Power Rankings: Season 20 V.5 Mid Season

Power Ranking V5
This weeks rank;(last week); change; Team; (record); week's record
 1(1)  NC Tampa Bay (66-27) 13-6
 2(3)  +1 Ottawa (57-36) 13-4
 3(2)  -1 Syracuse (57-36) 10-7
 4(4)  NC Cleveland (59-34) 11-6
 5(8)  +3 Mexico City (57-36) 10-7
 6(9)  +3 Charlotte (52-41) 10-7
 7(6)  +1 Vancouver (52-41) 11-6
 8(7)  -1 Huntington (57-36) 11-6
 9(13)  +4 Hartford (57-36) 12-5

 10(5)  -5 St. Louis (48-45) 5-12

 11(11)  NC Chicago NL (50-43) 7-10
 12(10)  -2 Chicago AL (45-48)  6-11
 13(16)  +3 Detroit (49-44) 10-7
 14(12)  -2 Florida (49-44)  8-9
 15(15)  NC Fresno (51-42) 9-8
 16(17)  +1 Little Rock (45-48) 8-9
  17(14)  -3 San Diego (42-51) 5-12
 18(18)  NC Scranton (51-42) 8-9
 19(23)  +4 Charleston (43-50) 13-4
 20(21)  +1 Anaheim (46-47) 8-9
 21(19)  -2 Colorado (45-48) 6-11 
 22(20)  -2 Washington (37-56)  5-12    
 23(22)   -1 New York NL (44-49) 10-7
 24(28)  +4 San Francisco (43-50) 10-7
 25(24)   -1 San Juan (40-53)  8-9
 26(25)   -1 Las Vegas (39-54) 7-10
 27(27)   NC Salem (38-55) 8-9
 28(26)  -2 New York AL (29-64) 5-12 
 29(31)  +2 Indianapolis (37-56) 7-10
 30(30)  NC Atlanta (30-63) 5-12 
 31(29) -2  Seattle (35-58)  9-8
 32(32)  NC Baltimore (38-55) 6-11

Season 20: Mid-Season Awards- NL Cy Young

1.Rico Pascual: Pascual's dominance is incredible.
2.Al Olivares:  Pascual's dominance is so far above everyone else it takes away from some of the other performances that deserve recognition, like Olivares'.
3. Dicky Feng: Feng has been very good so far and could be better if some Washington players were meeting expectations.
4. Harry Owen:  Best closr in the NL this season.
5.Paxton Gaetti:  Not as many innings as I would like to see but his dominance is undeniable.

Season 20: Mid-Season Awards- AL Cy Young

1. Victor Nieves:  Third best WHIP in the league, leads the league in starter ERA, league leader in wins, 3rd in K's.  He has been the winning pitcher in 15 of the 19 games he has started.  That is making a difference.
2. Ryan Edwards: league leading WHIP.  11 Wins.
3. Eric Turnbow:  Turnbow's numbers are impressive out of the pen.
4. Ray Evans: Not a real candidate for this award but past the top three no one is at this point.  Very good season and deserves some recognition for it.
5.  William Stephens:  Stephens won't show up on many lists, he has very few counting stats, but his performance has probably been the brightest part of the season in Baltimore.

Season 20: Mid-Season Awards- AL MVP

1. Donaldo Santana:  It was a tough call between Santana, Willie Alcantara, and Javier Arroyo.  What I cannot figure out is how Santana has scored so many more runs than the other team with a significantly lower OBP than both of them while playing for the same team.  He also has many more RBI.
2.Kordell Mintz:  Mintz has been the driving offensive player on the second best team in the AL while playing a difficult defensive position.
3. Pat Hernandez Hernandez has Cleveland in a position to be the first non-Syracuse team to win the AL North.  Can he keep them there?
4. John Yamaguchi: Yamaguchi has been one of the most dominating players in Ruth history, he has no MVP awards.  This may be his last shot.  His international signing bonus was only $9.5m impressive.
5. Eddie Arnold:  Arnold and Oswaldo Franco were both up for the final slot and I gave Arnold a slight edge.  The fact that they are both so similar and up for consideration could also be the argument aghainst both of them.

Season 20: Mid-Season Awards- NL MVP

My criteria for MVP is not based solely on stats, although they play a big part in it.  Team success and expectations also plays a role in it.

1.  Don Tanaka: Tanaka does it all on offense, table setter, run producer, steals, he is the heart and soul of a dominant Tampa team.

2.Russell Tracy: Hartford was predicted to be a darkhorse tam this season and so far they are one of the top 3 teams in the league.  Tracy plays a huge role in their success.
3.Javier Javier:  Javier has carried this team for most of the season.  Considering the injuries and underperformance of others on this team it is amazing they are in charge of the second wild card slot.

4.  Brandon Walsh:  It was a toss up between Walsh and William Dalrymple.  While Dalrymple's power is impressive, Walsh's ability to get on base provides more value to the Huntington team.

5.  Bobby Valentin:  As Valentin goes so goes the Armstrongs.  When he slumps the team slumps, when he is hot the team is hot.
 

P.T. Belliard is having a great season but his team is 6 out of the division and 4 out of the wild card.  If they can make a run in the second half then Belliard will move up on this list, pretty close to the top.

Season 20: Mid-Season Awards- NL Rookie of the Year

1. Shannon Clark:  Clark is going to be a monster for a while.  he needs a nickname.  I vote "Mothra"
2. Floyd Dixon:  Solid contributions helping put Fresno in first.
3. Randall Frye: Frye does have the wins or saves but he has been very good in his flex role.
4. Nate Payton:  His numbers are very good, imagine if his ballpark was more offensively friendly.
5.Dusty Weathers: Weathers has been solid.

Season 20: Mid-Season Awards- AL Rookie of the Year

1. Geoff Ruffin: Solid contributions here.  He had an 18 game hitting streak.
2. Micah Elarton: Elarton has not missed a beat since his promotion
3.Clarence Silvestri: He has a bright future in front of him.
4.Ron Wise: Good offense from a tough defensive position.
5. Tony Plata: success in the pen, limited opportunities.

Player Profile: Karim Castro

Karim Castro is a sentimental favorite of mine.  He leapfrogs a couple others who have better overall numbers but fewer IP than him.  Who would have ever figured a player with a projected 28 health would end up pitching almost 1500 major league innings over the course of his 14 year career.  He also has 14 trips to the DL and is still performing at a high level.  If there was a comeback player of the year award in HBD he would have won it more than once.  He is the Chad Pennington of HBD.  His signing bonus was $7.9 million and he more than earned it over his career.  The one area he has always been hurt most by his health is in contract negotiating.  At his peak he had control over 70 and splits in the high 70's, his ratings were all star caliber, but he was never able to earn over $3.8 million per season because Lloyd's of London wouldn't touch him.  At 34 years old he is nearing the declining stage but he is still pretty good and will likely be a free agent value after the season.

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: RP

1. Eric Turnbow:  Turnbow has been fantastic and is working on a contract year.  His previous seasons have been good, this one is outstanding.  He is coming off a huge contract.  What is he asking for next season?
2.Victor Fernandez: Fernandez has pitched often and been pretty good.  He is averaging over 9k/9
3.Brutus Chambers:  Chambers has been a rock at the end of the Cleveland bullpen.
4.Terry Hunt:  I almost missed hunt but his 88 IP out of the pen and his 12-0 record could easily have him as high as second on this list.
5.Wilbur Osborn:  Osborn's numbers are very good but his ratings are a puzzler.  His durability is too low to be either a reliable starter or a full time reliever.  How would be the best way to maximize innings?

Marino Ayala, Larry Dye, and Tony Sanchez have all been fantastic.  Sanchez is a perfect 27-27 in save opportunites.  None of them meet the IP criteria.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: RP

Minimum of 30 IP, have to be pitching primarily from the pen.  This means tandem starters would also be candidates here.

1.Harry Owen:  Owen is 24 for 24 in save opportunities but when reached for comment he attributed all of his success to Ronald Milton's glovework in left field as well as his offensive contributions says, "If not for Milty we would not even be in position to win those games and no wins means no saves."

2.Paxton Gaetti:  Gaetti is part of a flex tandem rotation.  He has been on the vulture half of the tandem team and been the one to earn the wins for the solid performance.

3.Alex Kata: Katadoesn't get the saves for his role but he has been a key player in the pen, without his performance Owens would not have been able to credit Milty.  I almost went with Ken Hansen on this list but Kata's appearances and Hansen's ERA made me lean towards Kata.

4.Randall Anderson:  Another member of the flex tandem rotation.  Anderson isn't able to go as long or as often as he was able to as a young man but he is still effective.

5.Domingo Valenzuela: Valenzuela would be a heck of a starter if given the chance.  It says a lot about the Tampa rotation that this guy is coming out of the pen.

Rich Sierra, Jim Becker and Douglas McCullough are pitching great but did not meet the IP requirement

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: SP

1. Rico Pascual:  Very impressive resume already and he is on his way to his first Cy Young.  He has already been player of the week twice this season.  His EAR is over 1.4 runs better than the next closest player, you could almost double what he has allowed.  He only allowed 2 runs on 5 hits over 8 in his only loss of the season.
2.Al Olivares:  Breakout season so far for Olivares.  Can he keep it up?
3.Kevin Shigetoshi  League leader in k's so far this season and his other stats are impressive too.
4. Angel Sosa: Finese guy here, playing well.
5.Marc Elster:  Elster lacks wins but has been very reliable.  Questions of his value are being answered well so far.

 Next up would have beenRoger Camilli:  What is the secret with this guy?  His numbers seem out of line with his ratings and his team is not very good.

Dicky Fengjust missed the list as well

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: SP

1. Ryan Edwards:  He has a few less starts then some guys but has great stats.

2. Victor Nieves: Nieves best season since winning the Cy Young award in season 13.

3.Ted Yates:  Yates is the first of three guys I juggled over the final three spots.  I moved them and looked at the stats over and over.  All are a little light on wins but that is a team stat and great pitching does not always have the wins to show for it.

4.P.T. Giles: Giles, Evans and Yates could all be argued for any of the slots 3-5.

5. Ray Evans:  The further I looked though I settled on Evans 5th because of IP and a higher WHIP mainly caused by walks.

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: RF

1.Ernie Randall: Breakout season for Randall.  He is not really playing RF but this is where he is listed.

2.Geoff Ruffin: Welcome to the bigs rook.

3.Miguel Diaz:  At 24 Diaz is already in his 5th full season in the majors.

4.Vladimir Moreno: Moreno is Mexico City's primary RF and playing very well.

5.Garry Fultz:  This may be Fultz's last great season.   Will his option be picked up?

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: RF

1.Don Tanaka: Perennial MVP candidate Tanaka's power numbers are impressive. His ability to get on base is his most valuable weapon.
2.Brandon Walsh:  Walsh may be the player who is not an Armstrong who I wish was an Armstrong the most.
3. Julio Iglesias:  His power numbers are impressive, he is looking to surpass last season's monster season.
4.  Alex Matsumoto:  Although he is primarily a 1b he does have 35 games in rightfield.  One of two TB players on the list.
5.Ronnie Parent:  Parent is mostly playing LF but shows up as a RF.

I can't believe I had to leave Ned Andrews off the list.  He is annually one of my most disappointing players.  He puts up good numbers but they never seem to meet what I expect based on his ratings.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: CF

1.Horacio Lee:  Lee is duplicating his breakout season from season 19.

2.Wendell Lambert: Lambert has excelled in a full time role again this season.  Will he finish the season in San Juan?

3.Xavier McKinley:  Good power season from McKinley.

4.Artie Coleman:  Like some of the AL players Coleman lacks some power but is having a solid season.

5.Lou DiFelice: DiFelice's numbers have slid this season but he is still productive.

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: CF

1.  Shawn Koskie:  Koskie is having a great season in his first full season in the majors.
2.Rich Schalk: Schalk is a doubles machine.
3.Geronimo Posada:  The question is where has Posada's power gone?
4.Ron Wise: Wise lacks power but gets on base well.
5. Victor Rincon: Like Wise he lacks power but putting up good numbers.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: LF

1. Rex Evans: Since being traded to St. Louis, Evans has hit .390 and has an OBP of .423.
2.Ismael Gomez:  Coors field again.
3.Ronald Milton:  Milton has nver won any awards over his career.
4.Domingo Montanez: Montanez is having a break out season.
5.Kent Peters:  Peters has been the best player in Detroit this season.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: LF

1.William Wilkins:  Great season so far and an early MVP candidate.

2.Irv Crawford: What makes Crawford's numbers confusing is the lack of runs or RBI to point to for why his homeruns and OBP are so good.

3. Kent Wells: The lack of runs is a question about Wells as well considering his OBP.

4. Sandy Lo Duca: Probably Lo Duca's worst season so far.  It says a lot about his others seasons that his worst is one of the top 5 of the season.

5. Micah Elarton: Elarton is lacking some of the at bats that others have and he makes the list by a hair over Yamil Veras and Todd Adcock

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: SS

1.Kordell Mintz:  Mintz season is head and shoulders above other AL SS.
2. Bartolo Bennett:  Bennett's best season so far.
3. Brutus Spence:  Spence is making the most of the opportunity to play everyday.
4. Omar Sanchez: Sanchez's main contribution is with his glove.
5.Pedro Uribe:  Second SD guy on the list, showcasing the importance of defense in that stadium.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: SS

1. David Bonilla: Bonilla is having a great season.

2.Brian Lennon:  It says a lot about the quality of player on the list when the #2 guy has been out for 20 games and is not expected back this year.

3.Pedro Manto:  Manto's numbers are good but they are a step below the top two.

4.Albert Nunez: Nunez is having his best year as a pro this season.

5.Josh Williams:  Williams on the other hand seems to have taken a step backwards.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: Third Base

1. Glen Ford:A guy with 55 power has 21 HR at the break?  Coors is a powerful medicine.
2. Terry Glover: Glover is going to be very good for a long time.
3.Luis Mota:  Mota's numbers are not spectacular but he is solid.
4.Benny Wolf: Wolf's seasosn has been up and down and is trending upward again.
5.Brad Terrell: Terrell's numbers as a whole probably do not belong on this list.  Considering he was hitting .202 two weeks ago it is amazing where he is at now.

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: Third Base

1.Jesus Ortiz: Chicago has three players listed at 3b who would could make this list.  Ortiz is the best so far.
2.Jeremi Kelly: Kelly is having his best season in six years.
3.Dwight Good: Good is surprisingly powerful.
4.Luis Santana: His ratings look like he could be very streaky, currently he is streaking in a good way.
5.Steven Ruffin:  Ruffin looks a lot like Santana in ratings and stats.

Macbeth Treadway was close on the list and considering his ratings he has been surprisingly productive this season.

College Basketball Tournament Pickem

Follow the link below

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/4155/invitation?key=63c68c753b3aff3e

Power Rankings: Season 20 V.4

Power Ranking V4
This weeks rank;(last week); change; Team; (record); week's record
1(1)  NC Tampa Bay (42-15) 13-6
2(2)  NC Syracuse (47-29) 11-8
3(7)  +4 Ottawa (44-32)12-7 
4(3)  -1 Cleveland (48-28) 12-7
5(5)  NC St. Louis (43-33) 10-9
6(12)  +6 Vancouver (41-35) 9-10
7(10)  -3 Huntington (46-30) 12-8
8(6)  +2 Mexico City (47-29) 12-7
9(17)  +8 Charlotte (42-34) 13-6
10(4)  -6 Chicago AL (39-37)  9-10
11(9)  -2 Chicago NL (43-33) 9-10
12(8)  -4 Florida (41-35)  8-11
13(11)  -2 Hartford (45-31) 10-9
14(16)  +2 San Diego (37-39) 10-9
15(18)  +3 Fresno (42-34) 11-9
16(15)  -1 Detroit (39-37) 9-10
17(13)  -4 Little Rock (37-39) 8-11
18(19)  +1 Scranton (43-33) 11-8 
19(14)  -5 Colorado (39-37) 9-10 
20(21)  +1 Washington (32-44)  7-12 
21(20)  -1 Anaheim (38-38) 8-12  
22(23)  +1 New York NL (34-42) 11-8
23(24)  +1 Charleston (30-46) 10-9
24(22)  -2 San Juan (32-44)  7-12
25(29)  +4 Las Vegas (32-44)10-9
26(30)  +4 New York AL (24-52) 8-11 
27(31)  +4 Salem (30-46) 8-11
28(27)  -1 San Francisco (33-43) 7-13
29(26)  -3 Seattle (26-50)  4-15
30(25)  -5 Atlanta (25-51) 4-15
31(28)  -3 Indianapolis (30-46) 7-12  
32(32)  NC Baltimore (32-44)14-5

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: Second Base

1. Pat Hernandez:  Hernandezis following up a career year from season 19 with another stellar season.
2. Troy Kramer:  Kramer has almost matched his production from season 19 in half a season this year.
3. Clarence Silvestri: Clarence is a little short of at bats and is young, but he has a bright future.
4. Brendan Benson:  Benson has been solid for Scranton.
5. Todd Schafer:  His 27-0 stolen base percentage is eye catching.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: Second Base

1. Vic Ramirez: Ramirez hit .412 in his last full season in AAA during season 18.

2. Jack Casian:  Chicago is very thankful Casian has been productive and made up for some lack of contributions from other positions.

3. Bobby Valentin:  Valentin has long been the St. Louis team MVP.

4. Miguel Alvarado:  This guy would be at the top of the AL list.

5. Jeff Simpkins:  I use the league leaders page under stats and sort by positions to do this blog feature.  Tampa (NL) has two 2b in the top five for all star consideration.


The NL 2b All Star candidates is an impressive list of stats.  No overwhelming home-run numbers but some very solid offensive players, most of whom get on base very well.

Jayson Maas

Jayson Maas, son of former major leaguer Kevin Maas,  is not much of a prospect.  He followed his father's career path but hasn't really displayed much of his father's baseball skills.  That changed yesterday when Jayson had a Maas-like day when he hit 2 home runs in one game.  Congrats Jayson, way to make dad proud.

Season 20 NL All Star Candidates: First Base

1.P.T. Belliard:  As long as this guy is in Coors he is going to be the most productive 1b in the league and could challenge the league career HR record.
2. William Dalrymple: Sensational numbers all around.
3. Shaggy Moore:  His clutch hitting is the key factor in San Juan's season.
4.Marc Christman: Hard to imagine asking where a player's power went when they have 20 HR at the break.
5. Jose Toca:  Ideal #2 hitter.

Season 20 AL All Star Candidates: First Base

1. John Yamaguchi: Best overall production by league first basemen.
2. Oswaldo Franco: Production numbers are similar to Yamaguchi's just with a little less power.
3.Javier Arroyo: great prouction, easily could be #1.
4.  Kenneth Pierre:  He is having a solid season but his power numbers are a little down.  He needs a Tejada B-12 shot.
5.Victor Wengert: The order of these top 5 are all debatable, after Wengert there is a bit of a drop off.

NL All Star Candidates: Catcher

1.Javier Javier: MVP candidate, 32 home runs.
2.Hector Dotel if not for JAvier he would be the best catcher in both leagues.
3. Benito Fernandez: lacks some at bats but his numbers look great.  How is he doing it?
4.Willie Bennett:  Gets on base.
5.Benito Gonzalez is good in the clutch, can't call much a game though.

AL All Star Candidates: Catcher

Top 5 candidates for the All Star Game
1. Hideki Yamamoto: an OPS over 1.000 is tough to top at this position.

2.Eli Trevino: not great at calling a game but gets on base.

3. Willie Alcantara: Leads the league in cool facial hair.

4.Al Burke: Good numbers and good value.

5.Harold Cashman: HBD's Jason Kendall, the younger one who hit home runs.

Take one down and pass it around

Take one down and pass it around is Chuck Masset's favorite chorus and it applies to his season this year.  After spring training Chuck Masset was a rule V draft pick,16th pick overall but only the 10th player taken.  His projections look like he has potential to be a major leaguer.  His current ratings make it look like those ratings may be reachable unless his season continues the way it is now.


Currently his ratings are beginning to slide, part of it is limited opportunities since he has only pitched 15 innings this season.  15 innings is hardly anything to be ashamed of though and there are some closers with fewer innings pitched.


The real culprit is that transaction log.  Masset, currently residing on the waiver wire, has already been on four teams this season and it would not be shocking to see him claimed now.  Good luck Chuck, hope you get waived 4 more times this season.

BB/9 and control

Below are the team average control ratings as well as their bb/9 statistics.  The stat doesn't tell everything because some pitching staffs face fewer batters /9 and others have pitched fatigued and that impacts their numbers.  The other way to look closer at this is to look at the rates and ratings for the starting rotations, since they pitch the most innings


Team            Team Avg con   bb/9
league AVG                           3.24
Syracuse  85       2.87

Chicago    83      2.51

Huntington  83    3.02

San Diego  82     3.10

Fresno        82     2.74

Ottawa        81     2.92

Cleveland   81      3.32

Charleston   80     2.86

Detroit         80     3.89

Tampa Bay  80     2.54
Washington  80    2.91

St. Louis       79    3.18
New York AL     3.52

Florida         78      3.37

Vancouver    78      2.97

Charlotte       77     3.25

Mexico City  77     3.52

Atlanta          76     3.49

San Francisco 76   2.93

Hartford          76   2.89

Salem              75  3.12

Little Rock      75   3.07

Indianapolis    74    4.29

New York NL 73    3.18

Colorado        72    3.15

Baltimore       70    3.57

Chicago AL    70    3.55

Scranton         70    4.01

Seattle            69    3.61

Las Vegas      69    3.19 

Anaheim         69    3.70

San Juan         64    4.67

Draft night: Season 20

With less than 24 hours until the draft commences owners are making the final tweaks to rankings.  At a quick glance the draft looks pitcher deep but position player shallow.  Not a good year to have a ton of compensatory picks.

Player Profile: Trevor Donovan

As with Weston a few weeks ago, it appears we are nearing the end of another era.  Trevor Donovan is currently on the Waiver Wire.  He sits at 789 home runs at the moment, which ranks second all time, but in 100 at bats this year he has 1 homerun.  It looks less and less likely that he will hit those last few to get him to the magical 800 or move further to catch Marvin.  Good luck catching on somewhere Trevor.

Power Rankings: Season 20 V.3

Power Ranking V3
This weeks rank;(last week); change; Team; (record); week's record
1(1)  NC Tampa Bay (42-15) 15-6
2(6)  +4 Syracuse (36-21) 15-6 
3(3)  NC Cleveland (36-21) 13-8
4(4)  NC Chicago AL (30-27) 10-9
5(2)  -3 St. Louis (33-24) 8-13
6(5)  -1 Mexico City (35-22) 12-9
7(7)   NC Ottawa (32-25) 10-10
8(17)  +9 Florida (33-24) 14-7  
9(14)  +5 Chicago NL (34-23) 14-7
10(9)  -1 Huntington (22-14) 12-9
11(15)  +4 Hartford (35-22) 15-6 
12(8)   -4 Vancouver (32-25) 10-11
13(24)  +11 Little Rock (29-28) 15-6
14(11)  -3 Colorado (30-27) 12-9
15(16)  +1 Detroit (30-27) 13-8
16(12)  -4 San Diego (27-30) 11-10 
17(20)  +3 Charlotte (29-28) 13-8
18(13)  -5 Fresno (21-15) 10-11
19(21)  +2 Scranton (32-25) 14-7
20(10)  -10 Anaheim (23-13) 6-15 
21(18)  -3 Washington (25-32) 9-12
22(22)  NC San Juan (25-32) 10-11
23(23)  NC New York NL (23-34) 9-12
24(32)  +8 Charleston (20-37)11-10
25(27)  +2 Atlanta (21-36) 7-14
26(30)  +4 Seattle (12-24)  10-11
27(19)  -8 San Francisco (26-31) 8-13 
28(25)  -3 Indianapolis (23-34) 5-16 
29(29)  NC Las Vegas (22-35) 7-14
30(26)  -4 New York AL (16-41) 5-17 
31(28)  -3 Salem (22-35) 6-14
32(31)  -1 Baltimore (18-39) 6-15