GQ.com is doing a pretty cool feature where you can vote on which ball players deserve to be on their 2009 All-Wacko Baseball Team.

Some of the notables that you can vote on are White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski (should be on the all douche team), Dodgers’ outfielder Manny Ramirez and Nationals’ outfielder Elijah Dukes.

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia and A’s infielder Nomar Garciaparra are on the list as well, which I don’t get, but the site has descriptions of why they could be “All-Wacko� this year so check it out.

Click here to cast your votes.

Click Here to see Previews of all 30 MLB Teams

Offseason Movement: The Red Sox made a slew of moves this offseason, including signing free agent starters John Smoltz and Brad Penny, as well as adding outfielders Rocco Baldelli and Brad Wilkerson. Boston also added pitchers Takashi Saito, Junichi Tazawa, Billy Traber, Ramon Ramirez, Miguel Gonzalez and Randor Bierd.

Top Prospect: Lars Anderson, 1B
Anderson was considered a top talent in 2006, but slipped to the 18th round of the 2006 MLB Draft because teams were worried about whether or not they could sign him. The lefty first basemen can hit for average and power, and has an excellent feel for the strike zone. He was named Minor League Offensive Player of the Year for the Red Sox in 2008 after clubbing 18 home runs and driving in 80 runs while hitting over .300. After spending most of the year in Single-A, Anderson has a while to go before he makes his MLB debut – especially considering the Red Sox are never out of contention these days. But he’ll be a name to keep an eye on down the road.

Read the rest of this entry »

All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

Second base is home to one of the biggest draft-day dilemmas: What to do with Chase Utley? I covered Utley’s situation in more detail here, but as you’ll see in the rankings below, I’m not concerned enough about his recovery from hip surgery to drop him from the top slot at second base. Reports out of spring training have all been positive and Utley maintains that he’ll be ready for Opening Day. As long as he doesn’t suffer a setback between now and my draft, that’s good enough for me.

Of course, my refusal to drop Utley’s ranking has as much to do with his talent as it does the general lack of depth at second base. Sure, there is some talent at the top of the list but once you get eight or 10 deep, things start looking rather bleak. Fortunately, there is a fair amount of upside to be harvested here, with several 28-and-under guys who could outperform expectations this season. You’ll have to pay a premium for some (like the reigning AL MVP) while others can be snagged in the mid- to late-rounds (like Arizona’s new potential leadoff man), but they all have the kind of upside that I look for on draft day. And while upside alone won’t win you a fantasy title, it’s a convenient tiebreaker that makes a guy like Brandon Phillips a little more attractive than the steadier but older Brian Roberts.

With that in mind, here is some of the young talent you’ll want to consider this season, and see below for my top-25 second basemen.

Seriously, will someone please sign a big free agent already? The MLB Winter Meetings begin on Monday in Vegas, and hopefully the baseball big shots will spend more time signing free agents and making trades than they do gambling.

Well, a few things have happened of note this week. The Red Sox signed AL MVP Dustin Pedroia to a new, six-year deal worth $40.5 million. And this for a guy who was making less than $500K per year. But dude has earned every penny…..Javier Vazquez was traded from the White Sox to the Braves for four young (mostly minor league) players, and Ozzie Guillen is probably smiling if he’s reading this….the Padres sent Khalil Greene to St. Louis…..and the Giants signed infielder Edgar Renteria to a two-year, $18.5 million deal and are also talking about making CC Sabathia an offer and even trading for Florida third baseman Jorge Cantu. Yeah, the Giants are not messing around. And Derek Lowe has been offered two deals, one by the Phillies and another by a mystery team

Okay, so I guess some things are happening, but not the big ones we all were waiting for, at least not yet. The Yankees are set to meet with CC Sabathia this weekend to discuss their ridiculously large offer made recently. Here are a few other rumors and possible deals that could happen next week….

The Mets are finally prepared to offer deals to Francisco “K-Rod� Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, but it remains to be seen if both offers will happen simultaneously. Speaking of Fuentes, he, along with the likes of Sabathia and Cubs closer Kerry Wood have all been offered salary arbitration, which means anyone signing them will have to give the team that loses them two draft picks in 2009. Fuentes is also being rumored to re-signing with Colorado. And the Mets are rumored to be talking to the White Sox about sending prize prospect Fernando Martinez to Chicago for Bobby Jenks and Jermaine Dye. I just don’t see that really happening, do you?

Pat Burrell may sign with the Angels if the Angels cannot retain Mark Teixeira. And if Teixeira goes to the Red Sox, which is more than a rumor, the Sox may deal Mike Lowell to make room for Teixeira, who would be the first baseman with Kevin Youkilis moving to third.

Jermaine Dye’s name is being mentioned in trade talks (besides the Mets), and the teams being mentioned are Cincinnati, St. Louis, Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the White Sox are also listening to offers for Jim Thome and Paul Konerko. Yikes….did someone give Sox GM Kenny Williams some dynamite?

Randy Johnson is hoping to sign a one-year deal with either Oakland or San Francisco…..the Cubs are thinking about signing Adam Dunn. Those two items didn’t just put you to sleep, did they?

Oh, and here’s a sure sign of the economy slowing. Dunn, Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu are among the names not offered salary arbitration this past week. That means the D-Backs, Phillies, and Yankees, respectively, would rather piss away two draft picks than have to re-sign the player. Say it with me again, Yikes.

Hopefully we’ll have lots to report next week!

Boston Red Sox second basemen Dustin Pedroia won the AL MVP Award Tuesday and as Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy writes, he might be the most unlikely MVP winner ever.

Dustin Pedroia is the Most Valuable Player of the American League. This is simply one of the amazing sports stories of our time.

He is a miracle. He is a hardball mutant. He is the most unlikely man to win this award in the history of major league baseball.

Think about all the great Red Sox players who never won the award. Manny Ramírez was never MVP. Neither was Carlton Fisk. Nor Wade Boggs.

Fisk and Boggs are in the Hall of Fame and Manny is going to Cooperstown. None of them won an MVP.
And now the little big man has an American League MVP trophy – just like Jimmie Foxx, Ted, Jackie Jensen, Yaz, Freddie Lynn, Jim Rice, Roger Clemens, and Mo Vaughn.

Pedroia did it by hitting .326 – same as Yaz in ’67. He made himself the first second baseman to win the AL MVP since Nellie Fox of the Chicago White Sox in 1959. Guru Gammons points out that, in August, Pedroia had more extra-base hits than Ramírez.

Pedroia is no Manny Ramírez. But he’s MVP of the American League. Just Dustin being Dustin.

Pedroia is the poster child for every kid that is told he’s too small to play and that he’ll never make it. He was a nobody before last year, but hard work allowed him to rise to the top and once he got there, he never stopped working. He does all the little things right and he competes on a nightly a basis. This truly is one of the better sports stories in some time.

As play-by-play announcer Chip Caray said during the final inning of Boston’s 2-0 win over Tampa in Game 1 of the ALCS Friday night, “Experience trumped exuberance tonight.â€� (I can’t believe I’m quoting Chip Caray, but the comment was spot on.)

For six innings, Boston ace Daisuke Matsuzaka was un-hittable. Literally.

The Rays didn’t record their first hit until Carl Crawford singled to lead off the top of the seventh. But once Crawford reached, Cliff Floyd followed with a single of his own, moving Crawford to third and all of a sudden Tampa was in business despite trailing 1-0 since the top of the fifth.

This is the situation where good teams – World Series contender or other – score that runner from third with less than two outs. But the Rays failed to do so as Dice-K got Dioner Navarro to fly out to left, then struck out Gabe Gross before finishing off Jason Bartlett with a fielder’s choice to the shortstop.

Inning over.

Again the Rays struck in the bottom of the eighth after the first two batters reached safely to start the inning. Yet once again they came away with nothing as the Boston bullpen got Carlos Pena to fly out to right and Evan Longoria to ground into a double play.

In nine innings Friday night, the Sox showed what it takes to be a champion. They’ve still got a long way to go in their chase to defend their title, especially with how good Tampa is. But great teams separate themselves in these types of games and the performances by Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia and the BoSox bullpen were outstanding.

That said, Rays’ starter James Shields was phenomenal and on a normal night when the Rays’ bats are on, he walks away from such a masterful performance with a victory. And Tampa will learn a lot from a game like this and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond in Game 2 on Saturday night.

Bush League TV.com put together a list of the best and worst MLB players of all time for all 30 baseball teams.

Boston Red Sox
2008 BEST PLAYER: Dustin Pedroia
Pure hustle. This tiny kid has won over RED SOX nation with his gutsy, balls-out play. He should never have to buy a beer in the Northeast US again. Not to mention boatloads of p—y.
2008 WORST PLAYER: Mike Timlin
Need a lead blown in the 7th? Mike is your man! He has lots of championship rings, which he’ll display on his middle finger at you while you call him a loser.
ALL-TIME BEST PLAYER: Ted Williams
The greatest pure hitter in baseball. Would have set many records and probably led the Red Sox to some titles if it wasn’t for a pesky little thing known as World War 2… He’s so damn good he’s in the Fishing Hall of Fame too.
*ALL-TIME WORST PLAYER: Eric Gagne
The French-Canadian closer was deadly as a Dodger, got hurt, stunk as a Texas Ranger and then stunk to HIGH HELL as a Red Sock. Boston couldn’t get rid of him fast enough…not sure why he’s even in the league anymore.
HONORABLE MENTION: Dave Roberts
His stolen base in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS made the greatest series comeback possible.

New York Yankees
*2008 BEST PLAYER: Jason Giambi
He may be sorry about taking steroids, but he will NEVER apologize for that moustache.
2008 WORST PLAYER: Johnny Damon
America’s favorite traitor phoned it in and came up lame again. One of the key reasons the Yankees aren’t in the post-season for the first time since Jesus was seven.
ALL-TIME BEST PLAYER: Babe Ruth
It’s not known ans DiMaggio’s Pad or Mickey Mantle’s Place…it’s the House that Ruth built. The best ever. Period.
ALL-TIME WORST PLAYER: Jose Canseco
Oh Steinbrenner, have you ever met a bloated past-prime HULK that you didn’t overpay?
HONORABLE MENTION: Yogi Berra
When you look at the old dude today it’s hard to imagine he ever played baseball. He looks like a mix between Yoda and your grandpa, except twice as huggable.
HORRIBLE MENTION: Carl Pavano
So far he’s made $2.2 million per start this year. Remember that when you see how bad the economy is on the news. He’s spent more time on the DL than Eddie Murphy. (Look it up.)

Tampa Bay Rays
2008 BEST PLAYER: Carlos Pena
It was almost Longoria until he got hurt down the stretch…but the smiling Cuban Pena’s 28 homers and 88 rbi’s (so far) have put the Rays at the top of the AL East.
2008 WORST PLAYER: Jonny Gomes
The Vanilla Ice look-alike is about the only disappointment on this overachieving team. He’s been hurt half the year, but he’s only batting .177 when healthy. One of those rare players that has helped his team by not playing on it.
ALL-TIME BEST PLAYER: Scott Kazmir
He’s young, he’s fearless, he’s strong and he has great stuff. It won’t be long before he’s the best player on a different team.
*ALL-TIME WORST PLAYER: Jose Canseco
He smacked 34 homers while hopped up on horse pills, hurt his back and wound up picking up a cheap championship ring with the Yankees. Not technically the worst player the Rays have had, but just a black-hole of a–holeness that invaded the clubhouse for a while.
HONORABLE MENTION: Wade Boggs
The great 3rd baseman played his last two years for the Rays and picked up his 3,000th hit at Tropicana Field.
HORRIBLE MENTION: Hideo Nomo
The leg kick wasn’t fooling anyone anymore in his last full year in MLB service. He’s still a god in Japan, he just can’t get a table at a Hooters in Florida.

Ah, anytime someone gets the chance to make fun of Jose Canseco, I’m in.