When I started this series, I said, “With that in mind, I also don’t want this to become stale.” Ten days later, it has. Due to this, I plan on keeping things much shorter from now on.

Impact Shortstops to Be Traded

Michael Young would be here, but he has a no-trade clause in his contract. Can you believe that he’s scheduled to make $16M every year from 2009 to 2013?

Contenders Needing a Shortstop

As I mentioned in my last article about the second base market, the Cubs should go after Mark Ellis instead of Brian Roberts as has been rumored. Without making a move, their best options up the middle are Mark DeRosa and Ronny Cedeno. With Roberts, they could move DeRosa over to short, but I think a duo of Ellis at short and DeRosa at second would be a better solution. Whether or not Oakland will give up Ellis in a trade is a different story, but I think they should.

Next Year’s Free Agents

The Dodgers should try to extend Rafael Furcal. Sure, they’ve got a major-league shortstop in the minors with Chin-Lung Hu, but they’ve also got a second base spot opening up after the season with Jeff Kent’s free agency. One of them can move over to second, and Furcal is the type of guy worth an extension.

David Eckstein, Juan Uribe, and Orlando Cabrera are also free agents following the year, but none are worth worrying about before the season ends. Eckstein wasn’t worth a multi-year deal two months ago, and nothing’s changed since. The same can be said about Uribe three months ago. As for Cabrera, he’s a good player when he keeps his batting average up, but when it drops like it did in 2004 and 2005, he’s a below average shortstop. That’s not the type of guy that gets a new deal before his contract expires.

Pre-Free Agent Stars

Obviously, Hanley Ramirez deserves a contract similar, yet more lucrative, than the 4-year, $23.5M contract Jose Reyes got in August 2006, but something tells me that the Florida Marlins aren’t about to fork out anything more than they have to pay him in 2008.

J.J. Hardy will be a free agent following the 2010 season, and he has exchanged arbitration figures with the Brewers ($3.05M/$2.4M) for this year. Until he proves that he can stay healthy and productive for consecutive seasons, I wouldn’t worry about locking up his future. If he can put together anything resembling his 2007 in 2008, it will be time to open the check book for a three-year deal.

Recap

Michael Young has a surprising amount of guaranteed money coming his way. The Cubs need to improve their shortstop, and Mark Ellis is the guy for the job. Rafael Furcal and Hanley Ramirez deserve a contract extension, but J.J. Hardy needs to prove himself one more time. David Eckstein, Juan Uribe, and Orlando Cabrera should all become free agents before they sign their next contract.

Staying in the state of Florida, the Marlins' chances for the postseason first reached less than 1 in a million back on August 28th in the BP Postseason Odds Report, nearly a month and a half after the first team in this series.

The Good

Hanley Ramirez has become one of the best players in the major leagues, joining teammate Miguel Cabrera in that category, although they still might not be the best left side of the infield in their own division - thanks to the Met duo of Jose Reyes and David Wright. Jeremy Hermida has stayed healthy, which is a first at the big league level, and he's brought some of that famous minor-league OBP (.457 in AA in 2005) with him by hitting .288/.365/.496. Former Rule 5 pickup Dan Uggla has not only maintained his power from last year, he's increased it. Now if he could only find last year's batting average back...

Other than the high-profile acquisitions and failings (high-profile for the Marlins anyway) of Jorge Julio and Armando Benitez, the Marlins have been able to assemble a pretty good bullpen with Kevin Gregg collecting the saves after hard-throwing Matt Lindstrom, Taylor Tankersley, Henry Owens, and Lee Gardner have pitched the middle innings.

The Bad

After Joe Girardi worked the starting rotation to the bone last season chasing after the wild card and his Manager of the Year award, the young starters have predictably fallen apart. Josh Johnson only threw 37.1 innings before undergoing Tommy John surgery to fix a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Ricky Nolasco has only thrown 55 innings due to elbow inflammation, and Anibal Sanchez only three 30 innings before undergoing shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.

Looking to the Future

Just like the offseason before the 2006 season and the 2007 season, the Marlins need to find somebody that can handle center field on a full-time basis. After trying out guys like Reggie Abercrombie in 2006 and Alejandro De Aza this year, they keep resorting to Alfredo Amezaga, who should really be their backup utility guy. I like that they have tried out Cody Ross in center because I think he deserves a shot at a big league job, but I don't think he has the range to handle center everyday.

In addition to center field, the Marlins need to get their young arms healthy again and try to keep their current bullpen from imploding. Relievers always have the most variance in their year-to-year numbers, and it can multiply through the entire pen. (If you don't believe me, just check out the Brewers and Indians over the past several years.) If they can get full seasons from Johnson, Nolasco, and Sanchez next year, the Marlins could bounce back into contention next year. They need to because it won't be long before they no longer have Dontrelle Willis and/or Miguel Cabrera.

Following up my AL All-Star piece, I'm moving over to the senior circuit. Again, starters are marked with an asterisk.

Catcher
*Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers
Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

First Base
*Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
Dmitri Young, Washington Nationals

Second Base
*Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
Orlando Hudson, Arizona Diamondbacks

Third Base
*Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins
David Wright, New York Mets
Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves

Shortstop
*Jose Reyes, New York Mets
Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
Edgar Renteria, Atlanta Braves

Outfield
*Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants
*Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies
*Ken Griffey, Jr., Cincinnati Reds
Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs
Hunter Pence, Houston Astros
Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

Starting Pitchers
*Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres
Brad Penny, Los Angeles Dodgers
Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros
Chris Young, San Diego Padres
John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves
Ben Sheets, Milwaukee Brewers
Ian Snell, Pittsburgh Pirates
Derek Lowe, Los Angeles Dodgers
Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves
John Maine, New York Mets

Relief Pitchers
Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers
Billy Wagner, New York Mets

Guys Selected due to 1 Player per Team Rule
Dmitri Young is the only player I had to select due to the 1 player per team rule, but I did choose from Orlando Hudson instead of either Dan Uggla and Kelly Johnson because I needed a Diamondback.

Guys on My All-Star Team that Aren't Going to San Francisco
3B Chipper Jones
SS Hanley Ramirez
SS Edgar Renteria
OF Hunter Pence
SP Roy Oswalt
SP Chris Young
SP Ian Snell
SP Derek Lowe
SP Tim Hudson
SP John Maine

There are several guys here with very strong cases that they should be on the All-Star Team: Chipper Jones, Hanley Ramirez, Roy Oswalt, and Chris Young. To make room, I'd remove Freddy Sanchez, J.J. Hardy, the deposed Brian Fuentes, Cole Hamels, and Francisco Cordero, which also makes room for Ian Snell to be the Pirate representative.

All-Star Starters that Aren't on My Team
None, fans did a pretty good job here, although I don't understand how Albert Pujols isn't the starting 1B. He has been arguably the best player in baseball for the last six seasons. Plus, he has nearly matched Prince's OPS even after his slow start and Prince's fast start.

Final Vote
Two of my players from the "Guys on My All-Star Team that Aren't Going to San Francisco" are eligible for the final vote: Roy Oswalt and Chris Young. With Oswalt on his way to his 4th great season in a row, it's a no-brainer that he gets my vote.

Standard Information (Yahoo! Defaults)
12-Team, 5x5, Mixed League
Positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, U, 2 SP, 2 RP, 3 P
Stats: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP
Limits: 1250 IP & 162 G

It took a while, but the series lives on. I want to get this finished quickly, so most of my comments will be held back to save time.

Replacement Level
85 R, 15 HR, 68 RBI, 16 SB, .284 AVG

First Tier
1. Jose Reyes, New York Mets
2. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Second Tier
3. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
4. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies
5. Miguel Tejada, Baltimore Orioles

Third Tier
6. Bill Hall, Milwaukee Brewers
7. Michael Young, Texas Rangers
8. Troy Glaus, Toronto Blue Jays
9. Carlos Guillen, Detroit Tigers

Hall and Glaus obviously only qualify as shortstops, but they do provide mega-power at the position. They are held back by lack of RBI opportunities (Hall will probably bat second) and AVG, respectively.

Fourth Tier
10. Felipe Lopez, Washington Nationals
11. Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers
12. Stephen Drew, Arizona Diamondbacks

Lopez could be eligible at second in mid-April, but I'm in denial and listing him at SS. I just can't believe that the Nationals will actually choose to start Cristian Guzman over Ron Belliard. If Lopez qualifies at second, I would place him at the bottom of the second tier of second basemen.

Fifth Tier
13. Edgar Renteria, Atlanta Braves
14. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
15. Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland Indians

If J-Honey returns to 2005 form, he will zoom up the charts. If he performs like last year, he's not worth having in fantasy leagues. Somewhere in between sounds right to me.