No special header for this one folks. In fact, you may not see one for sometime. This blog is completely about the fantasy issue. What if I owned this guy? Would I not come in last for once? What if I owned that guy? Would I have a better team.
     Thats right folks, it's Fantasy Baseball time. With the leagues starting to form, it's only a matter of time before you join one. Lets take a quick glance at who some of the top picks, the no picks and the dark horses should be in this year's fantasy leagues.
     Ok, for top picks, the obvious choices are Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard. These two were monsters last year, and if Howard can find his Pujols groove (of constant numbers each year), then he'll be up for another MVP award. Sure, he will probably never hit 58 homeruns again, because of the walk treatment, but he'll get you numbers. HR, RBI, Runs and the averages: OB, Slugging and OPS. The same for Pujols. It looks like Pujols and Howard will be the numbers 1 and 2 picks in each draft. just who will be 1 and who will be 2?
     Other top players are Chris Carpentar, Roy Oswalt, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Brandon Webb, Johan Santanna, Joe Maur and Justin Morneau. All of whom will be top picks.
     Some don't pick these guys: Barry Bonds, JD Drew, Luis Gonzalez, Russell Martin, Geoff Jenkins and Gary Sheffield. Bonds will be injuried a lot this year, if he doesn't get arrested first. Drew, well, he agreed to terms almost two months ago with the Boston Red Sox and his deal hasn't been finalized yet because of an injury during an exam. Gonzalez is old and probably won't play as much as people think. If you want a lot of bases, you might want to take him but only as a late round pick. Martin will NOT be the Martin of last year: fact. Trust me. If you need a catcher, go for Brian McCann (who would be an iffy choice as well) or Maur. Jenkins and Sheffield probably won't see much playing time and haven't done well for a few years. Late picks if you desperately need outfield help.
     Some dark horses are: Yadier Molina, Anthony Reyes, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Stephen Drew, Carlos Quinten and Sammy Sosa. Molina and Reyes really came into their own during the postseason, most noteably the NLCS (Molina) and the World Series (Reyes). Both should have really good 2007 campaigns. Kouzy is a rookie 3B with a lot of pop. He'll fit into the middle of the young Friar's lineup and should produce 20+ homeruns, a lot of doules and some RBI. the DBack boys, Drew and Quinten, were stellar last year in the MLB debuts. This year looks better. Some starting experience under your belt is very good for young players, and you can bet that these two will have good years. And lastly, Sosa. Sosa was MIA in 2006 and looks to come back in 2007. He'll be playing a lot of DH, so his wear and tear will be low on his body so he MIGHT produce. In a hitter friendly park, his numbers MIGHT be good. See why he's a dark horse candidate? Lots of mights. He's the Frank Thomas of 2007. Injuries hampered him, full time DH. Take a shot if you're willing, but make it late.
     Thats all folks!

     Yes folks, it's true. Albert Pujols was once again screwed over in the Most Valuable Player votings. Ryan Howard has become the new Barry Bonds (except Howard doesn't use steroids, is not a jerk and the world's biggest ####): stealing the MVP away from the real Most Valuable Player. Not getting your team in the playoffs and just having an offense kind of year. What did Albert Pujols do? He led his team to the playoffs while having a career year and winning a gold glove. Don't let me just opinionate you away, let me provide you with some cold hard facts.
     Pujols had an oblique injury in the middle of the season and that prevented his numbers from being better, but that has nothing to do with the voting. I'm just letting everyone know that before I tell you this stat: Howard played in 16 more games than Pujols. In fact, this was the first year Pujols was on the disabled list..and that's in 5+ years. Ok, so here's the breakdown of the numbers:
Howard had 58 homeruns, 149 RBI, 108 walks, 181 strikeouts and had a .313 batting average.
Pujols had 49 homeruns, 137 RBI, 92 walks, 50 strikeouts and had a .331 batting average.
Howard's slugging, on-base and OPS (On-base + slugging) percentages were: .659/.425/1.082.
Pujols numbers for those categories were: .671/.431/1.102.
Howard led his team to a second place finish in both the East division and the Wild Card.
Pujols led his team to a first place finish, ended a possible third eight game losing streak and to a World Series championship (although, the post season doesn't get involved in the voting).
     Now who's valuable? Is Howard more valuable because he didn't carry his team to the playoffs while only leading Pujols in three categories: walks (16), HR (9) and RBI (12)? I mean, those numbers aren't really far apart. Howard also led Pujols in strikeouts with 131 more, whereas Pujols had 42 less strikeouts than walks, and thats hard to do. Just look at these blatent facts folks, Pujols was once screwed out of the MVP. Last year, most Cardinals fans thought he would be screwed out of it again because Jones had over 50 homeruns and Derek Lee had the batting title. He won last year, beating out a 50+ homerun guy. He should have done it this year. Heck, I would have rather seen Lance Berkman get the MVP rather than Howard. At least Berkman led his team on a charge to the central title. What did Howard do? Keep a team that was still in tact together? Everyone says he took over the team when Bobby Abreu was traded. Hate to break it to you folks, Abreu wasn't leading the team BEFORE he was traded, it was Howard all year long. Just remember these numbers. The evidence is clear: nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts, Albert got SCREWED!

***I know MVP voting was a while back, but I have been swamped with homework lately, so I never had time to write this. Enjoy and leave comments***

     Are the St. Louis Cardinals still the underdog? They beat the favored San Diego Padres three games to one. Then they beat the heavily favored New York Mets four games to three. Now, they lead the favored Detroit Tigers two games to one in the 2006 World Series. Did you see a pattern? Favored, heavily favored and favored. Thats the pattern. Thats right folks, the Cardinals were not suppose to beat the Padres. They definently weren't suppose to be in the World Series, e####ally if you listen to Dayn Perry. Heck, you can make a case that they shouldn't be anywhere near the postseason. I mean, this team had three losing streaks that added to 23 games lost. Can this team really be this close to winning their 10th World Series title?
     The Cardinals are, despite what you hear from Perry, real close to winning this year's title. Perry says that the Cardinals aren't good enough to be this good. They can't a series if they tried. He wants you to believe the Cardinals basically suck. Well, suck on this Dayn Perry: Cardinals are almost World Champions.
     After that rip at Perry because his writing this postseason has really irked me, I will leave you with this (e####ally since I wrote this in the 15 minutes I had before class started) the Cardinals are the best. They have the best manager, the best team and the best closer. Please accept this. Don't be part of the 90% of the world against the Cardinals. If you are part of that 90%, please don't overflow the oceans with your tears when the Cardinals win.
     Just to let you know, this article basically has no information in it. It's just a rip at the Cardinal haters because I'm gloating. That 90% of the world stat is probably not right (more than likely higher), so don't go by that. Made that up. Comment badly if you must, but I think St. Louis Cardinal fans will agree with me. It's been long enough, it's time to gloat because we're up two games to one and we have Jeff Suppan pitching tonight. So eat this article you Cardinal haters, e####ally the following: Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Jeff Brantley, Dayn Perry, Steve Phillips, Dayn Perry and Joe Morgan (I don't like Dayn Perry and Joe Morgan is the worst announcer in history, so they get listed twice =P).

     Now that the season is over, we can finally start making real predictions for all of the awards. Now, there are so many hard picks, this will not be easy; however, I'll do my best. Before I start though, I will only say who wins and why they do. Then I'll do a little blurb after the winner on who was passed up with the place they finished in after their name in (). Ok, MVP time. The National League goes first because obviously the National League is better than the American League.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 2006
NATIONAL LEAGUE: ALBERT PUJOLS, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
This is a no doubter folks. Who lifted the St. Louis Cardinals into the playoffs? Albert Pujols. Who didn't? Ryan Howard. Who ended a possible third eight game losing streak for the Cardinals? Albert Pujols. The guy is obvious pick. Sorry Philly fans. Ryan Howard does deserve the Most Outstanding player, no doubt; however, the Most VALUABLE Player is the guy that carries you into the postseason, not carries your luggage to the terminal for a flight home.
SORRY TO: Howard (2nd), Carlos Beltran (3rd)
AMERICAN LEAGUE: JUSTIN MORNEAU, MINNESOTA TWINS
There is no denying that Morneau wins the MVP for the AL. Without him, the Twins never would have won the division (or go to the postseason for that matter). The guy made the Twins go. Sure, say Johan Santanna made them go, but he led the pitching staff. He led the pitching staff last year too and and "made them go" home. So, obviously Santanna can't do it alone. This is where Moneau came in and won the MVP award and stole it from other deserving players.
SORRY TO: David Ortiz (2nd), Derek Jeter (3rd), Frank Thomas (4th), Santanna (5th), Jim Thome (6th), Jermaine Dye (7th)

CY YOUNG AWARD 2006
NATIONAL LEAGUE: CHRIS CARPENTER, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Yes folks, it's a clean sweep for the Cardinals again. Carp was very dominate all year long. Sure, he had some struggles along the way, but he did towards the end of the year last year. This year, though, can be blamed on a inconsistent bullpen. Because of that pen, Tony La Russa was forced to leave Carp out there on an empty tank at the end of the year and his numbers suffered. Although, a 15-8 record and 3.09 earned run average is pretty damn good.
SORRY TO: Roy Oswalt (2nd), Brad Penny (3rd), Carlos Zambrano (4th)
AMERICAN LEAGUE: JOHAN SANTANNA, MINNESOTA TWINS
Another sweep, this time for the Twins. Santanna carried the Twins pitching yet again. He was the MLB leader in all three pitching Triple Crown categories (ERA, Wins and Ks). This guy is dominant and when he took the mound, you know you were gonna win.
SORRY TO: Barry Zito (2nd), Justin Verlander (3rd), Kenny Rogers (4th)

MANAGER OF THE YEAR
NATIONAL LEAGUE: JOE GIRARDI, FLORIDA MARLINS
It's a shame what happened to Girardi. Get stuck with a bunch of rookies, be predicted to win less games than the Kansas City Royals and end up with a 78-84 record then get fired because he strained relations with the front office? Thats gotta blow. Girardi, though, gets the last laugh. He'll be interviewing for jobs left and right and has the Manager of the Year award for 2006 to put on his resume. The Marlins were foolish to let him go, and they'll more than likely regret it. The question is though: How long will Gonzalez last in Florida?
SORRY TO: Charlie Manuel (2nd), Grady Little (3rd), Bruce Bochy (4th), Phil Garner (5th), Tony La Russa (6th)
AMERICAN LEAGUE: JIM LEYLAND, DETROIT TIGERS
In his first year in Florida, he won a World Series. In his first year with Detroit, he almost pulled of the greatest upset: win the division and knock out the White Sox. Part 2 came through, but they didn't win the division. Thats ok though. Mr. Miracle came through and guided the Tigers to their first playoff berth in 19 years and did it while everyone was telling him his team wasn't good enough. Who's laughing now?
SORRY TO: Ron Gardenhire (2nd), Ken Macha (3rd)
NOT SORRY TO: Joe Torre (30th)

And there you have it folks, your 2006 awards. I only did these three because they are the most important, and the MVP has had a lot of debate behind it this year. So, there you go and I hope you enjoy!

     Let this be known right away, I am not a Red Sox fan or a Yankee fan. I cannot stand the American League East, or the American League for that matter. So don't think I'm a homer. Since that is now known, I can finally type my story. Theo Epstein has an ok team in front of him, but he really needs to do something else. He needs to address about every part of his roster this offseason. Here's what the Red Sox need to do in order to keep pace with the Yankees next season. Some of these moves probably won't happen, but they can work.
     ANDRUW JONES: The Braves want to resign. Jones wants to stay a Brave. Does this mean this will happen? No. Could it? Yes. The Braves don't really have enough money to reisgn Jones after this season, and if Jones goes to Beantown, he could make a lot of money. Plus, the Braves could benefit a lot from a trade of Jones. They could trade Jones to Boston for Coco Crisp (to play left field and leadoff), Mike Lowell, Kason Gabbard and Manny Delcarmen. Now, you ask why trade a center fielder for a left fielder? Simple, the Braves need someone out in left that is good. Also, Crisp could be their leadoff man (or Edgar Renteria could take that spot). They just need to bump Marcus Giles from the leadoff spot. He's not comfortable there, and everyone knows it. This could also be beneficial because that will allow the Braves to sign Torii Hunter (if he's a free agent) to play center. Their lineup would get a big boost. Gabbard could be in the rotation for the Braves in the second half of next season (starting at Triple A) and all of 2008. Delcarmen could be out in the bullpen and help out their to bridge the gap to Bob Wickman. Lowell would be good for Chipper Jones. Jones and Lowell are getting up there in age and their play is starting to show it. If you platoon these two, their injuries could be done and both could impact the club.
     For the Red Sox, they get a great hitting center fielder whose bat has finally come alive in recent years. Jones is also a super defender and is a big boost over Coco Crisp and anyone else that they put out in center.
     BARRY ZITO: The Red Sox have an ok rotation. They'll have Josh Beckett (inconsistent), Curt Schilling (old and inconsistent), Jon Lester, Jon Papelbon, Matt Clement and Tim Wakefield. All of those pitchers are either young, old, consistent or a combonation of some. Thats not good enough to compete with the Yankees offense (they have a pitching staff other than Wang and Johnson?). They need to add a boost. That's where Zito comes in. Zito can fit in nicely in this rotation as the number one starter. That'll put these pitchers following Zito: Beckett, Schilling, Paplebon and Lester. This lets the pitchers know where they stand in relation to their peers so they can pitch better. If you're told you're the ace of the staff, that can mess with your head if you've never been one before. Schilling can't carry this staff anymore and Beckett is Beckett. Zito is needed to keep this rotation together. This also makes Wakefield and Clement expandable to trade off for some pitching help. They really don't have a closer, unless Keith Foulke or Craig Hansen and take the duty. Look at this bullpen: Foulke, Hansen, Mike Timlin and Julian Taverez. Is that threatening? Not really. They really need to add some people. They can look to teams that have a lot of youth coming up, that way they don't care if they give up some veterens. They could also look to signing Joe Borowski to help build a bridge, maybe even be the closer. Eric Gagne will be available, maybe they could go there. No matter what they do, they need to stock the bullpen along with adding Zito to help improve this offense.
     GARY SHEFFIELD & MARK LORETTA: Yes folks, Gary Sheffield. Sheffield is getting old, but based on the other night, the guy can still hit when healthy. To help keep him healthy, the Yankees moved Sheffield to first. Well, the Red Sox just traded off Lowell. Remember? The Red Sox really want to move Kevin Youkilis back to third, and thats why they traded Mike Lowell. This allows them to move Youkilis to third and sign Sheffield to play first. Look at that, their defense is almost completed. They just need to resign Loretta. They did have a middle infield combo coming up in Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia, but they traded Ramirez. This leaves Pedroia, who has and can play second and short. This is big. They can move him to short and keep Loretta to play second and their defense has taken a big leap. Also, their offense has as well. We have one more move, then I'll show you the updated lineup.
     GEOFF JENKINS: Yes folks, Jenkins. Sure, he's not great anymore, but neither is Trot Nixon. Thaats why I'm letting Nixon go and I'm trading two Single A players to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jenkins. Jenkins, en turn, will play in a platoon with Wily Mo Pena and Manny Ramirez. Pena is good enough to play everyday, but he needs to be kept fresh. With this platoon, he'll play about 100 games (three out of five games he plays) and Jenkins would play about 62 games in right. Then, he'd also be used to give Ramirez a day off. Meaning, he'd play about 20 games in left. He could also be used in the DH spot as well, once in a while.
     Ok, so here's the new lineup that I would put out there everyday:
SS  Pedoria
RF  Pena/Jenkins
DH  David Ortiz
LF   Ramirez
CF  Jones
 C   Jason Varitek
1B  Sheffield
3B  Youkilis
2B  Loretta
Thats a pretty good looking lineup right there. Speed and on-base percentage at the top, then comes a very good power supply with the 2-5. Then comes some good hitters with the 6-8. Then, it's your second leadoff man in the ninth spot to get it back to the top of the lineup.
     Now, that sounds like a very productive offseason. What do you think?

     Is Albert Pujols a lock for the Most Valuable Player award? Sure, Ryan Howard's numbers look amazing, but he also has Chase Utley, Pay Burrell and Jimmy Rollins in his lineup. Pujols has a slumping Scott Rolen, Juan Encarnacion, Chris Duncan and a bunch of role players in his lineup. After knowing that, whose numbers are padded? I'd say Howard's. I know that gets you Phillies fan steamed, but here's something else to add to your crockpot: Pujols missed 18 games due to injury. Here's something else as well: the Cardinals will only play 161 games this year, one game less than the Phillies. Knowing all this, you know Howard's numbers are padded and Pujols would be leading Howard in all the major categories (Pujols leads Howard in all the minor categories). Albert Pujols is a lock for his second consecutive MVP award. For you Phillies fans, accept it and look forward to next year's postseason run cause you aren't making it this year.

     Yes folks, it's true. The Cincinnati Reds are stacked up for the 2007 season. They made a real attempt to compete in 2006, but they knew it was a long shot. Now, they're looking forward to 2007. They have a real chance next year. Lets look at what the Reds have done this year to build for next year.
     First and most importantly, the Reds hired someone that knew what he was doing to run the club in the front office, General Manager Wayne Krivsky. Krivsky spent all of his years in Minnesota, a place where all they do is develop young talneted players. Krivsky came in and addressed the Reds needs as fast as he could. He added Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Phillips and David Ross. These three have been key aquisitions. Phillips has been spectacular at second, offensivly. On defense, he's been average with 14 errors. Ross has been hitting the snot out of the ball and has finally been named the everyday catcher for the Reds.
     Bronson Arroyo pitched great, in the first half. His season stats look this: 12-9, 3.33 ERA, 1.21 WHIP. In the first half, his stats were: 9-6, 3.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP. Since the All-Star break, 3-3, 3.70 ERA, 1.25 WHIP. Those numbers since the break are decent, but not great (like before the break). This guy was suppose to be the ace of the staff. Instead, that has fallen upon Aaron Harrang, yet again. This guy has been the head of the staff for years. To make a long story short, Arroyo needs to step up next year and be the number guy everyone knows he can be.
     Kyle Lohse was a good pickup and can be a decent number four guy in the rotation. Eric Milton is a number three pitcher. Do you see something? There's no legimate ace of the staff here that can set the rest of the pitchers in place. I mean, look at the Marlins, Cardinals, Mets and Yankees. They all have that ace that can set the rotation in place. The Reds need someone like that, and I assure you Krivsky will be shopping for plenty free agent pitchers. Thats his basic need. His bullpen is pretty set. You, hopefully, have Eddie Guardado coming back next year to be your closer. You've got Dave Weathers and Todd Coffey to be the setup men in front of the lefty. Rheal Cormier as the lefty specialist and Ryan Franklin to be a long relief guy out of the pen. All they need is a guy that can face both lefties and righties equally and is a power arm (Kerry Wood?) to make this bullpen complete. Plus, yoiu have Gary Majewski and Bill Bray to make the bullpen better.
     The offense is together. All you need is a shortstop (because Royce Clayton SUCKS). You can entrust right field to Ryan Freel and make him your leadoff hitter. Another thing you can do is go spend money and add that ace for the staff and a power outfielder (to compliment Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr.). This of course means you move Dunn to first and LEAVE HIM THERE. He's a liability in the outfield. So, your order kind of looks like this: Freel, RF; Shortstop; Dunn, 1B; Power Left Fielder; Griffey, CF; Ross, C; Edwin Encarnacion, 3B; Phillips, 2B; pitcher. Thats a dangerous lineup (no matter what power left fielder they add). Then, all of the sudden, your team is rebuilt and refueled and ready to make a real run in 2007. The 2006 team was a good start, now they just have to build on it.

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     Josh Rabe was recently called up to the Minnesota Twins when Shannon Stewart and Tori Hunter went on the disabled list. Josh Kinney was called up at the start of July for the St. Louis Cardinals. Why is this important? They both graduated from Quincy University. No, not the Quincy in Massachusetts. The Quincy in Illinois. Quincy was once one of the largest cities in the state of Illinois. That's right. It was once bigger than Chicago AND Springfield. Al Capone stayed in Quincy every once in a while and shipped things to St. Louis. Quincy was known as the "lil Chicago" during the mob years. Josh Kinney and Josh Rabe were both big stars on the Quincy team. Qunicy University is a Division Two school in sports. Not a well known school. Why does all this matter? Because finally my town is finally being represented in Major League Baseball. Also, I may finally not get this question from people when I tell them I'm from Quincy: is that a suburb of Chicago? <-- FYI, Quincy is about 4-5 hours south of Chicago.
     Also, Neal Cotts played for the Quincy Gems one summer. The Gems are the summer league team that plays in Quincy. Also, did you know that the Cubs once had their Single A club in Quincy?

     Sammy Sosa says he would like to come back to Major League Baseball. Maybe the Washington Nationals? With all the trade rumors floating around, the Nationals may need a guy that can play the outfield for them. If they trade Alfonso Soriano and Jose Guillen, they can use Marlon Byrd and Ryan Church, but the Nationals haven't showed strong intrest in those two players this year. Maybe they can sign Sosa to a one year contract. It won't spark a huge comeback, but it could help them with the outfield situation after the deadline.
     Sosa is aging a little, but that's ok. He has a lot of experience in his career and if he comes back, he can continue his pursuit of 600 career homeruns. Austin Kearns will be in right field for the Nationals, so Sosa can play left until the Nationals feel they have a younger guy that can everyday for them in left. Sosa would be a good short term signee for the Nationals. E####ally with all these trade tumors swirling around.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals lost a lot this offseason, and really didn't replace them with power guys. Matt Morris walked and was replaced by the twosome of Sidney Ponson and Anthony Reyes. Reggie Sanders walked and was replaced by Larry Bigbie. Mark Grudzielanek walked and was replaced by a Aaron Miles/Hector Luna/Devi Cruz/Junior Spivey combonation. Larry Walker retired and was replaced by Jaun Encarnacion. The replacements aren't as good as their predacessors, byt they work. The Cardinals still have a big offense and minor league system that is getting deeper in talent. They'll be ok this year, it's the 2007 season that panic could strike.

Houston Astros

The Astros added some huge punch to their offense by signing Preston Wilson, but this means that Chris Burke is yet again denied a starting job. Will Tavarez will most likely switch over to left field, Lance Berkman going to 1B and Wilson in CF. This means...yes, Jeff Bagwell is done. He'll be benched if the Astros can't get his insurance claim. They look good, but not good enough for Central title.

Milwaukee Brewers

THE BREWERS!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!! How good are they?????? Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, JJ Hardy and the newcomers. They look good this year. They have a tough division and won't get the title. However, the Wild Card is open. Maybe there? Wait till Saturday to find out....

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs look good. They have a lot of issues though. Aramis Ramirez is coming off an injury, Derek Lee came off a season of where he could have had a fluke year or he could the the real deal offense. They have a declining Jacque Jones in right, and Juan Pierre's numbers are declining. They have Ronny Cedeno at short, and problems at 2B. They're bullpen is chalk full of injury prone pitchers, along with the rotation. They place fourth in the Central cause of all the question marks they have.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates look great. Great young talent at the big league level. However, with Jim Tracy new to the clubhouse, the Pirates will have to wait until 2007 to make a serious run at the title. They will end up over .500 this year. In fact, when they do, it'll be the first time in a long time that 5 out of the 6 teams in the Central finished .500 or better.

Cincinnati Reds

Not much to say about the Reds. A new regime in the front office, "new" manager in the clubhouse, and some new talent. They need to deepen the minors to help replace some declining talent. They don't have enough to get anywhere close to .500. They have no closer, their starting rotation sucks hardcore...they just need to make a plan and execute it correctly.

Hope you all enjoyed old school day!

This will show you what each team looks like in the NL Central, pitching and offense wise. Just so you know, these are my predicitions, some of these might happen, some won't. The players with slashes are possibilites.

St. Louis Cardinals: Manager - Tony LaRussa
  C: Yadier Molina
1B: Albert "The Machine" Pujols
2B: Junior Spivey
3B: Scott Rolen
SS: David Eckstein
LF: Larry Bigbie
CF: Jim Edmonds
RF: Jaun Encarnacion
BENCH: John Rodriguez, So Taguchi, Devi Cruz, Gary Bennet, John Gall/Aaron Miles/Hector Luna/Scott Seabol

SPs: Chris Carpenter (1), Mark Mulder (2), Jeff Suppan (3), Jason Marquis (4), Sidney Ponson/Anthony Reyes (5)
BULLPEN
RHP: Brad Thompson
RHP: Anthony Reyes/Sidney Ponson/Adam Wainwright/Juan Mateo
LHP: Ricardo Rincon/Tyler Johnson
LHP: Randy Florez/Tyler Johnson
SU: Braden Looper
CL: Jason Isringhausen

Houston Astros: Manager - Phil "Scrap Iron" Garner
  C: Brad Ausmus
1B: Jeff Bagwell/Lance Berkman
2B: Craig Biggio
3B: Morgan Ensberg
SS: Adam Everett
LF: Lance Berkman/Chris Burke
CF: Willy Tavarez/Preston Wilson
RF: Preston Wilson/Willy Tavarez
BENCH: Jason Lane, Orlando Palmeiro, Mike Lamb, Chris Burke/Jeff Bagwell, Raul Chavez, Eric Bruntlett

SPs: Roy Oswalt (1), Andy Pettite (2), Brandon Backe (3), Wandy Rodriguez (4), Ezequiel Astacio (5)
BULLPEN
RHP: Russ Springer
LHP: Trevor Miller
LHP: Mike Gallo
SU: Chad Qualls
SU: Dan Wheeler
CL: Brad "Lights Out" Lidge

Pittsburgh Pirates: Manager - Jim Tracy
  C: Humberto Cota
1B: Sean Casey
2B: Jose Castillo
3B: Joe Randa
SS: Jack Wilson
LF: Jason Bay
CF: Chris Duffy
RF: Jeromy Burnitz
BENCH: Jody Gerut, Ryan Doumit, Craig Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Nate McLouth

SPs: Oliver Perez (1), Zach Duke (2), Victor Santos (3), Pat Maholm (4), Kip Wells (5)
BULLPEN
RHP: Ian Snell
RHP: Ryan Vogelsong
LHP: John Grabow
LHP: Damaso Marte
SU: Salomn Torres
SU: Roberto Hernandez
CL: Mike Gonzalez

Milwaukee Brewers: Manager - Ned Yost
  C: Damian Miller
1B: Prince Fielder
2B: Rickie Weeks
3B: Corey Koskie
SS: JJ Hardy
LF: Carlos Lee
CF: Brady Clark
RF: Geoff Jenkins
BENCH: Bill Hall, Corey Hart, Jeff Cirillo, Chad Moeller, Gabe Gross

SPs: Ben Sheets (1), Doug Davis (2), Chris Capuano (3), Rick Helling (4), Tomo Ohka (5)
BULLPEN
RHP: Justin Lehr
RHP: Matt Wise
RHP: Jose Capellan
LHP: Jorge de la Rosa
LHP: Dana Eveland
SU: Dan Kolb
CL: Derrick Turnbow

Chicago Cubs: Manager - Dusty Baker
  C: Michael Barrett
1B: Derrek Lee
2B: Todd Walker
3B: Aramis Ramirez
SS: Ronny Cedeno/Neifi Perez
LF: Matt Murton
CF: Juan Pierre
RF: Jacque Jones
BENCH: Jerry Hairston Jr, John Mabry, Neifi Perez, Henry Blanco, Augie Ojeda

SPs: Mark Prior (1), Greg Madduz (2), Carlos Zambrano (3), Kerry Wood/Jerome Williams (4), Jerome Williams/Glendon Rusch (5)
BULLPEN
RHP: Bob Howry
RHP: Scott Williamson
RHP: Michael Wuertz
LHP: John Koronka
LHP: Scott Eyre
LHP: Will Ohman
CL: Ryan Dempster

Cincinnati Reds: Manager - Jerry Narron
  C: Jason LaRue
1B: Adam Dunn/Ken Griffey Jr/Wily Mo Pena/Austin Kearns
2B: Tony Womack
3B: Edwin Encarnacion
SS: Felipe Lopez
LF: Adam Dunn/Wily Mo Pena
CF: Ken Griffey Jr/Wily Mo Pena
RF: Austin Kearns/Wily Mo Pena
BENCH: Wily Mo Pena/Dane Sardinha, Ryan Freel, Rich Auralia, Javier Valentin, Chris Denorfia

SPs: Aaron Harang (1), Paul Wilson (2), Eric Milton (3), Dave Williams (4), Brandon Claussen (5)
BULLPEN
RHP: Jason Standridge
RHP: Todd Coffey
RHP: Matt Belisle
RHP: Grant Balfour
LHP: Jung Bong
LHP: Kent Mercker
CL: David Weathers




There we are. Enjoy!