn’t count – at least in this scribes book.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: July 29, 2010

(1) Rangers pick up Jorge Cantu.

(2) Padres bring in Miguel Tejada.

(3) Phillies officially get Roy Oswalt.

(4) Brett Wallace on the move – yet again.

(5) Kerry Wood likely back on Friday. Sorry Chris Perez owners.

(6) Andrew Bailey likely to DL. Michael Wuertz and Craig Breslow to fore?

By Ray Flowers

First Half Pitching Stars

We have a great tool called the Player Rater at Fanball. I write a weekly article where I breakdown the top-50 fantasy performers in the game, and you can find the actual Player Rater Tool by clicking on the link. This week I did things a bit different. Since we are at the half way point of the season I broke down the top-10 guys at each position, versus the top-50 overall, and you can read that breakdown at MLB Player Rater: Midseason Stars. In the current piece here at BaseballGuys I’ll break down the top-20 hurlers in the fantasy game as major league baseball gears up for the All-Star Game.

1- Adam Wainwright
He is second in the NL with a 2.11 ERA and a total of 13 victories, while he is second in innings pitched (136.1) and third in WHIP (1.00). The dude is a flat out ace.

2- Josh Johnson
All the early season talk of the #3 man on the list has obscured the fact that JJ leads baseball with a 1.70 ERA and the NL with a 0.96 WHIP. Also, he’s allowed more than one earned run just once in his last 11 starts (he gave up two runs on June 26th).

3- Ubaldo Jimenez
The numbers are spectacular highlighted by by his big league leading 15-1 record and his 2.20 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Clearly he’s not affected by the altitude in Colorado.

4- Roy Halladay
Halladay leads baseball with 148 IP, the third highest total in the NL in 15 years at the All-Star break, and his ratios are phenomenal (2.19 ERA, 1.05 WHIP). So how is he only 10-7? Come on Phillies offense, get to it.

5- Billy Wagner
What’s up with that retirement talk Billy? There is no need to contemplate hanging them up given his outstanding work that includes 20 saves, a 1.21 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP an a .156 BAA in 37.1 innings.

6- Mat Latos
Did you know that he is third in baseball with a 0.97 WHIP? Latos also has a 2.45 ERA for the Padres, but the team will likely be cautious with him in the second half because of innings pitched concerns.

7- Mariano Rivera
Amazingly, the guy just never seems to slow down. Is he getting even better with age? His numbers suggest it might be possible: 1.05 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, .137 BAA and 20 saves.

8- Rafael Soriano
His K-rate is well off the pace at 7.75 (career 9.68), but otherwise the rest of his performance has been pretty special including a 1.60 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and a stupendous 23-for-24 save conversion mark.

9- Jon Lester
The first lefty starter on the list, Lester overcame a slow start to produce a line that any starter in baseball would be proud of. Lester is 11-3 for the Sox, and ratios like a 2.78 ERA and 1.09 WHIP are rarely seen in the AL East.

10- Cliff Lee
The newest prize in the Rangers’ corral, Lee leads baseball with a 0.95 WHIP. He’s also posting an unfathomable 15.17 K/BB rate. The best mark in the history of the game for a hurler who qualified for the ERA title is 11.00 by Bret Saberhagen in 1994.

11- Jose Valverde
He is 19-for-20 on saves and is sporting sparkling ratios of a 0.92 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. Also, how in the world is it possible to hold batters to a .125 average through 39 innings?

12- Heath Bell
The NL leader with 24 saves has a fine 1.88 ERA, though his 1.33 WHIP would be his worst mark since moving to San Diego (it was 1.21 in 2008).

13- David Price
The AL starter in the All-Star game, Price leads the junior circuit with 12 victories. It would be a shock if he were able to hold on to that 2.42 ERA, he just hasn’t pitched well enough to really deserve that mark.

14- Jonathan Broxton
Despite an irregular usage pattern – long periods of nothing followed by intensive work – Broxton has emerged with a continuation of his 2009 season, and that is a great thing. He has 19 saves, a 2.11 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and an impressive 12.91 K/9 mark leading to a striking 7.86 K/BB rate.

15- Brian Wilson
Wilson had 41 and 38 saves the past two years, and just past the halfway point this season he has converted 23 of 25 chances. He also has an impressive 50 Ks in 37.2 innings, a total that goes along swimmingly with his 1.91 ERA.

16- Joakim Soria
No one pays any attention since he pitches for the Royals, but Joakim has 25 saves, the best total in baseball. He also has a 2.31 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP, numbers that are slightly worse than his career averages (2.13 and 0.99).

17- Andy Pettitte
He always wins games so his 11-2 record isn’t a total shock, but his 2.70 ERA and 1.15 WHIP are since over the last four seasons he hasn’t produced an ERA better than 4.05 or a WHIP below 1.38.

18- CC Sabathia
With 12 victories he has already posted a 10th straight season of at least 11 wins. He’s also near the top of the AL in ERA (3.09) and WHIP (1.14) which is a yearly occurrence at this point.

19- Leo Nunez
He entered the year with question marks but he has answered them. His 1.55 GB/FB ratio is a career best (career 0.94) and his K-rate is way up to 9.08 (career 6.78). It’s almost as if he is a new pitcher (potential alien abduction?). The work has led to a 1.04 WHIP and 20 saves.

20- Jered Weaver
Don’t even try lying and say that Weaver was your choice to be leading baseball in strikeouts at the All-Star Break (he has 137, six more than Tim Lincecum). That 1.08 WHIP of his is also fourth in the AL. Only his 8-5 record has held him back from being more of a national story.

By Ray Flowers

Commonalities Wanted

There’s no theme whatsoever to my article today. I just threw everything into a hopper and wrote about the names that fell out. Oh don’t worry, it’s really insightful stuff, there just isn’t a common thread to tie everything together.

Coco Crisp has been activated by the A’s. He hit .590 with five RBI during his rehab work in the minors signaling that his body might finally be right, finally. Still, there are about seven outfielders with the A’s club, so it remains to be seen if he will have a spot in the daily lineup, especially since his skills are so similar to those of Rajai Davis.

Mark DeRosa’s season is over as he will need surgery to repair his injured wrist. In the first year of a $12 million two year contract, DeRosa gave the Giants all of one homer, 10 RBI and 93 at-bats. That’s almost as bad an investment as The Bachelor’s Jake Pavelka made in his lady friend, Vienna Girardi. Oh stop acting like you don’t watch the show – we all know you do.

Josh Hamilton is back, and it appears that he is better than ever before. Josh is hitting .337, has a 16 game hitting streak, and is sporting a .981 OPS. Back in his “breakout” 2008 effort he hit .304 with a .901 OPS. He’s frighteningly talented.

Trevor Hoffman has been awful for most of the year, everyone knows that. However, he has improved tremendously of late and appears on the cusp of reclaiming his 9th inning role. “We kind of talked about that several times today,” manager Ken Macha said. “We’ll see how some things go. That is two good outings in a row, so I’ll talk to him [Thursday] and see how he’s feeling about himself.” If you are a John Axford owner you’ll want to hold on, but make sure Hoffman isn’t on waivers if you play in a deep league.

Jamie Moyer is almost old enough to join AARP as he is 47 years old. Amazingly, he has stuck around long enough to pile up 265 victories. That total places him 10th all-time in victories by a lefty, an it’s also one behind the immortal Bob Feller and three behind Jim Palmer. Need some more info about just how amazing Moyer’s career has been? Since turning 30 he has won 231 games, the sixth most ever from that age to the end of a player’s career. To put that win total in perspective, Roy Oswalt has 142 victories, Tim Hudson 155 and Roy Halladay 156 — in their entire careers.

Buster Posey, everyone’s darling when he was called up, has hit the skids of late with a mere .186 average and a .524 OPS over his last 43 at-bats. His average is still shade over .300 at .303, but his .421 SLG is a pretty pathetic number for a first sacker (the NL average for the position is .458). I know it borders on heresy in some corners, but Posey really needs to pick it up or he could start to lose playing time (he isn’t in the lineup on Tuesday night as Pablo Sandoval is at first with Juan Uribe at third).

Mike Stanton, who I spoke of yesterday in my Around the Horn, June 21st video, deserves to be mentioned again. Here is, in written word, what I spoke of yesterday; you simply cannot have success in the big leagues if you strikeout more than 40 percent of the time. I know it’s a miniscule sample size we’re breaking down with the talented Fish, but 19 whiffs in 43 at-bats gives him a K-rate of 44.2 percent. Chris Davis, basically demoted to the minor because he whiffs too often, owns a K-rate of 34.7 percent in his career. Other noted purveyors of the strikeout follow with their career K-rates in parenthesis: Ryan Howard (32.3), Adam Dunn (32.4), Mark Reynolds (38.2) and Jack Cust (39.1). As you can tell from that list you can be mighty successful in the bigs even if you pile up copious amounts of strikeouts, but if Stanton wants to make his mark this season he’s gonna have to knock like 10 percentage points off his current rate.

By Ray Flowers

Halladay, Lackey, Lee on Move

Huge news today all over the ball field highlighted by three of the top-15 arms in the AL switching rosters while a national icon nicknamed Godzilla also switched his address.

Lackey Joins Red Sox

My thoughts on the John Lackey to Red Sox deal? A great move that gives the club the best top of the rotation in the AL as Lackey will team with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester. To read more about the move (a reported 5-year, $85 million deal) and what can be expected from Lackey in 2010 click on the link to Breaking Down: John Lackey.

My Twitter account was blowing up all day with updates on the above deal, as well as those that I’m about to discuss. You can sign up to follow me at the BaseballGuys’ Twitter Page. Come say hi, it’s really a great source to check in with all day for updated info while I’m busy plowing through feature length articles.

Did you catch the Fantasy Buffet Podcast this morning by the way? I think I’m pretty darn good answering the questions, at least better than running the show and asking them. Ted Carlson joined me on Monday, Kyle Elfrink was unavailable, and the show went well, but I’m clearly more effective at blabbing answers than pushing buttons. Luckily I’ll be returning to my more familiar an effective role on Tuesday. The show is Monday through Friday, 8-9 AM PST, for those of you that want to give it a listen.

Matsui to Angels

I wrote a breakdown of the Hideki Matsui to Angels’ deal that is being widely reported, and it should be posted sometime on Tuesday at Fanball. A quick synopsis follows:

1- Matsui is still a nice bat, though expecting anything more than last year’s .274-28-90 effort will likely lead to disappointment.

2- The move out of Yankee Stadium to Anaheim might not be as negative as you think.

3- The Angels might use the fact that they lost Lackey and only spent $6.5 million on a 1-year deal for Matsui to sign Jason Bay. After all, they have millions left to throw at a player and Bay would look great in the middle of that lineup.

And last but not least, the biggest deal of the day.

Halladay to Jays, Lee to Mariners

This deal has been reported by everyone, but all the details are still a bit foggy and could take another day or two to be ironed out. Here is what we think we know about the 3-way deal.

Phillies receive: Roy Halladay
Mariners receive: Cliff Lee
Blue Jays receive: C Travis D’Arnaud, OF Michael Turner, RHP Phillippe Aumont
(a late report said that Aumont was not in the deal but Kyle Drabek was).

There could be more names added to the deal, we are still trying to lock it down, but it’s a huge deal for the Phillies and Mariners.

So why did the Phillies do this, basically shipping out one top of the rotation ace for another? Here is what we think is the reason: money. Apparently Lee wanted a CC Sabathia-like deal to remain with the Phils, something like 7-years and $160 million. The Phils decided there was no way they would do that. Therefore, they parlayed Lee in the deal to bring in Halladay, who not only is a better pitcher, but one who was willing to sign a more reasonable deal with early reports being that Halladay will sign a 3-year, $60+ million deal with at least one, and possibly two, option years tacked on.

In total, the Phillies upgraded slightly on the hill, kept their payroll at an acceptable level by not giving a massive extension to Lee, and also seemingly held on to their top minor league talent that they were unwilling to move at the trade deadline when they tried unsuccessfully to add Halladay.

As for Lee, he gets to pitch in a nice pitcher’s park in the Northwest, though we’ll have to see if the club is willing to give the soon to be free agent (2010 is his last year under contract) the massive dollar figures he wants to serve as the #2 arm in their rotation behind Felix Hernandez.

All in all this was one hell of a day for the middle of December. I need to take a break now, pull back on some spiked eggnog, and truly reflect on yet another wonderful day at my job.

Cheers.

By Ray Flowers

Turn Back the Clock: Starting Pitchers

The following list is taken from the 2009 Fanball Annual Guide that was on newsstands prior to the start of the 2009 season. This list represents my top-10 starting pitchers heading into the ’09 campaign. Let this list be reason number 1,976 as to why it makes little sense to draft a starting pitcher early as they are just so volatile. What do I mean? Take a look at the list. The top guy made his fewest starts since 2002. The #5 guy was a huge disappointment. #6? He made all of one start, and #7 pitched his fewest innings since his rookie year in 2002. And it’s not like I chose crazy hurlers for my list. Of the nine Fanball employees who ranked the top-10′s at each position, here is the total of how many times each of those injured pitchers were mentioned.

Johan Santana – nine
Brandon Webb – nine
Jake Peavy – eight

Just goes to show you that taking hitters early in drafts is likely the safer play. Now on to a review of my list.

To read previous positional reviews click on the following link:

CATCHERS

FIRST BASE

SECOND BASE

THIRD BASE

SHORTSTOP

OUTFIELDERS

1. Johan Santana

2. Tim Lincecum

3. CC Sabathia

4. Roy Halladay

5. Cole Hamels

6. Brandon Webb

7. Jake Peavy

8. Dan Haren

9. James Shields

10. Felix Hernandez

Santana won 13 games with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP though he did toss only 166.2 innings his lowest total since becoming a full-time starter in 2003. Reports are that his arm should be 100 percent by opening day 2010.

Lincecum actually improved in his second full season winning his second straight Cy Young. He lowered his ERA by 0.14 down to 2.48, his WHIP by 0.12 (down to 1.05), and held batters to an anemic .206 BAA, .015 points below his ’08 mark. The best thing going – end of story.

Sabathia had a terrific first season in pinstripes giving the Yankees exactly what they paid for. He won 19 games, struck out 197, posted a 3.37 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP while eating up 230 innings. A free agent signing who delivered handsomely.

Halladay continues to be a throwback to years gone by. He tossed nine complete games, produced four shutouts, twirled 239 innings and along the way won 17 games for a poor team. He also posted a sub 2.80 ERA for a second straight year, an unheard of occurrence in the AL in this age of offense.

Hamels was terrible if you look only at the results (10-11, 4.32 ERA, 1.29 WHIP). However, a deeper look at the numbers says that he was extremely unlucky (a .325 BABIP can be blamed – it was .289 and .270 the previous two years), and therefore he should rebound in 2010.

Webb made that one start and his year was over with a wonky shoulder that required surgery. He is back in the desert on an option year deal with the D’backs in his attempt to reassert himself as a top flight option after 5-straight years over 200-innings.

Peavy finally was moved from San Diego to the White Sox, but his year was marred by an ankle injury and later some issues with his elbow that limited him to a mere 16 starts. He posted 110 Ks and a 1.12 WHIP in 101.2 innings but will likely find success harder to come by in a hitters’ yard in Chicago.

Haren was spectacular at the start of the year (9-5, 2.01 ERA, 0.81 WHIP prior to the All-Star game) before pulling his now annual second half fade (5-5, 4.62 ERA, 1.26 WHIP). Still, no one in the game was disappointed with his final numbers: 14-10, 3.14 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 223 Ks in 229.1 innings.

Shields had his worst season in three years seeing his sub four ERA rise to 4.14 while having his WHIP rise to 1.32 (it had been under 1.16 the previous two seasons). Still, he lasted more than 215 innings for a third straight year though he’ll need to reign in the free passes a bit to return to his previous levels.

Hernandez, in retrospect, should have been higher on my list, though I can’t give myself too much grief as I was the only one of the nine staffers who had him ranked in the top-10. All he did was go 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA, 217 Ks and a 1.14 WHIP. Not a bad season for a guy who doesn’t turn 24 until April 2010.

By Ray Flowers

Rumor Central – Turkey Style

Now that I’ve worked through my turkey induced coma (not that I’m complaining mind you), I thought it would be wise to take a look around the landscape of major league baseball and give my thoughts on a few of the players who are rumored to be on the move either through trades or by signing with a new team do to their free agent status.

Orlando Cabrera: With the recent signing of other shortstops to decent sized deals, you would have to think that Cabrera is in line for at least a nice two year deal. Hell, Jack Wilson got 2-years and $10 million from the Mariners. Wilson is a fine defensive player, but he can’t hold Cabrera’s jock as an offensive weapon. Consider that Cabrera has hit at least .281 with 83 runs and 171 hits in each of his last four seasons. Wilson? He has hit .281 twice in his career, has never scored more than 82 runs and has only once eclipsed 171 hits in his nine years. How could Cabrera not get at least $10 mil armed with those facts?

Jermaine Dye: Jermaine has socked at least 27 homers with 78 or more RBI in each of the last five seasons. However, he will be 36 in January and hit a pathetic .179 with seven homers over his final 212 ABs causing a lot of teams some trepidation. Dye has attempted to rectify that feeling by offering to play first base to increase his versatility on the field, and it might be working. Rumors are swirling that he could end up in Texas or sign on the dotted with the Orioles, Giants, Mets or Braves. He still has 25 homer pop, but he might find it difficult to put up big time totals outside of the hitters’ haven that is U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

Roy Halladay: The biggest name on the market, every day seems to bring a new rumor (he has most often been linked to the Red Sox, Angels and Yankees – of course). What seems obvious is that the Jays are almost certain to move him and that the return will be plentiful for one of the top-5 hurlers in the game.

Matt Holliday: The top hitter on the market, Holliday appears rather content to go to the club that offers him the most loot – hardly and oddity considering that Scott Boras is his agent. He will break the bank with a flooring of $100 million merely being enough to get a conversation started.

Edwin Jackson: Coming off a career season (13-9, 3.62 ERA, 1.26 WHIP), Jackson’s name has been mentioned in a series of potential deals since the season ended. The Tigers need to cut payroll, Detroit has been especially hard hit with the economic downturn, and it looks like Jackson is their most moveable chip. It might also have something to do with his second half implosion (5.07 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, .290 BAA). Buyer beware here – we may look back on ’09 as a career best effort.

Ben Sheets: Floating out there after missing last year do to arm surgery. The Mets and Orioles appear to be the most interested in the moment, though many teams would bite at the right price (just as they would with Erik Bedard). It remains to be seen just what Sheets has left, but he posted a 3.09 ERA and a 1.15 ERA in 198.1 innings in 2008 and is one mighty intriguing option as a short-term, discounted pickup.

Marco Scutaro: Marco will not be back with the Blue Jays who seemed intent on moving on since the season concluded. To that end, they signed defensively gifted but offensively ineffective John MacDonald to a 2-year, $3 million deal. They then entered the free agent market and picked up Alex Gonzalez on a 1-year, $2.75 million deal. Gonzalez is also a fine defensive shortstop, and though he has some pop and offers more offense than MacDonald, he hit only .238 with 41 RBI for the Red Sox and Reds last season. I have no idea what Scutaro will eventually sign for, but seems to me that the Blue Jays could have offered him $4.25 a year (what they paid to the other two) on a multi year deal and had a chance to bring back a guy who, in the very least, will dwarf the others in his ability to get on base (he had a .379 OBP last year).

Billy Wagner: It looks like multiple teams are throwing their hats into the Wagner sweepstakes. This is hardly a shock given his track record and success last season when he returned from Tommy John surgery to post a 1.72 ERA while racking up 26 punchouts in a mere 15.2 innings. He could end up as a dominating setup man or a 1-year closer depending on who he signs with. The 38 year old still deserves serious consideration on draft day.

By Ray Flowers

Four for Fantasy

Today is a historic day at BaseballGuys.com. I’m going to, for the first time, hit on each of the four major sports in the same piece. I know, I know, it’s almost as exciting as the release of Twilight: New Moon on Friday, so see if you can contain your excitement long enough to read the entire entry.

I’m loving this Twitter thing which you can follow at Baseball Guys Twitter Account. I was slow to come around, but given the fact that I’m pretty much glued to my chair for 12 hours a day, I might as well share all the information in this big brain of mine.

MLB TALK

Zack Greinke completely deserves the AL Cy Young Award, and I love the fact that he has studied sabermetrics with Brian Bannister. But I think this story is a bit ridiculous. It’s not like Greinke discovered uranium, he merely was exposed to a different way of analyzing pitching. I mean, I know an awful lot about sabermetrics, and it’s not like I could hit the mound and have success merely because I can break down how to use BABIP, CERA and DIPS. Greinke had success because he is immensely talented and finally at peace with himself – it’s not like he needs numbers to tell him not to groove a fastball down the pipe when the count is 0-2.

Lord help us. The Yankees have thrown their hat into the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. At what point does baseball step in and say this just isn’t fair?

Jarrod Washburn and the Mariners might hook back up, or at least there is some interest there by both parties according to the pitcher. Don’t know why the Mariners would be hot and heavy about adding a hurler that went 31-49 with an ERA over four in four years in the Pacific Northwest.

NHL TALK

Ilya Kovalchuk has been mind numbingly good this season. If not for a broken foot that sidelined him for a while, he almost assuredly would be leading the league in goals. After all, he has 12 markers in just 11 games.

Alexander Ovechkin returned to the ice and scored a goal – what a shock. He has 15 goals in 15 games this season.

I wrote about the top-50 fantasy options in the game today in my column entitled The Power Play. Give it a read if you enjoy the sound of a skate blade slicing through a sheet of ice.

If you are looking for a few guys who might be on waivers, give David Rogers’ article Free Agent Finds a look.

NFL TALK

I touched on the JaMarcus Russell debacle yesterday in Hazy NFL Thoughts. Good to know that the Raiders listened as the benched Russell in favor of Bruce Gradkowski. Don’t know if that will help the Raiders much though given that Gradkowski owns a 53.1 completion percentage and a 58.7 QB Rating in 22 career games, but something had to be done.

With Ronnie Brown out for the year with his foot injury, I just fielded a bunch of questions on Live Advice about guys like Lousaka Polite and Lex Hilliard. Yeah, it was a rough two hours.

Speaking of live advice, we have a great instrument that people can turn to in trying to put together a great team down the stretch in fantasy football, and that is our Rest of the Way Rankings tool.

NBA TALK

Is it just me, or do you get the feeling that you are viewing an episode of OZ or Prison Break when you watch an NBA game? Honestly, I bet you could count the number of guys in the league that don’t have at least five tattoos on your fingers and toes.

Just like hockey, we have an article each week that talks about which NBA weapons might be available on waivers with Deep League Pickups. Hey, we are a one stop shop for you all no matter what your fantasy needs are.

By Ray Flowers

2009 NL All-Star Team

Who were the best fantasy options in the National League in 2009? There are names that certainly jump to mind, guys like Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez, but there were also a couple of tricky calls as I filled out my ballot for the best that the Senior Circuit had to offer in 2009.

If you want to catch my thoughts on who I filled out my American League team with, click on the link to 2009 AL All-Star Team.

CATCHER:Brian McCann

Whether or not he could see at what he was swinging at (he will undergo another LASIK procedure for his eyes this offseason), McCann made enough loud contact to lead NL catchers in homers (21) and RBI (94) while hitting .281, He also managed to lead all catchers with a .834 OPS. This was the fourth straight year that he has knocked in at least 87 runs.

FIRST BASE:Albert Pujols

It’s not a tough call at all when you are talking about the best right-handed hitter of our generation, and flat out the most dominating offensive weapon at the dish in baseball in 2009 regardless of position. Pujols hit 47 homers, knocked in 135 runs, scored 124 times and even swiped 16 bases. He also finished third in the NL in average (.327), first in OBP (.443) and first in SLG (.658). That pretty much says it all.

SECOND BASE:Chase Utley

Though his average slumped to .282, Utley was one of just two second sackers in the NL who went 20/20 (the other was Brandon Phillips) as he socked 31 dingers while swiping a career best 23 bags. Utley also crossed home plate 112 times while knocking in 93 on his way to while posting a .905 OPS. That’s a hell of a season no matter where you play defense.

THIRD BASE:Mark Reynolds

I was this close to going with Pablo Sandoval. After all, the Kung Fu Panda bettered Reynolds in AVG (.330 to .260), OBP (.387 to .349), SLG (.556 to .543) and OPS (.934 to .892). Still, Reynolds went 40/20 while scoring 98 runs and knocking in 102, so he won out in the end.

SHORTSTOP:Hanley Ramirez

There is no debate here whatsoever. Hanley hit a league leading .342, socked 24 big flies, knocked in 106 runs, scored 101 of his own and swiped 27 bags as he posted a .954 OPS. No one, other than Troy Tulowitzki (.297-32-92-101-20), was even considered.

OUTFIELD:Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp, Jayson Werth

Braun hit .320 and led all NL outfielders with 114 RBI and 113 runs. Kemp went 20/20 while hitting .297 with 101 RBI and 97 runs. Werth also went 20/20 as he hit .268 with 36 homers with 99 RBI and 98 runs. Michael Bourne, an extremely unlikely name, almost made the cut with his 61 steals, a .285 average and 97 runs scored.

STARTING PITCHER:Tim Lincecum, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter

That’s the order these top-3 should be ranked in as well, a fact I discussed previously in The NL Cy Young Race .

RELIEF PITCHER:Jonathan Broxton

Really, is there any doubt here? Sure Heath Bell (42), Francisco Cordero (39), Ryan Franklin (38), Brian Wilson (38) and Trevor Hoffman (37) each had more than Broxton’s 36 saves, but Broxton led the group with seven victories while his 0.96 WHIP was third. However, it’s the 114 Ks that set him apart – no on else in the aforementioned group recorded even 85 punchouts.

By Ray Flowers