To hit home runs and doubles usually requires power, but to hit triples requires a bit of power and a lot of speed. Or sometimes, luck, such as when an outfielder misjudges a ball and lets an otherwise slow runner reach third. But the leaders in MLB in this category are seasoned speedsters, and have mostly done it for several years. Here is the active Top 10 in triples, including only players on active rosters in 2009:

1. Johnny Damon, New York Yankees (93)—At age 35 and having battled injuries throughout his career, Damon has lost a step or two. But between 1998 and 2002, this sparkplug reached double digits in triples three times.

2. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies (90)—Rollins is the heart and soul of the Phillies, and is one of the reasons they won a title in 2008. He’s only 30, but has reached double figures in triples five times, including a career high 20 in 2007.

3. Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays (85)—Crawford is a game-changer, and in his still young career has averaged 15 triples and 53 stolen bases per season.

4. Cristian Guzman, Washington Nationals (78)—Still a very good hitter, but Guzman isn’t the triples or stolen base threat he was in his earlier days with Minnesota. His career high, like Rollins, was also 20 triples, set in 2000 with the Twins.

5. Jose Reyes, New York Mets (73)—Arguably one of the two or three fastest players in the game, Jose has averaged 16 triples and 65 steals over the last four seasons. So how in the world do the Mets not score more runs?

6. Omar Vizquel, Texas Rangers (72)—This one is more about longevity, but Omar did have a career best 10 triples with the Giants in 2006, at the ripe old baseball age of 39.

7. Juan Pierre, Los Angeles Dodgers (71)—Ol’ Juan has slowed down just a bit too, but he’s hit double digits in triples four times during his career, including three straight times from 2004-2006.

8. Carlos Beltran, New York Mets (64)—Does anyone remember that Carlos Beltran played seven seasons in Kansas City? I mean, did he really?

8. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (64)—Ichiro bats for average and steals more bases than he does hit extra base hits. But he’s averaged 8 triples per season during his American big league career.

10. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (57)—Jeter is just a true professional and great baseball player, but his career high in triples, 9, came ten seasons ago.

Source: Baseball Reference

The baseball season, and more importantly to some of you, the fantasy baseball season, is underway. Some fantasy GM’s, myself included, usually stock up on home run hitters and focus less on stolen bases. It’s a matter of taste and a matter of how your league keeps score. But some speedsters can be difference-makers, and here is a list of the active Top 10 in stolen bases to date, excluding those who are technically active but not currently on a major league roster:

1. Juan Pierre, Los Angeles Dodgers (429)—I had to do a double take. Juan Pierre, still playing? Why yes, he’s only 30 years old, and he had 40 stolen bases for the Dodgers last season. He could easily reach 500 by late next season, putting him in the career company of Luis Aparicio and Paul Molitor, among others.

2. Omar Vizquel, Texas Rangers (385)—He’s 42 and a backup now, but how about Omar’s ’99 season in Cleveland when he hit .333 with 42 steals? The fact that Omar finished 16th in the MVP voting that season says more about the steroid era than it does about his season. Today he’d probably finish in the top 5 with those numbers.

3. Johnny Damon, New York Yankees (363)—It’s hard to believe Johnny Damon has been in the league since 1995, but he has, and he’s been a pesky leadoff hitter the entire time, averaging an impressive 30 steals per season.

4. Luis Castillo, New York Mets (342)—He’s not the speedster he once was, but Castillo stole a modest 17 bases last year while not at 100%, and he’s still only 33 years young.

5. Bobby Abreu, Los Angeles Angels (318)—Bobby has that rare combination of speed, power and the ability to hit for average. It’s amazing he was on the free agent market this past winter for as long as he was.

6. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (315)—The amazing thing about Ichiro is that he’s only entering his ninth season in the American major leagues. Once he returns from the DL from a stomach ulcer, he’s going to keep adding to this total, probably for several years.

7. Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays (302)—One of the game’s most exciting young players, and he’s only 27 years old.

8. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies (295)—Rollins is another guy who does it all, including hit for power and play the field like a wizard. A legitimate MVP candidate year after year, and a big reason the Phils won it all in 2008.

9 (tie). Mike Cameron, Milwaukee Brewers (291)—If Cameron had a higher career batting average than his .250 mark, he’d no doubt have more steals by now as well. But .291 is still pretty impressive for any player.

9 (tie). Jose Reyes, New York Mets (291)—One of the cornerstones of the Mets’ franchise and a guy that has contended for the stolen base title every season of his career. Reyes is only 26 years old, and AVERAGING 62 steals per season. That’s just mind-boggling.

Source: Baseball Reference

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Offseason Movement: The defending World Series champs added 2B Miguel Cairo, OF Raul Ibanez, C Ronny Paulino and pitchers Gary Majewski and Chan Ho Park this offseason. Philly also parted with OF Pat Burrell, OF So Taguchi and pitchers Adam Eaton, Tom Gordon and Rudy Seanez.

Top Prospect: Carlos Carrasco, RHP
Carrasco enters 2009 as one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball and if Chan Ho Park struggles as the fifth starter, there’s a chance that Carrasco might make an appearance at some point this season. He appears to have a very high ceiling and while he’s still a bit erratic at times, Carrasco will likely smooth out his rough spots in Triple-A before making the big league roster.

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Thanks to David Wright and Kevin Youkilis, Team USA is heading to the semis of the World Baseball Classic.

David Wright delivered a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth to propel Team USA past Puerto Rico and into the semis of the World Baseball Classic.

Talent won out in the end, even though Team USA has constantly stepped on its own feet by trying to get everyone into the game and still not play matchups at all. Down 5-3 in the ninth, Team USA got back-to-back singles from Shane Victorino and Brian Roberts against J.C. Romero. Derek Jeter then grounded out, advancing only the lead runner. However, Roberts stole second base and Jimmy Rollins walked to load them, resulting in Romero’s departure. After Fernando Cabrera came in, Kevin Youkilis, who homered earlier, walked to force in a run, and Wright dumped a ball into right field to score two runs. It was his third hit of the game.

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t think that USA’s pitching staff would carry them this far. And really, the pitching hasn’t been that great (USA’s team ERA is 6.10) but guys like Wright, Roberts, Victorino, Ryan Braun, Adam Dunn and Jimmy Rollins have been killing the ball. Hopefully the bats stay alive and we can all see a Team USA gold medal.

All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

The collective groan you heard when Alex Rodriguez announced that he would have “hybrid” surgery to repair his injured hip was not solely the work of the Yankee faithful. The ramifications in fantasy circles are staggering, especially if you, like me, happen to have the fifth pick in your draft.

Just a few days ago, I thought I had my draft strategy all figured out. The first round would simply be a matter of which of the Big Five (Hanley, Reyes, Pujols, A-Rod, Wright) fell to me. The mock drafts I conducted a few weeks ago indicated that Wright would be my guy, which was fine with me. The post-surgery view from the five-hole, however, is bleak. The Big Five is now the Big Four – Rodriguez is currently sitting at #49 in my draft room – and whichever player I take with my first pick now feels like a reach. However, after doing some stat sorting, I found my guy. He’s a former MVP with pop and speed. So why don’t I want to take him?

All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

If you’re a fantasy baseball or football owner and you don’t read Rotoworld every day (or, in my case, several times a day), you’re not only missing out, but you may very well be costing yourself a chance at a league title. As far as free and comprehensive fantasy advice goes, nobody does it better than Rotoworld. Their player updates pull from all sorts of local and national sources and are updated throughout the day, and their columnists offer up plenty of great insight, both during the season and leading up to draft day. They even have their own draft guide, although you’ve got to pay $15 for that.

Howard Megdal (who, as far as I can tell, is new to the Rotoworld staff this season) just posted a great article about the value of youth and health on draft day:

So when I draft, I want as much predictability as possible. Therefore, my two touchstones are getting as many players in their age peak (roughly 25-30), with an added focus on injury history. Such a strategy provides no guarantees—no strategy does—but puts me in the best position to consolidate my gains. And as a bonus—a healthy player of peak age, more likely than not, is going to be a player who has that surprise season you were hoping for from the rookie, anyway.

I’m always amazed by how many owners don’t pay attention to age or injury history during their drafts, especially in the early rounds. Every year, someone drafts a guy like AJ Burnett too early, and every year Burnett goes down with some kind of injury. Go ahead and take Lance Berkman in the second round — I’ll gladly wait another round or two and snag the younger Adrian Gonzalez or Prince Fielder. Upside, upside, upside.

Megdal goes on to target some of the likely first-rounders that he’s avoiding this year:

Ian Kinsler is another top-12 player with red flags of the white bandage variety. For the third straight season, he showed that when healthy, he is an offensive force at a position, second base, with very few of them. But he played in just 121 games, this time due to a sports hernia, and his season-high through three seasons is 130. No reason he can’t help a fantasy team—but let someone else draft his injury history first.

Also consider dropping Jimmy Rollins, who played in 137 games last season and already has back issues in spring training, and Carl Crawford, who was limited to 109 games with a finger injury last year. Crawford in particular appears to be healthy this spring—but grab the guy who just put up 150-160 games in 2008. An extra 10-15 games out of your best player could be the difference in some leagues.

Instead of Kinsler, who averaged fewer than 124 games per season from 2006-2008, how about Brandon Phillips, who has averaged around 150 games per season? Phillips is 27, suggesting that his best year may come in 2009.

I’m pretty high on both Kinsler and Phillips, as I noted in my second base preview, but while Kinsler is younger (by one year) and may arguably have a little more upside, Phillips has the much healthier track record and can be snagged a little later than Kinsler, which likely makes him the better value of the two. When you consider the premium you’ll need to pay for Kinsler (a late first or early second rounder), Phillips becomes that much more intriguing.

Megdal wisely suggests not becoming a slave to this (or any) draft strategy, because remaining too loyal to a plan could close you out of any mid- to late-round bargains that may fall into your lap. But when it comes to debating the merits of Carlos Delgado vs. Adrian Gonzalez, AJ Burnett vs. Edinson Volquez, or Carlos Lee vs. Nick Markakis, you’d be wise to go with the younger, healthier guy.

All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

Before your 2009 fantasy baseball draft kicks off this year, do yourself a favor and repeat this three or four times to yourself: I will draft a shortstop in the first nine rounds.

Not unlike third basemen, the shortstop position is weak this season. After Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins come off the board in the first two rounds, you’re left with roughly eight shortstops that will give you adequate to good production this season. We project those eight shortstops to be selected anywhere between the fifth and ninth round in standard mixed leagues, which is why we suggest nabbing one before the conclusion of the ninth.

The good news is that in a 12-team league, you’ll definitely have the opportunity to land one of the big three (Ramirez, Reyes, Rollins) or scoop up one of the eight adequate-to-good shortstops that we’re referring to. The bad news is that shortstops can start flying off the board quickly and if you’re selecting in a snake draft, you could wind up on the wrong end of the spectrum when the run starts.

That’s why to be safe, you will draft a shortstop in one of the first nine rounds because you don’t want to be the guy that’s trying to figure out whether or not Edgar Renteria will bounce back now that he’s in the NL again, or having to choose between Orlando Cabrera’s consistent .280 batting average and Khalili Greene’s 25-plus home run potential. (Side note: If you do wind up being that guy come draft day, it might be wise to select two shortstops back to back and hope you catch lightning in a bottle with one of them.)

Obviously you still want to be smart on draft day; we’re not advising you to take Derek Jeter in the third because you’re spooked about failing to grab a shortstop before the ninth round. But taking one of the top 11 shortstops a round early might not be a bad idea considering what you’ll be left with later on.

Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer blasts Major League Baseball for what transpired due to the driving rain that the Phillies and Rays had to play in before Game 5 of the World Series was finally called.

Simply put, Game 5 is hopelessly tainted by what transpired between the time the game should have been called and the middle of the sixth inning, when it was finally suspended.

Whatever happens when play resumes, whether the Phillies celebrate their first World Series championship or the Rays force a Game 6 in Florida, MLB can’t justify its decision or its decision-making process.

The first problem here is TV’s insistence on scheduling these games for 8:30 p.m. or even later. There are plenty of lovely autumn afternoons – and yesterday was one of them – that give way to cold and blustery evenings. When baseball, like other sports, sold its soul to the networks and their craven need for prime-time sports programming, it created a situation where young fans couldn’t stay up to watch the most important games of the year.

Rollins, rain pouring into his face, dropped that pop-up in the top of the fifth. The play was rather nastily ruled an error, as if it had occurred in acceptable conditions. Hamels got out of that inning without allowing a run. The Phillies led, 2-1, in the middle of the fifth.

At that moment, a regular-season game would become official. A rainout would mean the game was over, with the Phillies winning.

“This is not a way to end a World Series,” Selig said. “I would not allow a World Series to end this way.”

Selig is right on that point. The problem is, it appears MLB allowed play to continue in unplayable conditions because the Phillies had a lead. It seems like more than a coincidence that play was suspended after the top of the sixth, when the Rays tied the game on a base hit by Carlos Pena.

I agree with everything Sheridan said. I thought Selig would have made the right call not to allow the World Series to end that way, but if that was the decision anyway, why allow the game to continue? As Sheridan suggests, it’s almost like Selig was hoping the Rays tied the game so that he wouldn’t be under the microscope for having to change a rule. It’s just a mess.

Oklahoma vs. Texas
This year’s Red River Rivalry battle at the Cotton Bowl has more marquee value than in past years; as for the first time since 2004 both teams will enter the game ranked in the top five. Heading into this season, the Longhorns offense was thought to be their biggest strength. But it has been the Texas defense that has provided most of the swagger. The Longhorns are ranked fourth nationally in total defense and that is a big jump since the 2007 unit set a school record for most yards allowed in a season. They will get stiff competition come Saturday against top-ranked Oklahoma. The Sooners are in the top five nationally in all offensive scoring categories, led by the nation’s second-rated passer Sam Bradford. National coverage begins Saturday at 12 PM ET on ABC. Click here for the official Oklahoma-Texas smack thread.

LSU vs. Florida
“The Showdown at the Swamp� marks the first time the last two national champions have faced each other since Notre Dame defeated Miami, 29-20, in 1990. The stakes are high for both schools; Florida must win to maintain any realistic hope of staying in the hunt for a berth in the BCS championship game, while LSU needs the win to stay on course to repeat as National Champions. And the matchup got even more intense after Tigers defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois promised that the LSU defense will try to knock Gator quarterback Tim Tebow out of the game. Later in the week, Jean-Francois said his comments were misinterpreted by the press. National coverage begins Saturday at 8 PM ET on CBS.

Major League Baseball LCS Series
The animosity between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox is not ready to approach the level of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, but their contempt for each other is a good undercard. Back on June 5th, the Rays’ Game One starter, James Shields, hit Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp with a pitch that triggered a bench-clearing brawl between the two teams. Has this issue been resolved? Stay tuned for the answer. Meanwhile, the National League Championship series boils down to how well the Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed pitchers throw to the Philadelphia Phillies lethal left-handed hitting. The Phillies led the NL with 214 homeruns, with Ryan Howard leading the way with 48 followed by Chase Utley with 33, and both players bat left-handed. The top of the Phillies’ lineup also includes switch-hitting Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino, who both have outstanding on-base percentages. NLCS Game Two is Friday at 4:30 PM ET and Game Three is on Sunday at 8 PM ET; all NLCS games are on Fox. ALCS Game One is on Friday at 8:30 PM ET and Game Two is on Saturday at 8 PM ET. All ALCS games can be seen on TBS.

New England Patriots vs. San Diego Chargers
Their franchise quarterback is out for the season, and somehow the Patriots have still put together a successful start to their 2008 season. On the other side of the field, the Chargers have been one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL. To avoid falling further back in the AFC standings, the Chargers must try to defeat a Patriots team that has eliminated them from the past two post-seasons. Inconsistent play on both sides of the ball has plagued the Chargers all season; they have lost three games by a total of 10 points. Coverage begins at 8:15 PM ET on NBC

“Momentum is always as strong as your starting pitcher is the next day.â€�
- Joe Maddon

Leave it to the well-read Rays manger to come up with such a profound statement. Chances are this saying is nailed up in his teams’ clubhouse alongside others from the likes of Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Maddon’s right, and he’s used this pitching-first philosophy to propel his team into the ALCS.

If there’s one quality that ties each of the remaining four teams together, it’s that each of them can hit. They each have at least two big bats, lead-off men that can hit for average, and a bottom of the order that can consistently do some damage. When teams are this evenly matched at the plate, it’s often a single blunder on the part of a pitcher that can decide a game. As we’ve seen in the Division Series between the Angels and Red Sox, it comes down to the pitching. Both teams boasted fabulous rotations and excellent hitting, but it was the Red Sox middle relief and closer that really won the games.