Part II

 

Offensive MVP and LVP Fantasy Style

 

Milwaukee Brewers

 

 

MVP: Gabe Kapler .291 .310 .582 .892 4-13-12-32 2-10-1

Runner-Up: Mike Cameron .269 .367 .654 1.021 3-7-6-17 4-8-0

Comments: I am using the two as a group. This has been a bright spot for the Brewers to start the season. Together they remind me of John Lowenstein/Gary Roenicke without the 25-game suspension and the fact one of the Brewers is not a left-handed hitter… other than that… I am cool.

 

LVP: Ryan Braun .268 .304 .465 .768 5-23-13-59 7-28-1

Bottom-Up: Prince Fielder .257 .372 .431 .803 4-20-16-47 19-18-0

Comments: both players do not belong on this list but given where they went in drafts… Their numbers do not add up to their production.

 

Minnesota Twins

 

 

MVP: Justin Morneau .284 .358 .495 .853 6-25-14-54 12-17-0

Runner-Up: Carlos Gomez .271 .297 .374 .671 1-8-17-40 3-26-13

Comments: If Morneau played somewhere other than, a state recognized for lakes they have (I am on record here to say that Minnesota does not have 10,000 lakes. Maybe they more or less… but not 10,000 exactly) he would be an All-Star regularly.

 

LVP: Delmon Young .263 .306 .307 .613 0-9-15-35 7-21-6

Bottom-Up: Jason Kubel .245 .264 .396 .660 4-17-11-42 3-22-0

Comments: Both players came into this season as great sleepers in AL-only leagues… yet both have been big disappointments for Fantasy owners but Minnesota is a top their division as I write tonight. Go figure.

 

New York Yankees

 

 

MVP: Johnny Damon .295 .394 .527 .921 4-14-25-59 19-20-5

Runner-Up: Bobby Abreu .306 .363 .452 .815 4-21-15-56 11-24-2

Comments: Damon is quietly putting up good Fantasy numbers, while Abreu is the glue right now that is holding the lineup together.

 

LVP: Robinson Cano .154 .214 .256 .471 3-8-7-30 8-15-0

Bottom-Up: Derek Jeter .313 .339 .393 .732 0-16-15-44 3-8-0

Comments: Cano signed a huge deal and is pulling a Carl Pavano right now while Jeter has yet to go deep or steal a base.

 

New York Mets

 

 

MVP: David Wright .284 .406 .569 .975 6-26-17-62 23-18-4

Runner-Up: Ryan Church .318 .382 .491 .873 4-22-23-54 11-24-1

Comments: Wright is a beast at third; you did not need me to tell you that. Church has been solid all year.

 

LVP: Carlos Delgado .213 .306 .361 .668 4-16-16-39 14-21-0

Bottom-Up: Luis Castillo .239 .343 .261 .605 0-4-11-23 4-7-6

Comments: It is time for Delgado to Delgottogo.

 

Oakland Athletics

 

 

MVP: Emil Brown .271 .296 .398 .694 3-26-19-47 4-11-1

Runner-Up: Bobby Crosby .268 .336 .402 .737

Comments: What can Brown do for you? Lead the AL in RBI.

 

LVP: Travis Buck .154 .197 .277 .474 0-6-5-18 2-20-0

Bottom-Up: Mark Ellis .237 .322 .359 .681 2-11-5-47 17-15-3

Comments: What does Travis Buck and I have in common? We both suck at hitting the curve ball… However, he gets paid to hit.

 

Philadelphia Phillies

 

 

MVP: Chase Utley .357 .432 .762 1.193 13-26-28-96 13-20-3

Runner-Up: Pat Burrell .330 .459 .687 1.147 9-30-20-73 26-24-0

Comments: Without Chipper Jones in the NL, Utley is the MVP. How do you not like Utley? Pat’s bat is hotter than Fergie in a bikini. Check her out in the May 5th edition of In Touch Weekly.

 

LVP: Ryan Howard .167 .294 .351 .645 6-14-16-40 21-45-0

Bottom-Up: Shane Victorino .231 .296 .292 .588 0-2-7-19 6-8-2

Comments: Howard is hitting something around .400 when he actually hits a ball.

 

Pittsburgh Pirates

 

 

MVP: Nate McClouth .323 .411 .606 1.017 7-25-28-77 17-16-3

Runner-Up: Xavier Nady .347 .406 .542 .948 4-30-19-64 10-21-1

Comments: McClouth is by far the biggest surprise in Fantasy this season on the offensive side. Reminds me of Eric Brynes… but better!

 

LVP: Adam LaRoche .202 .275 .303 .578 2-8-7-30 10-32-0

Bottom-Up: Freddy Sanchez .222 .250 .282 .532 1-11-10-33 4-14-0

Comments: I have officially given up on LaRoche. Pittsburgh fans know what I mean.

 

San Diego Padres

 

 

MVP: Adrian Gonzalez .302 .355 .556 .911 8-23-19-70 10-27-0

Runner-Up: See Above

 

Comments: In a big home ballpark, Gonzalez is putting up some nice numbers. I have him in a league that I cannot even trade him in because my knuckle-headed friends would rather hold onto David Ortiz or Carlos Pena.

 

LVP: Khalil Greene .220 .273 .305 .578 1-11-6-36 8-24-0

Bottom-Up: Jim Edmonds .181 .266 .241 .507 1-6-6-20 9-23-2

Comments: Greene has been disappointing so far and Edmonds has been pointless so far.

 

San Francisco Giants

 

 

MVP: Aaron Rowand .337 .383 .531 .914 3-15-12-52 7-26-0

Runner-Up: Bengie Molina .296 .324 .480 .803 4-19-9-47 4-5-0

Comments: It is nice to have a catcher like Molina on your team… just make sure it is the right Molina brother.

 

LVP: Ray Durham .253 .330 .367 .697 1-7-9-29 8-15-4

Bottom-Up: John Bowker .250 .268 .426 .694 3-9-4-29 2-16-0

Comments: I was going to put Barry ****s on the list but his head did not fit on the page.

 

Seattle Mariners

 

 

MVP: Ichiro Suzuki .279 .329 .375 .704 2-9-21-51 10-10-12

Runner-Up: Raul Ibanez .302 .345 .484 .829 5-21-17-61 10-18-0

Comments: If April showers bring May flowers, what does Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims. NO! It brings more Ichiro hits.

 

LVP: Jose Vidro .192 .248 .298 .546 2-18-12-31 8-14-1

Bottom-Up: Kenji Johjima .184 .245 .218 .463 0-5-4-19 6-5-0

Comments: I am very frustrated with the play of Johjima. The image of Jeff Clement in his rear-view mirror is closer than he thinks.

 

St. Louis Cardinals

 

 

MVP: Albert Pujois .358 .518 .604 1.122 6-23-18-64 33-9-2

Runner-Up: Ryan Ludwick .308 .386 .615 1.002 4-15-16-48 10-24-1

Comments: What elbow problem? Shoot, I hope I did not jinx him.

 

LVP: Troy Glaus .232 .318 .366 .684 1-21-9-41 15-25-0

Bottom-Up: Chris Duncan .271 .402 .400 .802 2-6-12-28 16-16-1

Comments: Glaus vs. Rolen… advantage M.D.’s

 

Tampa Bay Rays

 

 

MVP: Eric Hinske .279 .392 .581 .974 6-15-14-50 16-14-2

Runner-Up: B J Upton .286 .379 .429 .808 3-21-18-45 17-26-4

Comments: If you drafted Hinske in your AL-only league, good job. If you drafted Hinske in your mixed league, you are a liar.

 

LVP: Evan Longoria .239 .345 .437 .782 3-11-10-31 11-19-2

Bottom-Up: Carlos Pena .215 .323 .421 .743 7-17-15-45 13-35-0

Comments: Longoria will eventually hit. I think he is over-matched at times and looks like he has no plan at the plate. He has had some great at-bats (see Roy Holladay) but they are few and far in-between.

 

Texas Rangers

 

 

MVP: Josh Hamilton .300 .347 .531 .878 6-33-16-69 11-19-0

Runner-Up: Milton Bradley .320 .412 .495 .907 3-12-13-48 16-13-0

Comments: Talk about getting a second chance in life and taking advantage of it… Hamilton and Bradley both have been solid in the middle of that lineup.

 

LVP: Hank Blalock .299 .365 .460 .824 3-7-9-40 8-9-0

Bottom-Up: Ben Broussard .159 .225 .268 .493 3-8-8-22 5-20-0

Comments: Maybe it is unfair for me to put Blalock on this list, but coming into this season, he insisted he was healthy and proved once again that we should never trust a player’s opinion of himself unless we are in the company of Rickey Henderson.

 

Toronto Blue Jays

 

 

MVP: Alex Rios .310 .379 .474 .853 3-15-20-55 14-25-8

Runner-Up: Vernon Wells .273 .341 .405 .746 4-22-17-49 12-15-1

Comments: I just traded for Wells. What do you think of this trade; Wells and Giambi for Cust and Jenks?

 

LVP: Frank Thomas .167 .306 .333 .639 3-11-7-20 11-13-0

Bottom-Up: Aaron Hill .264 .323 .388 .712 2-13-11-47 9-16-2

Comments: Why would you want “The Big Attitude” on your team?

 

Washington Nationals

 

 

MVP: Christian Guzman .309 .331 .463 .794 3-14-20-63 5-12-0

Runner-Up: Felipe Lopez .281 .349 .344 .693 1-12-12-33 10-14-4

Comments: I have nothing for this team. New ballpark, same crowds.

 

LVP: Ryan Zimmerman .217 .252 .333 .585 3-14-12-43 6-23-0

Bottom-Up: Austin Kearns .212 .331 .292 .623 2-12-12-33 16-19-1

Comments: If Zimmerman is the face of the franchise, I am calling Joan Rivers for a referral.

Nationals… last in your program and last in my blog.

 

Fantasy geeks... like me might like this stuff.

Part II tomorrow

In the blog I will give you, each MLB teams Fantasy MVP and runner-up along with the teams LVP and bottom-up. I actually did some research on this, so please enjoy.

 

 

Editor’s note; statistics are retro to May 4, 2008 and are courtesy of ESPN. I will use the following sequence of stats for you to follow AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, HR, RBI, R, TB, BB, K, and SB.

 

 

I will focus solely on offense today and tomorrow. Maybe a pitching column next week?

Here are the first 15 teams in ABC order... I know it sounds like a first-grader but Jackson-Five might be running through your head too... you will hate me later.

 

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

 

 

MVP: Conor Jackson .343 .421 .590 1.102 5-25-27-62 11-10-2

Runner-Up: J. Upton .342 .402 .559 .960 5-16-19-62 13-30-0

Comments: Jackson has been a beast while Upton needs to up the SB total to get his true value.

 

 

LVP: Eric Byrnes .242 .316 .417 .732 3-15-29-50 11-16-3

Bottom-Up: Chris Snyder .243 .375 .414 .789 1-15-17-29 13-21-0

Comments: Snyder’s numbers are not that bad but he came into this season primed to take over the catching duties for this team and with so much offense around him he should be posting better numbers. Byrnes is just off to a slow start.

 

 

Atlanta Braves

 

 

MVP: Chipper Jones .425 .472 .717 1.189 9-27-22-81 12-10-0

Runner-Up: Brian McCann .291 .358 .555 .912 6-17-17-61 12-9-0

Comments: Jones is MVP of the NL at this point. Who in their right mind would not take McCann’s numbers at the 2 position?

 

 

LVP: Mark Teixeira .267 .348 .442 .790 4-18-17-53 14-18-0

Bottom-Up: Jeff Francour .276 .311 .455 .766 3-20-16-56 6-12-0

Comments: Isn’t great to know that some jerk like me thinks the Braves worst two fantasy players are Tex and Francour?

 

 

Baltimore Orioles

 

 

MVP: Nick Markakis .273 .403 .473 .876 6-14-19-52 23-27-6

Runner-Up: Aubrey Huff .277 .352 .482 .834 5-19-18-54 13-22-2

Comments: Markakis is only going to get better. Huff is better served in AL only leagues.

 

 

LVP: Ramon Hernandez .198 .232 .374 .606 3-15-7-34 5-10-0

Bottom-Up: Kevin Millar .214 .285 .342 .626 4-14-16-40 11-19-0

Comments: I had the pick of the litter when it came to the offense of the Orioles. Remember this name… Matt Wieters… coming to a stadium near you!!

 

 

Boston Red Sox

 

 

MVP: Jacob Ellsbury .291 .415 .442 .857 3-12-25-38 17-9-11

Runner-Up: Manny Ramirez .317 .397 .567 .964 6-23-20-68 15-35-1

Comments: Ellsbury is my choice because he brings more to the table than I anticipated at the beginning of the season. He has been lights-out since day 1.

 

 

LVP: David Ortiz .216 .316 .379 .695 5-24-19-44 16-20-0

Bottom-Up: Jason Varitek .267 .315 .453 .769 3-11-7-39 4-22-0

Comments: If you want to throw-up in your own mouth check out Big Papi’s splits on home vs. road. To see V-Tek play this way is sad because I feel he was a true general on the field and a clutch player. Does Boston have another catcher ready in the minors?

 

 

Chicago White Sox

 

 

MVP: Carlos Quentin .283 .421 .609 1.030 8-22-22-56 15-17-2

Runner-Up: Joe Crede .248 .313 .585 .817 7-22-12-51 9-14-0

Comments: Quentin has been a pleasant surprise for Fantasy owners, while Crede might not have the batting average you want, he has hit big in the clutch (2 grand slams).

 

 

LVP: Nick Swisher .210 .354 .324 .678 3-8-20-34 23-29-1

Bottom-Up: Orlando Cabrera .220 .298 .271 .569 1-5-17-32 12-14-5

Comments: Did any one else expect bigger things from Swisher? Swisher so far is a big bust! Cabrera has a pass for the same cruise Swisher is on … The S. S. Minnow.

 

 

Chicago Cubs

 

 

MVP: Geovany Soto .333 .430 .618 1.047 5-23-15-63 18-26-0

Runner-Up: Derrick Lee .339 .418 .614 1.032 8-23-28-78 18-17-2

Comments: Lee is a MVP but when you get this type of production from your 2 position… he is my MVP.

 

 

LVP: Alfonzo Soriano .173 .222 .320 .542 3-10-9-24 5-16-3

Bottom Up: See Above

 

Comments: Sorry but the guy below has better numbers… see Paul Bako

 

 

Cincinnati Reds

 

 

MVP: Paul Bako .312 .384 .532 .916 3-11-10-41 9-18-0

Runner-Up: Edwin Encarnacion .275 373 .532 .906 7-15-16-50 17-17-1

Comments: The improvement in Encarnacion is worth noting… 17 BB and 17 K!!!

 

 

LVP: Adam Dunn .221 .375 .389 .764 4-13-15-37 24-24-1

Bottom-Up: Brandon Phillips .279 .321 .492 .812 5-15-17-60 8-25-5

Comments: See Atlanta Braves

 

 

Cleveland Indians

 

 

MVP: Grady Sizemore .277 .393 .446 .839 4-15-17-50 18-23-7

Runner-Up: Victor Martinez .347 .380 .411 .791 0-10-7-39 4-8-0

Comments: Sizemore is a stud… no question. Martinez… see below

 

 

LVP: Travis Hafner .209 .305 .345 .650 3-17-12-38 14-30-0

Bottom-Up: Victor Martinez (see above)

Comments: Hafner is killing Fantasy owners while V-Mart makes both list because he has yet to go deep while leading the AL in hitting.

 

 

Colorado Rockies

 

 

MVP: Matt Holliday .306.396 .521 .916 5-19-20-63 17-22-5

Runner-Up: Garrett Atkins .315 .341 .515 .856 6-22-17-67 5-21-0

Comments: Everyday in Colorado is a Holliday

 

 

LVP: Troy Tulowitzki .152 .226 .238 .464 1-11-10-25 9-17-1

Bottom-Up: Brad Hawpe .260 .398 .400 .798 2-12-12-40 22-23-0

Comments: It does not look good for Colorado. The pitching has sucked as well…

 

 

Detroit Tigers

 

 

MVP: Magglio Ordonez .311 .390 .529 .919 6-23-20-63 16-17-0

Runner-Up: Curtis Granderson .317 .440 .805 1.245 5-8-13-33 9-6-1

Comments: In my opinion, Curtis Granderson is the closest thing to Rickey Henderson without the third person reference.

 

 

LVP: Gary Sheffield .185 .340 .309 .649 2-5-10-25 17-18-3

Bottom-Up: P. Polanco .250 .345 .375 .720 2-9-14-36 12-7-1

Comments: Go get Polanco now. He is hitting again. Career .300 hitter!

 

 

Florida Marlins

 

 

MVP: Hanley Ramriez .317 .394 .563 .958 8-19-25-71 12-25-10

Runner-Up: Josh Willingham .341 .406 .637 1.043 6-16-16-58 9-16-2

Comments: Ramriez is the best Fantasy player in the NL… easily! Willingham flies so far under the radar. I would take Willingham over Francour any day.

 

 

LVP: Cody Ross .164 .186 .273 .459 1-5-2-15 2-8-1

Bottom-Up: Luis Gonzalez .226 .324 .403 .727 3-5-5-25 9-13-1

Comments: I feel I need to apologize to the Cody Ross family for printing his stats. NOT!

 

 

Houston Astros

 

 

MVP: Lance Berkman .325 .406 .702 1.108 10-31-30-80 17-15-4

Runner-Up: Miguel Tejada .349 .385 .579 .965 5-25-24-73 7-15-2

Comments: Berkman is making a case for MVP of the NL, while Tejada is making us forget his age again.

 

 

LVP: J.R. Towles .176 .309 .97 .706 4-10-7-27 8-14-0

Bottom-Up: Hunter Pence .254 .283 .439 .722 4-16-15-50 5-27-1

Comments: Nothing against Towles but he did get a lot of hype prior to drafts this season. I predict a big May and June for Pence.

 

 

Kansas City Royals

 

 

MVP: Alex Gordon .281 .344 .412 .756 3-12-17-47 11-27-2

Runner-Up: David DeJesus .333 .400 .456 .856 2-13-6-26 7-7-1

Comments: George Brett is not walking through that door, nor is Frank White…

 

 

LVP: Jose Guillen .171 .205 .316 .521 3-15-11-37 5-27-0

Bottom-Up: John Buck .247 .344 .377 .721 2-11-11-29 11-16-0

Comments: I hear Guillen is a Sesame Street fan. He can find it on the HGH channel. The letter B and the number 12 now sponsor him.

 

 

LA Angels

 

 

MVP: Casey Kotchman .330 .385 .554 .939 6-20-16-62 9-7-1

Runner-Up: Torii Hunter .314 .67 .534 .901 5-20-18-63 6-19-3

Comments: Most under-rated player in the AL is Casey Kotchman. He has been a better run producer than VLad.

 

 

LVP: Garrett Anderson .221 .258 328 .586 2-11-14-40 6-21-1

Bottom-Up: Vladimir Guerrero .256 .336 .402 .738 3-14-15-47 13-21-1

Comments: Be afraid… be very afraid

 

 

LA Dodgers

 

 

MVP: Rafael Furcal .369 .453 .585 1.038 4-15-33-76 19-15-8

Runner-Up: Matt Kemp .324 .348 .495 .843 2-22-18-52 5-30-7

Comments: Matt Kemp is one of the brightest stars in the NL right now!

 

 

LVP: Andruw Jones .163 .274 .255 .539 1-4-14-25 15-34 0

Bottom-Up: See Above…

 

Comments: I would like to take this opportunity to apologize on the behalf of Mr. Jones for playing like a softball player waiting to get to the bar to get his free pitcher of Miller Fat Me UP!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to count a game played in Japan at 6:05 EST as Opening Day... well you must live in Oakland or Boston. I live in Baltimore and our Opening Day starts Monday... like normal baseball teams. Question: How many people believe that Opening Day Monday should be a Holiday?

I want to share two memories from Oriole Opening Day past. I would love to see comments about a memory of your own.

 

Opening Day 1989: Cal Ripken hits a three-run bomb in the sixth inning off Clemens to put the Birds up by one and we win in extra innings on a Craig Worthington single. The year of “Why Not?” You felt Memorial Stadium rock that day. I bet you heard the crowd as far as Federal Hill when Rip put that Clemens fastball in the bullpen. I was on a bus trip from a pub in Baltimore. I was the youngest by ten years at least. My Uncle Vernon always made sure I went Opening Day. Yet, he never did that for his own son. Weird? Every one should have an Uncle like him. I am lucky to have remembered that afternoon. Where were the people checking for I.D.? Good thing it was a bus trip.

 

Interesting fact; the first four hitters in the line up that Opening Day; Brady Anderson, Phil Bradley, Steve Finley and Cal Ripken.

 

Opening Day 1982: Murray hits a granny, Cal put one over the fence for his first ever, Gary Roenicke, and “Disco” Dan Ford hit bombs that great afternoon as we destroy KC and Dennis Leonard 13-5. I sat in the right field bleachers with my sixth grade classmates. I was lucky enough to be on the cover of the News American the next morning! Remember Dempsey tried switch-hitting that year. Funny season. Weaver’s last one before that ill attempt at a comeback. Cal wins ROY. We take Milwaukee to the final game… and “Cakes “gives up two ####s to future HOF’er himself Robin Yount. We lose 10-2. Weaver cries as Howard Cossell sings praise to the “Earl of Baltimore.” We win the World Series the next season with Joe Altobelli and have not been to the big dance since.

 

Opening Day line up; Bumbry, Dempsey, Ford, Singleton, Murray, Ripken, Roenicke, Sakata and Dauer. Yes… in that order.

 

Let us hope we do not have to wait 25 more years.

 

I ask this question with the most sincerity. I'll explain...

Tonight the Twins sent the rights to reconstruct a long term contract with Johan Santana to the NY Mets. They have 72 hours to get a deal done. My guess... it happens.

What if McPhail and Angelos knew this deal was going to happen days ago? The chances are good since McPhail has plenty of insiders to draw from. Just a few years ago, baseball officials were reporting McPhail was the next commissioner of the league. I bet he knows a few people.

Maybe that's why the Orioles were so upset about the leak of the deal. Maybe that's why McPhail denied any deal was done. Maybe we wanted to wait a few more days. They may have had a plan to wait until Santana was a done deal before putting Bedard back on the table.

See now the Yankees and the Redsox have to be a little concerned about Seattle landing Bedard for " prospects. " To them it would be a steal of a deal. I'm not saying the Yankees or the Redsox would offer the same package to us as they did to the Twins... but it's worth a few more days to see what they want to part with.

Both the Yankees and the Redsox have more to offer than the Mariners. Maybe we would trade within our own division... it has happened plenty of times throughout the years.

Could the Orioles possibly being the right thing? Man, I sure do hope so.

 

 

I write this tonight at 8:33 pm EST.

I just read something that seems interesting to mention. It looks like Bedard is really not happy with our organization and wants t oknow where he stands by spring training... if not the Super Bowl.

The GM for the Mariners announced they would have a deal in place for a #1 starter soon. Are they in the Santana derby? NO! Bedard Stakes? Photo finish...

My gut says he is gone by Feb 3... my heart says he gone tomorrow morning... if Seattle has Adam Jones on the table... centerpiece for the future... dynamic duo... the A.J and M.K. show...

 

Just updating the blog.

 

Are the Mariners ready?  (N/A) (72.81.181.131) Move Delete Edit Quote Reply In case you have been sleeping under a rock the past 24 hours, Dan Haren ( a stud ) starting pitcher of the Oakland Athletics was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a eight player deal.

Dan Haren is my opinion is a more polished pitcher at this point than Erik Bedard. The Oakland Athletics recieved 6 players in return for Haren and a minor leaguer. By all accounts the A's got some pretty good players in return.

But I'm not here to talk about Dan Haren and the A's or Diamondbacks. I want to talk about the aftershock of the deal involving Haren.

I was so happy to see this deal done, that at first I thought of writing a letter to the Los Angeles Dodgers on behalf of Andy MacPhail to reiterate how important having Bedard on their staff would mean to them winning the division in the NL West.

Than I thought, wait....... ( that's me waiting )....... what team NOW needs a number one starter to win their division? Plus, what team NOW has the players we want in return to sell the deal?

See the whole idea is to make the playoffs, and you first do that by winning your division. The A's just got a little weaker in the rotation, so that means they probably are looking to compete in about 2 to 3 years.

The Angels won the west last year ( 94-68 ) finishing six games ahead of the Mariners. Six games. That's how close the Mariners came to taking their division last year.

It's the Mariners, not the Dodgers who need Bedard more than any other team. With Bedard in their rotating, they easily have a one-two combination with Felix Hernandez that will match up with any other one-two.

Mariners have the player(s) we want. Adam Jones will not be missed in Seattle. Take a look at their lineup. Sexson, Vidro, Betancourt, Beltre ( who had a great year in 2007 ), Ibanez, Ichiro, Johjima. I'll take that lineup for two hundred, Alex.

The Angels went out an obtained John Garland for Orlando Cabrera earlier this off season. They also signed in my opinion the best free agent available Torii Hunter to secure a bat behind Vlad and a Spider-Man like skills to protrol the outfield.

One great move, one so-so move. Now it's time for the Mariners to ante up.

We would be so glad to send Bedard and Huff ( to play right field ) to you for a package of players centerd around Adam Jones ( Ken Rosenthal called him potentially the greatest African American to wear the Baltimore jersey since Eddie Murray ) and Brandon Morrow.

Why wouldn't we or they do this deal? Seattle is primed to win their division this year and they need one more big arm in their rotation to compete for that title.

( Phone rings ) " Mr. Bill Bavasi, the Orioles are holding on line 2 ". Yeah baby yeah!

Who's ready? I know I am, but " Are the Mariners ready?".

Ladies and gentleman I believe god had a plan on 3/29/55. His plan was to create the most destructive and feared running back of my generation. This man stood 5'11" and weighed 232 on his football card. His thighs were most men's waist size ( 34" ). He hails from Tyler, Texas and was the 1977 Heisman trophy winner............................. Earl Christian Campbell.

I am not writing this to tell you he was the greatest running back of all time. I'm writing this to inform everyone who may have forgot, that this man for 4 years dominated football from 1978 to 1981. He was a one man team that took on 4 to 5 guys each running play to get him to the ground. He hit defenders harder than they hit him. We all remember the run against the Rams, where he has his jersey ripped from his back and than puts his head down a bulls over the final defender for a touchdown. Wrap that package up grandma' , I want that for Christmas. How I wish he played with a better team in his prime. Houston had nothing else but him and they rode him like no other back in football history. From 1978-1981, Earl ran the ball 1404 times ( for 62 games, a 23 per game average ) for 6,457 yards ( 104 per game ) and scored 55 touchdowns. Of those 1404 carries, how many times do you think someone got him one on one? Joe Greene said once that he believed Earl was the toughest running back he had ever seen. " Mean Joe Greene " just gave you props, you must be good.

In the four seasons following his Heisman award, Earl went on to lead the league in rushing 3 straight seasons, won the 1978 rookie of the year award and three NFL offensive player of the year awards, to go along with the 1978 and 1979 Professional Football Writers Association award for the NFL MVP. Has anyone so great accomplish so much in a short period of time? Gale Sayers? Sandy Koufax? Maybe but Earl Campbell to me was a man among boys on the biggest stage.

It's saddens me to know that Earl Campbell is suffering from arthrtis and other damaging things. This man left it all on the field, every down, every minute of every game. He was the Houston Oilers. Earl finally had his day in the sun in 1991 when he was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Coming from three great seasons at Texas ( 4,444 yards ), to the first selection in the 1978 NFL draft, to enshrined at the Hall of Fame. Wrap that up grandma', I want that present too.