1st Base:
1. BOS: Kevin Youkillis
2. TB: Carlos Pena
3. NYY: Nick Swisher
4. TOR: Lyle Overbay
5. BAL: ???
Youkillis and Pena are both very good offensive and defensive first basemen. I put Youkillis over Pena mainly because he finished higher in the MVP voting. Swishers there only on the estimate that he'll have a bounce-back season. Overbay's solid and I don't really know what's going on with Baltimore. Last year, their 1B was Kevin Millar, who is now a free agent. They could put DH Aubrey Huff there, in which case they'd probably move up to 3rd or 4th.
Score: BOS 5, TB 4, NYY 3, TOR 2, BAL 1
2nd Base:
1. BOS: Dustin Pedroia
2. NYY: Robinson Cano
3. BAL: Brian Roberts
4. TB: Akinori Iwamura
5. TOR: Aaron Hill
Pedroia is no. 1 without a doubt. After winning AL Rookie of the Year in 2007, Pedroia followed it up by winning the AL MVP award in 2008. My prediction is that Cano will have a great bounce-back season. He was doing amazing right after the all-star break and at the end of the season last year, and I think his work this off-season will really help him improve. Roberts is a great base-stealker and defender. I do however think Cano's a little better. Iwamura has proved he's solid over the last two years and I believe he's better than Aaron Hill.
Score: BOS 10, NYY 7, TB 6, TOR 3, BAL 3
3rd Base:
1. NYY: Alex Rodriguez
2. TB: Evan Longoria
3. BOS: Mike Lowell
4. TOR: Scott Rolen
5. BAL: Melvin Mora
This is a very good division for 3B. All of these players are very strong. That being said, there's really no question who gets it: A-Rod. Without a doubt one of the best players of all-time and makes this decision a no-brainer. Longoria had an outstanding rookie campaign and thus beats out the best-defensive 3B of all-time, Mike Lowell. After a career year in 2007, Lowell was hampered by injuries in 2008 and we'll probably be more of a liability the rest of his career. Rolen just barely beat out Mora but it was pretty close.
Score: BOS 13, NYY 12, TB 10, TOR 5, BAL 4
SS:
1. NYY: Derek Jeter
2. BOS: Jed Lowrie
3. TB: Jason Bartlett
4. BAL: Cezar Izturis
5. TOR: John McDonald
Behind Jeter, the shortstops in this division are pretty thin. Lowrie hasn't really proved himself, and Barlett, Izturis, and McDonald don't put up good numbers. However Jeter is a future hall of famer, the face of the Yankees, and Mr. November. He ran away with this one.
Scoring: NYY 17, BOS 17, TB 13, TOR 6, BAL 6
LF:
1. BOS: Jason Bay
2. NYY: Johnny Damon
3. TB: Carl Crawford
4. TOR: Adam Lind
5. BAL: Luke Scott
Jason Bay was the clear favorite for this one. Bay posted good numbers after the Red Sox aquired him and was the best out of all of these. Damon and Crawford were pretty close. They're both good baserunners, Crawford is much better though. However, Damon had one of his best seasons last year whereas Crawford struggled with the bat and injuries. Lind and Scott were also close but I went with Lind.
Scoring: BOS 22, NYY 21, TB 16, TOR 8, BAL 7
CF:
1. TB: B.J. Upton
2. TOR: Vernon Wells
3. BOS: Jacoby Ellsbury
4. NYY: Brett Gardner/Melky Cabrera
5. BAL: Adam Jones
Another strong position for all. Upton had a great year last near and an incredible post-season. The former no. 1 pick won by a fair amount. Wells is still a good offensive machine and thus got second. Ellsbury, with Coco Crisp gone, will now be a regular in CF. Expect to see good numbers out of him. Garner showed very good numbers in his second stint with the Yankees not to mention the best baserunner out of all of them. If the Yankees get Mike Cameron, they'd move into 3rd place.
Scoring: BOS 25, NYY 23, TB 21, TOR 12, BAL 8
RF:
1. BAL: Nick Markakis
2. BOS: J.D. Drew
3. NYY: Xavier Nady
4. TOR: Alexis Rios
5. TB: Matt Joyce
Markakis for some odd reason has yet to make the all-star team. He will this year as he's only 25 and has improved each year of his career. Drew is probably the best all-around hitter here but will see what happens after he had a career year last year. I put Nady ahead of Rios because I feel he's a better hitter. And Joyce, just no.
Scoring: BOS 29, NYY 26, TB 22, TOR 14, BAL 13
DH:
1. BOS: David Ortiz
2. NYY: Hideki Matsui
3. TOR: Travis Snyder
4. BAL:???
5. TB: Eric Hinske
Yes Ortiz is still the top DH, but only because Matsui isn't that great either. They both had injury hampered years last near but Oritz is the better hitter. The Blue Jays have high hopes for Snyder and well see if he can deliver. If the Orioles don't put Huff at first, they will be first but for now, they're 4th. I'm not going to go into Hinske.
Scoring: BOS 34, NYY 30, TB 23, TOR 17, BAL 15
Starting Rotation:
1. NYY: Sabathia/Wang/Burnett/Chamerlain/Pettitte?Hughes? Lowe?
2. TB: Kazmir/Shields/Garza/Price/Sonnastine
3.BOS: Beckett/Dice-K/Lester/Wakefield/Masterson?
4. TOR: Halladay and the rest
5. BAL: Yaaaa, no
The Yankees went into rotation overhaul this year and boy did it pay of or what? They have one of (if not the) best rotations in baseball. The Rays have built from within and pilled together a very nice rotation showcased by 2007 no. 1 pick David Price. The Sox also got a decent one with Beckett, Dice-k, and Lester leading the pack. The only problem is that the is no pack. Wake is losing well, everything and they can't have Masterson as one of their starters. As for Toronto and Baltimore, all I see is Roy Halladay and Daniel Cabrera.
Scoring: BOS: 37, NYY 35, TB 27, TOR 19, BAL 16
Bullpen:
1. NYY: Veras/Ramirez/Marte/Melancon
2. TB: Balfour/Wheeler/Howell
3. BOS: Ramirez/Okajima/Delcarmen
4. TOR: Downs/Frasor/Janssen
5. BAL: Baez/Burress/Johnson/Sarfate
The bullpens in the east are okay. None are very impressive though. The Yankees have built there bullpen out of their farm system, plus the addition of Damaso Marte, and have done it very nicely. The same goes for the Rays but the Red Sox are a little different. They went out and got Horacio Ramirez from the Royals to go along with Hideki Okajima to form a pretty strong pen. The Blue Jays also have a good bullpen and it seems like they've had these guys for ever.
Scoring: BOS 40, NYY 40, TB 31, TOR 21, BAL 17
Closer:
1. NYY: Mariano Rivera
2. BOS: Jonathan Papelbon
3. TOR: B.J. Ryan
4. TB: Troy Percival
5. BAL: Chris Ray
This is probably one of the most debatable positions. Rivera and Papelbon are both elite closers and very close. However, Rivera is widely considered to be the best closer of all-time and thus deserves no. 1. He also had a better season in '08 than Papelbon and that made this decision a little easier.
****FINAL SCORE****
1. New York Yankees---45
2. Boston Red Sox------44
3. Tampa Bay Rays-----33
4. Toronto Blue Jays---23
5. Baltimore Orioles---18
Also these rankings do not give points for how much better a team's player is and thus the real-life situations may turn out a bit different.
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