Word to the Winners - Fantasy Baseball Advice

American League Fantasy Baseball Team MVPs - by Evan Cohen.

Save This Page

The Major League Baseball season is approaching the one hundred games played mark heading into this week. You know who is your fantasy baseball team’s Most Valuable Player, but are you aware who is the fantasy MVP from each team in Major League Baseball. The standard fantasy baseball scoring system will be used to determine the team MVP. Offensively, home runs, batting average, stolen bases, runs batted in and runs are the five fantasy baseball stats. For pitchers, wins saves, earned run average, strikeouts and walks plus hits divided by innings pitched (WHIP) will be used. I will also provide the runner up for each team.

Baltimore Orioles- Starting pitcher Erik Bedard is clearly the best fantasy baseball player for the struggling O’s. His nine wins lead the team and has 167 K’s in 135.2 IP. He has a WHIP of 1.00 and an ERA of 3.12. Since he is a starter, he has no saves. Without him, Baltimore would be in a world of trouble.

Runner up- This is like kissing your sister trying to find the next best player, but I will go with 2B Brian Roberts: .312 avg., 29 SB’s, 6 HR’s, 31 RBI’s and 62 runs.

Boston Red Sox- Another starting pitcher here for the AL East leaders, Josh Beckett. He has 13 wins in 18 starts with a 3.41 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Throw in 110 K’s in 116 IP and you have your staff ace. All these numbers despite a stint on the 15-day DL.

Runner up- Kevin Youkilis, the BoSox 1B has had a nice season and has helped the team with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez not performing up to par. Youkilis is hitting .310 with 9 HR’s and 47 RBI’s. He also has swiped 2 bases. More importantly, he has gotten big hits when the team needed them.

New York Yankees- Doesn’t take a fantasy baseball expert to know 3B Alex Rodriquez is the guy here. His 34 HR’s leads the league. He’s batting .313 and has driven in 99 runs while scoring 93 and stealing 10 bases. These are AL MVP type numbers. Amazing what playing in a contract season will do.

Runner up- SS Derek Jeter is once again having an outstanding season. He has seven homers, 11 steals, a .332 average, 49 RBI’s and 64 runs. With the pitching staff up and down all year and inconsistency from Bobby Abreu, this is the choice. Catcher Jorge Posada also gets consideration.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays- Surprisingly, this is one of the tougher selections to make. There are three players worthy of selecting. However, I have to go with 1B Carlos Pena who is batting .289 with 23 HR’s (four off his career high of 27) and 64 RBI’s. He has also scored 56 times. Pena has finally shown the promise that the Detroit Tigers thought they were getting when they traded for him in a deal with the Oakland A’s.

Runner up- If I had written this two weeks ago, it would have been starter James Shields. However, he has struggled as of late and his K’s are down. OF Carl Crawford, a fantasy baseball first round pick in many leagues has once again put up good fantasy baseball stats. He’s batting .291 with 31 SB’s, six homers, 53 RBI’s and 56 runs.

Toronto Blue Jays- OF Alex Rios has emerged as the best hitter north of the border. Rios has hit .304 till this point with nine steals. He has hit 19 balls over the fence, scored 68 times and driven in 56. He also earned an All-Star selection this season.

Runner up- Another tough selection because OF Vernon Wells has been a disappointment after signing his big contract in the off-season. However, pitcher Roy Halladay gets the nod here with his 11 wins. The ERA, 4.15, is a little high as is his WHIP, 1.25, for him. He has also whiffed just 79 hitters in 130 innings. That’s how rough it’s been for the Jays this season.

Detroit Tigers- This one is a toss up. Two players could make take this honor for the Motor City Kitty’s. In this special case, we are going to have co-fantasy baseball MVP’s for the Tigers. OF Gary Sheffield and OF Magglio Ordonez are sharing the award here. Sheff is batting .303 with 23 dingers, 65 RBI’s, 86 runs and 16 steals. Mags is batting .359 with 15 homers, 81 RBI’s, 74 runs and 2 BS’s. Tough choice as you can see.

Runner up- Pitcher Justin Verlander has built on his Rookie of the Year from 2007 by winning 11 games, including a no-hitter vs. Milwaukee this season. 110 K’s, a 3.40 ERA and 1.18 WHIP make him the guy here.

Chicago White Sox- Closer Bobby Jenks gets the call here with the team struggling to hit their weight this year. Jenks has been a rock in the back of the bullpen with 26 saves. His ERA is up for a closer at 3.79, and his WHIP of 1.17 is nothing spectacular. He has also picked up two wins in relief for the 2005 World Series champs.

Runner up- Starter Mark Beurhle, fresh off the new 4-year/ 56 million dollar contract extension, has become the team ace. Seven wins, a 2.91 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 74 K’s plus a no-hitter himself earlier this year round out the numbers.

Minnesota Twins- Reigning AL MVP Justin Mourneau is once again having a tremendous season. This 1B is batting .291 with 26 long balls and 82 RBI’s. He has also scored 61 runs and nabbed one stolen base.

Runner up- OF Torii Hunter not only plays Gold Glove Award winning defense, but he is contributing with his bat again as well. Hunter, in a contract season, has belted 20 HR’s, driven in 72 runs, scored 59 and stolen 11 bases. All that and he is hitting .300.

Cleveland Indians- All-Star C.C. Sabathia is having a season that could earn this pitcher a Cy Young Award. His 13 wins pace the Tribe. He has a 3.81 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Throw in 127 K’s and you get your fantasy MVP for the team by the lake.

Runner up- Victor Martinez, the Indians stall wart behind the dish, is having a career year. He is batting .323 with 17 HR’s and 75 RBI’s. He has scored 50 times but has yet to steal a base. Pitcher Fausto Carmona gets some consideration here with his 12 wins despite not being in the rotation all season.

Kansas City Royals- 55 million-dollar man, Gil Meche, is the choice here. The hurler has just seven wins, and a 3.63 ERA, but more importantly he is keeping his team in the majority of its ball games. His 1.29 WHIP is nothing pretty, but his 98 K’s helps.

Runner up- 3B/OF Mark Teahan makes this list just because no one else is doing anything outstanding for the Royals. He is hitting a respectable .289 and has scored 65 runs. Teahan has only five homers and has driven in 43 teammates. His eight steals are good for second on the squad.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim- When I sat down and looked over the numbers, I figured it would be a slam-dunk that OF Valdimir Guerrero would be the guy. But upon further analysis, it has to be pitcher Kelvim Escobar. 11 wins is second to John Lackey’s 12, but it’s the 2.85 ERA and 1.16 WHIP that move him to the Halo’s fantasy MVP honors. He has also fanned 99 opponents.

Runner up- You didn’t think Vlad wouldn’t be here somewhere, did you? The Impailer is hitting .319 with 14 long balls and 78 RBI's. Guerrero has scored 49 times and stolen one base. OF Reggie Willits would have made the list in part due to 19 steals, but he has cooled off as of late.

Seattle Mariners- Once again, not who you might be thinking. Closer J.J. Putz, who made the All-Star team this season, is the best closer in the game this season. He has 29 saves to help the team stay in the playoff race in the AL West. He has been nothing short of dominating out of the pen this season for the M’s with 49 K’s, a 0.78 ERA and 0.56 WHIP. Add in a win and you have some good things happening in the Great Northwest.

Runner up- All Star Game MVP, Ichiro, would usually be the fantasy baseball MVP for Seattle, but Putz’s numbers are just that good. All Ichiro is doing is hitting .350 with 25 steals. He has five homers and 42 RBI’s to go along with 66 runs.

Oakland A’s- I have to wonder if the St. Louis Cardinals are wishing that they wouldn’t have traded Dan Haren to the A’s a couple years back in the Mark Mulder deal considering Mulder has been average in St. Louis and injured now. Haren, who started the All-Star Game in San Francisco, leads the team in wins with 11. His ERA, 2.41 and WHIP, 1.04, are impressive. He has also fanned 111 hitters. With Mulder, Barry Zito and Tim Hudson are gone from the A’s; Haren is now the ace in Oak-Town.

Runner up- Hard to make a pick here. By default, it goes to DH/OF Jack Cust. He had a torrid stretch in May where he seemed to hit a home run every at bat. Cust has 17 so far this season along with 46 RBI’s. He has crossed the plate 34 times and is batting .259 with no steals.

Texas Rangers- Some Rangers players are posting decent fantasy baseball stats. However, it appears that closer Eric Gagne has returned to form as a solid fantasy baseball closer. While the 14 saves are not eye catching, it’s good considering the team hasn’t won many games. The Canadian has K’ed 26 hitters out of the bullpen, but his 1.48 ERA and 0.96 WHIP are giving fantasy baseball owners the satisfaction that the former NL Cy Young Award winner is past his injury issues. He has even managed to grab two wins for the team from Arlington, Texas.

Runner up- I have got to be honest, I never considered another pitcher for this spot. While many guys have had solid numbers, I have to go with OF Kenny Lofton. He is batting .304 and has swiped 21 bases for the team. 58 runs, six homers and 20 RBI’s round out the numbers.

That’s a look at the American League fantasy baseball MVP’s and the runner-ups. Check back with Fantasy Baseball Starters.com soon for my list of the National League MVP’s. As always, enjoy the rest of the season and good luck.

Copyright © 2007 Ready-Set-Go Fantasy Sports, LLC. All rights reserved.