http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/249 Recent articles about Adrian Gonzalez en-us Foxsports.com fantasy writer Gerritt Ritt's list of the Top 50 fantasy players in MLB. Josh Hamilton leads in RBI and is hitting more than .300 makes him the first half's top fantasy player. These rankings are updated weekly during the MLB season. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:50:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292595 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292595 This one surprised me, I was expecting to see either Atlanta's 3B Chipper Jones* or CF Josh Hamilton** of the Rangers on top of this list, but instead, we find Houston's 1B Lance Berkman** just edging out Hamilton. In fact, Jones doesn't even make this top 20 list as he has begun to come down to earth. The big difference between Hamilton and Berkman seems to be stolen bases, average and OBP as the differences in runs scored HRs and RBIs seem to offset themselves. Rounding out the remaining top 5 spots are the Ranger's 2B Ian Kinsler*, Phillies 1B Ryan Howard and their 2B Chase Utley**. Please, no booing, he doesn't like it and I can't say that I blame him. Numbers 6 to 20 are as follows: the Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez**, Pirates CF Nate McLouth*, Mets CF Carlos Beltran, White Sox LF Carlos Quentin*, Indians CF Grady Sizemore* and the Mets 3B David Wright*. Then we have the Mets SS Jose Reyes, the Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick*, Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez* and Brewers LF Ryan Braun**. Then there were the Cubs 1B Carlos Lee and the Reds 2B Brandon Phillips who are both having All Star type of years, but hey, they can't all play in the game. Returning to the All Star cast is Marlins 2B Dan Uggla* who might have wished that Phillips was selected in his place (his 3 errors in the game set a new All Star game record) and Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez*. Lastly, we have D'Backs 3B Mark Reynolds. The Fall Guys These are the players in which I expect to fall out of this top 20 list by the end of the season: Lance Berkman**: I may be wrong, he may just slip to the end of this list due to his great first half. I still do not see him maintaining these type of numbers for a whole year, same thing applies to these next four players except that I do not expect to see them on this list at all come October: Nate McLouth*, Carlos Quentin*, Dan Uggla* and Mark Reynolds. The Real Deals These are the players in which I think will either keep up these numbers, fall just shy of them or might even improve upon them. Josh Hamilton** may not hit 40 HRs and knock in 180 RBIs, but he should be good for at least 35 HRs (and may still hit 40) and 120-130 RBIs with a .300+ average and .360+ OBP. I expect Howards' average to climb back to a more respectable figure (like say maybe .250) and Utley* will make a MVP run. Hanley Ramirez** and Grady Sizemore* are right on track to where they should be but I don't think they'll go 40/40, the HRs may not get that high. Beltran, Reyes, Wright*, Phillips, Lee and Aramis Ramirez* should also all stay the course with their current numbers. *All of these players where reserves on the 2008 All Star team. **All of these players where elected or selected starters in the 2008 All Star game. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:30:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291708 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291708 Last week we said George Sherrill shouldn't've been an All-Star. Then he took the mound in the Bronx with the bases loaded and two outs in a tie game and struck out Adrian Gonzalez on three straight heaters. Bad. Ass. He tossed two scoreless on top of that, helping secure home-field advantage for the AL [...] Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:10:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291592 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291592 You know me and my random thoughts that seem to go in many tangeants. Well it seems that I have a lot of things to talk about during the All-Star Break but unfortunately nothing of great substance. So here's a few quick hits to let you know what's going on at The BearDown during the slowest sports week of the year. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:32:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290869 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290869 Lance Berkman is absolutely mashing this year, so much so that he won the fan vote to start as the NL first baseman over sluggers like Albert Pujols, Derrek Lee, Ryan Howard, Adrian Gonzalez, and Prince Fielder. He also got invited to participate in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium and happily accepted. [...] Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:01:32 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288381 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288381 If you sign a MLB contract these days, changes are pretty good you’re going to have some boilerplate bonus provisions attached to it. No matter how long your odds are, if you make the All-Star Game, you’ll land some extra green (read: $$$). Here’s some selected players that did (and one big time player that did not) get an All-Star bonus (of the 43 players selected, 42 received bonuses for a total of $1.92 million, down from $2.13 million last year), or salary escalator. Alex Rodriguez – Let’s start with the player that doesn’t get a bonus. A-Rod, by opting out of his contract (during Game 4 of last year’s World Series, mind you, and then resigning with the Bronx Bombers), winds up losing out on $200,000 as part of his carry-over agreement with the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez would have pulled in $100,000 for making the All-Star roster, and $100,000 more for being the largest vote getter.Roy Halladay – At $125,000 Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay pulls in the largest bonus of all players selected for this year’s Mid-Summer Classic.Cliff Lee – Indians pitcher Cliff Lee pulls in at #2 with $100,000.Chipper Jones – Jones will see a $2 million raise next season to $10 million due to his selection to the All-Star Game. With further escalators, he could earn as much as $11 million in 2009.Grady Sizemore – Sizemore will pull in an additional $500,000 next season from $8.5 million to $9 million due to contract agreements for reaching the upcoming ASG. Adrian Gonzalez – The Padres first baseman will earn an extra $100,000 in his contract next season for making the game, to $5.6 million in the price of his 2011 club option. Source: The Associated PressMaury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/), which includes The Biz of Baseball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/), The Biz of Football (http://www.bizoffootball.com/), The Biz of Basketball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/) and The Biz of Hockey (http://bizofhockey.com/). He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus (http://baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=124), and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content view=article id=47 Itemid=18) He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_contact view=contact id=2 Itemid=29). Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:11:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287946 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287946 Yesterday, Major League Baseball announced its rosters for the 2008 All-Star Game to be played on July 15 at Yankee Stadium. Now, we take a look at the National League roster, to see who doesn't deserve to go and who got shafted. We don't have quite as many problems with the NL Roster as we did with the AL roster; that likely has something - if not everything - to do with the fact that the Yankees and Red Sox aren't in the NL. But the biggest question is, where are all the New York Mets?!?!?....... Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:44:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286719 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286719 There has been debate about who should vote for the All-star teams but in the end, the teams usually end up equally, even if the AL team always wins. This year's voting has been filled with late overtakings including the young wiz kid Ryan Braun overtaking Ken Griffey Jr. This year there are two teams tied for most All-stars at seven, one team having a great season and the other having a somewhat disappointing season currently in second place. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:15:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286341 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286341 There has been debate about who should vote for the All-star teams but in the end, the teams usually end up equally, even if the AL team always wins. This year's voting has been filled with late overtakings including the young wiz kid Ryan Braun overtaking Ken Griffey Jr. This year there are two teams tied for most All-stars at seven, one team having a great season and the other having a somewhat disappointing season currently in second place. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:15:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286342 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286342 While the AL is trouncing the NL in interleague play yet again, the NL has emerged as the Talent League, with the majority of elite fantasy players residing in the Senior of the two circuits. The Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame takes a step back at the virtual midpoint of the season to construct All Star rosters in each league and to ask where are all the great players dead, in the heart or in the head? Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:23:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282300 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282300 Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon breaks out his famed MLB Fantasy Minute and breaks down the MLB's top five stories. The undependable have suddenly become dependable; the hot have cooled and it's time to herald unheralded closers. Mr. Yoon has all if it covered and much more. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:01:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281637 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281637 Tell whether this hypothetical situation is a buy (you agree) or a sell (disagree)... Chase Utley has another great half and can squeeze out the Phillies third straight MVP award Ryan Howard strikes out 200+ times and breaks his own strike-out record in a single season Pat Burrell can hit 30+ home runs even with his current drop in production Any player will hit 30 home runs by the all star break Josh Hamilton will reach 90 RBIs by the all star break Adrian Gonzalez will lead the league in either home runs or RBIs by the end of the season Brandon Webb and Joe Saunders will both win twenty games and become the Cy Young winners of their respective leagues Barry Zito, Aaron Harang, and Joe Blanton will all become twenty game losers by the end of the season! Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:06:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280363 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280363 Week 8: New Faces This week's list not only gives us some new faces, but is also giving us some down to earth numbers as well. On top of this list is last year's runner-up to the AL MVP title, Detroit's Magglio Ordonez with a line of 7/3/9/0/.478/.500 (R/HR/RBI/SB/BA/OBP) which just edges out the Phillies Ryan Howard's line of 6/4/9/0/.276/.344 (R/HR/RBI/SB/BA/OBP). Tue, 27 May 2008 16:57:53 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271497 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271497 Doug Mathis and the Texas Rangers work around home plate umpire Bill Hohn's sudden fit of incompetence in moving a step closer to first place; first baseman Hank Blalock's mysterious Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; saying goodbye to former Rangers farmhand Geremi Gonzalez. Mon, 26 May 2008 13:24:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271063 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271063 Well, little did most of America know, the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft kicks off on June 5th. Unlike the NFL Draft and it's months of hypothesizing and glory holing that goes on before it and the NBA Draft with their wily lottery draft. No, the MLB draft loses a little luster to the quick and to the point drafts of the NFL and NBA. With 50 rounds plus Supplemental drafts, the MLB draft is carried out in dark draft rooms over telephones with about as much fanfare as your wife has to watching your fantasy baseball draft. Another reason that the MLB Draft draws as much attention as the World Series of Lumberjacks, besides the 41 more rounds that it has on the NFL and NBA combined, is that while most first rounders in the NFL and NBA become immediate stars, MLB first rounders quite often wash out easier than the cast of Cop Rock. That being said, let's go through the past 20 years of #1 overall MLB draft picks and look at where they are now. Read more at ArmchairAssociation.com... Sat, 17 May 2008 09:59:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268059 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268059