With one spot to fill on the NL All-Star roster due to an injury to the Mets’ Carlos Beltran, Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth is now heading to St. Louis to play in the Midsummer Classic.

This is a well-deserved honor for Werth, who has put up great power numbers so far this season, smashing 20 home runs, 54 RBI and scoring 59 runs. And for those who say his numbers are inflated because of the park he plays in, check the stats because he’s been just as good on the road as he has been at home.

That said, Pablo Sandoval of the Giants and Matt Kemp of the Dodgers have every right to feel that they were hosed for not making the NL roster this season. Sandoval has carried a Giants’ offense that features Bengie Molina as the cleanup hitter for cribb’s sake. He’s also incredibly fun to watch, playing every game with a raw energy that compliments his natural talent. He can also play multiple positions and at only 23, San Fran has finally got themselves a potentially great young hitter.

The same goes for Kemp, who has been outstanding this year for the best team in baseball. He’s hitting .319 with 10 dingers, 46 RBI, 46 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. He’s also played a fantastic outfield and was one of the players that kept L.A. afloat when Manny Ramirez got suspended.

Anyone one of those players – Werth, Sandoval, Kemp – would have been worthy candidates. Any argument could be made for each and every one of them.

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Offseason Movement: The Dodgers were mostly quiet this offseason outside of adding Orlando Hudson, Guillermo Mota and Randy Wolf. Oh yeah, and after 4,958 days of painful back and forth negotiating, L.A. GM Ned Colleti was able to re-sign outfielder Manny Ramirez to a two-year deal.

Top Prospect: James McDonald, RHP
The Dodgers have a couple of top prospects, including OF/1B Andrew Lambo and INF Ivan DeJesus Jr., but McDonald is the closest to making the big league roster. The club has been in search for a fifth starter all spring and they could tab McDonald for the role if he continues to pitch well in exhibition games. McDonald doesn’t overpower hitters (his fastball only tops out at 92 mph), but he has a nasty curveball and his command is solid as well. It’ll be interesting to see if L.A. gives the 24-year old the fifth spot in the rotation or sends him down to Triple-A for more seasoning.

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to line up against an NFL defensive tackle and try to throw a block? Well, after seeing John Brenkus, host of the Emmy Award winning show “Sport Science,” do just that when he squared off against New York Jets Pro Bowl lineman Kris Jenkins, you may not want to try this at home. Check out this preview video for that and more of Brenkus’ always entertaining, sometimes bordering on moronic, stunts like this. If you’re squeamish, you might turn the other way when Jenkins sends his victim through the air and onto a thick mat. It’s almost like watching Lawrence Taylor break Joe Theismann’s leg.

But this show didn’t win an Emmy for no reason, as it’s the kind of train-wreck-happening show that you just can’t turn away from. Other somewhat frightening stunts are the choke test, as Brenkus tries to see who has more choking power, MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko or a python. A freaking python? Yikes. And there’s the bit with Dodgers’ outfielder Matt Kemp in which Brenkus finds out if foam padding really does help when you crash into an outfield wall.
Not all the stunts are dangerous….PGA golfer Brad Faxon helps Brenkus see if wet sand or thick rough is a trickier golf ball lie.

The show’s premise, if you haven’t guessed yet, is “to test the limits of human performance and show what really happens on the field,” according to a press release. If you’re intrigued, and need a change of pace after watching all of those NCAA basketball games, tune in Sunday night on Fox Sports Net at 9pm (8pm central). For those of you afraid to watch, there’s always “Desperate Housewives.”

Sport Science
Sunday, March 22 9pm ET/8pm central
Fox Sports Net

All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

The great thing about addressing your outfielder positions on draft day is that there are so many to choose from that chances are if you don’t like one facet about a certain player (i.e. age, inexperience, he plays for the Red Sox and you’re a Yankees fan, etc.), you can move on to one of the many other choices available.

Conversely, with so many players to choose from, you’re liable to stick your head in an oven in order to avoid having to decide between which outfielders will explode and which will wind up on your league’s wavier wire after making you suffer for the first couple months of the season.

The nice thing about having so many choices for outfielders is that you can draft certain players to fill certain needs. As your roster starts to take shape on draft day, if you desire more power, then there are plenty of outfielders that can address that specific need. If your team is lacking speed, there are outfielders that you can target to rack up stolen bases. And if you were able to draft for both speed and power in previous rounds, then adding a couple outfielders that can hit for average will only help you in the long run.

That said, if you’re smart, you’ll pinpoint the outfielders that can do it all. Sure, they might not excel in any one area, but over the course of the season if you can land a guy that can spread out his production in home runs, RBIs, runs and average, it will do wonders for your team in the end. After all, balance is key in fantasy baseball and after you land your studs early on, you’re going to need to complete your roster with players that can produce in all areas.

RealClearSports.com recently ranked the top 10 worst MLB free agent signings of all-time.

#1 Chan Ho Park Signed by Texas in 2002, five years, $65 million.
Coming off 18-10 and 15-11 seasons in the pitchers’ heaven that is Dodger Stadium, Texas gave Park one of the most lucrative contracts ever given to a pitcher at that time. Injuries limited his workload, which wasn’t a bad thing considering his ERAs with the Rangers: 5.75, 7.58, 5.74, 5.66, before he was finally unloaded to San Diego in 2005.

#2 Juan Pierre (signed by Los Angeles in 2006, five years, $44 million) and Andruw Jones (signed by Los Angeles in 2007, two years, $36.2 million).
You know it’s a really bad signing when the team inks someone a year later to play the same position, and he does even worse. Pierre took his below-league-average on-base ability and minuscule power into the offensive void of Dodger Stadium with predictable results: .664 and .655 OPS in his two seasons so far. Andruw Jones received a raise off his worst season in 2007, and demonstrated that bad year in Atlanta was no fluke, batting .158 with three home runs in 209 at bats in 2008. The Jones signing also shifted Pierre to left field, where his wretched bat for a centerfielder would be an even greater liability. By the end of the season, the Dodgers recognized their CF answer had been there all along, in the person of Matt Kemp.

#3 Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle – Signed by Colorado in 2000; Hampton for eight years, $121 million, Neagle for five years, $51 million.
The vertiginous problem of pitching in Colorado led to some terrible decisions. Even though importing a free agent had failed in the case of Darryl Kile (ERAs of 5.20 and 6.61 in his two seasons before he was traded to St. Louis), the Rockies tried again in the 2000-01 offseason, giving $172 million to two lefthanders. Hampton was hampered by injuries and ineffectiveness in his two seasons in Colorado, going 21-28 with ERAs of 5.41 and 6.15 before being shipped off to Florida (and then on to Atlanta); his free-agent contract finally expired last year. Neagle was a decent 31-year-old pitcher with a 105-69 record and 3.92 career ERA when the Rockies elevated him to the front of their rotation; he gave them three seasons of 19-23, 5.56, before earning his release with two years left on his contract.

I’m a little surprised Barry Zito didn’t make the list, but I guess people are willing to give him one more year of brutal pitching before really laying the hammer on the massive free agent bust.

After getting called up to the big leagues in 2005, Andre Ethier was immediately traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Los Angles Dodgers, in exchange for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez. Though the Dodgers gave up a formidable talent in Bradley, they saw something special in the minor-league right fielder. Simply stated, it was potential. When new general manager Ned Colletti was given the reins in 2005, he focused on creating a starting lineup that depended on its youngsters. Since then, he’s been brutally criticized for signing former stars to bulky contracts that have failed to pan out. However, he should be credited for completing what he set out to do way back in 2005. By dipping into his farm system instead of his check book, Colletti has made Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Andre Ethier into everyday players.

At times, it’s tough to be a Dodger fan. Besides the Yankees, the Dodgers make more transactions involving blue chip players than any other organization. Their starting lineup one day may be completely different the next, as a smorgasbord of future hall-of-famers and one-time greats jump in and out of the lineup. Colletti has taken huge risks in spending enormous sums on big-name players. Manny Ramirez is proving to be his first untainted success after the unfruitful acquisitions of Andruw Jones, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Brad Penny. Colletti is paying each of these guys at least $5 million a year and is hearing about it every day.

Then there’s Andre Ethier. After signing a one-year $425,000 deal for the 2007-08 season, Ethier has quickly matured into the Dodgers’ most economic star. Actually, forget “economic.â€� He is the Dodgers’ best all-around player and will soon become the face of their organization if Colletti plays his cards right. Keep in mind, Ramirez came aboard more than two-thirds into the season. At 36 years-old, Manny is a future hall-of-famer with only a few years remaining. As much as the Dodgers and their fans would love to keep the free-spirited slugger, his contract is up at the end of the season, and all signs point to Manny in pinstripes.

Ethier is only 26 and just finishing his third professional season. He has an unbelievable arm, can hit for both power and average, and has avoided injury. On a roster that contains five capable outfielders—Ethier, Jones, Kemp, Ramirez, and Pierre—Ethier has undeniably earned a starting slot. He leads the Dodgers in homeruns (20) and batting average (.299), is tied with Matt Kemp in doubles (36), and is second in RBIs (71) and triples (6). Ethier is a free agent at the end of this season and, as these numbers show, he’s proven more valuable than those other cash cows.

The Dodgers are finally breaking away from the Diamondbacks and are running a blue streak towards the pennant. This current success can be found in the bats of the veteran Ramirez and the youngster Ethier. Next year, the Dodgers are likely to look much different. (Manny Ramirez, Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Greg Maddux, Chad Billingsley, and Derek Lowe are all up for contract renegotiation.) Hopefully, Ned Colletti will follow those same instincts he had in 2005 and focus on youth by re-signing Andre Ethier.