Into the top 100

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7748916/ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-51-100

ESPN has now released their players ranked 51 - 100. There are not a lot of surprises in this list in my opinion. I think that most of the players deserve to be within this range. The only thing I might even disagree on is where they are ranked within this range. That has been my personal view on this entire list to this point. As always, feel free to comment below and give me your thoughts.

Later today ESPN will release their rankings of players from 26 - 50. Then, on April 2nd, they will let us see their rankings of players 11 - 25. The next day will have the top 10 players in baseball. I can't wait to see who they have at the top of the league.

The real deal?

Yoenis Cespedes has hit his first home run in his major league career. It came in the second game of his career. Some people said that he wouldn't be able to adjust to the pitching quickly and the power numbers would go down because of it. What a way to silence some of those critics. It is FAR to early to make any serious judgements on this guy. Career's last seasons and not just game to game. It is very encouraging though for A's fans. They would have a nice outfield with Coco Crisp stealing bases and Cespedes hitting home runs. To bad for them, they would probably end up trading them away. Just take a look at their moves this offseason.



Derek Jeter Not in Top 100

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7734671/ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-101-150

ESPN chose not to put Yankee short stop Derek Jeter in the top 100 players in the major leagues. He was ranked as the 115 best player today. The superstar is now 38 years old and that has to be why he is ranked that low. Jason Heyward does not deserve his ranking in my opinion. He has done nothing to deserve it and hit below .250 last season. Justin Masterson is ranked 148 and could rise into the top 100 in the next few seasons easily.

I was at a minor league game in Harrisburg one time and he was the pitcher for the opposing Portland Sea Dogs. This was when he was still in the Red Sox minor leagues before being traded to the Cleveland Indians. I was able to get close to the bull-pen while he was warming up and talk to the catcher. I remember what he said because it was so true and accurate. This is what he said to me, "This guy is the real deal. He will be in the majors in no time." Now, a few years later, he is the number one starter for the Indians and is ranked 148 in all of baseball and is still very young.

Justin Masterson as a member of the Portland Sea Dogs.



Opening Day (Technically) and player rankings

Here is your list of players from 151 - 200.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7740507/ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-151-200

Who do you think will come in at number one? Or are there any suprises on this list? Bryce Harper is ranked at 190 and hasn't played in the major leagues. Fair or foul?

On a real baseball note, today is Opening Day! Kind of. The Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners played the first game of the season over in Japan today. Ichiro went 4 - 5 with an RBI in the game. Not a bad start for the Japanese player. Felix Hernandez was strong in his first outing. He threw eight innings while allowing only five hits. He struck out six and allowed one earned run. They went on to win the game in 11 innings thanks to Dustin Ackley. The final score was 3 -1.

Ichiro in Japan.



201 - 250

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7728604/ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-201-250

Just a continuation of ESPN's list of the top 500 players in the major leagues today. What are the odds? There are three Toronto Blue Jay players in a right. Francisco Cordero comes in at 201, Colby Rasmus comes in at 202, and then Yunel Escobar comes in at 203. Young prospect Brandon Beachy of the Atlanta Braves is two spots ahead of Johan Santana who is recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his shoulder. Good luck trying to explain this one to me. Yoenis Cespedes is ranked at 223 when he hasn't even played a single inning in the big leagues. That is ridiculous. So therefore, we will end today on that note. You have seen my view on today's list. Feel free to let me hear your point of view.



Halfway there

ESPN has now come out with their list of players from 251 - 300. There are some interesting people on this list so feel free to take a look. One thing that caught my eye was Alfredo Aceves of the Boston Red Sox. He holds a career record of 24 - 3. Yet he is ranked 257. Its awfully weird how different people are viewed. Good luck finding another pitcher with a winning percentage like that.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7706318/ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-251-300

Down to number 301

ESPN has already released their third list of players on their countdown of the top 500 players in the game today. Here is the link:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7709474/mlb-ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-301-350

If you have any objections or find that they did a good job compiling this list, feel free to let me know. The next list will be put out later today with players ranked 251 - 300. Then, after that, the list will pick back up on Monday, March 26 with players from 201 - 250.



Player rankings/Pitching news

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7697789/ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-351-400

There was some major news regarding some front line pitchers yesterday. Chris Carpenter, who was great for the Cardinals during the postseason, is going to miss the season opener because of his neck. Carpenter was attempting to recover from a bulging disk in his neck and he suffered a set back.

The Kansas City Royals announced that their closer, Joakim Soria, might need to undergo his second Tommy John surgery. He had the first surgery back in 2003. The Royals have three viable options they could go to in Jonathon Broxton, Greg Holland, or Aaron Crow. Broxton had 84 saves for the Dodgers and he is the only pitcher of the three to have experience as a closer.

Then there was a pitcher coming back from Tommy John surgery. You might have heard of him before, his name is Stephen Strasburg. Davey Johnson has named him their Opening Day starter for this 2012 season. The team he goes against is the Chicago Cubs. This is a very interesting situation because Strasburg has never been to Chicago. Let alone pitch on Opening Day in Wrigley Field, which is one of the most famous stadiums in America. If anyone has the ability to be successful in this situation, it would be Strasburg. Last year, he was 1 - 1 with a 1.50 ERA in five starts coming back from the injury.



Player rankings

ESPN took 34 of their experts and they set out to rank the top 500 players in the major leagues today. I thought this list and whole idea seemed pretty cool and wanted to share it with all of you. All credit goes to ESPN here, I did not come up with this list.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7687515/mlb-ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-401-500

B.J. Upton and Desmond Jennings

Take a look at this brutal collision as the two outfielders were chasing down a fly ball in the left-center field gap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIKs4sNcuSA

Upton and Jennings being carted off the field after the collision.

Phillies Deteriorating?

Just a few years ago, there could have been a great argument made that the Philadelphia Phillies had the best infield in the entire league. Today though, the only healthy member of that very infield is Jimmy Rollins. At first base, their slugger Ryan Howard tore his achilles tendon getting out of the batter's box in their last game of the year and is still recovering from surgery. Chase Utley missed a good amount of games last season with injuries and has missed 46 spring training games in a row. Jimmy Rollins is healthy, but is still trying to prove that he can get the job done at shortstop for a team that wants to win a championship this year. Placido Polanco was the no doubt about it starter a few years ago, but like Rollins, he is running out gas.

The Phillies are still one of the best teams in the league, but with all the trades they have made to acquire their great rotation, it leads you to wonder what they will have in a few years. Most of their young prospects are now the young prospects of other teams. It will be interesting to see what their team is like in several years when father time catches up with their major pieces.

 

Fenway Park is now listed on the National Register

The home of the Boston Red Sox is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The Red Sox's organization wanted to have Fenway Park recognized on the register because the stadium, "will be counted among America's most treasured historical places."

The one negative of this whole situation is the fact that they will have to contact the Massachusetts Historical Commission for approval to make changes to the ballpark. The fact is though, there should be nothing to change about Fenway. Fenway Park is the most historic stadium in baseball. The old Yankee Stadium could have made a case for the most historic, but not the new Yankee Stadium. Fenway Park truly deserves to be on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fenway Park. The home of the Boston Red Sox.



Johan Santana



Johan Santana threw two good innings in a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday. In the two innings of work, he allowed one hit, no runs, and one base on balls. The encouraging sign was put into perspective by Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina when he said, "He threw me one, I just didn't see it. He had me fooled." Referring to Santana's changeup.

That is the most encouraging part of yesterday's outing in my perspective. Santana has always been known to have the best changeup in baseball when he is healthy. That is the main reason why he has been successful. Or in the past few season, what has been his achilles heel. In his dominanat seasons, his changeup is unhittable. When he has had his down year's, it has been because his changeup is not fooling batters.

In recent years, the gap between his fastball and changeup has grown closer. Which makes the pitch easier to hit. When he is healthy, the difference between the two pitches can be 10 MPH, if not more. Mets fans can't expect Santana to perform like a Cy Young candidate, even though that would be nice, but they can expect an ERA around 3.50 or lower and about 25 starts from him. The Mets will win a lot more games if Johan Santana can be affective this upcoming season.

Andrew McCutchen

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Andrew McCutchen have come to terms on a six year, $51.5 million contract. This contract is great for both sides.

Lets start with the Pirates organization first:

• The Pirates have not had a winning season since 1992.
• They have traded away really good players and prospects in the past and if they would have stayed in a Pirates uniform, things could have been a lot different for this franchise.
• They now have two of their outfielders signed to long term deals.
• McCutchen seems to be the real deal and is productive.

Now this is good for McCutchen because:

• He deserves the money.
• He is a great lead off hitter that is a legitimate five tool outfielder.
• McCutchen can be the cornerstone of their organization and the type of guy you can build a team around.

Regardless of who the contract favored, its great for Pirates fans to see the face of the franchise entering his prime in their colors.

Ball to the face

You can't help but laugh. A.J. Burnett, who was acquired in a trade with the Yankees right before spring training, fouled a bunt off his face. He didn't do this is a spring training game or anything, he did it in batting practice. After it hit him, he put both of his hands on his knees and stood there for a minute in shock, and quite possibly, pain. According to ESPN, Burnett joked around and said, "Where did the bone go?" after the incident.

The Pittsburgh Pirates sent him back to Pittsburgh for further evaluation. They have yet to announce the severity of his injury. Burnett was supposed to be their Opening Day starter. That will not be the case though if he did serious damage to his eye.

Burnett being attended to by a team trainer.