TBJ Mid-Season Awards

TBJ Fantasy All-Stars Rosters

American League
Catcher - Victor Martinez (CLE) - his only competition here is Jorge Posada, but Martinez's power numbers give him the advantage.
First Base - Justin Morneau (MIN) - similar stats to Ortiz, and Ortiz does have the advantage in walks, but Morneau leads in home runs.
Second Base - B.J. Upton (TAM) - Brian Roberts is the only other worthy candidate and Upton has better numbers across the board.
Third Base - Alex Rodriguez (NYY) - no real serious competition here.
Shortstop - Carlos Guillen (DET) - having a better year than Jeter.
Outfield - Magglio Ordonez (DET) - the top OF in baseball this year.
Outfield - Vladimir Guerrero (LAA) - the 2nd best OF in baseball this year.
Outfield - Ichiro Suzuki (SEA) - just beats out Grady Sizemore on the strength of his .356 BA.
Starting Pitcher - Johan Santana (MIN) - Sabathia, Bedard, and Haren are having great years, but they are still not at Santana's level.
Closer - J.J. Putz (SEA) - busy proving 2006 wasn't a fluke.

National League
Catcher - Russell Martin (LAD) - no real competition in the NL.
First Base - Prince Fielder (MIL) - beats out Pujols and Howard.
Second Base - Chase Utley (PHI) - Brandon Phillips and Dan Uggla are a distant 2nd and 3rd.
Third Base - Miguel Cabrera (FLA) - barely beats out Wright - his run production and batting average make up for Wright's 16 steal advantage.
Shortstop - Hanley Ramirez (FLA) - he's having a better year than Reyes everywhere other than steals.  Granted, it is a lot of steals.
Outfield - Matt Holliday (COL) - leads a weak NL OF.  Far and away the best in the league.
Outfield - Barry Bonds (SF) - his numbers aren't as dominant as they have been in past seasons, but he's still a top NL OF.
Outfield -Eric Byrnes (ARI) - barely beating out Alfonso Soriano - better numbers across the board.
Starting Pitcher - Jake Peavy (SD) - looking like the ace he was in 2005.
Closer - Takashi Saito (LAD) - like Putz, he's proving 2006 wasn't a fluke.

TBJ Awards

Top Hitter
(American League) Alex Rodriguez (NYY) - ARod has received all the attention this year, but he could still end up 2nd in this race at the end of the season.  Check out a comparison of his numbers with Magglio Ordonez below.  While Rodriguez has a distinct advantage in home runs, everything else is closer than you may have thought.

(National League) Prince Fielder (MIL) - Coming into the year, we warned you not to expect a Ryan Howard-like breakout from Fielder, after all, he was only 22 years old on opening day and was still finding his way through the league.  Well - 4 months later things have drastically changed.  Fielder not only has had a breakout season comparable to Howard's 2006 campaign, but he has unseated Pujols as the starting first baseman on the NL All Star team.  Fielder's numbers are outstanding and his 27 home runs place him only 1 behind Alex Rodriguez for the major league lead.

Best Pitcher
(American League) Johan Santana has been consistent all season long and has been listening to all the hype that Josh Beckett, C.C. Sabathia, and Dan Haren have been getting, but make no mistake.  His numbers are the best in the AL - 9 wins, 120 k's and a 2.76 ERA.

(National League) Jake Peavy is behind Brad Penny in the NL ERA race, but the strikeouts aren't even close.  Peavy has 42 more strikeouts than the Dodger's ace (119 vs. 77).  Overall, Penny has one more win, one less walk,  and a 0.09 ERA advantage over Peavy.  Head to head, I'll take Peavy and the strikeouts.

Top Rookie Hitter
(American League) Delmon Young hasn't had the impact he was expected to have coming into 2007, but he's still put up solid numbers with a .271 BA to go along with 9 home runs and 6 steals.  Amongst a relatively weak AL crew - Dustin Pedroia received consideration as well, but his 3 home runs and 1 stolen base leave me less than excited.

(National League) Hunter Pence runs away with this award - his .340 average, 8 home runs and 7 steals have been a great asset for any fantasy owner.  Josh Hamilton and Chris Young have also both had very good first halves, while Ryan Braun might put up the best numbers of the group in the 2nd half.  This will be a fun group to watch over the course of the season.

Top Rookie Pitcher
(American League) Daisuke Matsuzaka has had his moments of dominance and his 110 k's and 9 wins easily win him this award over Jeremy Guthrie and Joakim Soria.  Matsuzaka doesn't look like he'll be taking home the Cy Young this year, but he is among the elite group of fantasy pitchers simply due to his strikeout totals.  Keep in mind, he's only 26.

(National League) Tim Lincecum has been hot and cold since his debut - but with a very weak pitching class in the NL, his 74 k's (in 66 innings) and 4.64 ERA are enough to win.  He should get better during the 2nd half of the year, but expect him to be shut down early - he's not the biggest guy and this is his first professional season.

Best Value Pick (Hitting)
(American League) Magglio Ordonez (DET) - where did this guy go in your draft?  We had him ranked as our 36th OF and 186th overall.  He has been the 2nd best hitter in baseball this year and looks to be fully recovered from his leg injury that hampered him for the past few seasons.  He's the 2007 version of Jermaine Dye as we said in May.  Other nominees - Brendan Harris and Casey Kotchman.

(National League) Eric Byrnes (ARI) - tough to pick against the one guy on the above All-Star roster that probably wasn't chosen in the top 10 rounds.  He's been a solid speed/power guy all season long and has 13 home runs and 15 steals to go along with his .318 batting average.  Other nominees - J.J. Hardy and Dmitri Young.

Best Value Pick (Pitching)
(American League) Justin Verlander (DET) - he has learned how to strike out hitters at the big league level this year, and has continued his winning ways in the process.  His 9 wins and 3.18 ERA aren't far off where he was back in 2006, but his 90 strikeouts represent a big step forward.  A lot of people expected the sophomore slump to affect him this year, but it hasn't happened yet.  I think he only continues to get better.  Other nominees include - Jeremy Guthrie (BAL), Chad Gaudin (OAK), and Josh Beckett (BOS).

(National League) John Maine (NYM) - he has similar numbers to Justin Verlander in a few categories, 9 wins, 2.90 ERA and 84 k's.  But who was expecting this kind of production?  He looked likely to fade at some point in the first half due to his poor control numbers, but recently he's even improved that area of his game with only 4 walks issued since June 1st.  Other nominees - Oliver Perez (NYM), Brad Penny (LAD), and Ian Snell (PIT).

Most Overrated
(American League) Bobby Abreu (NYY) - 2 years ago, he was a top fantasy player with a .420 OBP and 30/30 potential.  Now, he's struggling to hit .250 and might not top 10 home runs and he's only 33.  What happened??  Wish I knew.  Other nominees - J.D. Drew (BOS), Jason Giambi (NYY) and Manny Ramirez (BOS).

(National League) Garrett Atkins (COL) - it's looking like 2006 may have been his career year - .247 and 11 home runs isn't what you want out of a top 3 round pick.  Other nominees - Lance Berkman (HOU), Rafael Furcal (LAD), and Brian McCann.

Best Surprise
(American League) Magglio Ordonez (DET) - see above - who expected this?

(National League) J.J. Hardy - yes, he's cooled off drastically, but who expected 18 home runs at the All-Star break?  While he's unlikely to repeat his first half success he's going to put up better 2007 numbers than anyone predicted.

Copyright © 2006-2007 thebaseballjunkie.com. All rights reserved.  The information contained here may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of thebaseballjunkie.com.
Home │ Draft Prep │   Market Watch │ Injuries  │  Teams │ Prospect Watch │Downloads │ Message Board │ Contact Us