The 2009 ESPN Fantasy All-Pro Team

ESPN Fantasy is proud to present the 2009 fantasy baseball All-Pro team, as determined by the Player Rater.

Cliff Lee a secret weapon no more

...seasons. Among those 24 pitchers, Lee has the fourth-best adjusted ERA, behind only Tim Lincecum, Zack Greinke, and Roy Halladay. He's got the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio, behind only Halladay...

Lee's calm is the Yankees' storm

We are accustomed to seeing October tension reflected in the eyes of the pitchers. Orel Hershiser's eyes in 1988 were intense -- the Bulldog locked in...

Blog Entry | Conversation | October 29, 2009

Replay for the World Series could work

Don Denkinger, an umpire who had one of the most famous blown calls in history, tells Bob Klapisch: It's time to go to replay. Here's the thing: Even...

Blog Entry | Conversation | October 22, 2009

Who is the Sox shortstop of the future?

Kendry Morales has been telling his Angels teammates and coaches, "Wait until you see the new Red Sox shortstop." The descriptive word Morales uses fo...

Playoff Player Power Rankings

...MVP (Albert Pujols), AL MVP (Joe Mauer), NL Cy Young (Tim Lincecum) and AL CY Young (Zack Greinke) are all home watching on television. At least we've still got one of the Molina...

Sep 27, 2009; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke (23) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory...

In Case You Missed It

...the biggest omissions. Your Rankings: Big-Game MLB Pitchers SportsNation's picks for AL Cy Young (Zack Greinke) and NL Cy Young (Tim Lincecum) aren't in the postseason field. Neither are Felix Hernandex...

Porcello's fastball will be his tell

Rick Porcello's fastball will be his tell Tuesday, a longtime scout said Monday. A poker player might betray something with the way he shifts in his c...

Blog Entry | Conversation | October 06, 2009

Introducing ... the SweetSpot Network!

...about this later, but in response to those (Jim Caple) who argue for Felix Hernandez over Zack Greinke because Hernandez faced tougher competition ... Well, he didn't. Not appreciably. The batters Hernandez faced...

Monday Mendozas

...picked up the win and, as expected, he's finished with a slight lead over Zack Greinke in the Cy Young Predictor. I think the Predictor's going to miss this year...

Tigers, Twins and my award picks

Carl Pavano seemed almost out of breath Sunday night, naturally, at the end of a day in which he and the Twins had won a game they had to win, after t...

Blog Entry | Conversation | October 05, 2009

Mariners' Hernandez finishes tied for MLB lead in wins

Felix Hernandez finished tied for the major league lead with 19 wins and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 Sunday in a season finale that doubled as a daylong tribute to Ken Griffey Jr.

Cleveland, Washington should consider Valentine

Bobby Valentine's first full season as manager of the Mets was 1997, a year in which I took a job with The New York Times, and I covered him for just ...

Blog Entry | Conversation | October 04, 2009

Running through some end-of-the-year observations

Mark Cunningham/Getty Images Toss out everything from this Mets season -- except the uniforms they wore Sunday. Keep those. By Steve Berthiaume, E...