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**SoxSon** · 02-28-2006, 02:02 PM

DoubleX--
I might put David Wright over Cabrera, only for his stolen bases. (not sure)
In the AL East, I'm taking Javy Lopez over Posada (sorry!

).
I'm taking Utley over Soriano in the NL East and Overall NL. You watch him this season.
I'm taking Young over Jeter for second team Overall AL (sorry again!)
I feel like Harden needs some kind of move, but I don't know what to do with him.

I like your other picks, for the most part.

**Evangelion** · 02-28-2006, 04:21 PM

AL EAST
C: Jason Varitek, (Benji Molina)
1B: Jason Giambi, (Lyle Overbay)
2B: Jorge Cantu, (Brian Roberts
SS: Miguel Tejada, (Derek Jeter)
3B: Alex Rodriguez, (Troy Glaus)
LF: Manny Ramirez, (Hideki Matsui)
CF: Vernon Wells, (Johnny Damon)
RF: Gary Sheffield, (Jay Gibbons)
DH: David Ortiz, (Javy Lopez

SP: Roy Halladay, (A.J Burnett)
SP: Randy Johnson, (Gustavo Chacin)
SP: Curt Schilling, (Shawn Chacon)
SP: Josh Beckett, (Erik Bedard)
SP: Scott Kazmir, (Mike Mussina)
CL: Mariano Rivera, (B.J. Ryan)

AL CENTRAL
C: Victor Martinez, (Joe Mauer)
1B: Paul Konerko, (Jim Thome)
2B: Ronnie Belliard, (Luis Castillo)
SS: Jhonny Peralta, (Carlos Guillen)
3B: Joe Crede, (Brandon Inge)
LF: Scott Podsednik, (Jason Michaels)
CF: Grady Sizemore, (Torii Hunter)
RF: Jermaine Dye, (Magglio Ordonez)
DH: Travis Hafner, (Mike Sweeney)

SP: Johan Santana, (Carlos Silva)
SP: Mark Buehrle, (Freddy Garica)
SP: Jeremy Bonderman, (Brad Radke)
SP: Cliff Lee, (Kenny Rogers)
SP: C.C. Sabathia, (Jake Westbrook)
CL: Joe Nathan, (Bob Wickman)

AL WEST
C: Jason Kendall, (Jose Molina)
1B: Mark Teixeira, (Richie Sexson)
2B: Adam Kennedy, (Mark Ellis)
SS: Michael Young, (Bobby Crosby)
3B: Eric Chavez, (Chone Figgins)
LF: Garret Anderson, (Raul Ibanez)
CF: Mark Kotsay, (David Erstad)
RF: Vladimir Guerrero, (Ichiro Suzuki)
DH: Frank Thomas, (Carl Everett)

SP: Bartolo Colon, (Felix Hernandez)
SP: Rich Harden, (Danny Haren)
SP: Barry Zito, (Jarrod Washburn)
SP: Kevin Millwood, (Jeff Weaver)
SP: John Lackey, (Esteban Loaiza)
CL: Francisco Rodriguez, (Huston Street)

ALL AL
C: Victor Martinez, (Joe Mauer)
1B: Mark Teixeira, (Paul Konerko)
2B: Ronnie Belliard, (Jorge Cantu)
SS: Miguel Tejada, (Michael Young)
3B: Alex Rodriguez, (Eric Chavez)
LF: Manny Ramirez, (Hideki Matsui)
CF: Vernon Wells, (Grady Sizemore)
RF: Vladimir Guerrero, (Ichiro Suzuki)
DH: David Ortiz, (Travis Hafner)

SP: Johan Santana, (Randy Johnson)
SP: Roy Halladay, (Barry Zito)
SP: Bartolo Colon, (Kevin Millwood)
SP: Rich Harden, (Curt Schilling)
SP: Mark Buehrle, (Josh Beckett)
CL: Mariano Rivera, (Francisco Rodriguez)

NL East
C: Paul Lo Duca, (Mike Lieberthal)
1B: Carlos Delgado, (Ryan Howard)
2B: Alfonso Soriano, (Chause Utley)
SS: Jimmy Rollins, (Jose Reyes)
3B: Miguel Cabrera, (David Wright)
LF: Pat Burrell, (Cliff Floyd)
CF: Andruw Jones, (Carlos Beltran)
RF: Bobby Abreu, (Jose Guillen)

SP: Dontrelle Willis, (John Patterson)
SP: Pedro Martinez, (Brett Myers)
SP: John Smoltz, (Randy Wolf)
SP: Tim Hudson, (Tom Glavine)
SP: Livan Hernandez, (Jon Lieber)
CL: Billy Wagner, (Chad Cordero)

NL Central
C: Michael Barrett, (Brad Ausmus)
1B: Albert Pujols, (Derrek Lee)
2B: Craig Biggio, (Todd Walker)
SS: Felipe Lopez, (David Eckstein)
3B: Aramis Ramirez, (Scott Rolen)
LF: Jason Bay, (Carlos Lee)
CF: Jim Edmonds, (Ken Griffey Jr.)
RF: Jeromy Burnitz, (Jacque Jones)

SP: Chris Carpenter, (Mark Prior)
SP: Carlos Zambrano, (Mark Mulder)
SP: Roy Oswalt, (Chris Capuano)
SP: Andy Pettitte, (Zack Duke)
SP: Ben Sheets, (Oliver Perez)
CL: Brad Lidge, (Jason Isringhausen)

NL West
C: Johnny Estrada, (Mike Matheny)
1B: Todd Helton, (Nomar Garciaparra)
2B: Jeff Kent, (Orlando Hudson)
SS: Rafael Furcal, (Omar Vizquel)
3B: Bill Mueller, (Chad Tracy)
LF: Barry Bonds, (Matt Holliday)
CF: Mike Cameron, (Randy Winn)
RF: Brian Giles, (Moises Alou)

SP: Jake Peavy, (Brad Penny)
SP: Jason Schmidt, (Noah Lowry)
SP: Brandon Webb, (Chris Young)
SP: Matt Morris, (Odalis Perez)
SP: Derek Lowe, (Orlando Hernandez)
CL: Eric Gagne, (Trevor Hoffman)

All NL
C: Paul Lo Duca, (Johnny Estrada)
1B: Albert Pujols, (Derrek Lee)
2B: Alfonso Soriano, (Chase Utley)
SS: Jimmy Rollins, (Rafael Furcal)
3B: Miguel Cabrera, (David Wright)
LF: Barry Bonds, (Jason Bay)
CF: Andruw Jones, (Jim Edmonds)
RF: Bobby Abreu, (Brian Giles)

SP: Dontrelle Willis, (Jake Peavy)
SP: Pedro Martinez, (Andy Pettitte)
SP: Chris Carpeter, (Ben Sheets)
SP: Roy Oswalt, (John Smoltz)
SP: Carlos Zambrano, ([b]Mark Prior)
CL: Brad Lidge, (Billy Wagner)

**DoubleX** · 02-28-2006, 05:06 PM

Originally posted by SoxSon

DoubleX--
I might put David Wright over Cabrera, only for his stolen bases. (not sure)
In the AL East, I'm taking Javy Lopez over Posada (sorry!

).
I'm taking Utley over Soriano in the NL East and Overall NL. You watch him this season.
I'm taking Young over Jeter for second team Overall AL (sorry again!)
I feel like Harden needs some kind of move, but I don't know what to do with him.

I like your other picks, for the most part.

Wright/Cabrera was a tough one. I think Wright will end up being the more complete/better player, but right now Cabrera is a bit further a long. Leaving Morgan Ensberg off the NL Central list was tough too, but Rolen is the gold standard when healthy and Ramirez has been more consistent over the past few years.

Lopez will be primarily a DH this year and Ramon Hernandez will be the main catcher for the Orioles, so Lopez was taken out of consideration. The struggle for me actually was Posada over Bengie Molina of the Blue Jays.

You make a good point about Utley, but tracke record played into my consdideration, and Soriano has been consistent, Utley is still emerging (Soriano might be moved too).

Jeter is the better overall player than Young. For all the knocks people make against Jeter's fielding, Young is a bad defensive SS. His numbers are also helped by the more friendly park, and he doesn't have Jeter's base-running skills or his plate discipline.

Harden is on the verge of breakout. He just needs to stay healthy. The guy is electric.

**DoubleX** · 02-28-2006, 05:20 PM

My turn to critique your rankings Evangelion (realize this is just being nitpicky and I can't really fault you for your picks).

- Jorge Cantu/Brian Roberts was a tough one for me. Either way is right. I just went with the veteran. I think Robinson Cano will factor into this before long, but Cantu will emerge as the clear frontrunner.

- I still like Huff over Lopez for the AL East DH, and I'd take Hillenbrand over Lopez too. Lopez is on the way down. Huff is in his prime and has more power. Hillenbrand is also in his prime and is very steady (albeit unspectacular).

- How can Konerko and Thome both make 1B? One has to be playing DH this year, and it'll be Thome. It was hard leaving him off my list at DH, but his health concerns factored in and Sweeney just keeps plugging away every year, mostly in obscurity.

- The AL Central is stacked with pitching, especially young pitching that could break out. There were some tough choices in there for me, so I definitely have nothing wrong with your choices.

- You were probably right with Raul Ibanez over Kevin Mench.

- Darin Erstad is utterly useless at the plate. He's very overrated. Moving back to CF gives him a little more value, but he's still not good.

- Chone Figgins is nice to have on the team, but I'd rather have Hank Blalock playing 3B for me. The same could be said about Melvin Mora. I'd sure like to have Mora on my team, but I'd rather have a number of other guys playing 3B.

- It was tough leaving Reyes off for me. I gave the veterans edge to Renteria, but I have no problem with Reyes, he just needs to develop a little more as a hitter for me (which should happen since he's still only 23).

- I don't know if Todd Walker even has a job right now with the Cubs, let alone make second team AL Central. Though, I may have jumped the gun a little with Weeks (he projects to be a very good player though).

- NL Central pitching is the same as the AL Central. So many good pitchers, particularly good young pitchers, tough to pick just 10.

**Evangelion** · 02-28-2006, 06:23 PM

Sorry, would have critique your rankings, but I had things to do and was only able to post a list. All the bold were the changes I've made from your list, though you probably figured that out already. Also, I ranked pitchers from 1 to 10, which is why I bold guys on your list, but in a different spot. I also option not to pick Extra for NL.

-Would give the nod to Roberts if he did have that gruesome injury last season. Not sure if he can return to Roberts of last season until he's back on the field at this point. Cantu just going to get better and better and since he's one of the big bats the D-Ray line-up has to offer, too.

-Huff will be on the field most, if not all, time. Huff is marked down as DH on D-Ray depth chart, so I didn't count him.

Lopez might be on the way down, but if he's DH most of the time. I think his offensive numbers will still remain good. Shea will obviously pass Lopez out this season or next season.

-Spilt time at 1B for both at the moment, though I know Paul will play most of the time, but Thome still counts as 1B, if you check the depth chart for White Sox he's listed as the DH and back-up 1B. Taking everybody who plays 1B in Central, this only logical ranking for me at this point.

-Only problem with your AL Central pitching list is you left off Silva. Nobody knew that this guy was better than his record last year. He had 3.44 ERA last year and only walked 9 batters total last year. Twins gave him any type of support, he probably would have easily been a 15 plus game winner.

-You're probably right about Erstad. Since that monster 2000 season, he hasn't been much of hitter.

-While I love what Blalock bring to table. He's absolutely a terrible hitter. His numbers are vastly inflated due to playing at Arlington Park. He can't hit outside of Arlington and until he leaves Texas and prove he can hit outside a hitters park. I'm not sold on Blalock. His offensive number were absolutely terrible on the road.

Though, I probably would take Mora over Figgins, but Figgins brings speed, solid hitting and ability to play a ton of positions. I only ranked Figgins at 3B since he's ranked as the starter at 3B this season for the Angels.

-After Renteria 30 error performance last season. He need to go there and re-prove himself to me. Reyes is the up and coming star. He can steal bases and develop more as hitter as you said, DoubleX. He's the Mets lead-off hitter, isn't he? A 300. OBP for lead-off is terrible. He needs to walk more than 27 times.

-Weeks is up and coming and probably be the second best or best 2B next season. Weeks 239. AVG last season did not impress me what so ever. 21 errors at 2B in only 95 games was not impressived. Granted, it was first season last year. Still, nothing to be impressed by yet.

Walker hit 305. last season. Only made 6 errors at 2B in 97 games. I've always been under the impression Walker been a solid 2B during his days with the Sox. I'll take the veteran over the rookie for this section.

-NL Central hard to rank. Sheets got the offense to probably support him this year, so he might be able to rank the numbers up and impres people this season. He quietly been a good pitcher for the Brew Crew.

Anyway, since I can now, I'll critique your list.

-Didn't rank Reggie Sanders for LF since I believe he will be out in RF. Brown starting at LF for Royals. Since Sanders is in RF, I took Maggs and Dye over him.

-For your AL West ranking. How could you leave John Lackey off that list? He was 14-5, ERA 3.44 and had 199 K. Lackey was pretty damn good last season.

I'm also not much of fan of Eaton being in Arlington Park next season. Eaton coming from one of the best pitchers parks in MLB to one of the worst. I have feeling he's going to take a beating badly this season there.

-Young over Jeter at the moment. But, nothing to argue about since Jeter plays at Yankee Stadium and Young got Arlington Park.

I gave Paul the edge over Sexson at 1B since Sexson lives off the long ball and nothing else. Konerko seem to become a more balance power hitter last year. While Sexson a 250-270 type of hitter that hits a bunch of bombs, similar to Glaus.

- Utely or Soriano? Shesh, I probably should had ranked Utely before Soriano. Soriano strikes out and barely walks while Utely walks more often and doesn't strike out as much Soriano. Obviously, Soriano a free swinger. Soriano's defense at 2B is just sad to watch at times. Utely probably should have been ranked before Soriano and Soriano should be ranked as LF at this point.

Only down point for Utely is, as you pointed out, he's emerge while Soriano is established offensive force.

- Mike Hampton? Isn't he knocked out for most of this season? I don't even see him on the Braves depth chart at this moment. Why you left John Patterson off your list?

- Hard for me to leave Lopez out, but Tracy going to up and coming and looked really impressive last season. IMO, Lopez's number should go down with Bonds back in the line-up.

- Jason Jennings in Coors? I'll take Chris Young in Petco, who also put up some solid numbers before slowing down during the second half last season with the Rangers. Not to mention Young prove he could handle a hitters park. Just think how much better he should be in a pitchers park like Petco? I have yet seen any pitcher really succeed in Coors, so not sold on Jennings succeed there.

Woody Williams stink. If he's not at Petco, then watch him give up 5 or 6 runs. He really lucky his ERA and record were not worse last season. Williams has lost his stuff quite some time ago. Oh, Williams posted an ERA of 6 plus away from Petco. I'll take Lowry 13-13 record, but most of all his nice 3.78 ERA. His record should improve if Bonds is really back. Not to mention the he's on 25. He was 6-0 with an ERA 3.82 the previous year. I think Lowry should continue to develop.

Heck, the Giants also got another impressive looking pitcher in Matt Cain.

**DoubleX** · 02-28-2006, 06:27 PM

Heh, I made a mistake Evangelion. I critiqued your team because I mistook SoxSon for you and thought you critiqued my team. Oops. Most of our differences are just small, though I really should have reconsidered Weeks before putting him up. I also meant to put Lackey on instead of Eaton. I guess I forgot to delete Eaton.

**SoxSon** · 03-01-2006, 02:35 PM

Originally posted by DoubleX

Wright/Cabrera was a tough one. I think Wright will end up being the more complete/better player, but right now Cabrera is a bit further a long. Leaving Morgan Ensberg off the NL Central list was tough too, but Rolen is the gold standard when healthy and Ramirez has been more consistent over the past few years.

Lopez will be primarily a DH this year and Ramon Hernandez will be the main catcher for the Orioles, so Lopez was taken out of consideration. The struggle for me actually was Posada over Bengie Molina of the Blue Jays.

You make a good point about Utley, but tracke record played into my consdideration, and Soriano has been consistent, Utley is still emerging (Soriano might be moved too).

Jeter is the better overall player than Young. For all the knocks people make against Jeter's fielding, Young is a bad defensive SS. His numbers are also helped by the more friendly park, and he doesn't have Jeter's base-running skills or his plate discipline.

Harden is on the verge of breakout. He just needs to stay healthy. The guy is electric.

Hey--
My bad about Lopez. (I still think of him as a catcher, and I still would put him ahead of Posada, but that's another story!

) I might actually take Hernandez over Posada, too, now that I'm thinking about it, never mind Molina.

I agree about Wright/Cabrera...it really is a toss-up, I think. I like Wright's overall game more.

Utley will own this season, I think. Also, Soriano might be saying goodbye to 2nd base in Washington.

I think Jeter's GG should be co-owned by ARod, if I'm being honest. I don't think the defensive difference between Jeter and Young in 2005 is enough of a consideration, though I do like your point about ballparks. If you look at career defensive stats, Jeter has a defensive edge over Young at SS, granted. Interestingly though, Young was a better defensive 2nd baseman than Jeter is a SS. Hmm.

Agreed about Harden. "Electric" is a good word.

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