So let me get this straight:

• The Washington Nationals are going after Prince Fielder, the highest profile remaining free agent, and money is “no object”.
• The New York Yankees, desperate for veteran pitchers to solidify their leaky rotation, have apparently been priced out of the…wait for it…Edwin Jackson market.

Yes ladies and gents, we are living in a baseball world where this seeming fantasy is a reality.

Also:

• Albert Pujols is no longer a Cardinal.
• Mark Buehrle is no longer a White Sox.
• Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez are on the same team.

What a strange, strange offseason so far. I can’t wait to see what weird and extraordinary turn it takes next.

Albert wound up as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals for 11 years and helped lead his team to two World Championships, the most recent being just six weeks ago.

By comparison, Prince Fielder is likely walking away from the Milwaukee Brewers after the minimum six years.

Albert Pujols

And that’s not to even put Fielder in the same conversation as LeBron. Prince never half-assed it in any season while waiting to become a free agent. In fact, has Prince played in 959 of a possible 972 regular season games since 2006, a fact that agent Scott Bora$ is no doubt reminding potential suitors of.

But Pujols was on two World Champions in St. Louis, while Milwaukee’s ‘best’ to this point has been a couple of playoff appearances.

I get the bitterness in St. Louis. Albert was supposed to be the rare legend that goes old-school and plays an entire career in one market. Of course that tradition hit the rails long ago, and the handwriting that Pujols might leave has been on the wall ever since Pujols decided to play out the final year of his contract, which left open the possibility of the Cards being outbid by the dreaded ‘mystery team’.

You are welcome to hate on Pujols, but part of the onus also falls on the St. Louis organization, which was not able to lock up Pujols early on (2002-04) like the Brewers were able to do with Ryan Braun. The Cards added additional pieces (Chris Carpenter, Matt Holliday, etc.) to complement Pujols over the years, and STL wound up getting the maximum for their investments over the past decade. They just couldn’t agree with Pujols on the deal that would keep in St. Louis until he retires.

Tony LaRussa’s retirement possibly gave Pujols all the more reason to leave St. Louis as well. Now Cards GM John Mozeliak has to figure it all out, circa-1968 spectacles and all, and we will get to that in a second.

The Pujols contract may be an albatross in Anaheim come 2019 or so, but for now the Pujols signing sends a huge message that the Angels are definitely at the same level as the Yankees/Red Sox in the American League. The Angels are now also undisputed kings of the LA market – as the Dodgers’ idea of someone (other than Matt Kemp, of course) in middle of the order having a three-hit day is James Loney in his Maserati on the 101.

Then, the Angels signed pitcher C.J. Wilson (5 years/$77 million) away from the division rival Rangers. In hockey parlance, that is a ‘four-point’ game, a win for Anaheim and a loss for Texas. It also why the Rangers’ World Series loss stings just that much more – ‘window closing’ is quickly becoming ‘window closed’.

This leaves Prince Fielder as the next domino to fall in baseball’s Silly Season.

Prince Fielder

The logical idea is that if Pujols wouldn’t take $200 million+ from the Cards, then maybe Fielder will. Prince doesn’t hit for as high an average and isn’t nearly as good defensively, but he is four years younger and the power numbers are similar. The two sound like an easy enough match for me.

Personally, I’m not buying the reports of the Seattle Mariners being the front-runners on Prince. If that was indeed the case the Brewers better still be in the hunt, but they won’ bet.  It will be the Cards, or (less likely) the Cubs, or the ‘mystery team’ (Red Sox/Yankees, who trust me are laying low).

And that would leave the Brewers, as expected, as the biggest loser, possibly seeing Prince on a division rival.

The scary thought is names such as Carlos Pena (Mendoza Line and all) and Derrick Lee being mentioned as replacements. Casey Kotchman would be a much better option, as the defensive upgrade would make up some of losing Prince’s bat.

In another development, Francisco Rodriguez accepted arbitration from the Brewers. The good news is Milwaukee is set in the bullpen this year, but the bad news is K-Rod comes with a $13 million price tag – he could be yet a trade pawn before the off-season is over.

Yu Darvish

After Pujols/Fielder, the biggest free agent name is now Japanese pitcher/rock star Yu Darvish, who declared his free agency this week.

Most of the smaller and even mid-market teams will not be able to play at that table.

Darvish will command a $50 million+ posting fee for a MLB team just to be able to negotiate and then $50-$60 million more to sign. The Red Sox got bitten on this with Dice-K a few years back, but Darvish is the real deal (18-7, 1.44 ERA, 276 K’s/but an alarming 232 IP for Nippon in 2010) and this is a free agent class horribly starved on pitching.

Miami ‘Dealing’

The movie 'Baseketball' was surprisingly prescient in their prediction of a future sports team called 'Miami' and their uniforms that so clearly fit the style of the city.

And then there is the splash the Miami White Sox (I meant Marlins) have made, spending $191 million on free agents just this week after spending $170 million in the previous 14 years combined.  But it’s coming at a cost, as the Marlins are trying to make a third baseman out of Hanley Ramirez to make room for Jose Reyes, but now Henley is reportedly balking at Ozzie Guillen.

Hanley ‘upset’?? Ozzie, ‘quick fuse’?? Who knew.

But it’s obvious the Marlins are all-in. It’s a cycle that runs every ten years or so with a new stadium as the current centerpiece: buy a bunch of studs, become contenders for a year or two, go broke (as attendance plummets), then sell to the next shady owner while selling everyone off and re-developing the farm system.

Well at least they already have two World Championships in the last 15 years; the Mets and even Braves would have killed for at least one in that timeframe.

Or the Marlins and Miami Heat can join forces and start a baseketball league, considering the Marlins have already ripped off the Dealers uniforms. Projected batting order, 1. Reyes, 2. Hanley, 3. D-Wade, 4. LeBron, 5. Stanton, 6. Chris Bosh… I think that would get the Miami Dealers over the Milwaukee Beers.

So that takes care of the first wave of the baseball holiday shopping list. Expect more surprises in the Hot Stove Market, and don’t expect the Yankees/Red Sox to remain on the sidelines much longer.

Once Pujols started to tell the press he was open to looking at other options besides the St. Louis Cardinals I knew, in the back of my head, that Pujols was going to go against the words he spoke not that long ago.

“It’s not about the money every time. It’s about your family, uh you know, I’ve been blessed with $100 million which is more than what I deserve. It’s about being in the best city to play sports, you know not just baseball, sports at all. Our fans are the best.“

In a sports world filled with greed and fights over a couple more million dollars, Pujols stood out as the beacon of hope against greed and as loyalty to a team.

Or so we thought.

I am a Cubs fans who has been tortured by Pujols over the years. Yet a part of me still hoped to see him show loyalty to a city and fans who are some of, if not the, best fans in the country.

I’ve been to St. Louis, and I’ve been to a Cardinals game, and I can assure you that every day there’s a Cardinal’s game there is barely anyone without a Cardinals jersey on. The city lives and breathes baseball.

They love their players and are the reason why the players get to play in the first place. The fans pay for the tickets. The fans pay for the merchandise. Without fans to watch the sport, the sport doesn’t exist or thrive.

Has loyalty in sports become extinct?

I think it has.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a talented player taking a pay cut to stay with a certain team. Though I assume some have taken cuts to stay with the team they love, it surely doesn’t seem like it happens more than a player who leaves for the team who pays more.

I understand that what Pujols did was completely justifiable in business terms. A lot of people, if given the choice, would take a higher paying job than they already have, but that doesn’t make it right.

For some reason I still believed there was morals and loyalty in today’s athletes. It doesn’t seem like that’s the case. Call me naive, or call me an idealist. I don’t care.

This kind of betrayal and acts of hypocrisy is not right and should not be defended by anyone.

The St. Louis Cardinals and LA Galaxy both took a 1-0 lead in their respective contests, but the teams went separate ways soon after their scores. The Cardinals lost their slim lead, and the game, 2-1 in the ninth and now have their series even at one game a piece. The Galaxy held on to their tight margin and made it a victory to advance to the quarterfinals in the CONCACAF Champions League.

The Cardinals, playing at home, built their lead against the Texas Rangers in game 2 of the World Series a little bit before the LA Galaxy did the same to their Honduran counterpart in Tegucigalpa. What made flipping the channels fun is what always makes it fun for the sports fan: the drama, the not knowing what will happen next factor, and the delight in watching athletes perform under big-time pressure.

For the Cardinals, it was a major lost opportunity that pundits will not let them forget for quite some time. Albert Pujols will have a hard time making up for a crucial error he made in that fatal 9th. This game might have cost the Cardinals their chance at winning the World Series.

For the Galaxy, the eked-out, pressurized, thriller-of-a win solidifies their franchise’s reputation and gives the biggest U.S. Soccer stars, David Beckham and Landon Donovan, another shot at FIFA’s Club World Cup. They have a long way to go, but the possibility remains. Of course, signing Beckham must take place first, as the remaining games for Champions League don’t get started back up until spring of next year.

The playoff atmosphere and do or die nature of the games made for fun television. Many sports fans may have missed this golden opportunity to flip channels. It’s too bad, and what’s worse is that they don’t even know what they missed.

Probably, many sports bars around the country missed out too. For all of the moments in between pitches on the diamonds, eyes could have been diverted to the Galaxy’s quest, no remote necessary.

Soccer and its most popular U.S. club team don’t get the respect they so rightfully deserve.

“Where still n 1st and I hope those crying birds injoy watching tha Crew in tha Playoffs!!! Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

I can’t be the only person who wouldn’t mind seeing the Brewers have to get through the Cardinals setting up a Morgan vs. Pujols confrontation.

Unfortunately, that won’t end in the same manner Gaby Sanchez’s displeasure with Morgan did. Take a moment and watch Morgan get victimized by the finest pro wrestling clothesline since John Bradshaw Layfield retired.

Philadelphia Phillies vs St. Louis Cardinals Preview

Roy Halladay’s first trip to the postseason was quite a memorable one, (he threw only the second no-hitter in playoff history in his first playoff start) though it ended in bitter disappointment. The two-time Cy Young Award winner, his teammates, and just about everyone else in Philadelphia expects the Phillies to win the World Series this time around.

Then again, the city of Boston thought the same thing

Led by their Four Aces, the Phillies cruised to their fifth straight NL East title, winning a franchise-record and major league-best 102 games.

The Cardinals needed an incredible collapse by Atlanta and help from Philadelphia to earn the wild card. St. Louis trailed the Braves by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 25, but went 23-8 the rest of the way and got in after Game 162 when the Phillies completed a three-game sweep of Atlanta.

The Cardinals (90-72) won six of nine against Philadelphia during the season, with two of those wins coming right after the Phillies wrapped up the division.

The health of Matt Holliday (hand) is a huge question mark. Holliday is one of the most underrated elite hitters in baseball and will be an integral part of the Cardinals attempt to solve The Philly Phour

During the Cardinals’ mad dash toward the top of the National League Wild Card standings in September, Lance Berkman played in 25 games, batted .374, had an OPS of .941, drew 14 walks, scored 16 runs and had seven extra-base hits.

Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35 ERA, 220 K’s), Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40 ERA, 238 K’s) and Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.79, 194 K’s) combined for a 50-23 record, 2.51 ERA and 652 strikeouts in 682 1/3 innings. They also compiled an arrangement of numbers no starting trio had assembled in the modern era of baseball.

Entering the 2011 season, five teams since 1901 had two starting pitchers throw at least 200 innings, average at least eight strikeouts per nine innings and finish the season with an ERA+ of at least 130. Halladay, Lee and Hamels all surpassed these thresholds in 2011.

The Phillies had the poorest September (16-14) of the eight postseason teams. That may have been related to the fact they were the first to clinch, on Sept. 18.

Of all their possible NLDS matchups, this could be least favorable to the Phillies. By personally eliminating the Braves, they arranged a date with the only team against which they had a noteworthy losing record (3-6).

But what does all this mean?

What I have seen over the past month is a Philly team that has become complacent. Throw in the declining skills of the entire offense (Hunter Pence discluded) and the Phillies, despite the fact they aren’t “supposed” to lose, really could be in trouble here.

The Cardinals are one of the hottest teams in the MLB right now. If they have Matt Holliday back, they become even more dangerous. Throw in the fact Pujols is back to playing like Albert Pujols and you can not count this team out.

I think Philadelphia wins Game 1, Carpenter, on the heels of a 2-hit shutout on Wednesday, beats Cliff Lee in Game 2 and that momentum will help carry St. Louis to victory. I also think Carpenter will be back for Game 5 on short rest and shut down his former rotation mate Halladay.

How can I say that? Easily. St. Louis is on a roll ever since their deal with the Blue Jays. Corey Patterson has been key off the bench, Edwin Jackson is as good as he’s ever been and Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski have taken a decent bullpen and made it elite. Not to mention the fact they both have two of baseball’s best names (yes, I know Philly has Antonio Bastardo).

The big key here is Carpenter. Lost in Wednesday’s craziness was a dominant effort by one of baseball’s most underrated pitchers. Right now, he’s pitching better than anyone not named Kershaw and with two potential starts, I see that as two definite losses for Broadstreet.

Baseball is a game of momentum and Philadelphia is not playing well enough to beat a St. Louis team that has never looked better.

NLDS Prediction: St. Louis in 5 games

Philadelphia Phillies v St. Louis Cardinals NLDS TV Schedule and Pitching Matchups

TV Schedule

• TV Network: TBS (Game 2 on TNT taking the spot of WCW Saturday Night)
• Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 1 at 5:07 p.m. ET @ Philadelphia
• Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 2 at 8:07 p.m. ET @ Philadelphia
• Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 4 time TBA ET @ St. Louis
• Game 4: Wednesday Oct. 5 time TBA @ St. Louis
• Game 5: Friday Oct. 7 time TBA @ Philadelphia

Pitching Matchups

• Game 1: Kyle Lohse (14-8, 3.39) vs. Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35)
• Game 2: Chris Carpenter (11-9, 3.45) vs. Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40)
• Game 3: Jamie Garcia (13-7, 3.56 vs. Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.79)
• Game 4 (probable): Edwin Jackson (12-9, 3.79) vs. Roy Oswalt (9-10, 3.69)
• Game 5 (probable): Chris Carpenter (11-9, 3.45) vs. Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35)

.331!

For the record, the legal limit in Florida is .08.

Dude.

Image source: WESH.com

For comparison’s sake, here is how drunk Curtis Leskanic was while one of his daughters slept in the passenger seat:

The legal blood alcohol limit in Florida is just slightly higher than Adam Dunn’s 2011 batting average against lefties. Hell, Dunn’s overall batting average is twice the legal limit. Yet Curtis Leskanic’s BAL when pulled over equals the career batting averages of Albert Pujols, Stan Musial, and Ichiro.

Nothing can illustrate Leskanic’s extreme intoxication level more than that.

As it pertains to the Milwaukee Brewers over the next several weeks, this could prove to be a good or a bad thing.

On the field this year, Tony Plush (his stage handle) has more than held up his end of the bargain, hitting well over .300 and playing stellar defensively.

Although far from having the star power of Prince Fielder/Ryan Bruan, or even of the pitching staff of Zack Greinke/Yovani Gallardo/Shaun Marcum/John Axford, T-Plush has truly been the straw which has stirred the Brewers drink on a team with great chemistry which, barring a historic collapse, has all but sealed the National League Central championship.

Off the field, Plush has taken a marketing life of his own. His merchandise currently out-sells any other player on the team by a 3-1 ratio, and perhaps is selling as much as any player currently in Major League Baseball. In a sport where one of the critiques is lack of personalities, Nyjer Morgan is a breath of fresh air – the equivalent of a wrestler who draws heat for his mic skills as much as his physical talent.

It wasn’t Braun or Fielder that made the recent Sports Illustrated cover, it was Braun and Fielder, along with Nyjer Morgan, with much of the article inside focusing on Morgan, talking about his career dating all the way to his childhood in San Jose and his unlikely rise as a hockey player in Canada’s Junior Leagues before switching sports.

And like many hockey players Morgan has an edge, and can be viewed as an irritant – the home team loves him, the opposition not so much.

Which brings us to last night in St. Louis, in his final at-bat while Chris Carpenter was finishing a four-hit complete game shutout in just over two hours, Morgan battled Carpenter for ten pitches before striking out. Then the controversial side of Nyjer came out, shouting at Carpenter (story from Morgan is that he dropped an F-bomb) and throwing his chewing tobacco towards the direction of the mound, until Albert Pujols came to the defense of his pitcher, rushing from first base across the infield towards Morgan as the benches cleared. Nyjer wound up being ejected, and then reportedly shouted at St. Louis fans reminding them his team is still comfortably in first place.

Fast forward to post-game, notably his Twitter account (which gained 2,000+ followers last night alone), and these two posts…

The first simply again makes reference to the Brewers still holding an 8 ½ game lead with just 18 games to play, despite just losing five of six games to the Cards.

The second immediately becomes an Instant Classic. Alberta!!!??? How’s that for a parting shot???

And if Nyjer remains with the Brewers next year it may be a while before He and ‘Alberta’ cross paths, if Pujols were to sign with an American League team (and he supposedly just turned down seven years/$195 million).

But I wouldn’t be surprised if Brewers manager Ron Roenicke reigns in the T-Plush show in the next few days, and maybe asks him to slow down his Twitter posts/bulletin board material. We have to be reminded there is a history. In particular those incidents towards the end of last year where Morgan ran over a couple of catchers and ignited a huge brawl.

And as I have mentioned in a previous piece, there is the very real possibility of Brewers v. Phillies at some point during the National League playoffs. If you think San Francisco fans got riled up earlier in the summer (who thought they were being flipped off when Plush was merely crossing his arms and giving the ‘longhorn’ two outs symbol with both hands), just wait till Hurricane T-Dot hits Philadelphia with the pennant on the line.

Oh, and Plush is already wildly popular there after allegedly hurling a baseball at a fan after being heckled last year.

To this point the Nyjer circus has proven to be a tonic that has loosened the Milwaukee clubhouse, which remains good, unless that amusement crosses the line to becoming a distraction.

The Brewers remain firmly married to Nyjer Morgan, gimmicks and all. If his act leads to a bad ending in October, the Brewers may suddenly decide that it may be who Nyjer has gotta go.

Update (11:30 AM ET) - On a regularly scheduled radio segment on Brewers flagship station WTMJ, GM Doug Melvin indicates Ron Roenicke is not happy with Nyjer’s actions, and it will be handled internally. Or as someone just Twitter-ed to me, perhaps a ‘strongly-worded post-it note’ on the locker.

Meanwhile @TheRealTPlush Twitter feed just hit 36,000 followers, that would be an increase of nearly 5,000 since things went down last night. One additional post just came from that account, with Plush making reference to it being a ‘beautiful day in the state of cheese‘ w/Brewers + Packers season opener.

Unlike any other sport, baseball is the one where failing 7 out of 10 times can make you a Hall of Fame caliber player.  This is why it is so important to recognize who’s hot, who’s not, and catch guys when it benefits you the most.  And as always, that’s what we are going to point out to you in this week’s hitting planner.

Catcher

One of the best hitting catchers in the NL this year, Miguel Montero, sees some time at the top of the list once again with a decent hitting streak in the games that he has played recently.

There is no doubt that when it comes to catchers, Carlos Santana has some of the best power at the position.  If the Indians find another catcher sometime soon, he could be playing exclusively 1^st base.

For the .4% of owners that have Jason Varitek on their squad, it’s understandable that you get excited over his handful of games, but they come just once every four days and the value just isn’t there, so stay away.

Brian McCann may be back in action but he has not been the same player he was at the start of the year.  With all of the makeup games coming along, it would be better to leave him on the bench.

First Base

It is obvious that you guys should be starting players like Albert Pujols, Alex Gordon, and Ryan Howard but what about the others?  You know, the guys who have the potential but don’t always play up to it?

It is frustrating when Carlos Lee goes off on a 12 game hit-streak with a .457 average when you just wrote him off for the season, but it is better to stick with him and others like James Loney and the up and down Freddie Freeman.  Don’t worry about these players and their low points at random times; 1^st basemen are usually big hitters and should rebound from any struggles that come around.

Second Base

Up the middle things are business as usual, but there are a few names who are not used to seeing the top of fantasy ratings.  Jemile Weeks has been seeing a high number of at bats and making the most of them without hitting any homeruns this year.

Same goes for Luke Hughes with the Twins.  As long as he is hot, chances are he will stay in the lineup. 

Jose Altuve doesn’t get much love from fantasy owners but he is doing his job down in lowly Houston.  The season is a wash for the Astros and they want to see what they have with their young guys.

Players to avoid would be Darwin Barney and Danny Espinosa.  The two of them can be serviceable but in these heated times you need a sure thing.

Third Base

Adrian Beltre is back off the DL list and he is already in the starting lineup.  There is no way you can leave him on your bench so get him in there now.

The hero of a late inning win for the Indians, Jack Hannahan, has been hot with a .500 average and a 1.367 OPS.

With only three hits over the last few games (all singles) Placido Polanco is not providing any  help to fantasy owners and should take a back seat so players like Mike Moustakas and Ryan Roberts.

Only eligible at 3^rd, Dayan Viciedo doesn’t play the position anymore but he is showing some promising power numbers.  He is going up against some weak pitching this scoring period with eight games on the schedule.  With time like that, there is going to be a plethora of opportunities for him to show that power that all owners are seeking.

Shortstop

Of the top 10 fantasy shortstops for the last week, only three really belong there according to what they have done for the year. A few of the guys on the list would be Cliff Pennington, Dee Gordon and Rafael Furcal.  So where are the more common names?

Believe it or not but there are a few big names that you should look to stay away from for one reason or another.  Due to injury, Asdrubal Cabrera and Troy Tulowitzki are likely going to be getting a day or two of rest, and if they are, don’t waste your time if you aren’t going to get any production out of them.

On the poor play side, J.J. Hardy has been plagued by high at-bat games that lack hits.  0-5, 1-5, 0-2 and 1-4 would only work if those two hits were grand-slams but they just were not.  Same goes for Starlin Castro.  Yes, a five game hit streak sounds good but when the batting average for those games is under .250 with one RBI certainly changes your mind doesn’t it?

Outfield

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Indians could have their regular starters playing in the outfield?  Injury has been an issue for this team all year and it could easily contribute to their fall out of 1^st place.  Unless you believe that Shin-Soo Choo and or Grady Sizemore are going to do much for you this month, it would be best to forget about them for the remainder of the season.

Like you need to hear anymore injury news, but Cameron Maybin is in the same boat as Choo and Sizemore over the coming weeks.

On the positive side of things, let us give you a list of guys who are carrying around some hot bats.  Austin Jackson, Corey Hart, Michael Morse, Alex Gordon, Desmond Jennings and Nick Swisher have been hot over the past few weeks.  Jennings in particular has been batting .408 over his last 71 at-bats which leaves us to wonder, how long will it last?  When a player seeing the ball this well a long time into the year as a young star-to-be, you have to ask yourself, how long could this last?

One “old” vet to pay attention to is Juan Pierre.  Even though he is getting up there in age, his stolen base numbers will still go a long way.

Catcher

Just because Jorge Posada had a big game against Tampa Bay and then a respectable one at KC, it doesn’t mean that he should be getting back on your fantasy squad anytime soon. 

Carlos Santana remains a perfect option for managers.  His batting average may be a little low but his production in other categories is excellent.  Just think, if he could get his average to at least .260, he would transcend hitting at the position.

Victor Martinez is day-to-day with his knee injury but it doesn’t seem to be slowing him down as his average is sky-high even though he doesn’t have a lot of homeruns.

With more good news for catchers, it is safe to say that Brian McCann is going to return to his normal self after being activated off the DL just a few days ago.

First Base

Thank you very much I am the number one player at 1^st base again, says “The Machine” Albert Pujols.  After his horribly slow start, he sits back atop of the NL for homeruns with 30.  

Billy Butler had a lucky homerun against the Yanks that caused some mild controversy on the airways, but in regards to his overall play for the month he isn’t doing your fantasy team much good.  This would be an opportune time to give him a rest.

Other guys who are on the up and up would include: Paul Goldschmidt, Lucas Duda and Carlos Pena. On the flip side of the equation are those guys who don’t seem to be getting the job done. Todd Helton still has the average that owners want but his power numbers don’t provide much value. The opposite but the same can be said for Justin Morneau as his average is well below his career mark, this just isn’t his year.

Second Base

Well, Dan Uggla came back to earth with his hitting streak coming to an end at 33 games. He followed that up with another three game streak but that was it.  His numbers are going to return to normal by seasons’ end which will please many.

Jason Kipnis owners saw his numbers return to earth as well, but that was because he was sitting out with an oblique problem.  Once he is back in the lineup he should return to normal form.

Regular playing time hasn’t been an issue for Ramon Santiago as he has been impressing each and every time he steps up to the plate.  Finding a way to get him on your squad for the time being is a good idea. 

Neil Walker has seen his production go down just as all the other Pittsburgh Pirates have which is a little disappointing knowing their early season success.

Outside of hitting homeruns, Ben Zobrist is having a career year in a few important categories and with a week with weak teams on the schedule look for a boost in those stats.

Third Base

Chipper Jones may have started the season off poorly, but in August alone his splits are .382/.647/1.052.  Swing a trade with someone if you can’t pick him up easier.

It looks as if Eduardo Nunez may have seen the end of his extensive playing time this year, which is until someone else is out of the lineup.  Only problem is that his poor fielding keeps him off the field, it’s a coin flip.

Third basemen are dropping like flies with all the injuries so let’s take a look at some healthy players who could provide a spark.  David Freese, Brett Lawrie and Ryan Zimmerman are among the few players who are producing and are healthy as well.

In case anyone is unaware, we are going to provide you with a list of players who are on the 15 Day DL as of 8/20: Kevin Youkilis, Daniel Murphy, Adrian Beltre and Chase Headley are all top 15 players at the hot corner who are out for an extended period of time so proceed with caution until these guys are healthy.

Shortstop

Number one shortstop Jose Reyes doesn’t look like he is going to return early enough in the scoring period to get you any production this week so sit him down. 

Hanley Ramirez looks to be in the same boat, but ESPN is starting to report that he is done for the year.

If Alex Gonzalez hit a few more homeruns there is no doubt that managers would pick him up for his services but he just doesn’t possess the power.  The good news is that the Braves are going up against a poor Chicago pitching staff so maybe the power will show.

His nagging left ankle slowed J.J. Hardy down for a few games but he looks to be back producing at a normal rate, so don’t do anything drastic with the lineup moves.

Keep an eye on Alcides Escobar.  He has been getting on base a lot as of late and when he does, he has got the speed to steal some bases and put himself in position to score runs almost at will.

Outfield

Outfielders have not exactly been hitting out of their mind this past week with only four guys producing over a 10 rating according to ESPN’s ranking system, and one of those guys is Casper Wells.  It may be tempting to reward him for the four game homerun streak but it isn’t a good idea.

Jay Bruce is a guy who has a bat that disappears at times.  He is only hitting .230 away from home this year and only playing six games with a few of those away doesn’t add up to a successful campaign.

And now, as always with the number of outfielders, we highlight who is HOT and who is NOT.

Hitters heating up are: Jose Constanza, Eric Thames, Tony Gwynn, Cameron Maybin, Nick Markakis and Justin Upton, all of who have been swinging the bat and keeping owners happy.

Of course there is a flip side.  Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, Jason Heyward, Hunter Pence and Ichiro Suzuki have not impressed at all this week but given the fact that most of them are veterans, a bounce back is more than reasonable to expect.

And based upon events of the last week, the Cardinals better make sure they are still within striking distance.

Both teams had a chance to fatten up nicely in the standings, and gain separation from the rest of the division this past week — with each  hosting the Chicago Cubs and what is left of the Houston Astros, who might as well been the Oklahoma City Redhawks by the time the trade deadline finally passed.

The Brewers took full advantage, winning all six. The offense did not go off in any one game, only scoring 24 times during that span; but the pitching staff more than made up for the deficiency by only conceding 10 runs, and no more than two before Sunday’s 5-4 win by the Crew.

In particular the starting pitching has stepped up, with an amazing 16-game streak in which the starting pitchers have allowed three earned runs or fewer. Closer John Axford, who was a bartender in Ontario just a few short years ago, has now saved 28 consecutive games, a club record.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals went a disappointing 4-3 on the week, culminating with Sunday night’s loss to the Cubs, televised by some cable outlet out of Connecticut. Albert Pujols is swinging an incredibly hot bat along with David Freese, but it still turned out to be a week St. Louis lost precious ground, and now has the pressure squarely on, traveling to a place where they were swept in their last visit nearly two months ago. A repeat performance over the next three days would suddenly leave the Cards 5 ½ games out.

Some of the other headlines to watch as the battle for the NL Central commences…

• Rickie Weeks, not available for weeks – This was not a good time for one of the Brewers sparkplugs to be out of the lineup after severely spraining an ankle while beating out a grounder last Wednesday. The official word is that Rickie is out 3-6 weeks, which is good news for any who saw the screenshot of how badly Rickie rolled that ankle over. If Weeks is out the entire six weeks, he would likely miss all 12 games v. the Cards. If Rickie can prove to be as fast a healer as Albert Pujols and return to the lineup by the end of the month, that would be a gigantic bonus.

• Home Cooking – The home/road splits are well documented in these parts. The Crew has been nearly unbeatable at home with a 39-14 mark. However the team’s 21-35 road split is only better than the Cubs, Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Royals, and Orioles in MLB – six teams that have zero chance at the post-season. Chicago Cubs radio analyst Keith Moreland went on record during the weekend suggesting that the Brewers ‘need to go .500′ the rest of the way on the road to have a chance at winning the division. I’m not as worried about where the Brewers get their wins from here on out. Win 7-8 of the twelve games v. the Cards and finish at or near that 90 win mark and the team should be in good shape.

• The aftermath of the Trade Deadline – Nearly all of the contenders throughout MLB (with the notable exception of a certain AL team in New York) pulled the trigger at making some sort of organization makeover the past few weeks. The Brewers shot first with a huge deal the night of the MLB All-Star Game, acquiring Francisco Rodriguez from the Mets. Over the past 2 ½ weeks K-Rod has already solved the team’s most glaring weakness, which was the eighth inning. The Crew also acted immediately in response to Rickie Weeks going down, quickly making minor deals to get Felipe Lopez (his second tour of duty in Milwaukee) and Jerry Hairston, who are nice stopgaps to get needed infield depth. The Cardinals also made a number of deals, most notably shipping off Colby Rasmus to Toronto while shoring up the pitching staff, getting starter Edwin Jackson from the White Sox and relievers Mark Rzepczynski and vet Octavio Dotel from the Blue Jays. The Cards also took a last minute flier on SS Rafael Furcal, who was below the .200 line this year with the Dodgers, if he can turn his season around it would be a plus.

TALE OF THE TAPE – EACH POSITION

Catcher – Both Jonathan Lucroy and Yadier Molina have been solid offensively, both hitting above .280 along with some power, I give the Cards a very slight advantage with Molina from the defensive side and being a veteran.

First Base – Prince Fielder really did get ‘all of that one‘, launching a 475-foot HR over the weekend, the second longest recorded home run in the history of Miller Park. Albert Pujols also fattened up against the Cubs this weekend, eclipsing 2,000 hits for his career. Both resumes are well known and I’ll put the position as a push.

Second Base – Skip Schumaker hits for a nice average but nothing special from the power department. Early returns on Felipe Lopez have been good after spending most of this season at the AAA level in the Tampa Bay organization. Skip v. the Brewers patchwork job is a push.

Third Base – After spending some time on the shelf early in the season, David Freese is starting to get hot (5 HR in July) and in time projects to a 25 home run man and at least 90 RBI annually. After being a revelation the past couple of years, Casey McGehee has come crashing back to earth this year. Advantage: Cards

Shortstop – Furcal adds depth, but I don’t even know if he’s an upgrade over Ryan Theriot at this point. I would give the Cards the edge at this position except Yuniesky Betancourt has swung a hot bat (.358/.547 slugging) since the All-Star Break. Advantage: Even

Outfield – Another blow to the Brewers was when Carlos Gomez broke his collarbone a few weeks back. The pesky/irritant Nyjer Morgan handles center just fine, but don’t know if Tony Plush can handle a heavy workload down the stretch. Ryan Braun/Corey Hart v. Matt Holliday/Lance Berkman at the corners are comparable, but have a feeling Berkman’s health will be an issue going forward. Advantage: Brewers.

Starting Pitching – Even after losing Adam Wainwright during the spring, the Cards rotation remains solid, Chris Carpenter has slipped somewhat from previous years, but Jamie Garcia and Kyle Lohse have been in the low 3′s in ERA. Meanwhile Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson have both had very nice years, and they are the #4 and #5 starters. Zack Greinke has been called a disappointment this year in many circles, but is still 8-4 with 123 strikeouts in just 94 innings (11.78 K’s per 9 innings), he has a chance to absolutely roll down the stretch. Advantage: Brewers

Relief Pitching – What both teams shored up. K-Rod and the Ax Man have the 8th and 9th covered, and vet Takashi Saito recently came back from the long stint on the DL, add Kameron Loe and LaTroy Hawkins to the mix and the sixth and seventh innings should be fine. One glaring hole is having zero situational left-handers in the Milwaukee pen. Still I have to give the Brewers the edge.

Bench – Craig Counsel is a presence in the clubhouse and has played some nice defense in a couple of starts this week, but a club record 0-44 streak at the plate suggests that his career is winding down. He will resurface in a coaching/managerial capacity at some point. Mark Kotsay has done some nice work in the outfield when called upon. Advantage: slight edge to Brewers.

Manager – Ron Roenicke has played to nice reviews in his first year in Milwaukee. I’ll still give STL the edge because Tony LaRussa is still Tony LaRussa.

As we are entering the hottest point of the year, expect some bats to heat up.  This is usually a time when pitchers begin to feel the effects of the long season and hitters start to see the ball better than ever, and we have outlined a few of them in this week’s hitting planner.

Catcher

Just as Brian McCann establishes himself as the best options for a catcher, an oblique issue arises.  David Ross will be filling the void in the Brave’s lineup but he is no McCann.  So in his place, Victor Martinez has been the best this week.  His homerun numbers are surprisingly low for a hitter of his caliber but his average is at a career high of .317.  At this point in the season, consistency is valued greatly over random big games.

To be honest, this week is rather dry at the catcher position.  The better players are doing well and the rarely owned guys are struggling.  If there is anything that jumps out for the scoring period, it could be that Miguel Olivo is one of the better hitters on a Seattle team who got their first win a few days ago for the first time in 20 days.  Maybe he can help turn the tide?

First Base

Is Albert Pujols falling into a class of mediocre hitters?  You just cannot help to feel that way when his career batting average is a whopping .326 but this year he’s tearing it up with a .274?  Being a contract year, nobody seems to know what exactly is going on.

Whether it’s you or the Atlanta Braves, Freddie Freeman is without a doubt worth keeping for the long haul. 

Derrek Lee did have a multi-hit, run, and RBI game but he slipped back to his more accustomed ways of this year.

It may be reasonable to give Gaby Sanchez a break this week as he is nursing his hamstring back to full strength.

With a few weak pitching staffs on the schedule, owners of James Loney should have a fairly good week.  A

t 37 years old, Todd Helton is showing signs of slowing down.  He gets regular days off and perhaps this week is one that you let him rest.

Second Base

The Dan Uggla theory has proven to remain true.  When the average rises, he becomes one of the best fantasy options for 2^nd base in all of baseball.

Chase Utley’s hitting has been streaky and it seems to have a week to week pattern.  He just got off of a below average week, perhaps this one will be better.

Just because Kellly Johnson had one multi-hit game doesn’t mean his calf is ready to have him performing at an elite level.  Keep him rested for at least a few more games.   

Danny Espinosa has been experiencing a slump that’s turned a few owners away from his services.  The problems look to continue the first half of the week against the good half of Atlanta’s pitching but should turn around against the inferior Colorado staff midweek.

Don’t feel bad about leaving Darwin Barney out of the loop in terms of your team.  His useful bat has fallen into the abyss sometime ago and hasn’t been found since.

Third Base

Eduardo Nunez may be one HORRIBLE player in the field, but his hitting puts him in to the top 5 as a fantasy option while A-Rod is out.

Batting in the five spot would make one think that David Freese could be a good option with RBIs as a product but his average is what seems to keep him afloat.  At any moment he could have a break out game making managers happy for their acquisition.

Ever since his return from the DL, David Wright has been hitting out of his mind.  There is no telling when the trend may slow down but until it does, those with him on their teams should be riding high.

Some struggling players include: Chase Headley, Casey McGehee and Pedro Alvarez.  These guys could very well bounce back, this just isn’t the week.

Shortstop

It has been a very good week for shortstops, but will the trend continue?  Derek Jeter has somewhat come out of his seemingly year long slump with a couple of multi-hit games.  Also, even during a few games where he was hitless, some RBIs were still scored.

Over the last week, Cliff Pennington has been hitting .450 with a number of RBIs and extra-base hits.  Get him fast because he doesn’t look to be slowing down.

Time to note some players who have been making a name for themselves.  Jesus Guzman, Rafael Furcal and J.J. Hardy have been replacing the more notable names atop the list of best fantasy shortstop.  Each guy is offering something different to all of the managers out there.  Whether it is homeruns, RBIs, runs scored, stolen bases or batting average, fantasy points can be accumulated in various ways and there are a plethora of options out there for just about everyone.

Outfield

Justin Upton, not his brother B.J. Upton, is the number one fantasy outfielder for the week.  After being snubbed out of the Home Run Derby, he’s had a slew of multi-hit games and even had a 6 RBI game.  Clearly there is no better outfielder around, at least for now.

Guess what Desmond Jennings’ owned percentage is now after only being 1.2 last week?  It is already at 85% with only seven games played.  He just got called up from the minors so if you are looking for a slight regression to take place, that may happen this scoring period.

It was just a few years ago that Hideki Matsui was the talk of the town in New York.  As we fast-forward to 2011 he has changed coasts and seemed to fall into obscurity but this week has been good for him.  He has some favorable matchups this week so the production should continue.  Let’s see who is having a tough week. 

Mitch Moreland, Shane Victorino, John Mayberry Jr, Melky Cabrera and Andre Ethier have been struggling

But just one day after rubbing some dirt on the injury, White was in the Louisiana Superdome competing at a high level in a game versus the New Orleans Saints, and he would go one to play the remainder of that season including the playoffs.

At the time Reggie credited his religious faith along with divine intervention for being able to return to the football field. A more secular view would have Reggie as an absolutely freakish physical specimen who was able to withstand a tremendously high pain threshold. In these parts here in Wisconsin, most took Reggie White at his word, attributing his staying on the field to a combination of the two possibilities.

Which leads us to the current saga of Albert Pujols, who has returned to the St. Louis Cardinals lineup (Cowboy Bob Orton wrap and all) just two weeks after sustaining a broken forearm – far ahead of all conceivable timetables. Two weeks from now we could be talking about how Ryan Braun wound up missing more time with his current sore calf.

Not surprisingly, Albert’s return has been met with skeptics. Recent entries by the fantasy sports site Rotoworld were filled with comments such as ‘Maybe the guy isn’t human after all’ and ‘We’ve run out of adjectives for the guy’.

Then came Jeff Passan’s piece on Yahoo Sports on Wednesday, a mainstream writer on a mainstream outlet. The article was titled ‘Skeptics View Pujols’ Return as Unnatural’

Passan explains in the piece that Albert’s return to the lineup is being held under the microscope in baseball’s post-PED era, with players such as Pujols and Jose Bautista as targets who now have to deal with unfounded speculation.

In this era, a baseball star simply cannot win. In 2004, Jack McDowell, then himself a writer for Yahoo, speculated about Mark Prior’s Achilles tendon injury, noting Prior’s slow recovery as a ‘tell-tale’ sign of a player whose muscles got too strong for his tendons. Days later Dr. Blackjack was forced to backpedal from that diagnosis.

Nancy Grace would even be hard-pressed to put MLB players under the coals like some so-called experts and mainstream media do.

The evolution of the social media world has changed the landscape greatly in just the two short years since the infamous Jerod Morris/Raul Ibanez firestorm. As Passan mentioned in his article, Twitter is now the vehicle for anyone to speculate anything about sports – or anything else. Two years ago it was Jerod’s piece that wound up getting Ibanez’s attention. Put Ibanez’s torrid start in 2011 v. 2009 and Raul would be speculated on social media well before Jerod’s long, thought-out piece.

Earlier this year Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler didn’t have to wait until the next morning or even the post-game talk shows to hear himself labeled as a ‘quitter’ after the NFC Championship Game; many of his own NFL brethren were doing that long before the game ended.

It comes with the territory now for athletes and other figures in other professions: guilty before being proven innocent, then perhaps still labeled as guilty.

Lance Armstrong is a perfect Exhibit A in that regard. I don’t like commenting much about Lance because, to be honest, I don’t know much about cycling except that biking over 2,000 miles up and down mountains for three weeks straight has to be the most grueling thing imaginable.

But six years after his final Tour win, Lance still faces the music from those who continue to attempt to connect the PED dots throughout the French Pyrenees. Other cyclists have gotten busted. Floyd Landis got busted. French newspapers say he’s taken stuff. And now this year one of Armstrong’s former teammates called him out. As Tony Soprano would say, ‘The hustle never ends…’

Which leads us back to Pujols, who remains on pace to challenge baseball’s all-time career records in home runs (762, possibly around 800 by the time A-Rod gets through) and RBI’s (currently 2,297), and doing it playing his home games in unfavorable home run parks through his career. This is Pujols’ eleventh season in the majors. Making a rough guess that he may have been tested ten times per year since PED testing began in MLB, it’s conceivable that Albert has been tested close to a hundred times by now.

And he has come back clean all hundred times.

100-0 would be a pretty good record. But if Albert wants to play through 2020 he better be sure to finish his testing career at 200-something and 0. Because if Pujols fails just once, then he immediately gets thrown into the same discard pile as Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Man-Ram, A-Rod, etc., etc., etc….

And Albert’s slate has to remain clear past retirement and beyond. A legacy could even be stained in the future by, let’s say, someone who was a briefly a teammate saying something in some piece many years from now.

It’s very unfair, but unfortunately it is the nature of the beast that has been created. The culture of performance-enhancing techniques in sports is not clearly marked in black and white either. Even coach Bob Knight referred to something as simple as Gatorade as a ‘performance enhancer’. The reference was over the top, but not totally crazy. In the court of public opinion amateur attorneys can twist things any way they can see fit.

A professional sports career is supposed to follow a distinct and logical curve. It begins in a player’s early 20′s, peaks somewhere in the late 20s, then settles in slightly below that peak during the early 30s before declining slowly until even the best performers are forced to give up the game in their late 30′s/early 40′s at the latest. Any deviation from that curve (See McGwire, Bonds, and Clemens late-career), and eyebrows are immediately raised.

Apparently now eyebrows are also raised simply by coming back earlier than anticipated after an injury, or perhaps simply being ‘injury-prone’ as the Blackjack-Prior case showed; there seems to be no escaping the inevitable ‘smell test’.

The good news is that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball no longer turn a blind eye like they did from the mid-90′s-early 2000′s when the problem was ridiculously obvious. The players are now regularly tested, and I’m personally one of those who gives all performers a clean slate and considers them innocent until proven otherwise, and not the other way around.

Albert Pujols and other superstars at least deserve the benefit of that doubt.

Maris was a decent hitter, he explained, but never a great one and certainly not the person you would peg for an all-time power-hitting season.  His 61 homers in 1961 was an aberration in the same way Brady Anderson hit 50 homers in 1996 or even Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001.  Those home run totals were so out of whack that they have almost nothing to do with the player’s past or future performance.

Think of it this way: if you see a black swan swimming amidst a flock of white swans, does that mean that there are more black swans on the way?  Or is he the only one of his kind?

Deep stuff.

With that brain buster in mind, I wanted to take a look at some MLB players who are having black swan seasons either heading into free agency or right after earning a big contract.

Should MLB executives pay the guys who are about to hit the open market based on how they have done in the past, or how they will do in the future, or a blend of both?  And which guys are rewarding or punishing the GMs who paid them the big bucks last winter?

First Year of New Contract

Jose Bautista

Bautista is on another planet at the moment.  He is coming off his huge year last year in Toronto leading the league in home runs and earning a fat new contract.  He was the leading vote getter for the All-Star game, and I cannot wait to see him in the home run derby.  After a crazy .617 slugging percentage last year, Bautista is slugging more than .680 and getting on base at a ridiculous .470 clip – Bondsian numbers, in an era of stringent steroid testing.

Black Swan? Absolutely.

At the moment, this is the textbook (uh, my friend’s dad) definition of a black swan season.  This season sticks out like crazy, and there is no indication from his track record that Bautista’s production will continue. But on the other hand, he could be a case of a player who found his power later in his career. Hey, there are exceptions to every rule.

Bautista seems like a good guy and certainly no one wants him to lose it, except of course for the pitchers who have to face him every day. The average and OBP will have to come down at some point, and the league may figure him out one day. So for now, he is a black swan.

Adam Dunn

Dunn has been the picture of consistency for his entire career: his HR totals from age 24-30 are 46, 40, 40, 40, 40, 38, 38.  That’s while playing for three different teams, with home and away splits of 193/168 in HRs and .901/.878 in OPS.  The Chicago White Sox looked at Dunn hitting free agency at age 31 and figured they were in line for a slash line of about .250/.375/.510, with 35-40 homers.  Pretty outstanding numbers and more than worth the $66 million they gave him.

Of course, Dunn is hitting .165/.301/.302 at the moment, with just 7 homers and more than 100 strikeouts in less than 250 at-bats.  He is on pace for a historically bad season – maybe the worst hitting season ever.

Black Swan? Probably.

There is very little historical comparison for a such a dependable guy suddenly losing it all.  The black swan has struck twice this year for power hitters – Dan Uggla is having a similarly miserable time down in Atlanta coming off a big contract.  Of course, Dunn has a much better track record than Uggla.  Tom Verducci speculated that Dunn is feeling the pressure from his first big time contract but for Ozzie Guillen’s sake, Dunn had better work his demons out fast.

Derek Jeter

This contract looked bad from the minute the ink dried, and Jeter has not disappointed the legions of Yankee haters by posting the worst season of his career. No matter how much you hate the Yankees, it is hard to hate Derek Jeter.  Yes, he dates hotter women than you.  Yes, he is a remarkably overrated defender.  But he is so much less insufferable than Alex Rodriguez and Paul O’Neill and Roger Clemens and a host of other Yankee jerks from the last two decades.

Black Swan? Sadly, no.

The cruel nature of baseball is that a superstar’s decline is rarely sudden – it occurs over several seasons.  Fans watch players decay before their eyes, as in the case of Ken Griffey Jr and Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams.  Jeter is almost certainly in the twilight of his career, but we all must suffer the agony (or glee) of watching him lose it all before our eyes to the tune of at least two more years and $33 million.

Adrian Gonzalez

Can you believe that the Red Sox are paying just $5.5 million for Gonzalez’s .352/.407/.593 right now?  And that they locked him up for about $21 million a year through his age 38 season, AKA the same age the Yankees will be paying A-Rod $25 million, with $60 million more to go?

This was a classic case of paying for a blend of past results and future performance, a luxury afforded only to teams who can afford the luxury tax.  If you have the money and prospects to get a consistent guy like Gonzalez, you do it every time.

Black Swan? No way.

In fact, he may get even better over the next 3 or 4 years before beginning a decline.  This was a classic case of right player, right team, and right ballpark – similar to the rival Yankees getting Mark Teixeira a few years back, and the exact opposite of the Mets signing Mo Vaughn at age 34 for $40+ million.  Not that I’m bitter or anything.

Looking for a New Contract

CC Sabathia

Pitching is definitely harder to predict than hitting.  Pitchers have black swan seasons all the time: Eric Gagne was unhittable for two or three years, then absolutely disappeared.  Cliff Lee was a struggling journeyman, then suddenly figured it out and won a Cy Young.  But Lee’s former teammate CC is the one about to hit the free agent market, at an advanced age and looking for big bucks. (Note: this is assuming Sabathia exercises the option to terminate his contract early)

Black Swan? As it stands, no.

CC is a guy who won 17 games at age 20, albeit with a high ERA and walk total.  Since then, the wins have pinballed around but the important stats like walk total, innings pitched, and strikeouts have stayed consistent or improved.  He is in the middle of his prime, but his whole career sort of looks like a prime if you go by the numbers.  There is really no indication that CC will lose it in the next few years except for his age and the 2,000+ innings under his considerable belt.

Jose Reyes

This weekend during the Subway Series, Reyes tweaked his hammy, and it looks like he may miss some time.  But that does not take away from the crazy good season Reyes is putting together. Maybe the most telling stat is that he is slugging .527 with only three homers, thanks to his 15 triples.  Of course, this comes after two seasons where Reyes played in only 169 out of a possible 324 games, hit around .280, and barely got on base.  Those two down years followed four outstanding years where Reyes played almost every game possible.   You simply never know how Reyes’ body will hold up.

Black Swan? Nope.

Reyes has put it all together before and he’ll do it again, for whomever gives him Monopoly money next year.  The problem for a seven year deal with a guy who spends his life running full speed, diving into bases head first, and having guys crash into his legs at second base is, not surprisingly, health.  With Reyes, you pay for past results with the understanding that he is one bad turn at second away from the disabled list.

Prince Fielder

Maybe the toughest to predict on this whole list.  Fielder has had a pretty terrific career so far, and his career OPS of .927 is a testament to the way he can flat out hit.  This season has been even better than his last, and it comes as Prince makes a contract push with agent Scott Boras allegedly looking for a $200 million contract for his client.

Of course, his weight is comfortably in the three bills (he is listed at 275, which is like listing David Eckstein at 7’3″) and he plays the field in a way that makes you think he forgot to wipe the burger grease off his hands.  A poor body and bad defensive skills lead one to believe he will have a breakdown at some point in the near future, especially if he lets his body go even further after earning a big contract.

Black Swan? Most pundits would say yes, but I say no – power hitting just runs in the family.

Papa Cecil hit 51 homers at age 26, but son Prince eclipsed 50 at age 23 and is well on his way again this year.  Dad’s last big home run year was at age 32, but Prince is already a better all-around hitter than his father was, and given that he is rarely injured, there’s no reason to believe he is headed for any sort of breakdown.  Just keep him away from the post game spread.

Albert Pujols

The best hitter in the game is struggling through a rare off-year, not at all the way you would expect Pujols to respond with his next contract set to break the bank this winter.  Of course, an off-year Pujols is still slugging .500 with 17 homers before hitting the disabled list last month.

Black Swan? Oh yeah.

Look, even Babe Ruth lost a whole season to Chlamydia once.  Pujols is allowed to have a down year thanks to some accumulated injuries.  Remember, this is a guy who played a whole season with a torn elbow and still mashed the ball.  If anyone is poised for a rebound, it’s him, and he will get paid accordingly.

**********

* – Adam Dunn photo credit: Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images via SI.com

This scoring period marks the second full week off from interleague play before the circus gets started back up. There are many unknown players who are going to have some breakout games and give you the leg up on the competition, as outlined in this week’s hitting planner.

Catcher

Batting average or homeruns AND RBIs? Choose the latter and pick up Mike Napoli. Although he doesn’t receive a lot of playing time, its hard to look past him with 10 homeruns and 25 RBIs with just over 100 at bats. Same goes for Miguel Montero. He’s a good player who is owned by most but not all owners.

With no glaring differences in play on the road or at home, look for his consistent play to continue this month. Geovany Soto hadn’t seen the field in a few weeks but just recently got back into the Cubs’ starting lineup. A few days of knocking off the rust should do him well as he should be good to go in your lineup this Monday.

Haven’t found a replacement for Buster Posey yet? Give J.P. Arencibia the time of day because his power at the plate is something to take notice to with 8 homeruns and 26 RBIs.

First Base

How can we mention Mike Napoli twice on the hitting planner? Well why wouldn’t we? He’s so valuable with his dual position eligibility that it was most necessary to list him again.

Eric Hosmer broke out of a slump and has been somewhat on fire since coming up from Triple-A.

If you have Carlos Pena in your lineup then it’s time to make a decision. Possessing almost a 90% owned rating; he just hasn’t been producing the way a smart owner would want. Playing in the pitcher friendly Wrigley field doesn’t help either.

Any questions regarding Albert Pujols look in the archives for the past two weeks but for some “diamond in the rough” type help look at Freddie Freeman. He’s only 21 years old but has been swinging the bat like a seasoned veteran as of late.

Second Base

Well, Howard Kendrick is going to be activated very soon and if you sat him because of his hammy then the time is now to get him back where he belongs.

Who was the top rated 2^nd baseman last week? Kelly Johnson was and his play was noticed by many fantasy owners. Chances are he’s gone but if you can make a play for him it would be suggested.

Danny Espinosa has been receiving some ROY talk and his play is reflecting that claim. His batting average is low at .214 but the overall production is there.

There is an odd situation in Chicago going on which needs to be addressed fairly quickly. Brent Lillibridge needs some consistent playing time. He was the seventh rated fantasy player at his position for the past week and has under 70 at-bats for the year.

Third Base

Aramis Ramirez isn’t having the type of year that warrants the amount of owners who have him on their team and especially their starting lineup so it wouldn’t hurt to sit him.

Toronto seems to sit Edwin Encarnacion at the strangest times and for the people who have him on their team, it would be better to let him go before the Blue Jays do.

Danny Valencia and Alberto Callaspo have been swinging hot bats lately and are available still due in large part to not being a big named star player.

Evan Longoria looked like he was going to snap out of his funk with a good series against the Cleveland Indians following a strong performance at home against the Rangers. The upcoming scoring period has him playing at the hitter friendly Rangers Ballpark in Arlington so chances are he’s going to resume normal.

Not to get off topic but something needs to be addressed and that is about New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez. Don’t let the overrated talk trick you into putting one of the all time greats onto the bench. He is still batting at a high level this year and is one of the top fantasy players at his position. We can only imagine how one of his teammate feels about the overrated talk.

Shortstop

The answer to that question is; not very good at all. While teammates A-Rod and Joba joked about the poll, Derek Jeter wasn’t amused at all. Perhaps in previous years he shouldn’t have been on the list but this year the spot is well deserved. Sure he is a Hall-of-Famer but he isn’t the best Shortstop in his own city anymore (that title belongs to Jose Reyes) and doesn’t come close to being a top 10 fantasy option.

Look to the underrated Yunel Escobar or recently called up Brandon Crawford. With Crawford’s steady production look for his playing time to stay on course as he continues to start over Miguel Tejada. Rafael Furcal has a hot bat as well. Give him a look with Hanley Ramirez missing extensive time.

Outfield

There are some unfamiliar players floating around the outfield this week and the time to jump on them is now. Aubrey Huff has all around game at the plate and his versatile play should score you some big points. His teammate Andres Torres is swinging the bat as well and with games against below average pitching staffs in Washington and Cincinnati; look for the streaks to continue.

Jon Jay is another player who needs to see some time in your starting lineup due in large part because he is hitting .370 on the road this year and the Cards start a nine game road trip this Tuesday.

Who is filling Matt Holiday’s shoes? That would be Allen Craig and he is proving to be a more than capable replacement.

It is time to follow the Mariners’ lead and give Ichiro Suzuki a rest. Pirates outfielder Xavier Paul looks poised to go on a hot streak if he is given some steady playing time, watch him carefully over the next few days.

This week offers some new questions. Will an old flame spark again? Is everything going to be ok in St. Louis? What should you do now that Adam LaRoche is going to be out indefinitely and other injuries are starting to pile up?

Well worry not because we are going to take care of all that with this week’s hitting planner.

Catcher

Is Russell Martin the future in New York? Nobody knows for sure but the two time All-Star is starting to swing the bat with some power. Never mind the 6 straight road games next week, this former Dodger is batting .327 away from Yankee Stadium with 4 homeruns in only 55 at bats.

If you lost some fantasy points because Alex Avila was on the bench against the Pirates, don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. Interleague play does that to AL teams traveling to NL parks but with everything back in order, Avila will get back to his swinging ways against Chicago, whom he is hitting .545 against.

Baseball is a sport that rewards good hitting and in the case of lightly owned Ramon Hernandez and Jonathan Lucroy have been doing just that. Jump on these guys before someone else does.

First Base

Don’t get too caught up with all of Jason Giambi’s hits leaving the ballpark. Chances are that he won’t get many chances to hit over Todd Helton and he is now day-to-day with a sore elbow but once interleague starts back up, he should be the DH in AL parks.

Speaking of Todd, playing with a stiff back is no good for a fantasy type swing. Show him the pine. Same goes for 3-time MVP Albert Pujols. What is there left to say about him? Batting .250 last week with one homerun and two RBIs won’t win much for you.

It may be a reach but Matt LaPorta could have a good week ahead of him with a full slate of games, especially night games, something the Tribe 1^st Basemen tends to like.

Second Base

Macier Izturis plays all over for the field for the Angels so we will plug him at 2^nd base but either way, he is struggling. With a few home games on the slate (and only hitting .229 at home) his streaky and recently low level of play isn’t reassuring. Same goes for teammate Howard Kendrick. Chances are he will not see the DL but you don’t want to take the risk of spotty playing time while he’s trying to get his hamstring back to strength.

With a player like Brandon Phillips struggling as of late, take a look at Kelly Johnson if he is still available. The low batting average may turn some heads away from the Diamondback but he is turning things around and has a bit of power to boot.

Third Base

This slump is worse than Pujols.

There is nothing nice to say about Evan Longoria’s play other than you hope it turns around but just like Pujols, it would be better to sit until some steady play is shown.

Once again we are endorsing this unfamiliar player; Mark Reynolds anyone? Despite a low average, this Oriole will score and drive in some runs at the hot corner.

Do you have Adrian Beltre on your team to hit homeruns and RBIs? Thought so. That’s why it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to give him a rest this scoring period. Even with a full week of games, the Rangers play at Cleveland and Tampa Bay, teams who play to win with defense and pitching.

How about a few hot players to get off of your bench? Chase Headley and Danny Valencia are swinging the bats but one surprise is Daniel Descalso who is taking advantage of significant playing time due to David Freese being on the DL. Competition brings out the best in athletes and if he wants to lock himself into the starting lineup then Descalso will continue to swing the bat, not only for the Cards but for you as well.

Shortstop

Who is Brendan Ryan? Many know him as a shortstop on the Seattle Mariners not the undercover fantasy player who will fill your needs with the injured/slumping Hanley Ramirez. Back to Ryan though, he’s hitting .360 in May and .550 plus over the last 7 days. Was it mentioned that he is hitting .400 this year during day games? Believe that! With 4 day games during this upcoming scoring period, look for Ryan to keep ripping it up.

Ian Desmond does a little bit of everything and looks to be on pace for 40 stolen bases this year. As a top 10 fantasy player at his position, chances are he is gone in your league but if he is still out there pick him up. All the other shortstops around the league seem set to have a pretty average fantasy week.

Jamey Carroll won’t hit for power but if you are in need of some batting average help, he is a reliable option at the position.

Outfield

The AL East boasts 3 of the top 5 fantasy outfielders so far in 2011. Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, and Jacoby Ellsbury. There isn’t a single thing that can point to these guys slowing down over the coming weeks so as always, we’ll dig deeper to find out who should be sitting or starting.

Get Lance Berkman back in your starting lineup and make sure that Bobby Abreu sees some action as well.

Nationals’ 1^stbasemen Adam LaRoche is going to be out for good and it seems as if red-hot Michael Morse will be stepping into his place. His eligibility points towards the outfield so that’s why we highlight him here and he’s been lighting up the stat sheet hitting .381 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs over the last seven days.

Mike Stanton may not have a great week ahead of him as he has to face the Diamondback’s 6 win pitcher Ian Kennedy to go along with the fact that he doesn’t hit as well against righties. Give him a short rest to avoid a surprise slump.