Crooked Pitch

One of the finest arts of all fantasy sports, and one of the key ingredients to fantasy victory is the concept of buying low and selling high. It is the classic guessing game of fantasy sports, and those who do it well tend to see impressive results in the fantasy world.

How can one tell though?

How can we know that someone who is batting .340 in May will go on to bat .260 in June? Who can guess when a player homers twice in May, that the same player will homer 14 times in June? And who has the crystal ball that shows which pitcher will win 5 games one month, yet only win one game the following? The answer is…NOBODY!!!!!!!!!! You can raise your chances of being good at this classic guessing game by looking at certain statistics and trends, but a good hunch or gut-feeling can go a long way.

At one third of the way through the 2009 season, let’s examine a few possible sell high candidates.

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We’re booking along now. At this pace we’ll be done with this slow mock draft by mid-June.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as you learn something, or at least laugh at us a little. Here’s the results from round two; a round where we see the first pitcher taken and the first arguments brew about reach picks.

• Round 2 : Pick 1(13) - @seniorcircuit - Matt Holliday - Taking 2 guys who will be playing for brand new teams in brand new ballparks.  You can’t ignore a 5 category player in the 2nd round, who I think will bounce back and put up numbers like 2006-2007. Possible 100/25/100/25/.320 season for him in 2009.
• Round 2 : Pick 2(14) - @jasoncollette - Ian Kinsler - I didn’t think Kinsler would be there at 14 so I’m happy with him. He’s a premium player at a premium position and could finish as a top 10 player if he can stay healthy this year.
• Round 2 : Pick 3(15) - @dowdyism - Lance Berkman -A bit of a boring pick, but there is no reason Berkman can’t keep up his 30 HR/100 RBI/.300 AVG pace in 2009.  I considered both Jimmy Rollins and Dustin Pedroia here, but fell in love with the lumber.
• Round 2 : Pick 4(16) - @therotofeed - Jimmy Rollins -I picked Rollins betting that he’d return a bit more value than last year, although certainly nowhere near his 2007 numbers.  He looked at a lot more pitches last year per AB than he has in the past, and I’m guessing that it had to do with his early season injuries. He gets more aggressive this year and I think some power returns.
• Round 2 : Pick 5(17) - @sporer - Carlos Beltran -Though his home run totals have declined yearly since 2006, Carlos Beltran has raised his batting average and stolen bases yearly over the same stretch.  It isn’t easy to find $30 earners and a strong case could be made for Beltran in the late 1st round as far as I’m concerned.  I was thrilled to pick him up in the mid-second round.  He is a bona fide 4-category producer with a tremendous power-speed combo.  Prior to last season his batting average was nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t a detriment to the roster, either.  Last year’s .284 proved quite usable and it wouldn’t be out of bounds to project an average creeping up near .300 this year as the second level numbers suggest he has been through some bad luck in the AVG department the past three seasons.  With his 40-40 potential window all but closed, he is no longer a “sexy” pick, but he is as rock solid of a producer as you can hope to get when building the foundation of your team.
• Round 2 : Pick 6(18) - @tommystv - Evan Longoria -My middle infield slant comes from a place of desiring top talent at thin positions. Jimmy Rollins was my ideal here, and no I’m not a Phillies fan. After picking Rollins I was gonna take a hard look at who ever the best 3B on my board was. This would have been in the  Aramis or Chipper range. Well since Rollins was gone there was no SS with any value at this spot, so my choice came down to Pedroia for my MI spot (and a nice piece of trade bait in either Pedroia or Utley later on) or Longoria. I went Longoria mainly because I like the pop, and also because I see a solid drop off at 3rd after him because of the health concerns of Ramirez and Chipper.
• Round 2 : Pick 7(19) - @xxldaddyo - Dustin Pedroia -I had planned on taking Evan Longoria in the second round (he, Sizemore and Hamilton are the cornerstones of my regular Roto league), but with Tommystv snatching him up (who also happens to be in my regular roto league) I went with last year’s MVP Dustin Pedroia. He’s not likely to repeat his numbers from last year, but the BA is REAL and when you factor in that he has 20/20 potential and position scarcity? It was just too hard to pass up on Pedroia.
• Round 2 : Pick 8(20) - @jefeboy - Johan Santana -I really struggled with this one on many levels. No SP had been taken yet, and there are still some tasty bats out there. I considered Carlos Lee; love the dependability. Thought about Brian Roberts, but that felt like a little bit of a reach in the 2nd round. So I settled on a SP, and even then… lots of people would have taken Timmah or Sabathia, but I’ll go with the grand old master. Of course now I have 2 Mets after 2 rounds. Oops…
• Round 2 : Pick 9(21) - @fakebaseball - Alfonso Soriano -I chose Soriano with my second pick with some misgivings. I took him because he was the best-available player on the board in my mind, but my top two picks are both leadoff hitters, so I’ve started off in the hole with regard to RBI. It’s something I’ll have to try to correct later in the draft.
• Round 2 : Pick 10(22) - @TheRoundtable - B.J. Upton -I know, not the most conventional of picks with BJ Upton. I love the speed factor, and this is another guy that can hit for average on top of it. He’s getting on base, and that generates runs. The Rays lineup is only getting better, so I’ll trust him knowing that I have another pick pretty soon where I can grab more power numbers.
• Round 2 : Pick 11(23) - @Angels2717 - Carlos Lee -Taking Carlos in the late second round pleases me.  I enjoy his overall power and his batting average that keeps rising (.314 last year).  I always enjoy having a power outfielder and getting a solid one early is something I think most drafters should do.  His 100+ RBIs and a possible 30+ homers and .300+ average intrigues me in the late second round.  Especially in a fairly stacked Astros lineup, he should be racking up the RBIs.  I was tempted by either a Lincecum or Sabathia pick, but I thought I would wait a round or two to get my pitchers.
• Round 1 : Pick 1 - @crookedpitch - Justin Morneau -I’ve decided to go with power for the next few picks. Instead of arbitrarily grabbing the most home runs available, I wanted to consider the other offensive categories with this pick. In 2008, 28 players registered 100 or more RBI. Of those 28 players only 11 of them batted over .300. And of those 11 who batted over .300 and drove in 100+, seven are already off the board. With Morneau I take one of the remaining four hitters who are both RBI and batting average studs. I’ll enjoy the 20+ home runs and the almost 100 runs scored as well.

It’s still early, but I wanted get a current look at the first base position for every team. Designated hitters are not on this list, and players like Giambi (who hasn’t signed yet) or Billy Butler (DH on the depth chart) aren’t going to be included here until their status changes.

Here are the 2009 fantasy first base rankings.

Update [1/16/2009 10:31 PM]: Now that Michael Young has calmed down, stopped whining, and agreed to play third base, Chris Davis is firmly entrenched as the first baseman and can be added to this list. Hank Blalock has been moved down on this list accordingly.

1. Albert Pujols | St. Louis Cardinals - Dropped on draft boards last year due to injury concerns. He shouldn’t have! The numbers he put up were sick and he can do it again. As long as his elbow stays healthy. <g>
2. Ryan Howard | Philadelphia Phillies - If Howard hit north of .275 he’d be the #1 ranked player in all of fantasy baseball. But, he only hits .251 and that detracts a bit from his 48 home runs and 146 RBI. Feel good about drafting Howard’s power numbers, but get some decent average hitter to supplement later on.
3. Lance Berkman | Houston Astros - Berkman hit 88 points higher in the first half last season than he did in the second half. All his other stats followed suit. If his second half didn’t stink so badly, Berkman would have been the #2 guy here instead of Howard. Still, Berkman contributed massively in all five stat categories and there aren’t too many reasons to think he won’t do so again in 2009.
4. Mark Teixeira | New York Yankees - Power output could go up in the Big Apple. His ‘08 numbers were nothing to sneeze at. You can draft him expecting at least a repeat of last year and hope for a bit more.
5. Miguel Cabrera | Detroit Tigers - An off year in 2008 really has Cabrera low on this list. He did turn it on in the second half, so don’t fret too much over grabbing Cabrera early.
6. Adrian Gonzalez | San Diego Padres - Gonzalez finally moves up into the elite 1B area, right where his 36 home runs and 119 RBI belong.
7. Justin Morneau | Minnesota Twins - Morneau’s home run total dropped in ‘08, but he still contributed more than enough to earn runner up status in the AL MVP race. Morneau will be off the board by the second round. If he gets his power numbers back up, that’ll be a bargain.
8. Kevin Youkilis | Boston Red Sox - Youk is a .300-30-100-100 guy? He is now. And he should be for the next few years. Youk in the third round is safe. Youk in the fourth or fifth round is a steal.
9. Prince Fielder | Milwaukee Brewers - Fielder is being overvalued a bit due to his young age and high home run potential. Don’t draft him expecting 40+ dingers, but know that he could possibly get there.
10. Carlos Delgado | New York Mets - His power numbers were there for most of the year, but Delgado really increased his batting average in the second half. At almost 37, he’s aging, but he still has lots of fight in him.
11. Aubrey Huff | Baltimore Orioles - Huff returned back to his early 2000’s form with 32 home runs and 100+ RBI in ‘08. You can’t grab him too early as nobody is sure if this was a return to normal, or if 30 home runs is an outlier. But once the big boys are off of the board at first base, Huff is the next logical choice.
12. Jorge Cantu | Florida Marlins - With Jacobs gone, Cantu will slide to the first base side for 2009. He approached 30 home runs and 100 RBI in 2008 and could do the same in ‘09. Don’t forget that 2009 will be Cantu’s 27-year-old year. Could a break out be imminent?
13. Chris Davis | Texas Rangers - In 295 at-bats last season Davis belted 17 home runs and drove in 55; two reasons for great optimism for 2009. However, he had a strike out rate of 29.8% and a hit rate of 35.3% which might foretell bumpy roads ahead. He’s being hyped up on a grand scale this off-season so you’re going to have to overpay to get him.
14. Derrek Lee | Chicago Cubs - Lee isn’t getting back to his 2005 form ever again. Expect something more like 20-25 homers, 80-90 RBI, and a few stolen bases to keep him in the top 15.
15. Carlos Pena | Tampa Bay Rays - Pena’s power potential is what keeps him ranked this high amongst first basemen. Because it sure isn’t his .247 batting average. You’d better have some other players to boost your batting average if you grab Pena.
16. Joey Votto | Cincinnati Reds - Votto should back up a fantastic rookie season with an even better ‘09 campaign. Votto could even bat north of .300 and blast 30 homers. If that happens he’s a huge steal here.
17. Mike Jacobs | Kansas City Royals - See Carlos Pena. Jacobs is devalued even more due to the fact that there are so many first basemen in Kansas City. A slump for too long won’t be allowed. Nor will his inability to hit lefties.
18. Adam LaRoche | Pittsburgh Pirates - Missed out on 100 at-bats which may have kept him from the 30 home run mark. He has fewer base runners to drive in than most of the big guys at 1B and he can’t hit lefties. So, this is about as high as LaRoche goes among first basemen.
19. James Loney | Los Angeles Dodgers - Loney’s power isn’t coming along like many expected but his batting average is keeping him somewhat valuable in fantasy circles. He’s still only going to be 25 this season so there’s still time to grow. 10 - 15 home runs and a batting average approaching .300 is what you should expect.
20. Ryan Garko | Cleveland Indians - Garko’s 14 home runs and 90 RBI come in just 495 at-bats. Until Garko approaches the 600 at-bat mark he’s never going to progress further as a fantasy option.
21. Casey Kotchman | Atlanta Braves - Kotchman is only going to hit you 10 - 15 home runs and approach the .280 mark in batting average. There’s not much upside here.
22. Lyle Overbay | Toronto Blue Jays - Overbay’s days of 20+ dingers and a .300 batting average are over. He’s a serviceable .270 hitter with home runs totals in the low teens, at best.
23. Paul Konerko | Chicago White Sox - Konerko’s power numbers and batting average are declining rapidly. 2009 might be his final chance to get back on track towards fantasy relevance, but don’t pay too much to find out if he does.
24. Todd Helton | Colorado Rockies - Helton’s age caught up with him as he spent a lot of time on the disabled list for the first time in his career. If healthy, he’s more like a .280 hitter with 15 or so home runs. If…
25. Daric Barton | Oakland Athletics - Barton has never shown the power potential, either in the minors or at the MLB level, that people seem to expect from him. Don’t draft him thinking it’s going to somehow materialize now.
26. Chad Tracy | Arizona Diamondbacks - Tracy might not be the best option at first base for the Diamondbacks, but that’s what they’re rolling with in ‘09. You shouldn’t.
27. Kendry Morales | Los Angeles Angels - With Teixeira out Morales is going to get his chance at first base. There is some upside here as he’s shown power in the minors, but he shouldn’t be anywhere close to the middle or top of your draft list.
28. Nick Johnson | Washington Nationals - Johnson, when healthy, is a viable candidate as a #2 first baseman. But, he’s not healthy, and hasn’t been for a while.
29. Hank Blalock | Texas Rangers - If only he could stay healthy and reach 400+ at-bats, something he hasn’t done since 2006. Don’t spend too much speculating though.
30. Bryan Lahair | Seattle Mariners - Lahair isn’t really a long term option for the Mariners and he shouldn’t any kind of an option for your fantasy team.
31. Travis Ishikawa | San Francisco Giants - The Giants are looking at the free agent market for anyone that they can bring in so Ishikawa won’t have to be kept on the opening day roster. Enough said.

Here are the fantasy baseball rankings for the top ten outfielders for the 2008 season. I will also list the predictions from the pre-season at the bottom of this post for comparison.

1. Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers - Manny did it all in 2008. He alienated teammates and Red Sox Nation. But, once he decided to get serious, he hit better than anyone else in baseball. 102 runs | 37 HR | 121 RBI | 3 SB | .332
2. Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies - Is it possible for your home run total to go down at Coors Field? I’m nit picking here since he still hit 25 homers and was one of the most versatile hitters in fantasy baseball. 107 runs | 25 HR | 88 RBI | 28 SB | .321
3. Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers - Had a much more powerful first half than second. But both halves of the season were pretty phenomenal. 98 runs | 32 HR | 130 RBI | 9 SB | .304
4. Lance Berkman, Houston Astros - This is most likely the last seaosn you’ll see Berkman with outfield eligibility. Now he can dominate the first basemen for the rest of his career. 114 runs | 29 HR | 106 RBI | 18 SB | .312
5. Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis Cardinals - A lot of St. Louis fans wondered out loud what Ludwick could do with a full season of at-bats. He tore the cover off of the ball. 104 runs | 37 HR | 113 RBI | 4 SB | .299
6. Carlos Beltran, New York Mets - His power is dipping which is understandable as you age. But, his stolen bases are on the rise (aren’t you supposed to slow down as you get older?). With all of these question marks, the only thig that is a certainty is that Beltran is an all around fantasy stud. 116 runs | 27 HR | 112 RBI | 25 SB | .284
7. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers - No sophomore slump for Braun. He actually bested his home run total and RBI total from 2007. 92 runs | 37 HR | 106 RBI | 14 SB | .285
8. Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox - Another solid season for Bay who may end up really liking it in Boston. It’s starting to look like 2007 was an anomaly. 111 runs | 31 HR | 101 RBI | 10 SB | .286
9. Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians - This guy does everything extremely well. if his batting average would have been 10-15 points higher he would have been in the top three on this list. 101 runs | 33 HR | 90 RBI | 38 SB | .268
10. Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox - 36 dingers and 100 RBI in only 480 at-bats. Imagine what it could have been like if he’d gotten 550+ at-bats… 96 runs | 36 HR | 100 RBI | 7 SB | .287

Below are the pre-season rankings.

2008 American League Fantasy Baseball Outfielder Rankings

1. Carl Crawford | Tampa Bay Rays
2. Grady Sizemore | Cleveland Indians
3. Ichiro Suzuki | Seattle Mariners
4. Vladimir Guerrero | Los Angeles Angels
5. B.J. Upton | Tampa Bay Rays
6. Alex Rios | Toronto Blue Jays
7. Curtis Granderson | Detroit Tigers
8. Magglio Ordonez | Detroit Tigers
9. Manny Ramirez | Boston Red Sox
10. Bobby Abreu | New York Yankees
11. Nick Markakis | Baltimore Orioles
12. Torii Hunter | Los Angeles Angels
13. Vernon Wells | Toronto Blue Jays
14. Hideki Matsui | New York Yankees
15. Nick Swisher | Chicago White Sox
16. Jermaine Dye | Chicago White Sox
17. Delmon Young | Minnesota Twins
18. Johnny Damon | New York Yankees
19. Jacoby Ellsbury | Boston Red Sox
20. Raul Ibanez | Seattle Mariners
21. Jose Guillen | Kansas City Royals
22. Melky Cabrera | New York Yankees
23. Gary Matthews Jr. | Los Angeles Angels

2008 National League Fantasy Baseball Outfielder Rankings

1. Matt Holliday | Colorado Rockies
2. Alfonso Soriano| Chicago Cubs
3. Carlos Beltran | New York Mets
4. Carlos Lee | Houston Astros
5. Adam Dunn | Cincinnati Reds
6. Eric Byrnes | Arizona Diamondbacks
7. Chris Young | Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Hunter Pence | Houston Astros
9. Cory Hart | Milwaukee Brewers
10. Brad Hawpe | Colorado Rockies
11. Andruw Jones | Los Angeles Dodgers
12. Jason Bay | Pittsburgh Pirates
13. Shane Victorino | Philadelphia Phillies
14. Juan Pierre | Los Angeles Dodgers
15. Jeff Francoeur | Atlanta Braves
16. Ken Griffey Jr. | Cincinnati Reds
17. Matt Kemp | Los Angeles Dodgers
18. Pat Burrell | Philadelphia Phillies
19. Aaron Rowand| San Francisco Giants
20. Jeremy Hermida | Florida Marlins
21. Austin Kearns | Washington Nationals
22. Moises Alou | New York Mets

Here are the fantasy baseball rankings for the top ten first basemen for the 2008 season. I will also list the predictions from the pre-season at the bottom of this post for comparison.

1. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals - No doubt about who should top this list. Pujols is head and shoulders above the rest of a very good group of hitters. 100 runs | 37 HR | 116 RBI | 7 SB | .357
2. Lance Berkman, Houston Astros - Berkman hit 88 points better in the first half than in the second half. He also hit 15 more home runs in the first half than he did in the second half. Even with his poorer showing after the All-Star break, he still finished with monster numbers. 114 runs | 29 HR | 106 RBI | 18 SB | .312
3. Mark Teixeira, Los Angeles Angels - Couldn’t bring enough to push the Angels past the Red Sox in the playoffs, but he sure did help a lot of fantasy teams this season. 102 runs | 33 HR | 121 RBI | 2 SB | .308
4. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies - I tried really hard not to place Howard this high due to his low .251 batting average. But, I couldn’t drop him any lower than the fourth spot due to his monster home run and RBI totals. 105 runs | 48 HR | 146 RBI | 1 SB | .251
5. Aubrey Huff, Baltimore Orioles - Hadn’t hit this well since 2003. The multi-position eligibility was nice too. 96 runs | 32 HR | 108 RBI | 4 SB | .304
6. Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox - Youk really boosted his power output in 2008. “The Greek God of Walks” is now the total package. 91 runs | 29 HR | 115 RBI | 3 SB | .312
7. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers - Cabrera needed a 30% increase in offensive production in the second half to make this top ten list. But, that’s why they play 162 games. 85 runs | 37 HR | 127 RBI | 1 SB | .292
8. Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres - Gonzalez, very quietly, keeps upping his power production each year. It’s his batting average drop that kept him at #8 on this list and not in the top five. 103 runs | 36 HR | 119 RBI | 0 SB | .279
9. Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins - You get a slight drop off in home runs from Morneau compared to the rest of the guys on this list. But, the other offensive categories make up for it. 97 runs | 23 HR | 129 RBI | 0 SB | .300
10. Carlos Delgado, New York Mets - Delgado barely edged out Prince Fielder for the final spot on this list. He bounced back nicely from his poor showing in 2007 and had his best numbers since 2003. 96 runs | 38 HR | 115 RBI | 1 SB | .271

Below is the pre-season list for comparison.

2008 American League Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

1. Justin Morneau | Minnesota Twins
2. Carlos Pena | Tampa Bay Rays
3. Paul Konerko | Chicago White Sox
4. Carlos Guillen | Detroit Tigers
5. Kevin Youkilis | Boston Red Sox
6. Ryan Garko | Cleveland Indians
7. Richie Sexson | Seattle Mariners
8. Casey Kotchman | Los Angeles Angels
9. Kevin Millar | Baltimore Orioles
10. Billy Butler | Kansas City Royals
11. Dan Johnson | Oakland Athletics
12. Jason Giambi | New York Yankees
13. Lyle Overbay | Totonto Blue Jays
14. Ben Broussard | Texas Rangers

2008 National League Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

1. Albert Pujols | St. Louis Cardinals
2. Ryan Howard | Philadelphia Phillies
3. Prince Fielder | Milwaukee Brewers
4. Mark Teixeira | Atlanta Braves
5. Lance Berkman | Houston Astros
6. Derrek Lee | Chicago Cubs
7. Adrian Gonzalez | San Diego Padres
8. Todd Helton | Colorado Rockies
9. Carlos Delgado | New York Mets
10. James Loney | Los Angeles Dodgers
11. Adam LaRoche | Pittsburgh Pirates
12. Dmitri Young | Washington Nationals
13. Conor Jackson | Arizona Diamondbacks
14. Joey Votto | Cincinnati Reds
15. Rich Aurilia | San Francisco Giants
16. Mike Jacobs | Florida Marlins

Catcher: Russell Martin | Los Angeles Dodgers - Geovany Soto and his 16 bombs got the All-Star starting job for the NL, while stud Brian McCann barely got to play even though his numbers merited the role of NL starter as well. Russell martin was sandwiched in between them for the game. And even though he has fewer home runs than both catchers, and a lower batting average than McCann, Martin is the first half, fantasy MVP due to his stolen base output. He swiped 10 bags and proved that cathcers can run a bit. His value is in the fact that he produces in every fantasy category, and with numbers like .294/.394/.436 with 49 runs, 10 home runs, 45 RBI, and 10 stolen bases, he produces well.

First Base: Lance Berkman | Houston Astros - Ryan Howard may have 28 home runs, but he’s not even close to being as valuable of a fantasy first baseman as Berkman is. Berkman batted .347/.443/.653 with 79 runs, 22 home runs, 73 RBI, and 15 stolen bases in the first half of 2008. He may even have been the most valuable player in the entire fantasy baseball universe.

Second Base: Ian Kinsler | Texas Rangers - In April, if you had told me that Chase Utley would have 25 home runs at the All-Star break and wouldn’t be the most valuable fantasy baseball second baseman, I would have called the insane asylum and booked your room. It’s true though. Kinsler topped Utley in batting average, runs scored, and stolen bases, and isn’t too far behind in the RBI category. Kinsler’s first half numbers were .337/.397/.548 with 84 runs scored, 14 home runs, 58 RBI, and 23 stolen bases.

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez | Florida Marlins - Ramirez sure has proven worthy of first round consideration at draft time this past off-season. He put up first half numbers of .311/.391/.566 with 80 runs scored, 23 home runs, 45 RBI, and 23 stolen bases and did that all without Miguel Cabrera hitting in the Marlins lineup with him. The only shortstop who can put up numbers like Hanley is playing third base for the Yankees.

Third Base: Chipper Jones | Atlanta Braves - Although he’s no longer flirting with a .400 batting average, Jones still tearing up National League pitching and leading the league in batting average . Jones is batting .376/.472/.614 with 56 runs scored, 18 home runs, 51 RBI, and two stolen bases. As long as Jones stays healthy, expect monster production from him to continue in the second half.

Outfield: Josh Hamilton | Texas Rangers - You don’t even have to consider his 28 home run, first round home run derby spectacle to consider what Hamilton is doing this season as spectacular. He’s leading MLB in RBI as he approached 100 RBI in the first half alone, and is just an all around good story for baseball. His first half numbers were .310/.367/.552 with 60 runs scored, 21 home runs, 95 RBI, and even seven stolen bases. Wherever you drafted this guy, you absolutely stole him.

Starting Pitcher: Tim Lincecum | San Francisco Giants - Picking a first half MVP from the great performers from the starting pitching pool, was very difficult. Cliff Lee, Edison Volquez, Roy Halladay, and even Justin Duchscherer deserved consideration. Lincecum was chosen as he second in the league in strikeouts, tied for third in wins, and is an ERA stud pitching for what was supposed to be a terrible team. His first half line was 11-2 with a 2.57 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 135 strikeouts and 47 walks in 129.2 innings of work.

Relief Pitcher: Francisco Rodriguez | Los Angeles Angels - Rodriguez’ closest competitor in the saves category is 10 saves away, and his 38 saves leads MLB by a long shot. He also has a 2.36 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP to go along with those saves. In 42 innings pitched, Rodriguez struck out 41 and walked 26.

The National League edged out the American League 5-3 in this week’s MVP awards. The state of Florida was nicely represented with two Rays and a Marlin on the list.

Catcher: This is the second week a reserve catcher has won this award. Wil Nieves (WAS) is filling in for Paul Lo Duca while he’s on the DL, and last week hit .500/.529/.687 with 5 runs, one home run, and 4 RBI. His days are numbered as Lo Duca should be back shortly.

First Base: Lance Berkman (HOU) had a monster week hitting .455/.517/1.136 with 7 runs scored, 4 home runs, 12 RBI and a stolen base. His performance was head and shoulders better than every other first baseman, maybe even every other player in MLB last week.

Second Base: He didn’t collect a walk or reach base on a error last week, but Brandon Phillips (CIN) hit 4 home runs, scored 5 times, had a stolen base and 8 RBI while averaging .321/.321/.857.

Shortstop: This was an interesting competition between Miguel Tejada and Hanley Ramirez, as Tejada had a better average and Ramirez had better power and speed numbers. I’m giving the MVP award to Hanley Ramirez (FLA). He only hit .273/.314/.606 but had 6 runs scored, 3 home runs, 4 RBI and 4 stolen bases.

Third Base: Who had week 4 in the Longoria for MVP pool? It didn’t take Evan Longoria (TB) long to make a fantasy baseball impact and win his first weekly MVP award. He batted .333/.435/.833 with 4 runs scored, 2 home runs, 6 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Longoria narrowly beat out other 3B candidates Edwin Encarnacion and Garrett Atkins.

Outfield: This was a tough race to call too. I passed over Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford to give the award to Magglio Ordonez (DET). Ordonez averaged .400/.484/.840 with 5 runs scored, 3 home runs, and 10 RBI.

Starting Pitcher: Three pitchers did enough to win this award this week, but in the end James Shields (TB) edged out Edison Volquez and C.C. Sabathia to take top honors. Shields had two wins, enjoyed a 12:3 strikeout to walk ratio, and had an ERA of 1.12 with a WHIP of 0.69.

Relief Pitcher: Brandon Lyon (ARI) had four saves last week with an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.40. He threw 5 innings and had 5 strikeouts and zero walks.