Tag: Josh Hamilton (Page 4 of 5)

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      June 19, 2010 /

      We’re about 40% through the current major league baseball season. That means we’re about to enter the warmest part of the season both on the field and in the standings. Contenders will begin to emerge and pretenders will begin to fade if they haven’t faded already. So we thought it was a good time to have our first installment of MLB power rankings…..

      1. Tampa Bay Rays (41-26)—Amazingly, the Rays have a better road record (23-11) than a home record (18-15). Also amazingly is how they jumped out of the gate and have stayed in front—with their usual formula of strong pitching (3.55 ERA leads the AL), speed (major league best 76 steals) and defense.

      2. New York Yankees (41-26)—Don’t look now, but the Yankees have caught up to Tampa. They just have too much talent for the Rays to keep them down all season.

      3. Boston Red Sox (41-28)—Struggling to keep pace with the Rays and Yanks, but now just one game back and right in the thick of it. Does anyone else feel bad for the Orioles and Blue Jays?

      4. Atlanta Braves (40-28)—A huge surprise to be leading the NL East on June 19, but not as big a surprise as the Phillies sitting in third place.

      5. Minnesota Twins (38-29)—Ignited by a new ball park and a fat new contract for their superstar catcher Joe Mauer, the Twins are going to run away with the AL Central because no one else wants to.

      6. San Diego Padres (39-28)—Definitely the surprise of the first two months, Bud Black has this Padres team over-achieving. They recently relinquished first place, but took it right back, and the Padres may stay in the hunt because of how well they fare in those close, low-scoring games.

      7. New York Mets (39-28)—Here’s another shocker. The Mets were picked by most pundits to be a fourth or fifth place team. And here they are battling the Braves for NL East supremacy. But the biggest surprise has been the starting rotation, where guys like Mike Pelfrey, RA Dickey and Jon Niese are reminding Mets fans of the Seaver/Koosman/Matlack days. And we haven’t even mentioned Johan Santana.

      8. Los Angeles Dodgers (38-29)—They’ve quietly made their move from bottom feeders to frontrunners, and they have the talent to stay there. But seriously, Manny Ramirez has SEVEN home runs on June 19? Hmmmm.

      9. Texas Rangers (39-28)—Everyone thought the Mariners would be the team to beat in the AL West this year, but they have one of the worst records in baseball at 26-41. Meanwhile, the Rangers are riding a frightening middle of the lineup (Guerrero/Hamilton/Cruz) to the division lead

      10. San Francisco Giants (37-29)—With Barry Zito looking like his old self, this team is extremely dangerous with him, all-world Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez.

      Tie 10. Detroit Tigers (37-29)--A 7-game winning streak has them right here and only a half-game back of the Twins.

      External Sports, MLB

      2010 MLB Preview: AL West

      March 24, 2010 /

      In order to help get you ready for the MLB season, we’re doing division-by-division rankings with quick overviews on how each club could fair in 2010. Next to each team, you’ll also find a corresponding number written in parenthesis, which indicates where we believe that club falls in a league-wide power ranking. Be sure to check back throughout the next two weeks leading up to the season, as we will be updating our content daily. Enjoy.

      All 2010 MLB Preview Content | AL East Preview | AL Central Preview | AL West Preview | NL East | NL Central | NL West

      Next up is the AL West.

      1. Los Angeles Angels (6)
      When I started to do the prep work for the AL West preview, I filled the top slot with the Angels without even giving it much thought. And why should I have? They’ve won the division six of the last seven years and baseball fans have just grown accustomed to the Halos being in the playoff mix every season. But immediately after I slotted them in the top spot, my stomach started to hurt and no, it wasn’t from the fish I ate last night. (Although hey, fish is still good even when it turns green right?) There’s no doubt that the Angels took a hit this offseason. They lost their ace (John Lackey), their leadoff man (Chone Figgins) and their top power source (Vladimir Guerrero), and usually when a team parts with that much talent, it suffers a setback. But this is why I’m not overly concerned about this club: the additions of Joel Pineiro and Hideki Matsui should pay dividends and if Scott Kazmir could ever stay healthy, he would ease the loss of Lackey. Plus, in Erick Aybar (their new leadoff hitter), Kendry Morales and Torri Hunter, the Halos still have a solid offensive core and their starting pitching is still in good shape with vets like Kazmir, Jered Weaver and Joe Saunders. Times are changing in L.A. and the Mariners and Rangers will push the Halos this season, but in the end they should be right back on top.

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      2010 Fantasy Baseball Preview: Outfielders

      March 9, 2010 /

      All 2010 Fantasy Articles | 2010 Position Rankings

      What’s great about the outfield position in fantasy baseball is that it’s like Wal Mart: you can get whatever you need and you’ll always be greeted with a friendly smile and a hello.

      All right, so you won’t be greeted with a smile when you select outfielders in your draft. In fact, that doesn’t even make any sense so just forget we wrote it. The point we’re trying to make is that whatever you wind up needing for your team on draft day, you can usually find it in the outfield section. Need speed? The outfield has you covered. Need power? It has that too.

      Below are a group of players that fit into certain categories based on need. You know that a guy like Ryan Braun is going to get you production across the board, same with Matt Kemp, Matt Holliday, Grady Sizemore and Carl Crawford. But the guys we’ve outlined below are players you can target in the middle to late rounds that will give you a boost in certain areas. You’re not going to get production in every category if you draft these players, but hopefully you’ll be satisfied in the specific categories we’ve highlighted.

      Power Boosters:

      Adam Lind, Blue Jays
      Perhaps the most encouraging thing for fantasy owners about Lind’s breakout 2009 campaign, was that he was consistent throughout the entire season and hit right-handed pitching as well as he hit lefties. After hitting 35 home runs and driving in 114 RBI last season, we think Lind will be more apt to match those numbers (or even improve on them) this season than he will be to crash and burn.

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      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Morneau to skip Home Run Derby, Hamilton as well

      July 8, 2009 /

      Looks like there will be a new home run derby king this year:

      Minnesota Twins slugger Justin Morneau says he has declined an invitation to participate in the popular All-Star Game event, which will be held Monday in St. Louis. He says he wants to rest and would prefer to watch.

      Morneau won last year’s competition at Yankee Stadium, but that was overshadowed by Josh Hamilton’s record 28 homers in the first round. The Texas Rangers outfielder tired as the event dragged on and Morneau outlasted him 5-3 in the finals.

      Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says he is happy to hear Morneau will be sitting this one out.
      Hamilton isn’t going to participate, either, at the request of his manager.

      It’s too bad that neither Morneau nor Hamilton will compete, but the fans in St. Louis will still be treated to Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez.

      Still, it would have been cool to see this again:

      MLB, Video

      Rotoworld Top 250 MLB Fantasy Rankings

      July 7, 2009 /

      Rotoworld.com just released their July rankings of the top 250 fantasy baseball players. The rankings are based on how the site believes each player will perform in 5×5 leagues over the rest of the season.

      Here’s their top 15:

      1 Albert Pujols Cardinals
      2 Hanley Ramirez Marlins
      3 Tim Lincecum Giants
      4 Carl Crawford Rays
      5 Alex Rodriguez Yankees
      6 David Wright Mets
      7 Ian Kinsler Rangers
      8 Ryan Braun Brewers
      9 Chase Utley Phillies
      10 Johan Santana Mets
      11 Mark Teixeira Yankees
      12 Roy Halladay Blue Jays
      13 Joe Mauer Twins
      14 Evan Longoria Rays
      15 Miguel Cabrera Tigers

      All in all, these rankings are extremely helpful for owners trying to project how players are going to do throughout the rest of the year. If you’re looking to trade before your league’s deadline, these rankings can be a useful tool.

      That said, I’m a little surprised to see players like Dustin Pedroia (41), Josh Hamilton (49) and Pablo Sandoval (105) ranked so low. Pedroia should get his average back up over .300, he’s on pace to steal another 15-plus bases, and one would have to believe that his power numbers will be better in the second half as well. (He only has three dingers so far on the season, but hit 17 in his MVP season last year.)

      Hamilton’s injury is a concern, but he hits in a great lineup and as long as he stays healthy, he should have at least another 12-15 home runs left in him with the RBI totals to match. And while Sandoval (who qualifies at 1B, 3B and C) plays in a weak offense, he’s already proven that he can flat out rake. He’s currently batting .332 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs, which better David Wright’s .326/5/42 numbers. Plus, with the Giants in contention and looking to trade for a quality bat, Sandoval’s RBI and run totals could rise in the second half as well.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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