My 2008 mlb Preview

this of top player at each position in each league

AL NL

C/CLE/Victor Martinez/ C/LAD/Russell Martin/
1B/BOS/David Ortiz/ 1B/STL/Albert Pujols/
2B/BAL/Brian Roberts/ 2B/PHI/Chase Utley/
3B/NYY/Alex Rodriguez/ 3B/NYM/David Wright/
SS/NYY/Derek Jeter/ SS/PHI/Jimmy Rollins/
LF/TB/Carl Crawford/ LF/COL/Matt Holliday/
CF/SEA/Ichiro Suzuki/ CF/CHC/NYM/Carlos Beltran/
RF/LAA/Vladimir Guerrero/ RF/HOU/Hunter Pence/

SP1/BOS/Josh Beckett/ SP1/NYM/Johan Santana/
SP2/SEA/Erik Bedard/ SP2/SD/Jake Peavy/
RP/BOS/Hideki Okajima/ RP/LAD/Jonathan Broxton/
CL/BOS/Jonathan Papelbon/ CL/LAD/Takashi Saito/

Feel free to post urs too

For some reason I just see Okajima having a down year. I also see Beckett being nothing special. I mean... every talks about him like he is an ACE, no doubt. Sure, he pitches great in the post season, and seems like he always had. I used to be a big Marlins fan before they sold their friggin' entire team. Granted, Beckett is a very solid pitcher, but has always had a history with blisters, and has always been somewhat inconsistant. He had a TERRIBLE season in 2006 and most all Red Sox fans had a love/hate relationship with him, it seems. They loved that he showed signs of promise, but they hated that he threw a friggin' 90 MPG changeup, and didn't mix his pitches that well.

Beckett was great in 07 as we all know, but can he do it again in 2008? That is still a coin toss based on his inconsistancy throughout his entire career.

The reason I believe Okajima won't have another year like 07 is because A. That kinda season will be tough to replicated, and B. He was never considered a great reliever in Japan, and certainly can't be classified amongst the great relievers in MLB, or even the AL.

I will go one step futher and predict my 08 standings, also.

American League
C - Joe Mauer; MIN
1B - Justin Morneau; MIN
2B - Robinson Cano; NYY
3B - Alex Rodriguez; NYY
SS - Derek Jeter; NYY
LF - Manny Ramirez; BOS
CF - Grady Sizemore; CLE
RF - Vladimir Guerrero; LAA
DH - David Ortiz; BOS (Unless Miguel Cabrera plays DH, then Cabrera should be 1st team)

SP1 - C.C. Sabathia
SP2 - Scott Kazmir
SP3 - Erik Bedard
SP4 - Felix Hernandez
SP5 - Josh Beckett

Closer - Jonathan Papelbon
Setup - Scot Schields

ROY - Joba Chamberlain (AKA... THE MAN!)


National League
C - Russell Martin; LAD
1B - Albert Pujols; STL
2B - Chase Utley; PHI
3B - David Wright NYM
SS - Hanley Ramirez; FLA
LF - Matt Holliday; COL
CF - Hunter Pence; COL
RF - Jeff Francoeur; ATL

SP1 - Johan Santana; NYM
SP2 - Jake Peavy; SDP
SP3 - Brandon Webb; ARI
SP4 - Dan Haren; ARI
SP5 - Cole Hamels; PHI

Closer - Takashi Saito; LAD
Setup - Jonathan Broxton; LAD

ROY: Kosuke Fukudome

Good suggestions, but for National League starters, I'd include Roy Oswalt. He's always been real good, and especially now since he has "supposidly" more run support for 08 :P

sorry, but im not seeing francouer as the best rf in the NL

I was actually so close to putting Oswalt 4th or 5th, but decided against it. I have no doubts, though, that Oswalt will have a 3.50 or below ERA (my guess would be below 3.30).

Well, honestly there aren't a lot of very good RF'ers in the NL. Most of the studs are LF or CF in the NL.

Francoeur has a very good arm, can hit for average and I can see more homeruns and walks coming his way. Now, he is not a top 10 outfielder in the NL (overall wise), but he may just be the top RF'er in the NL.

How many people that play RF can you list ahead of Francoeur? You'd actually be surprised that there just aren't many true RF'ers in the NL. By "true", I mean have played RF throughout their career. Maybe the following could compare with Francoer; Brad Hawpe, Ken Griffey Jr, Corey Hart, and maybe a darkhorse in Jermey Hermida.

Ken Griffey Jr is way better than Francouer if he is healthy, but that is a big IF. I hope Griffey plays till he is 45 and plays all his games every year till then, and breaks the homerun record, but we're not in a perfect world, so I am relying on the fact that Griffey will probably get injured. (Though I sure hope not.)

If I were just making the list with 3 OF'ers and not LF, CF, and RF then it'd be more like:

OF - Holliday
OF - Pence or maybe Beltran
OF - Soriano

Insert Yankees Lineup Here

From a purely offensive point of view:

NL
C McCann or Martin
1B Pujols
2B Utley
3B Wright or Jones
SS Ramirez
OF Braun
CF Pence (if he ends up in CF, else Beltran)
OF Holliday

AL
C Mauer
1B Pena
2B Cano or Pedroia
3B Cabrera or Rodriguez
SS Jeter
OF Ramirez
CF Sizemore
OF Guerrero
DH Ortiz

NL SP
Peavy
Santana
Webb
Young
Oswalt

AL SP
Sabathia
Halladay
Bedard
Lackey
Escobar or Kazmir or Weaver

Putz is better than Paplebon.

AL

1st Base: Carlos Pena (TB)
2nd Base: Robinson Cano (NYY)
3rd Base: Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
Shortstop: Derek Jeter (NYY)
Outfield 1: Ichiro Suzuki (SEA)
Outfield 2: Grady Sizemore (CLE)
Outfield 3: Carl Crawford (TB)

Starter 1: C.C. Sabathia (CLE)
Starter 2: Erik Bedard (SEA)
Starter 3: Roy Halladay (TOR)
Starter 4: Scott Kazmir (TB)
Starter 5: Felix Hernandez (SEA)

Closer: J.J. Putz (SEA)
Setup: George Sherril (BAL) or Scot Shields (LAA)

DH: David Ortiz (BOS)


NL

1st Base: Albert Pujols (STL)
2nd Base: Chase Utley (PHI)
3rd Base: David Wright (NYM)
Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins (PHI)
Outfield 1: Matt Holliday (COL)
Outfield 2: Carlos Beltran (NYM)
Outfield 3: Hunter Pence (HOU)

Starter 1: Johan Santana (NYM)
Starter 2: Jake Peavy (SDP)
Starter 3: Roy Oswalt (HOU)
Starter 4: Brandon Webb (ARI)
Starter 5: Chris Young (SDP)

Closer: Jose Valverde (HOU)
Setup: Jonathan Broxton (LAD)

NL
C Martin
1B Pujols
2B Utley
3B Wright
SS Rollins
LF Holliday
CF Beltran
RF Soriano (Dunn if Soriano plays LF)

NL SP
Santana
Peavy
Webb
Haren
Zambrano (Ace on the best NL Central team in a weak division)


MR: Marmol (CHC) or Bell (SDP)

CL: Saito - 2 years of untouchability,not bad for a guy who was considered average when came to the US...


AL
C V.Martinez (Mauer although great is a risk because of his propensity for injuries)
1B Morneau
2B Cano or Pedroia
3B Rodriguez
SS Young
LF Ramirez
CF Sizemore
RF Guerrero
DH Ortiz



AL SP
Sabathia
Beckett (Bosox offense will help here)
Bedard (getting out of Baltimore will help here ;) )
Verlander (see Beckett for reason here same applies for Detroit)
Halladay

MR: Betancourt

CL: Papelbon (although Putz is a close 2nd,Papelbon gets the edge due to Putz's lack of experience as a closer)




btw here is Fox's fantasy rankings for each position

RF Soriano (Dunn if Soriano plays LF)
Dunn's played right field 59 games, and Griffey is currently their right fielder, and I'm pretty sure Fukudome is the Cubs right fielder. Both players are going to be left fielders.

NL
C.Russel Martin(LAD)
1B.Albert Pujols(STL) or Ryan Howard(PHI)
2B.Chase Utley(PHI)
3B.David Wright(NYM)
SS.Hanny Rammirez(FLA)
LF.Alfonso Soriano(CHC)
CF.Carlos Beltran(NYM)
RF.Brad Hawpe(COL)
SP
Johan Santana(NYM)
Jake Peavey(SD)
Barry Zito(SFG)
Brandon Webb(ARI)
Tim Hudson(ATL)
CL.Trevor Hoffman(SD)
AL
C.Ivan Rodriguez(DET)
1B.Justin Morneau(MIN)
2B.Robinson Cano(NYY)
3B.Alex Rodriguez(NYY)
SS.Carlos Guillen(DET)
LF.Manny Rammeriz(BOS)
CF.Jacoby Elisberry(BOS) Or Grady Siezmore(CLE)
RF.Miguel Cabbrea(DET)
SP
Dontrell Willis(DET)
Jake Westbrook(CLE)
Erik Bedard(SEA)
Josh Beckett(BOS)
Chien-Ming Wang(NYY)
CL:Johnathan Papelbon

no love for curtis granderson. i understand...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DarthJaker

NL
C.Russel Martin(LAD)
1B.Albert Pujols(STL) or Ryan Howard(PHI)
2B.Chase Utley(PHI)
3B.David Wright(NYM)
SS.Hanny Rammirez(FLA)
LF.Alfonso Soriano(CHC)
CF.Carlos Beltran(NYM)
RF.Brad Hawpe(COL)
SP
Johan Santana(NYM)
Jake Peavey(SD)
Barry Zito(SFG)
Brandon Webb(ARI)
Tim Hudson(ATL)
CL.Trevor Hoffman(SD)
AL
C.Ivan Rodriguez(DET)
1B.Justin Morneau(MIN)
2B.Robinson Cano(NYY)
3B.Alex Rodriguez(NYY)
SS.Carlos Guillen(DET)
LF.Manny Rammeriz(BOS)
CF.Jacoby Elisberry(BOS) Or Grady Siezmore(CLE)
RF.Miguel Cabbrea(DET)
SP
Dontrell Willis(DET)
Jake Westbrook(CLE)
Erik Bedard(SEA)
Josh Beckett(BOS)
Chien-Ming Wang(NYY)
CL:Johnathan Papelbon

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Willis really isn't very good.

The overall lack of dodgers makes me sad :(

Having said that, not very many of them are even being close to being the best at their position.