I appeared on Sid Rosenberg's show today over at OpenSports.com. Sid, formerly of the WFAN and Imus in the Morning, and I offered some quick analysis of the MLB Draft. It's way too early to really know for sure which teams were winners and losers, but I offered my initial reactions.

Hate him or love him, Scott Boras is quite good at his job. Boras received mixed reviews for his offseason this past winter--seemingly misreading the demand for Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez--but ended up landing several major contracts for his clients in a tough market. From robbing Omar Minaya blind with Oliver Perez to the massive Mark Teixeira signing, the so-called super agent again was indeed on the better end of most negotiations.

While the class is not quite as deep, the Boras Corporation represents several big-name clients eligible for free agency in 2010 as well. There is certainly a lot of baseball left to be played, but here is an update on how Boras' free-agent eligible clients are performing. In the first edition of a two-part series, here is a list of his position player clients. All free agent/client data courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors (stats through Monday night).

Catchers:

Ivan Rodriguez: Rodriguez signed a one-year deal with the Houston Astros in the middle of spring training. After a slow start, the veteran backstop has picked it up as of late. He is currently batting .273/.318/.495 with four home runs, 14 RBIs and a 109 OPS+. His .273 wOBA is hardly anything to write home about, obviously, and his aggressive approach has continued to prove problematic; he has walked in only 5.7 percent of his plate appearances while producing a 22.2% strikeout rate.

At 37 years old, Rodriguez will never be the same hitter that he was during his prime. He no longer lives up to his defensive reputation, either, and it is hard to overlook the fact that he has not posted an OPS+ above the league-average 100 barometer since 2004, when he hit .334/.383/.510 in a monster performance for the Detroit Tigers. Given that he has been worth just under 2.0 WAR in 2007 and 2008, he still can add some value in the right situation.

Rodriguez is only going to drop off even more offensively, though. Opposing pitchers are exploiting his aggressive approach and declining physical skills, pounding him in with sliders. Even in a better market--and with enhanced numbers from playing in Houston's Minute Maid Park--Boras will have a tough time getting anything more than his current figures.

Jason Varitek: Varitek had a nightmare '08 offensively, batting just .220/.313/.359 with a 73 OPS+. Despite making another All-Star appearance, his lack of production at the plate was damning to any hopes that he had of cashing in on one final long-term contract; according to FanGraphs, he produced -13.7 runs below a replacement-level hitter. Overall, the Boston Red Sox fixture and fan favorite was worth 1.2 WAR, putting him nearly $5-M below his salary on the dollars earned/made bar.

In large part due to his Type A free agent status, there was a minimal demand for Varitek in the offseason. Boras was mocked publicly when he began using Jorge Posada and his deal with the New York Yankees as a benchmark for what he expected for the Captain. After a long winter of negotiations, Varitek ended up in the only place that made sense all along--Boston. The Red Sox refused to part with valuable pitching prospects for any young catching replacements, leaving the club with limited options. Also accounting for his defensive value and ability to handle, and rapport, with Red Sox pitchers, Boston inked the veteran to a one-year contract with a $5-M club option for '10; the player has a $3-M option. As the only organization that would not have had to incur the cost of any draft picks, the thought processes to bring him back were sound.

Varitek is not exactly tearing it up at the dish so far this spring. He has posted a line of .227/.324/.443 with four home runs and a 93 OPS+ in 102 plate appearances. The 37-year-old switch-hitter has been worth -0.6 batting runs, but it is encouraging that his line drive rate is up to 18.3%; he produced line drives in only 13.6% of his plate appearances in '08.

If Varitek continues to struggle at the plate, the intangible police will show up again--with Boras leading the charge--citing stats such as catchers' ERA to prove his value to the Red Sox's pitching staff. Barring a major collapse the rest of the way, though, odds are his option will get picked up.

Second basemen:

Alex Cora: Cora served as a nice utility infielder in Boston after coming over from the Cleveland Indians in a trade back in 2005. Thanks to having good teammates, he even picked up a ring in '07, playing in 83 games for the World Series champions.

Cora is what he is: a versatile defender who can play all three skill infield positions at around an average level. He has never been much of an offensive force, obviously, and most of his value therefore comes from his glove work. His best stat line with the Red Sox came in '08, when he hit .270/.371/.349 in 232 plate appearances. He does not offer much in the power department (career ISO of .103 and .349 slugging percentage), but, in the right role, he can help a team without crippling its offensive attack if he does not receive too many at-bats.

Cora latched on with the New York Mets over the winter, adding depth up the middle in Queens. The 12-year veteran is off to a fine start, hitting a robust .333/.425/.455 in 43 plate appearances while providing his usual defensive services. At 33, his window for being talented enough to merit any type of roster spot is closing fast. He can still play shortstop, which is valuable, but his UZR figures at the position are trending downwards (4.4, 3.1, -1.7 from '06-'08, respectively) as he continues to lose range. Once the shortstop option goes, so will his career.

Boras will find him a job in a short-term scenario if he remains healthy and relatively effective with the glove.

Felipe Lopez: The Arizona Diamondbacks have really struggled to score runs as a team. Lopez, however, does not deserve any of the blame--at least so far. The switch-hitting second baseman is one of only three regulars on the D'Backs with a league-average OPS+ or better, along with Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton. He is leading the team with a .323 batting average to along with a .383 OBP and .496 slugging percentage.

Lopez also owns a .382 wOBA right now, which ranks sixth among all second basemen in the majors. His .374 batting average on balls in play will regress back to the mean, but he should be able to sustain his 18.9% line drive rate. The former first-round pick is also hitting for power, with 14 extra-base hits and a .173 ISO.

Lopez, an All-Star and National League Silver Slugger award winner with the Cincinnati Reds back in 2005, has frustrated scouts and analysts alike for a long time. After being included in the infamous trade between the Reds and Washington Nationals, in which an injured Gary Majewski was sent west in what appeared to be a fleecing of Wayne Krivsky, his career hit the skids and nearly bottomed out in the nation's Capital. He reached his low point last summer, as a paltry .234/.305/.314 line and 63 OPS+ ran him out of Washington. The processes were solid behind that trade for the Nats, by the way, but the results were not; Lopez put up a .564 OPS in 1,354 plate appearances while Austin Kearns forgot how to hit as well.

Lopez then resurfaced with the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he found his stroke and managed to bat a circuit-best .385/.426/.538 in 169 plate appearances from August 6 on. The sample size is still relatively small, but he has not stopped hitting since. He will regress, but his new home ballpark will help his output a lot. The 29-year-old middle infielder is also a just above-average second baseman and has only dropped in the red in UZR at second base one time in his career.

Lopez, who Arizona added to replace departed second baseman Orlando Hudson, will make $3.5-M in '09. Worth 1.1 WAR already, that type of money will likely represent a major bargain for the Snakes. If the production continues, he will get paid handsomely next winter.

Third basemen:

Adrian Beltre: Beltre got his big pay day back in '04, receiving $64-M over five years to become the starting third baseman for the Seattle Mariners. The then-25-year-old, coming of a breakout campaign, produced an excellent line of .334/.388/.629 during his walk year. He led the league with 48 home runs while posting a career-high 163 OPS+ for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Equally impressive, Beltre ranked as one of the premier defenders at the hot corner in the game, ending with a personal-best 23.1 UZR. When accounting for defense, offense, and positional factors, he produced 10.0 WAR, according to FanGraphs; amazingly, his on-field production was worth a figure north of $30.0-M.

Since arriving to Seattle, however, Beltre has yet to come close to matching that outstanding level of production overall, especially offensively. He has failed to top the 30-home run plateau while playing in cavernous Safeco Field, causing many to label him a free-agent bust. While he has never been the same hitter, though, he has still earned his contract by providing top-notch defense; in fact, he has been seriously undervalued during his M's career, since many casual fans do not understand the full extent of how many runs he chops off with his play at third base.

From 2006-'08, Beltre has averaged 3.9 WAR. He has exceeded his salary, based on the wins that he provides his team over a replacement-level player, on two different occasions as a Mariner. During that time span he has posted OPS+ totals of 105, 112 and 109 from '06-'08, respectively. A lot of the value that he provides, though, comes from his glove. Outside of a -3.3 UZR total back in '07, he has been worth more than eight fielding runs above average since advanced defensive data became available back in 2002.

Beltre will turn 31 in '10, so he is clearly past his peak. He has a lot of baseball left in him, though, and, as front offices continue to come up with better ways to quantify defense, odds are he will be paid what he is worth upon hitting free agency again.

Beltre will have to pick it up with his bat for this to happen. He has gotten off to a rough start, posting a .260 wOBA in his first 32 games; he has produced -7.9 batting runs. For those scoring at home, the only other third baseman in all of baseball with a worse wOBA is Ty Wigginton. He has hit only a single home run while walking just five times (3.8 BB%) in 136 plate appearances; the left side of the M's infield must be allergic to drawing walks or something, with shortstop Yuinesky Betancourt also boasting a sub-4.00 BB%. Boras has to be hoping that the Seattle infielder will be able to improve upon his .234/.265/.328 line and 58 OPS+, as, along with Matt Holliday, two of his prized clients are underperforming and may end up significantly affecting his bank account. Beltre has remained one of the smoothest, premier defenders around (3.0 UZR, 12.6 UZR/150), but the bat must come around if he wishes to prove the walk-year clich

According to sources, the Arizona Diamondbacks plan on firing manager Bob Melvin on Friday. Former catcher A.J. Hinch is expected to move out of the front office and take over the reigns. Melvin has been on the hot seat for the past week in the aftermath of the Diamondbacks' poor 12-17 start.

Ownership is frustrated with the rough opening month, prompting the change.

With a young core seemingly ready to take the next step, Arizona entered the season with high expectations in a wide-open division. Anything is possible in the weak National League West, of course, but especially for a team with two legitimate frontline starting pitchers in ace Brandon Webb and Dan Haren.

So far, though, the master plan has not exactly worked out in Phoenix.

Webb, who felt discomfort in his shoulder during his only start, is currently on the disabled list and will likely not return until the first week in June.

The loss of the former Cy Young award winner, however, is just the tip of the iceberg of the problems facing the D'Backs, who have allowed 22 more runs than they have scored and are currently nine games back of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hitting is where the real issues lie. Arizona has plated just 102 runs overall, averaging a paltry 3.64 runs per game; only the San Fransisco Giants have scored fewer runs as a team.

The offense truly has been terrible so far, combining to post a line of .225/.297/.385, for a .683 OPS and anemic 73 park-adjusted OPS+, in 921 at-bats over 28 games. As a point of comparison, the National League team average line is .256/.337/.408 in 911 at-bats.

It is extremely difficult for a team to produce runs when its lineup does not generate enough base runners. The D'Backs, relying on many hitters with free-swinging tendencies, have certainly proven that. Arizona is the only team in baseball with a sub-.300 on-base percentage; the lack of runs is not a coincidence, ladies and gentlemen. Not to mention, its offense also rounds out the rear on the circuit in batting average while ranking 25th in the majors in slugging percentage. Only two teams, the Giants and Oakland Athletics, have put a lower wOBA than its .302 mark as well.

Perhaps most telling, the Diamondbacks have produced a -2.7 VORP-yes, negative!-as a group. The majority of starters have underperformed significantly. In FanGraphs' batting runs feature, the entire offense has a whole has produced -34.5 runs below a lineup made up of replacement-level hitters.

Justin Upton (130), Mark Reynolds (122), Felipe Lopez (115) and Augie Ojeda (101) are the only regulars on the roster with a league average or better OPS+.

Upton, who was nearly sent down to the minors after a terrible first few weeks, has picked it up to provide one of the few bright spots. He is hitting .284/.363/.556 with six home runs, putting to rest any talk about a demotion to Triple-A. He is one of the few hitters doing his job as of late.

Losing emerging stud shortstop Stephen Drew to injury hurt a lot, but, outside of Upton, nearly every young position player has really struggled at the plate.

None more than Chris Young, who has struck out in 32.3 percent of his plate appearances, produced a poor 5.9% walk rate and is batting .177/.233/.333 with a 42 OPS+. Young has pretty much been someone who can almost be penciled in for an out before he steps into the batter's box; seriously, he is still only 25, but when will he mature as a hitter?

Arizona is also getting nothing from two positions normally expected to provide plus offensive output: first base and left field.

Conor Jackson has practically been a guaranteed out so far while providing below-average defense in left field, producing a line of .177/.233/.333 and 31 OPS+. Not exactly ideal numbers at the position, one could say; Carlos Quentin would be a good fit right about now, huh?

First baseman Chad Tracy has not been much better, though, with a .224/.256/.395 clip and .651 attached to his name.

The Diamondbacks' contact issues in recent past have been well documented, with so many high strikeout hitters on the roster. The trend has continued, as the club has struck out in 24.0 percent of all its plate appearances, good for 29th in the entire league. Arizona has produced a 9.0 BB% rate, on the other hand, and also sits near the bottom with a 0.41 BB/K ratio.

Pinning all of these failures on Melvin is misguided, obviously. Something really has to give, though, and the aforementioned hackers need to make adjustments and mature as professional hitters. A change in leadership could make a difference, but the problems seem to be more of a result or personnel, at least offensively.

Even in the absence of Webb, the pitching has been solid for the Snakes.

Haren has pitched brilliantly, posting a 1.47 ERA, 315 ERA+ and 2.16 FIP in six starts. The 28-year-old right-hander has been a victim of bad luck and received almost no run support, though, and is thus only 3-3; that record is only more proof that wins are fairly worthless when it comes to evaluating pitchers. He has produced excellent peripherals as well, with rates of 1.5 BB/9, 9.8 K/9 and 6.71 K/BB.

The rest of the D'Backs' starting rotation has also been productive. Doug Davis (131), newcomer Jon Garland (115) and flamethrower Max Scherzer (137) are pitching at well above average levels, yet have not received much run support, either. Number five starter Yusmeiro Petit is the only rotation member with a sub-100 ERA+, so getting Webb back and pushing him out of the mix will help a lot; he has been lit up for 18 earned runs, 20 total, in 20.2 innings pitched. As a staff, though, they have posted the third-lowest starters' ERA (3.74) in the bigs.

Led by closer Chad Qualls, Juan Gutierrez and Tony Pena, the Arizona bullpen has also been an area of strength. Qualls has continued to miss bats, producing a 12.27 K/9 rate in 11.0 innings pitched. He has yet to surrender a home run, either, and is sporting a nifty 188 ERA+ and 1.27 FIP through Thursday.

Gutierrez has also been a high strikeout guy and effective weapon in high leverage situations. The hard-throwing right-hander, averaging 94.6 MPH on his fastball this spring, has punched out 12.0 batters per nine innings and is pitching to the tune of a 154 ERA+ and 1.72 FIP.

Pena, relying on his mid-90s heater, has also been lights out, going 3-0 with a ridiculous 351 ERA+.

Arizona pitchers have been worth 3.9 value wins and $17.6-M overall, according to FanGraphs. Only four teams, it is worth mentioning, have received more value out of their pitching staffs. The D'Backs are also third in the National League in pitcher VORP.

As well, Arizona has been a bit above-average in the third leg of the run prevention equation, team defense. The club ranks 13th in baseball, and ninth in the N.L., in defensive efficiency, having converted 69.5 percent of batted balls hit into play into outs.

Clearly, putting up-and not preventing-runs on the scoreboard is the major reason why the D'Backs have gotten off to such a poor start. Melvin, of course, is not the sole reason for the losing, but he will fall on the sword. Perhaps a change in the clubhouse and dugout will spark a surge, but the hitting issues need to be addressed, and while the sample size is still small, many players need to pick it up soon or potentially be replaced.

A little regression to the mean-in a positive way-will undoubtedly occur for Arizona offensively. Drew will return at shortstop, and, after his impressive 2008 campaign, seems poised to enforce his place among the top offensive middle infielders around.

Also, Jackson, Tracy and Young cannot possibly be this bad.

Each player will improve.

Hopefully a lot.

The D'Backs' league-worst .264 batting average on balls in play-.280 was the lowest BABIP team total in '08-is also only going to go up.

Add Webb back into the mix and the Snakes will more closely resemble the ball club that Baseball Prospectus projected to win 88 games before spring training.

With that said, the firing and the PlexiGlass principle might be too little, too late. Despite the fact that it is still only May 7.

The Dodgers, even after losing Manny Ramirez to a 50-game suspension, have a commanding lead on the division that will be difficult to unlock. As the D'Backs proved themselves last April, a team cannot win a division in the first month. Similar to the clich

Remember Pat Venditte, the ambidextrous reliever who became a YouTube sensation last summer?

If you don't, you may want to keep his name in the back of your mind.

Venditte, a reliever in the New York Yankees organization, is proving to be more than just a novelty act. Rick Reilly penned a column about the switch-pitching prospect's success on the mound featured on ESPN.com this afternoon.

His name is Pat Venditte, he's 23, and he's pro baseball's only ambidextrous pitcher. This living piece of history is more than a YouTube star; he's throwing almost daily for the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees' Single-A club. And he's not just throwing: He's blowing through hitters like a Cub Scout through Skittles. At one point in April, the closer's ERA was 0.00 in 6 1/3 innings, and he hadn't blown a save in five games.

Last season, he had 23 saves for the Staten Island Yankees, with a 0.83 ERA. And best of all, the kid can relieve himself!

He wears a specially made six-fingered Mizuno glove with two thumbs. (His Dominican teammates call him Pulpo, Spanish for "octopus.") When he warms up, he throws four pitches righty and four lefty. You should see the opposition when he does it. It's as if they had seen a ghost. Wait--did you just see that? If a righty is up, he throws righty, and vice versa. Whenever Venditte switches sides, everybody in the Charleston ballpark is encouraged to switch seats.

Venditte, a 20th-round selection of the Yankees out of Creighton, made a nice debut in the New York Penn League in 2008. He posted a 0.83 ERA and 2.34 FIP in 30 appearances for the Staten Island Yankees, striking out 42 against only 10 walks in 32.2 innings pitched. His rates of 11.57 K/9, 2.76 BB/9 and 0.55 HR/9 were excellent, and he ranked among circuit leaders with 23 saves in as many chances.

Granted, Venditte was 22 years old pitching against much younger competition. Although he was also selected by the Yankees in 2007 as well, he opted to go back to his school for his senior year and was one of the older players chosen in the draft. Still, he did what was asked of him in his professional debut.

While the sample size is small, Venditte has continued to reinforce his status as a prospect thus far in 2009 while pitching for the Charleston RiverDogs in the South Atlantic League. He has struck out 21 in only 11.2 innings pitched, giving him a ridiculous 16.20 K/9 rate. Most impressive, the 23-year-old hurler has produced a 0.00 ERA and -0.40 FIP; of the 42 batters to face him, only seven have reached base. The RiverDogs' closer is a perfect 7-for-7 in save chances as well.

Reilly feels that Venditte could be up with the Yankees at some point early in the next decade:

But Venditte, a four-year letterman at Creighton, has a chance to be the best. If the Yankees bring him up--and at this pace it could happen within three years--they won't need a pitch count. Venditte can throw every day! And when manager Joe Girardi needs to call the bullpen, he can say, "Okay, get a righty and lefty throwing. In other words, get Pat." Of course, how would Girardi signal the bullpen? Touch both arms? Either way, it's a steal for the Yankees. As one scout says, "This could be an economical two-for-one." (Hey, Pat, ask for two salaries.)

Jokes and hyperbole aside, a scenario in which Venditte emerges in the New York bullpen is not all that improbable. With that said, it might be wise for the Yankees to handle him aggressively, seeing how he performs against more advanced competition. Many scouts still doubt his pure stuff and remain skeptical about his future prospects as a big-league pitcher. From the right side, he sits in the low-90s and has good command of a curve ball. He throws in the mid-80s as a lefty, relying on deception mostly; he comes from a side-armed delivery while mixing in a slider. Being able to switch sides before each at-bat also gives him a nice advantage, but his fastball is anything but overpowering and his overall repertoire of pitches is not exactly worth writing home about. If he can indeed remain this effective at the higher levels, though, he could easily establish himself as the next unconventional reliever to achieve success where it counts--a more interesting version of Chad Bradford, if you will, in the sense that he will likely be overlooked due to his scouting reports.

Time will tell, but it would definitely make for a great story if Venditte indeed reaches the show one day. Either way, he will remain a YouTube legend for a long time and will always be remembered for forcing the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation to establish the Venditte Rule for how to deal with ambidextrous pitchers. We should all hope--seriously, how cool would it be to have a switch pitcher in the majors?--he does enough on the field to be remembered for more than that.

Tyler Hissey is editor of Around the Majors. To reach him, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.

The first month of the 2009 season is in the books.

There is a lot of baseball left to be played, of course, and it is important to avoid getting too worked up on performances over a rather small sample size. But it is time to honor the noteworthy individual performers from April.

American League

Player of the Month: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

Forget about any sophomore slump. Longoria has picked up right where he left off during his Rookie-of-the-Year performance in 2008, hitting .365/.422/.703 and 186 OPS+ through his first 83 plate appearances. The 23-year-old infielder is also leading the American League with 10 doubles, ranks fourth in RBIs (20), fifth in slugging percentage and seventh in OPS (1.080). His .458 wOBA is good for seventh on the circuit as well.

In addition, Longoria has continued to play excellent defense at third base. In fact, the former first-rounder is well on his way to establishing himself as one of the premier defenders at the hot corner in the game. In 159.2 innings to this point, he has posted a 2.8 UZR rating-third in the majors at the position, behind Joe Crede and Adrian Beltre. His corresponding UZR/150 is an impressive 21.2.

Longoria is just an exceptional player on both sides of the ball, and, considering his age, is only going to get better. When accounting for defense, offense and positional factors, he has already been worth 1.5 value wins, according to FanGraphs; only Kevin Youkilis, who is leading the league in numerous offensive statistical categories, has produced a higher mark. The Rays have gotten off to a slow start as a team, winning just a single series in the month; the Tampa Bay offense, outside of league home run leader Carlos Pena and a few others, has really struggled to score runs. Do not put any blame Longoria, though, as he has been the most productive third baseman in the game in the absence of Alex Rodriguez. By the way, the nine-year, $44-M contract that he signed last April is going to end up as a major bargain for the Rays. The sky is the limit for this kid.

Honorable Mention: Youkilis, Boston Red Sox; Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers

Pitcher of the Month: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals

There is no room for debate here. Greinke, who has already gone through so many ups and downs in his young pitching career, has been sensational for the Kansas City Royals. The headline-grabbing unearned innings streak came to an end on Wednesday night, but the Sports Illustrated cover boy still pitched well enough to earn a win over Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays. The 25-year-old right-hander was unquestionably the premier pitcher on the circuit all month, going a perfect 5-0 with a league-best 0.50 ERA and diminutive 1.48 FIP in 36.0 innings pitched.

Greinke has been unhittable so far, holding opponents to an anemic line of .188/.241/.250 and .491 OPS. Opposing hitters have registered just 24 hits total, with only seven going for extra bases. Not surprisingly, his 0.89 WHIP is tops in the league. Equally impressive, he has produced rates of 11.0 K/9 (first in the A.L.), 2.00 BB/9 and 5.50 K/BB (second behind Halladay), having struck out 44 against only eight walks. He has yet to surrender a home run, either, doing what any manager wants out of a pitcher: missing bats and avoiding bases on balls and homers. His .294 BABIP is a bit below his career average, but his fast start has more to do with his ability to control those forces, not luck.

Greinke has showcased nasty stuff all spring. He has thrown his fastball 57.0 percent of the time, averaging 93.2 MPH; only six pitchers in the A.L. rank higher in average fastball velocity. The rising ace has relied on more than just heat, though, mixing in a mid-80s slider (85.5 avg. velocity) 21.8 percent of the time and, of course, his sometimes-amusingly slow curve ball. He once famously threw a 59-MPH breaking ball, telling his teammates that he would do so before the start of the inning. Greinke will still hang up an occasional breaking ball in the 60s, with the pitch coming at 74.0 MPH on average so far; the difference between his fastball and slow curve has proved to be a lethal combination. His arsenal also features a change up. One of the major reasons for his success, though, is his ability to effectively command all four of his offerings.

Greinke has been worth 17.4 value runs and 2.0 value wins, according to FanGraphs. He is the first player, including hitters, to pass the 2.0-win mark; essentially he has already been worth $9.0-M for the Royals. With his personal issues behind him, there is no telling how good he can become. Dayton Moore has made some mistakes, but he deserves a lot of credit for how he handled Greinke when the talented youngster needed a break from baseball and for locking him up to a team-friendly contract extension.

Honorable Mention: Gil Meche, Royals; Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

National League

Player of the Month: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

Utley is a stud, plain and simple. Despite injury concerns over the offseason, he has continued to swing a potent bat in the middle of the Phillies' lineup. Through Thursday, he is batting .342/.461/.644 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs. The Philadelphia second sacker also currently ranks among N.L. leaders in several categories: home runs (2nd), RBIs (3rd), runs scored (18, 4th), wOBA (.479, 4th), on-base and slugging percentage (5th in each category), OPS (6th), batting average (7th) and Isolated Power (.301, 8th). Outside of the homers, he surprisingly has only one extra-base hit, a double, but he has been one of the most dangerous hitters around overall. Although his ISO and current walk rate (15.1%) are well above his career averages and unsustainable, look for him to stay in the M.V.P. race if he can stay healthy.

Utley is also an excellent defender at the keystone. He posted impressive UZR totals of 15.7 and 20.2 at the position in 2007 and '08, respectively, and finished first among second basemen in Baseball Info Solutions' +- system with a +47; a lot of his high total resulted from his positioning, according to John Dewan. With the ability to turn the double play, above-average range, soft hands and a strong arm, he is a fine glove man. Through his first 20 games, however, he has actually graded out as exactly league average, with a 0.0 UZR; the advanced defensive stats do have some flaws, though, and the sample is relatively small. So, odds are, he will get that number up considerably over the next few weeks.

Although there are several middle infielders off to excellent starts with the bat, Utley is the most likely to maintain his current production level, and, outside of perhaps Kinsler, has been the best of the bunch so far. In fact, when accounting for defense, offense and positional factors, he has been worth 1.3 value wins; his new teammate, the hot-hitting Raul Ibanez, and outfielder Mike Cameron are the only N.L. players to rank higher.

Honorable Mention: Ibanez, Phillies; Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres

Pitcher of the Month: Johan Santana, New York Mets

Santana put up another great month, posting a 1.10 ERA and 2.10 FIP in five starts. The New York ace is leading the league with 44 punchouts against nine walks in 32.2 innings pitched; he ranks third in the league with a 12.12 K/9 rate and fourth with a 4.89 K/BB ratio. Although his 88.7 LOB% will come back down to earth, he is a safe bet to remain in the Cy Young mix throughout the summer.

Santana has been pretty much the same pitcher from a stuff standpoint as he was in '08. He is throwing his fastball a bit more (64.7% up from 59.6%), but his average fastball velocity of 91.2 MPH is exactly the same as it was last year. He has thrown his slider a little bit less, but the velocity has also remained constant; his avg. velocity on the pitch was 83.5 in '08 and is 83 .6 through April. As well, his excellent change up has remained a weapon; the dominant southpaw has gone to the pitch 27.4 percent of the time.

The Mets have had some starting rotation issues as a whole-handing a job to Livan Hernandez a job will do that-but Santana has continued to pitch brilliantly and earn his paycheck. He has been worth 1.2 value wins in FanGraphs' metric, which puts him third among N.L. pitchers.

Honorable Mention: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants; Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks

Tyler Hissey is the editor of Around the Majors and writes about Major League Baseball at his blog. You can email him by sending an email to TylerHissey(at)gmail.com.