First base
Leader: Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
Mike’s pick: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins. It’s kind of hard to argue with Teixeira’s numbers, short porch in right or not. He’s got 20 homers, 57 RBI, 20 doubles, and a .280 average (and in the field, zero errors). You can make a case for Carlos Pena (22 homers), but he’s batting .236. Morneau is batting .315, and has 16 homers (let’s say he’d have 20 if he played in Yankee Stadium), and more RBI than Teixeira (58). And he’s only made one error.

Second base
Leader: Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
Mike’s pick: Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays. I love a good comeback story, and this is it. Hill doesn’t have as many homers as Kinsler (17 to Kinsler’s 18), but he is hitting for a higher average (.306 to .268) with more RBI (52 to 49). Sure, Kinsler has 16 steals to 2 for Hill, but I’m sticking with my comeback story.

Shortstop
Leader: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
Mike’s pick: Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays. Jeter’s having a good season, but Bartlett is leading the American League in batting with a sick .363 average. Even after spending some time on the DL, Bartlett still has 7 homers, 35 RBI, 13 doubles, 3 triples and 15 steals…..pretty awesome numbers for a shortstop.

Third base
Leader: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
Mike’s pick: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays. With a nod to Chone Figgins and his .325 average with 23 stolen bases, Longoria has delivered at a power position with 16 home runs, 62 RBI, 24 doubles and a .312 batting average.

Catcher:
Leader: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
Mike’s pick: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins. Hey, these voters aren’t doing a bad job after all! This is an easy one, though. Mauer is batting almost .400 (.396) with 14 homers and 43 RBI, and a staggering .695 slugging percentage that leads the American League.

Outfield
Leaders: Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox
Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
Mike’s picks: Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox—It’s hard to argue with 19 homers, 69 driven in (leads the AL) and a respectable .278 average, especially when Big Papi has struggled. Manny who?
Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels—He’s currently fourth in the voting, but he should be higher. 17 dingers, 56 RBI, and he’s batting .309 with 12 stolen bases.
Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays—The Rays are running on everyone, and this guy leads them and the world with 38 stolen bases. He’s also batting .314 with 6 homers and 35 RBI.

Starting pitcher
As you all know, pitchers are chosen by the managers and announced shortly before the all-star break.
Mike’s pick: Zach Greinke, Kansas City Royals. The guy got off to a blistering start, when the Royals stunned everyone by spending more than a few days in first place. He’s cooled off, but Greinke is still 9-3 on a team that’s 31-41, he has a stellar 1.90 ERA, and he’s second in the AL with 111 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 109 innings.

Relief pitcher
Mike’s pick: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox. Okay, so he’s not leading the league in saves (he has 17 and the Angels’ Brian Fuentes has 20). But Papelbon sports a 1.97 ERA and 33 K’s in 32 innings. And he just has that sick “you can’t hit me” demeanor.

Source: Baseball Reference

We’re approaching Memorial Day and are already about a quarter of the way through the baseball regular season. Some players historically take a while to get going, and some start off blazing hot and then cool off. Here we take a look at five pleasant surprises, and five busts through the first 40 or so games of the 2009 season.

Top 5 Suprises

1. Zack Greinke, SP, Kansas City Royals—One of the reasons the Royals are off to a great start is that Greinke has found his rhythm, to the tune of 7-1 with a 0.82 ERA, as well as 73 strikeouts and 12 walks in just 66 innings. Greinke has given up a microscopic six earned runs so far. Six! It’s not like the kid wasn’t talented, but his career record before 2009 was 34-45 and his ERA 3.96.

2. Jason Bartlett, SS, Tampa Bay Rays—Before this season, Bartlett was a career .285 hitter with 16 career home runs. So far this season, he’s off to a wicked start–.376 batting average, 6 homers, 23 RBI, 9 doubles, 12 stolen bases and an OPS of 1.004.

3. Raul Ibanez, OF, Philadelphia Phillies—This is looking like the free agent signing of the off-season. Or maybe coming over to the world champs from soggy Seattle was a good move. Ibanez was a respectable .288 hitter and was averaging 22 homers and 95 RBI, but so far in 2009 he’s hit 15 home runs and driven in 40 runs, while hitting .349 with 10 doubles, 4 stolen bases and a .724 slugging percentage. You think the Mets should have made a run at the guy instead of wasting all that money on P Ollie Perez?

4. Aaron Hill, 2B, Toronto Blue Jays—It’s not like Hill didn’t have potential, but an injury de-railed him in 2008. Maybe he’s come back with a bionic bat, because he’s hitting .352 with 11 homers and 35 RBI. Before this season, Hill’s career high in home runs was 17, so at his current pace he will shatter that mark..

5. Shairon Martis, SP, Washington Nationals—Who? I mean, who? But here is this Nats’ pitcher with a blistering 5-0 record on a team that’s 12-28, worst record in the majors. If you’re keeping score at home, that means Martis has 42% of his team’s wins.

Honorable mention: Trevor Hoffman, RP, Milwaukee Brewers—Since coming off the DL to start the season, Hoffman is 11 for 11 in save opportunities in 12 innings pitched with 10 strikeouts for his new team.

Top 5 Busts

1. David Ortiz, DH, Boston Red Sox—Okay, so maybe he’s injured and all, but did anyone expect this? Ortiz is batting .211 with one home run and 18 batted in with a .324 slugging percentage. To put that in perspective, his career averages are 35 homers, 120 RBI, .285 average and .547 slugging percentage. Something is afoot at Fenway, dude.

2. Chien-Ming Wang, SP, New York Yankees—This is almost unfair because Wang is currently rehabbing an injury, but still. Wang had 38 wins in 2006 and 2007 combined, and this season got off to a rocky 0-3 start with an astronomical 34.50 ERA—giving up 23 hits and 23 earned runs in just six innings of work. Yikes.

3. Jimmy Rollins, SS, Philadelphia Phillies—It’s a good thing the Phils picked up Ibanez, because their perennial MVP candidate is batting just .234 with 2 homers and 15 batted in with only 5 stolen bases and 1 triple. Rollins has never been a huge power guy, but he’s averaged .276 with 38 steals per season over the course of his career.

4. Cliff Lee, SP, Cleveland Indians—The reigning AL Cy Young was 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 2008. This year he’s off to a 2-5 start but his ERA is still a very respectable 2.90. You can blame this one on the Tribe’s inability to score runs like they normally do.

5. Brian Giles, OF, San Diego Padres—Sure, he’s getting long in the tooth, but Brian Giles is a lifetime .291 hitter who averages 25 homers and 95 batted in. In 2009, he’s off to a .161 start, with 2 homers and 15 RBI, and a paltry .235 slugging percentage.

Honorable mention: Jason Giambi, DH, Oakland Athletics—You’d think the change of scenery would energize Giambi, but he’s hitting just .208 with 3 home runs and 18 RBI so far.

Source: Baseball Reference

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Offseason Movement: The Jays added pitchers Brian Burres, Matt Bush, Matt Clement and Ken Takahashi as well as catcher Michael Barrett, outfielder Jason Lane and first basemen Kevin Millar. Outside of Barrett, Millar and maybe Lane, none of Toronto’s offseason additions are expected to make the Opening Day roster. And Barrett started 1 for 16 in spring training, so, good luck with that.

Top Prospect: Travis Snider, OF
Snider is a true power hitting prospect who has a long swing but above average plate discipline. The Jays hope he can develop into an player that hits for extra bases and who can drive the ball to all parts of the field. He’ll probably never hit for average, but his power should more than make up for it and he has a great arm for the outfield. Thus far, the 21-year old is hitting .371 with six extra-base hits in 35 at-bats in spring training.

The Big Question: What’s after Halladay in the rotation?
The Jays know exactly what they’ll get out of Halladay every fifth day – dominance. But outside of a win every fifth day, Toronto doesn’t have much to look forward to in terms of their starting pitching staff. Jesse Litsch, David Purcey, Scott Richmond and Casey Janssen/Matt Clement/Dustin McGowan form a rotation filled with question marks and uncertainty. This is one of the most unproven rotations in baseball and Cito Gaston better have his finger on the bullpen dial all season long.

Outlook: While every club in the AL East improved this offseason, the Blue Jays stayed pat. None of their offseason moves will have an impact this season and while most teams could do worse than a lineup comprised of Lyle Overbay, Aaron Hill, Marco Scutaro, Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, they could also do much better, too. The lineup defies the word “meh” and the starting rotation, save for Roy Halladay, will struggle. The defense is very good, but an injury to Rios or Wells (which is likely in Wells’ case) leaves the outfield awfully thin. Expecting the Jays to sniff 90 wins again like they did last in a tough division might not be realistic.

Projection: 4th AL East