Turns out there are a lot of major league teams. American League today, National League tomorrow? Starting from the AL West and working toward the East, in reverse order of the 2010 standings.
AL West
Seattle Mariners
1. Felix Hernandez
2. Ichiro!
3. Michael Saunders
Well, look who came up first. Yeah, I did this list yesterday. I wanted to include it again here to have all the teams in one place. Go M's!
Los Angeles Angels
1. Joel Piniero
2. Howie Kendrick
3. Brandon Wood
The Angels are super thin on players I love. I went with ex-Mariner and neo-sinkerballer Joel Piniero at #1. He's always seemed like a good guy. Two disappointing but once exciting prospects (Wood much more so than Kendrick) round out the list.
Oakland Athletics
1. Kurt Suzuki
2. Bret Anderson
3. Rich Harden
Kurt Suzuki is the starting catcher on my all-love team. The other two guys I'm ho-hum about. An awesome young pitcher and a former awesome young pitcher, derailed by injuries. This might be a harder project than I thought.
Texas Rangers
1. Arthur Rhodes
2. Adrian Beltre
3. Colby Lewis
Ah, there we go, that was refreshingly easy. Lots of love on this team. Two completely lovable former Mariners, and a guy who resurrected his career in Japan, came back and was one of last year's most interesting stories. Josh Hamilton comes in number four, and would place first on the Angels and second on the A's.
AL Central
Kansas City Royals
1. Jeff Francoeur
2. Kila Ka'aihue
3. Joakim Soria
I confess that my once boundless love for Jeff Francoeur is wearing thin. A fan can only put up with so much willful ignorance, and I'm about at my limit. If the Kila Monster gets off to a fast start, he's my new favorite Royal. I'm really pulling for that guy.
Cleveland Indians
1. Shin-Soo Choo
2. Carlos Santana
3. Grady Sizemore
An exceedingly lovable set of players here. Who knew that of all the young players the M's gave away under Bavasi, Shin-Soo Choo would be the one we'd miss the most? That guy is awesome. Hopefully Santana and Sizemore recover from their injuries and go back to being awesome.
Detroit Tigers
1. Justin Verlander
2. Max Scherzer
3. Austin Jackson
The Tigers are my third favorite team, and Verlander and Scherzer are two of my top-10 favorite pitchers in baseball. Austin Jackson couldn't quite replace Curtis Granderson, either on the field or in my heart, but man, he sure tried. My kind of player.
Chicago White Sox
1. Matt Thornton
2. Edwin Jackson
3. Adam Dunn
Blech. After the love-fest that was the Tigers, finding three White Sox I liked was tough work. I legitimately like Aussie and former-M, Matt Thornton. Those other two guys, well, they're okay I guess.
Minnesota Twins
1. Michael Cuddyer
2. Denard Span
3. Justin Morneau
This team is super deep on players I like, but none really stand out from the others as players I love. If you ask me next week, I might substitute in Joe Mauer or Joe Nathan, and the order would probably be completely different. I like 'em all. Also, it pains me to leave Carl Pavano's mustache off this list.
AL East
Baltimore Orioles
1. Vladimir Guerrero
2. J.J. Hardy
3. Adam Jones
Hoo boy, that's a lot of love right there! If you asked me when I started this thing which team would have the most lovable overall top-3, after the Mariners, I guarantee you I wouldn't have guessed Orioles, but there you have it.
Toronto Blue Jays
1. Jose Bautista
2. Aaron Hill
3. Brandon Morrow
And we're instantly back to earth. Jose Bautista makes this list entirely because he had his monster break out while on my fantasy team last year, Aaron Hill for his steal of home a few years ago, and Morrow for being a mercurial former Mariner.
Boston Red Sox
1. Mike Cameron
2. Kevin Youkilis
3. Carl Crawford
Mike Cameron is one of my favorite baseball players of all time, and one of the most underrated players of this era. I'll never forgive the Mariners for not re-signing him, but it was probably good for his career to get away from Safeco. Youk is one of Allison's favorites, and I can't help but like him too. It's cool when a player wildly exceeds everyone's expectations, especially if he's a little pudgy.
New York Yankees
1. Curtis Granderson
2. C.C. Sabathia
3. Brett Gardner
Curtis Granderson is my favorite player to have never played for the Mariners, and never has a non-M's trade crushed me like Granderson's to the Yankees. He's the epitome of my kind of player on the field (rangy and athletic, with speed, defense, and a bit of power), and perhaps the most eloquent and classy player off of it. MLB has clearly noticed, since they send him as an ambassador all over the world, to the white house, etc. Just an awesome guy and player. Of course the Yankees would steal him. That's the thing about the Yankees--you've got to hate them, but then they always go and steal your favorite players.
Tampa Bay Rays
1. Evan Longoria
2. James Shields
3. Wade Davis
Two guys I legitimately like, one who's kind of fun, and not much to say about any of them. Kind of an anti-clamactic way to end after Cammy and Granderson.
Once I'm done with the NL, I'll take a break from baseball lists.
(7-19 of 333)
0 comments:
Post a Comment