Author: rfagan.tsn

Their sub-.300 days didn’t intersect, but they weren’t far apart.

Hard to imagine that Joe Mauer, a career .327 hitter entering the season, and Albert Pujols, a career .334 hitter entering 2010, would find themselves hovering in the upper .200s at any point in July. And after watching their performances over the past week or so, it’s even harder to imagine. Mauer was sitting at .295 after a win in Baltimore on July 24. Since then, he’s had six multiple-hit games—including a five-hitter and one with four hits—and is batting .537 with 16 RBIs, 12 runs scored, a .604 on-base percentage and a 1.384 OPS.

Pujols was sitting at .295 after a win against Pittsburgh on July 30. Since then, he’s had multiple hits in six of his seven games and is batting .500 with five homers, 11 RBIs, 10 runs scored, a 1.031 slugging percentage, an otherworldly 1.531 OPS and only one strikeout.

No moral to the story or lesson to learn. Just two of the best getting back on track. Anyway, on to the poll.

Josh Hamilton is a leading MVP candidate.

1. Yankees (last week: 1). In the 46 at-bats between his 599th and 600th home run, Alex Rodriguez had only nine hits (a .196 average) but he still managed eight RBIs. It’s good to be part of that lineup, eh? For the year, he has 88 RBIs, which is second in the majors.

2. Rays (2). Yes, they’ve lost five games in a row entering the week, but there’s no reason to panic in Tampa Bay. The Rays are still only 2 1/2 behind the Yankees, and they’re still 4 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox and Twins in the wild-card race. The sore shoulders for Jeff Neimann and Wade Davis? Rays fans can worry about those.

3. Rangers (5). With every game Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers lose, Josh Hamilton’s MVP candidacy takes a step forward, right? He’s hitting .355 with 24 homers and 77 RBIs for the most surprisingly dominant team in baseball. (Not "most surprising" … "most surprisingly dominant")

4. Braves (9). The two primary lefties in the Braves’ bullpen—veteran closer Billy Wagner and rookie Jonny Venters—have thrown a combined for 106 innings with a 1.36 ERA and 130 strikeouts. The other lefty in the pen, rookie Mike Dunn has contributed six scoreless innings after he was called up to replace Eric O’Flaherty, who had a 2.30 ERA in 41 games before he hit the disabled list. So, yeah, left-handed relief is a strength in Atlanta.

5. Reds (10). We’ve pointed this out before but it bears repeating … the Reds are 16 games over .500 (34-18) against their Central division rivals and exactly .500 (30-30) against everyone else. After their huge three-game series with the Cardinals that opens today, the Reds play their next 12 games out of the division.

6. Padres (3). Sure, it’s early, but trade acquisitions Ryan Ludwick and Miguel Tejada have hit a combined .200 (13-for-65) with five RBIs for the Padres. Maybe it’s the water.

7. Phillies (12). The Phillies sure looked like a team that was dead in the water a few weeks ago. Since losing to the Cardinals on July 21, though, the Phillies are 14-3 and have climbed back into contention for the NL East and the wild card. The primary offensive contributors: Raul Ibanez (.407, four homers, 16 RBIs), Jayson Werth (.406, three homers, eight RBIs) and Carlos Ruiz (.368, three homers, 11 RBIs).

Alexei Ramirez has been red hot in the second half.

8. White Sox (8). Second baseman Gordon Beckham has gotten most of the attention for his hot start to the second half (.372 since the All-Star break) but his double-play partner, Alexei Ramirez, hasn’t been too shabby with the stick, either. Ramirez is hitting .337 with an .849 OPS and 21 runs scored in the second half.

9. Twins (7). He’s not putting up Delmon Young or Joe Mauer numbers lately, but Jason Kubel has quietly and consistently rebounded from a slow start. In his past 54 games, Kubel is hitting .301 with nine homers and 37 RBIs.

10. Giants (4). Odd stat coincidence: Relievers Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo have both appeared in 46 games, and they both have a 2.23 ERA. Wilson has more strikeouts (67 to 46) but Santos has the better WHIP (1.015 to 1.283).

11. Red Sox (7). The nasty road trip that started with four games in Yankee Stadium continues this week with three in Toronto and three in Texas.

12. Cardinals (11). Here are the earned runs Adam Wainwright has allowed in each of his past eight games, starting with a June 29 contest against Arizona: 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 6, 1, 0.

13. Blue Jays (15). The Blue Jays are 11-1 against the AL East in the second half (6-0 vs. Baltimore, 3-0 vs. Tampa Bay and 2-1 vs. New York).

14. Rockies (13). OK, I’ll say it: Carlos Gonzalez belongs in the MVP conversation. CarGo has 25 homers, 77 RBIs and 18 stolen bases to go with his .327 average and .933 OPS. In his past 13 games, he has a .482 average, eight homers, 15 RBIs, and a 1.528 OPS.

15. Dodgers (14). Adjusting to life as a part-timer wasn’t easy for Garret Anderson. His average hadn’t been above .200 since April 17. He’d had 25 starts this year, and had multiple hits in just two of them. He was hitting .153 as a starter, .228 as a sub. For the year, he was hitting .181 with 12 RBIs in 155 at-bats before the Dodgers finally designated him for assignment.

16. A’s (19). With Ben Sheets out for the year, Dallas Braden is by far the oldest starter in the A’s rotation. He’ll be 27 on Friday.

17. Angels (18). With 60 RBIs, it looks like Bobby Abreu’s streak of seven consecutive 100-RBI seasons will end this year. That’s probably equal parts reflection on his age (36) and an Angels lineup that’s struggled this season (team .318 on-base percentage this year; was .350 in 2009).

18. Mets (17). Carlos Beltran is a borderline Hall of Fame guy (if he stays healthy) but he hasn’t exactly helped the Mets since his return to the lineup. He’s hitting .195 with seven RBIs, and the Mets are 7-16 since he came off the disabled list.

19. Marlins (16). With 25 homers and 67 RBIs through the Marlins’ first 110 games, Dan Uggla has a good shot at eclipsing his career highs of 32 homers and 92 RBIs. His current .882 also is a career-best.

20. Brewers (21). Somebody, please pay attention to Rickie Weeks. He’s hitting .272 with 23 homers and 71 RBIs—as the Brewers’ leadoff man. Those homer and RBI totals easily lead the majors among leadoff hitters, and his .364 on-base percentage is best for any player with more than 70 games as the leadoff man.

21. Tigers (20). It’s a cryin’ shame that Miguel Cabrera’s season—he’s at .343 with 26 homers, 93 RBIs and a 1.066 OPS—will be wasted for a team that just couldn’t stay healthy enough to contend.

22. Nationals (22). Livan Hernandez has a 3.03 ERA for the Nationals this year. His previous career best? The 3.20 he posted for the Expos (yep, the Expos) back in 2003.

23. Royals (24). With Jose Guillen out of the picture, Billy Butler is the team leader with 10 home runs. Alex Gordon, who has four homers in his past nine games, has a real shot to catch and pass Butler before the end of the season.

24. Indians (26). With Jhonny Peralta and Austin Kearns out of the picture, Shin-Soo Choo is the only Cleveland player with more than seven homers, 33 RBIs or a .267 average.

25. Astros (23). The Astros can’t hit for average (next-to-last in the NL at .247) or for power (74 homers, .669 OPS are both last in the N.L.) and they can’t draw a walk (300, last in the N.L.) but one thing they don’t do is strike out. Every team in the N.L. has struck out more than the Astros; they’re at 671 for the season (the D-backs lead at 1,029 strikeouts).

26. Diamondbacks (27). If the Diamondbacks win tonight against Milwaukee, it will mark the first time all season they’ve had a 10-game stretch that didn’t include back-to-back losses.

Paul Maholm has been one of baseball’s most inconsistent starters.

27. Cubs (25). The Cubs have won just one of their past 11 games. The one win in that stretch? A 15-3 beatdown of the Brewers, two nights after the Brewers beat them 18-1.

28. Orioles (30). That 5-1 mark under new manager Buck Showalter was enough to lift the Orioles out of last place in the poll.

29. Mariners (28). Seattle’s winning percentages the past four seasons, starting with 2007: .543, .377, .525, .375. The dichotomy between those last two numbers most likely cost manager Don Wakamatsu his job on Monday.

30. Pirates (29). Paul Maholm’s past three starts: 14 innings, 11.57 ERA. The three before that: 22 innings, 2.45 ERA. The three before that: 12 innings, 9.75 ERA. The three before that: 19 innings, 3.32 ERA. Consistency hasn’t been his calling card this year.

Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ryan_fagan.

The final few hours and days before the trading deadline didn’t lack for intrigue or action, but the regular-season power structure really didn’t change much after the flurry of activity.

Consider …

In the AL East, the Yankees and Rays still are the favorites, and the Red Sox still need to hurry up and get healthy.

In the AL Central, the White Sox still have the best rotation and the Twins still need Justin Morneau back in the lineup.

In the AL West, the Rangers still are the clear favorites.

In the NL East, Philadelphia might have closed the gap a little, but the Braves still have the better rotation and a few games on the Phillies.

In the NL Central, the Cardinals washed (lost a bat and gained a pitcher), and the Reds did nothing.

In the NL West, the division-leading Padres improved, and the rest of the teams are trying to figure out a way to catch baseball’s most surprising team.

The middle of San Diego’s order is stronger with Ryan Ludwick in it.

Anyway, on to the poll.

1. Yankees (last week: 1). A quick New York newbie update: Lance Berkman is 1-for-8, Austin Kearns is 0-for-2 and Kerry Wood struck out three in his first inning, which was scoreless despite the fact that he allowed two walks and a hit.

2. Rays (2). Newcomer Chad Qualls is just the 14th pitcher used by the Rays this season. By contrast, Qualls was one of 25 different hurlers used by his former team, the Diamondbacks, this season.

3. Padres (3). Ryan Ludwick, the outfielder San Diego stole from the Cardinals, had 20 doubles, 11 homers, 43 RBIs, 45 runs scored, a .283 average and a .828 OPS. How those numbers rank, respectively, on the Padres: second (tied), second, second, third, third, second. So, yeah, that was a good move for San Diego.

4. Giants (6). The Giants are 14-4 since the All-Star break. In that stretch, their pitching staff has a 2.96 ERA (third in the majors) and 152 strikeouts (first). Matt Cain has started four times since the break; he’s 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA and holding opponents to a .150 average.

5. Rangers (4). C.J. Wilson hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in his past 11 starts, rolling up a 7-2 record and 2.75 ERA in that stretch. On the downside, though, he’s walked at least four batters in six of those starts and failed to last six full innings in four of them.

6. Red Sox (7). The Red Sox have won five of six and have four in a row against the Indians to start this week. After that, though, it’s four at Yankee Stadium.

7. Twins (12). Since the All-Star break, the Twins lead the majors with 6.47 runs per game (the Yankees are second at 5.88). Delmon Young, since the break, is batting .452 with a 1.214 OPS and 23 RBIs; he’s up to .335 and 81 RBIs on the season.

8. White Sox (10). Gordon Beckham isn’t quite putting up Delmon Young numbers, but after his horrid first half, the .379 average and 11 RBIs since the break is a huge relief for the White Sox.

9. Braves (5). Clearly, the Braves scouted Rick Ankiel exclusively after he returned from the disabled list—he hit .367 with six RBIs in those eight games—and ignored what he did before he got hurt—.210, nine RBIs in 19 games.

10. Reds (8). After the Reds—who are fighting for their first playoff berth since 1995—stood pat on deadline day, it kinda felt like GM Walt Jocketty pulling out his Hoosiers speech … y’know, "I would hope you would support who we are, not who we are not. … This is your team."

11. Cardinals (9). It seems odd that a team that has failed to score at least three runs on 34 different occasions this season would trade a starting outfielder with a .281 average, 11 home runs and an .827 OPS for a new No. 4 starter. Well, maybe "odd" isn’t the right word …

12. Phillies (11). Domonic Brown already has a couple of two-hit games for the Phillies. The team’s clear No. 1 prospect was hitting .327 with 20 homers, 17 stolen bases and a .980 OPS in the minors (65 games at Class AA, 28 at Class AAA).

13. Rockies (15). Is there a more schizophrenic team than the Rockies? Already in the second half, they have an eight-game losing streak and a four-game winning streak.

Ricky Romero is part of an unheralded Big 3 in Toronto.

14. Dodgers (13). OK, maybe the Dodgers can claim that title. They opened the second half with a six-game losing streak, then won five of six and currently have lost five in a row.

15. Blue Jays (18). The Blue Jays have three starters with at least 18 starts and ERAs under 4.00—Ricky Romero (21 starts, 3.46 ERA), Shaun Marcum (21, 3.24) and Brett Cecil (18, 3.77). That’s something the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox can’t claim.

16. Marlins (20). Closer Leo Nunez has already matched his 2009 saves total (26), and he’s just getting better as the season progresses. He’s allowed just one run in his past 12 games (0.77 ERA) and struck out 17 in those 11 2/3 innings.

17. Mets (19). More than likely, the Mets’ fate will be decided over the next couple of weeks, when they face the Braves, Phillies, Rockies and Phillies (again). At 6 1/2 behind the Braves in the East and 7 1/2 out of the wild card, there’s no room for a slip-up.

18. Angels (14). The kid the Angels just called up, Peter Bourjos, has impressive numbers at Class AAA Salt Lake—in 102 games, he was hitting .314 with 85 runs scored, 13 doubles, 12 triples, 13 homers, 52 RBIs and 27 stolen bases.

19. A’s (17). The results weren’t pretty—10 hits and five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings—but at least Brett Anderson was back on the mound for the A’s last week. The young lefty starter who had a 4.06 ERA as a 21-year-old last season, has made just seven starts in 2010.

20. Tigers (16). You have to feel sorry for the Tigers, who have placed almost as many guys on the disabled list (three) as games they’ve won in the second half (four).

21. Brewers (21). So much for those hopes of being a darkhorse contender in the second half. The Brew Crew has lost five in a row and sits 11 1/2 games out of first place in the NL Central.

22. Nationals (25). So, in the second half, the Nats have lost series to the Marlins and Brewers (non-contenders) and won or split series with the Reds, Braves and Phillies (contenders). Guess that means their four-game set with the Diamondbacks this week spells trouble.

Alex Gordon has two months to show he can be a force with the bat.

23. Astros (26). The Astros have won five in a row and allowed a total of four runs in those games. The "worst" start of the stretch? Wesley Wright gave up just four hits and two earned in seven innings against the Brewers on Sunday.

24. Royals (23). After a pair of 0-fers in his return to the majors, Alex Gordon has a seven-game hitting streak and a pair of home runs as the Royals’ new left fielder. True, he’s only hitting .286 in those seven games but considering he was at .158 when he started the streak, that’s quite an improvement.

25. Cubs (22). Carlos Marmol’s numbers really are amazing this year. In 49 1/3 innings, he’s allowed just 25 hits and struck out 92. That’s a strikeout-per-nine-innings ratio of 16.78; the previous best in the wild-card era of any pitcher with at least 49 innings was Eric Gagne in 2003—a far cry back at 14.98.

26. Indians (24). Chris Perez, the Indians’ official closer now that Kerry Wood is wearing Yankees pinstripes, hasn’t allowed a run in his past 14 appearances. For the season, he has a 2.13 ERA and a dozen saves.

27. Diamondbacks (29). Justin Upton is working on a 17-game hitting streak entering the week—he’s hitting .403 during the stretch—and has boosted his average to .282 for the season, with 16 homers and 13 stolen bases.

28. Mariners (27). Last year, Daniel Murphy led the Mets with 12 homers. Nobody on the Mariners has cracked double-digits yet this season.

29. Pirates (28). Youngster update: Jose Tabata has a 12-game hitting streak and is batting .397 over his past 19 games. Neil Walker is hitting .377 over his past 15 games, with a 5-for-5 showing mixed in there. Pedro Alvarez, though, has struggled lately; he’s hitting just .111 with one RBI in his past 10 games.

30. Orioles (30). Well, the Orioles got their experienced manager in Buck Showalter. He has his work cut out for him.

Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ryan_fagan.

We’re changing things up a bit for this week’s power poll. This is "Buck says" week, featuring a poll infused with insights and opinions from TBS analyst Buck Martinez, a former big-league catcher and manager.

For example, Buck says: "Stephen Strasburg is the most interesting guy because everybody is clamoring for his appearance (at the All-Star Game). But, it’s difficult for me to suggest Stephen Strasburg is an All-Star selection given the fact it might keep someone else from being on there who’s played all year and is deserving."

Buck Martinez says he’s surprised by the Mets and Padres, but not the Mariners.

We’ll find out if Strasburg is an All-Star on Sunday, when the starters and reserves are announced on TBS’ All-Star selection show, which starts at noon ET.

Anyway, on to the poll.

1. Yankees (last week: 2). Buck says: "Robbie Cano’s certainly an All-Star, and he’s going to win a batting title one of these days." Cano might not have to wait long to claim that first batting title. He entered the week at .359, which was 13 points ahead of Minnesota’s Justin Morneau and Texas’ Josh Hamilton, and has been a stronger second-half player through his career. He’s hit .299 before the All-Star break and .329 after it, so don’t expect much of a letdown from that lofty .359 mark.

2. Rangers (5). Buck says: "Ron Washington is a terrific baseball guy, and he’s got those guys in Texas understanding there’s more to baseball than just hitting the ball. They’ve done a great job tightening up their defense, and Vladdy Guerrero looks like he met Ponce de Leon at the fountain of youth because he looks terrific. I saw him the first series of the season against the Blue Jays and, boy, the bat speed was there, his legs look great and to his credit, with that extra work, he looks like the Vladdy of five or six years ago. And this Josh Hamilton kid has had some month of June, hasn’t he? He’s been incredible."

3. Padres (6). Buck says: "Nobody even talked about the Padres, but here they are pitching so well, and Buddy Black’s done a great job of encouraging his guys and pushing them to take it one game at a time. They’ve got impact players. (Chase) Headley’s become a leader, and the (Nick) Hundley kid has become a leader behind the plate. And they’ve got one of the least-known impact hitters in baseball in Adrian Gonzalez. I think Buddy’s done a great job with his pitching staff, and if you get into the back end of the game with (Luke) Gregerson, (Mike) Adams and Heath Bell, the game is over."

4. Red Sox (1). The Sox dropped, in part, this week because of a couple of losses on a West Coast road trip through Colorado and San Francisco. But the larger reason was the loss of star second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who is thought to be out at least six weeks with a broken bone in his foot. And then Victor Martinez broke a bone in his left thumb and Clay Buchholz hyperextended his knee. All in all, a horrible week for the Sox.

5. Braves (3). The Braves have been in first place every day since May 31, their longest such streak since they closed out the 2005 season in first place every day after July 22.

6. Rays (4). In the two seasons since hitting .288 with a .985 OPS in the 2008 playoffs, B.J. Upton has hit just .234 with an awful .694 OPS. With two more arbitration years before he becomes a free agent—and unavoidable raises from his $3 million salary in 2010—you wonder if the cost-conscious Rays would move Upton for the right price. A price that would certainly be significantly lower than it was a few short years ago.

7. Mets (8). Buck says: "The biggest surprises to me have been the Mets and the Padres. Look at the Mets. They’re right there staying with Atlanta and ahead of Philadelphia." David Wright has regained his "superstar" status with his bounce-back season. Yes, he’s striking out a lot—88 times in 74 games—but he’s also hitting .300 with a .928 OPS and leads the NL with 61 RBIs.

8. Phillies (17). Buck says: "They’re not in first place, but, boy, are they swinging hot bats right now. Up and down the order, they’re doing a great job and now they’ve got Jimmy Rollins back—he had a four-walk day on Friday and a three-hit day on Saturday. You look at them and they’re going to get (Ryan) Madson back, (Chad) Durbin doesn’t look to be out for a long time. J.A. Happ’s going to come back. These guys, they’re the team that can win a division that’s not in first place right now."

9. Reds (15). Scott Rolen and Joey Votto enter the week with identical home run and RBI totals (16 and 50). Votto has a higher average (.305 to .300) and on-base percentage (.411 to .367), while Rolen has a better slugging percentage (.571 to .552) and more extra-base hits (34 to 30).

Move over, Albert? Colby Rasmus is flexing his muscles in St. Louis.

10. Cardinals (11). Who would have thought, at this point of the season, second-year outfielder Colby Rasmus would have the same number of homers (16) and extra-base hits (32) as superstar Albert Pujols and more runs scored (46 to 40) and a better slugging percentage (578 to .542)?

11. White Sox (18). Buck says: "It was a surprise that they had not pitched better early on. How many people were so critical of Ozzie (Guillen) for calling his team out, saying ‘You’ve got to be better than this, we’re better than this.’ Well, they were. In this age where you’ve got to be politically correct, Ozzie rubs a lot of people the wrong way, but the reality is, he’s telling the truth and his players have responded. They’re a good team. They’re a very good team."

12. Angels (12). Buck says: "I think they will (contend) because they have the front-line pitching. Those are the types of guys who can keep you in the race. My concern is, where’s the offense going to come from? Losing (Erick) Aybar was a big blow. Can (Hideki) Matsui hold up for the long haul? Can Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter maintain the standards they’ve held for so long?"

13. Twins (7). No contender had a worse week than the Twins, who were swept in Milwaukee and lost two of three in New York against the Mets. Their only win? A gem by Carl Pavano, who has thrown back-to-back complete games and has lowered his season ERA to 3.33.

14. Tigers (10). The Tigers are 10 games over .500 in day games, and their 22 day wins are the most in baseball. Leadoff hitter Austin Jackson is hitting. 353 in day games, .270 in night contests. Of course, Brennan Boesch is hitting .365 at night, and just .301 during the day.

15. Giants (9). For the first time all season, the Giants have given up at least four runs in five consecutive games. Not surprisingly, they’re 1-4 in those contests.

16. Dodgers (13). Buck says: "The Dodgers certainly have the best offense in that division, the Rockies have the best balance, but the Padres have enough, I think, to hang on." The Dodgers lead the division with 4.68 runs per game despite ranking fifth in the division with 55 home runs. They lead the division in batting average (.267) and on-base percentage (.337).

17. Blue Jays (14). Buck (who doubles as the Jays’ TV play-by-play voice) says: "It is amazing that they’ve been able to do that when both (DH Adam) Lind and (second baseman Aaron) Hill haven’t done anything. I mean, you’re talking about the two Silver Sluggers from a year ago—both guys drove in 100 and both guys had 30 home runs and they’re not doing anything. They’re both hitting around .200 and it’s been a season-long slump. Cito Gaston’s done a great job of convincing these guys to go up and look for a fastball, then pick your fastball and hit it. Mind you, when they run into a tough pitcher who’s not going to let you hit balls out of the ballpark, they have their troubles. But I don’t think anybody expected them to be where they are as we close in on the first half."

18. Rockies (16). Buck says: "If Colorado continues to get healthy, they have (Huston) Street back and when they get (Jorge) de la Rosa back, that’s going to make for probably the best division race in baseball." How’s this for a balanced offensive attack? The Rockies have five different players with either nine or 10 home runs, and they have six different players with between 30 and 34 RBIs entering the week.

A big part of Oakland’s future, Trevor Cahill is pitching like an ace.

19. A’s (20). Trevor Cahill, the A’s 22-year-old right-handed starter, is making a good case to be the team’s representative at the All-Star Game. Throw out his first start of the season and Cahill is 7-1 with a 2.31 ERA in 11 starts.

20. Brewers (24). Hey, Trevor Hoffman has thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings, and he’s faced the minimum three batters in five of those seven outings. And, the Brewers have won six of seven heading into a three-game series at home vs. the Astros.

21. Marlins (19). In his second season as the Marlins’ closer, Leo Nunez has lowered his ERA (4.06 to 2.27), WHIP (1.252 to 0.979) and batting average against (.230 to .202) while raising his strikeout-to walk ratio (2.22 to 3.88) and WAR (0.4 to 1.3).

22. Cubs (21). At this point, you have to wonder how much longer Lou Piniella will manage the Cubs. The losing in Tampa Bay wore on him, and that was with a team nobody expected much from. That’s not the case with the Cubs, who had high expectations but are nine games under .500.

23. Royals (23). Hey, the Royals took two of three from the in-state rival Cardinals and are 20-21 since Ned Yost took over from Trey Hillman (they were 12-23 under Hillman).

24. Nationals (22). Roger Bernadina has been the Nationals’ best hitter this month, posting a .333 average to go with three homers and 11 RBIs.

25. Diamondbacks (25). As a team, the Diamondbacks are third in the NL in slugging percentage (.426) despite the fact that their individual leader, Kelly Johnson, is only 19th in the league with a .491 slugging percentage.

26. Mariners (26). Buck says: "I did not expect Seattle to play well. Everybody was on their bandwagon, everybody expected them to be the team to beat, but I did not see the offense. I didn’t see them having enough offense to compete. Lately, they’ve been winning games because they’ve been shutting out everybody with their great pitching."

27. Astros (27). The Astros are two games over .500 against the NL Central and 20 games under .500 against everybody else.

28. Indians (29). We’re going to keep giving Carlos Santana updates until the dynamic rookie stops treating major-league pitchers like low-level scrubs. Through 15 games, he’s at .333 with a 1.179 OPS, four home runs, 11 total extra-base hits and 14 RBIs.

29. Pirates (28). The Pirates are 7-2 against the Cubs, 18-48 against everybody else. Wow.

30. Orioles (30). The Orioles are 5-4 against the Red Sox, 18-48 against everybody else. Wow, again.

Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ryan_fagan.

The Red Sox were one game under .500—and eight-and-a-half games behind the first-place Rays in the AL East—after an 11-9 loss the Yankees on May 17. 

Big Papi is a big reason the Red Sox come in at No. 1.

Now, they’re the No. 1 team in SN’s power poll. 

Since that ugly loss to the Yankees, the Red Sox are 24-8 and own series victories against the playoff-contending Twins, Phillies (twice), Rays and Dodgers. They’ve lost back-to-back games only twice (ironically, against the lowly Royals and Indians) in that stretch and they enter the week riding a six-game winning streak.

And, true, the Red Sox aren’t in first place in their division; they’re tied with the Rays and right behind the Yankees. But, as you know, the power poll isn’t based strictly on records—what fun would that be?—and the Red Sox have clearly been a stronger team than the Yankees and Rays. Since May 17, the Yankees are 18-13 and the Rays are 15-16. The Yankees and Rays both had three-game losing streaks last week; the Red Sox haven’t lost three in a row since the skid that ended, you guessed it, on May 17.

Anyway, on to the poll.

1. Red Sox (last week: 8). Some numbers since that loss on May 17: David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis each have 28 RBIs and Adrian Beltre has 27 and all three have eight homers. Victor Martinez has 14 doubles and is hitting .378. Jonathan Papelbon is 7-for-7 in save opportunities. Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester are a combined 11-1 with a 1.89 ERA. Most impressive.

2. Yankees (2). Taking two of three from the Mets—and besting Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana in the process—took the sting out of losing two of three at home to the Phillies.

3. Braves (4). There must have been something in the water on May 17. The Braves lost to the other New York team on that day, and just like the Red Sox, they’re 24-8 since then.

4. Rays (1). The owners of baseball’s best record for most of the season, the Rays have lost seven of their past 10 games. Any momentum they might have gained after beating the Marlins in that crazy vuvuzelas game on Saturday was squashed by Marlins ace Josh Johnson the next day. After an off-day Monday, they host the Padres for three games.

5. Rangers (11). Josh Hamilton isn’t the best story in baseball like he was in 2008, but he’s been the game’s best hitter lately. During the Rangers’ sizzling eight-game winning streak, Hamilton is batting .528 with three homers and 10 RBIs. For the season, he’s batting .337 with 16 homers, 52 RBIs and a .981 OPS.

6. Padres (3). The key to the Padres’ stay atop the NL West? Avoiding losing streaks. They’ve lost more than two in a row just once this season—a three-game skid. At this point last year, the Padres already had four losing streaks of four games or more.

Carl Pavano has been solid for the Twins.

7. Twins (6). Carl Pavano is turning into an efficient workhorse for the Twins. He’s thrown at least seven full innings in each of his past six starts, and his pitch counts for those outings have been between 92 and 109. He’s 4-2 in those starts with a 3.13 ERA.

8. Mets (5). Has there been a more surprising catalyst than Mets starter R.A. Dickey? The knuckleballer is 5-0 with a 2.82 ERA and the Mets are 11 games over .500 since he made his season debut. Before he arrived, they were two games under .500.

9. Giants (9). The Giants enter the week in second place in the NL West, thanks largely to their performance against the NL Central. They’re 14-5 against the Central—including 6-0 against the Astros—and just 8-14 against the West. They play three more against the Astros this week before playing three at home against the Red Sox.

10. Tigers (13). Hard to imagine that the Tigers have had to send both Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello back to the minors this season. Even harder to imagine that, despite those performance-based demotions, the Tigers enter the week just a game-and-a-half behind the first-place Twins.

11. Cardinals (14). Small sample size, sure, but it appears that batting in the No. 2 slot agrees with Matt Holliday. In 53 games batting fourth (one spot behind Albert Pujols), Holliday hit .292 with just six homers and 23 RBIs. In six games since moving to the No. 2 spot, Holliday has hit .435 with four homers and eight RBIs.

12. Angels (12). In their three wins last week, the Angels outscored their opponents 24-7. In their three losses last week, the Angels were outscored 31-4. Yikes.

13. Dodgers (7). Interleague play has not been kind to the Dodgers. They were swept by the Angels June 11-13 and then they were swept by the Red Sox this weekend.

14. Blue Jays (15). The Blue Jays are first in the majors in homers, 27th in batting average, second in slugging percentage and 28th in on-base percentage.

15. Reds (10). When the division-rival Cardinals faced the Mariners last week, they missed both Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez and took two of three. The Reds had to face the Seattle co-aces and were swept by the M’s; they scored just once in three games.

16. Rockies (17). So, do the Rockies make a move to try and replace Troy Tulowitzki, who’s out for six to eight weeks with his broken wrist, or do they try to find an in-house replacement? They should at least see what they have in Chris Nelson, a former first-round pick who was hitting .311 at Class AAA Colorado Springs.

Brad Lidge and the Phillies have been tough to figure.

17. Phillies (16). The Phillies have won exactly one series this month, and that was last week against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. This is a hard team to figure out.

18. White Sox (21). Don’t look now but the White Sox have won nine of 10 and are only five-and-a-half games behind the Twins in the AL Central. All of a sudden, it’s not a given that they’ll be sellers as the trade deadline approaches.

19. Marlins (19). Yes, we talked about Josh Johnson in last week’s edition, but he tossed up two more gems this week and now has eight consecutive starts allowing fewer than two runs. His ERA is down to 1.80 for the season.

20. A’s (18). From 2007-09, 41 percent of Jack Cust’s hits went for extra bases (138 of 355). This season, it’s just 19 percent (five of 27).

21. Cubs (22). Since moving back into the starting rotation, Carlos Zambrano has a 3.63 ERA in four games. His career ERA as a starter? 3.53.

22. Nationals (20). Since Stephen Strasburg arrived in the majors, the Nationals are just 1-7 in games not started by the rookie ace.

23. Royals (23). In his past 34 games, David DeJesus is batting .402 with 19 RBIs and a .993 OPS. Those are the types of numbers that will make the veteran outfielder an attractive piece on the trade market.

24. Brewers (25). If the Brewers were thinking about trading Prince Fielder (he has one arbitration year left before he’s a free agent), the slugger isn’t making it easy for them to find proper value. Fielder has just 27 RBIs this season (fifth on the team) and is hitting just .164 with runners in scoring position. Oddly, he’s batting .458 when leading off an inning, though.

25. Diamondbacks (24). Of the 123 batters closer Chad Qualls has faced this year, 43 percent have reached base via hits (42) or walks (11).

26. Mariners (27). That sweep of the Reds has to be bittersweet for Mariners fans. Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez and Ryan Rowland-Smith combined to shut down the Cincinnati lineup for three consecutive games, which is nice. But, all that sweep did was raise the Mariners’ record to 13 games under .500, which isn’t so nice.

27. Astros (26). Second baseman Jeff Keppinger and pitcher Felipe Paulino are the only two Astros (with more than one at-bat) with a batting average higher than .269 entering the week. And Paulino (.292 in 24 at-bats) has a better mark than Keppinger (.284).

28. Pirates (29). Taking two out of three from the Indians earned the Pirates a swap of spots in this week’s poll. Hey, little things count, too.

29. Indians (28). In his first nine games, superstar catching prospect Carlos Santana is batting .393 with a pair of homers, five doubles, eight RBIs and a 1.300 OPS.

30. Orioles (30). The frustration is palpable in Baltimore these days. Here’s hoping it gets better soon.

Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ryan_fagan.

Adrian Gonzalez is the Padres’ only reliable bat, but they keep winning.

The American League East has three teams—the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox—in the top 10 of this week’s power poll. That’s not even the least bit surprising.

That the National League West can make the same claim, though, is at least a little bit surprising. The Padres, despite their lack of a legitimate offensive threat other than Adrian Gonzalez, are 11 games over .500 and leading the division. The Dodgers, despite their offseason of inactivity because of the tumultuous situation regarding the owners, are a game back. The Giants, despite another inconsistent offensive lineup (though, better than last year), are a game-and-a-half behind the Padres. Anyway, on to the poll.

1. Rays (last week: 1). After watching his batting average plunge to a season-low .169 on June 5, Carlos Pena has seven homers, 10 RBIs and a .345 average (1.456 OPS) in his past in seven games. The Rays, though, are just 4-3 in that span and have been caught atop the AL East by the Yankees.

2. Yankees (2). Last week, we said not to read too much into Jorge Posada’s poor performance so far this year with runners on base because of the small sample size. So what does Posada do this weekend? Grand slams in back-to-back games. Patience is a virtue (when analyzing stats, not when your BCS conference affiliation is on the line).

3. Padres (3). Before the Dodgers took first place last Tuesday, the Padres had been in first place (alone or tied) since April 19. After taking two of three against the Mariners this weekend, they’re back atop the division entering the week.

4. Braves (4). Kenshin Kawakami has an 0-8 record this season despite a relatively respectable 4.48 ERA. To add further evidence to the wins-aren’t-a-reliable-stat argument, 33 pitchers entered the week with at least four wins and an ERA of 4.48 or higher. Derek Lowe, Kawakami’s teammate, is 8-5 despite his 4.81 ERA.

5. Mets (15). David Wright leads the Mets with 12 homers. Which is, y’know, the season-ending total team-leader Daniel Murphy had for the 2009 Mets. Wright is hitting .394 with 11 RBIs and three of those bombs during the Mets’ current stretch of eight wins in nine games.

What happened to Joe Mauer’s power?

6. Twins (8). So, at what point do people start to talk about Joe Mauer’s lack of power this season? He had 28 homers last season in 138 games; this year he has two in 55 contests.

7. Dodgers (6). After reeling off six consecutive starts in which he allowed two runs or fewer, rookie John Ely has been touched for eight runs in his past two starts. Still, though, his 3.38 ERA through nine outings has far exceeded expectations.

8. Red Sox (10). Dustin Pedroia and Marco Scutaro enter the week with exactly 298 plate appearances each. Pedroia has more doubles, homers, RBIs and stolen bases and has a better OPS; Scutaro leads his middle-infield mate in runs, hits, average and on-base percentage.

9. Giants (14). Juan Uribe is getting love on the West Coast for his offensive production this season, but I wonder how many folks east of Yosemite know he’s hitting .290 with 10 homers and a team-high 41 RBIs.

10. Reds (7). Yes, the Reds are in first place in the NL Central, but they drop a few spots after dropping two of three at home to the Royals this weekend.

11. Rangers (12). After a rough start to his life in the majors, Justin Smoak is starting to heat up for the Rangers. The rookie first baseman is batting .317 with a pair of homers and 12 RBIs in his first 13 June games. This, after hitting .175 in his first 35 games.

12. Angels (13). Erick Aybar has seven multihit games in his past 14 contests; he’s hitting .424 in that span, with five stolen bases, six RBIs, seven extra-base hits and 13 runs scored.

13. Tigers (17). The Tigers’ sweep of the Pirates this weekend was the first time they’ve won three in a row since a five-game streak that ended on May 2.

14. Cardinals (5). The Cardinals haven’t done much right in losing seven of their past eight games. The bright side is they’re only a game-and-a-half behind the Reds in the NL Central to start the week.

15. Blue Jays (9). Seven Blue Jays have at least eight home runs on the season, and Toronto’s team total of 99 leads the majors, 15 ahead of the Red Sox. Which is why it’s a bit surprising that the Blue Jays have failed to score more than three runs in any of their past eight games.

16. Phillies (11). Starting May 22, the Phillies are just 6-14. They’re averaging 1.43 runs per game in those losses and 4.67 runs per game in the wins.

17. Rockies (16). No chance of Carlos Gonzalez being voted in as a starter for the National League All-Star team, but the Rockies’ center fielder belongs in the game. He’s hitting .302 and leads the Rockies in homers (10), RBIs (41) and stolen bases (eight).

18. A’s (18). Trevor Cahill has allowed more than one earned run just once in his past five starts. He’s 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA in that stretch.

Josh Johnson has dominated.

19. Marlins (19). This is getting ridiculous. Ace Josh Johnson has allowed just one earned run in his past five starts, covering 35 innings. That’s a tidy 0.26 ERA.

20. Nationals (20). Josh Johnson’s dominance is impressive but not necessarily unexpected. What is unexpected is Livan Hernandez and his 2.28 ERA. He’s allowed more than two earned runs just twice in 12 start; this, despite having just 33 strikeouts against 25 walks.

21. White Sox (23). At least the White Sox took two of three from the Cubs this weekend, eh?

22. Cubs (21). As if this season wasn’t enough of a disappointment, the Cubs lost two of three at home to the cross-town Sox.

23. Royals (22). The Royals did their in-state neighbors, the Cardinals, a favor when they went into Cincinnati and took two of three from the Reds.

24. Diamondbacks (28). Ian Kennedy has been the Diamondbacks’ best starter since the beginning of May. In those eight starts, he’s fashioned a 2.42 ERA, though personally he’s just 2-2 in that stretch.

25. Brewers (24). The Milwaukee pitching staff is third in the majors in strikeouts, but 28th in ERA, 29th in hits allowed, 30th in walks allowed and (not shockingly) 30th in WHIP.

26. Astros (27). The Houston offense is last in the majors in batting average (.236), on-base percentage (.287) and slugging percentage (.339).

27. Mariners (26). Sixty-three games into the season and not one Mariner has more than 15 extra-base hits on the season. They have 138 as a team, which is last in the AL; the Red Sox and Blue Jays are tied for the league lead with 254.

28. Indians (29). Prize prospect Carlos Santana got the call-up last week. In his first three games, he delivered a homer and three RBIs to go with a .273 batting average. He was hitting .316 with 13 homers and a 1.044 OPS for Class AAA Columbus.

29. Pirates (25). Tough times for the Pirates. They’ve lost eight in a row.

30. Orioles (30). The Orioles’ winning percentage is .270 (17-46). Only two teams since 1935—the 1962 Mets and 2003 Tigers—have finished with worse marks.

Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ryan_fagan.

The Braves entered May with the memory of a nine-game losing skid still very fresh in their minds. They enter June with a much different taste in their mouths.

They have recent winning streaks of four games, five games and five games. They’ve gone from battling to stay out of the NL East cellar to battling for first place, a combination of their vastly improved play and the Phillies’ newfound and befuddling inability to score.

How will they enter July? Good question. On to the poll …

Evan Longoria already has a career high in stolen bases.

1. Rays (1). Evan Longoria, apparently, has added "base-stealer" to his resume. Tampa Bay’s third baseman is one of only two players in the bigs to enter the week with double-digit home runs and stolen bases. He’s already set a career-high with his 10 stolen bases, to go with his .325 average, 10 homers, 42 RBIs and .968 OPS.

2. Twins (3). Same story as always in Minnesota: starting pitching is pretty consistent, Mauer and Morneau are excellent, Twins are in first place.

3. Yankees (4). Robinson Cano is enjoying his finest season, and that’s saying something. After a "slump" that dropped his average all the way down to .322, Cano enters the week riding a 13-game hitting streak that includes eight multi-hit games. He’s hitting .455 in the streak and .362 overall.

4. Padres (5). David Eckstein has 14 extra-base hits and just five strikeouts on the season. The only player who is even close to that ratio is Houston’s Jeff Keppinger, who has 16 extra-base hits and nine strikeouts.

5. Reds (10). Cincinnati’s two catchers, Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Hanigan, went 12-for-24 as the Reds took five of seven from the Pirates and Astros during last week’s homestand.

6. Cardinals (6). All nine of the runs the Cardinals scored Sunday against the Cubs crossed the plate with two outs. For the year, the Cardinals have 97 RBIs with two outs, good enough for sixth in the majors. They’re also hitting .283 (fourth in MLB) and have an .836 OPS (third) with two outs.

7. Blue Jays (9). Starting with Monday’s game against Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays play 24 consecutive games against teams that enter this week over .500—vs. Rays (3), vs. Yankees (3), at Rays (3), at Rockies (3), at Padres (3), vs. Giants (3), vs. Cardinals (3), vs. Phillies (3).

8. Braves (13). Entering this week, only one NL player has an OPS better than 1.000. Yep, the rookie Jason Heyward, who checks in at 1.017.

9. Red Sox (11). In 15 combined starts since April 23, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz—who were born just seven months apart—are 12-1 with a 2.02 ERA.

10. Phillies (2). This drop in the poll certainly is temporary, and the Phillies’ offense will be just fine in the long run. But getting shut out five times in eight games is impressive.

11. Dodgers (8). Matt Kemp, the NL leader with 41 runs scored, might never find a permanent spot in Joe Torre’s lineup—he’s hit fourth 18 times, third 12 times, second 18 times and fifth twice this year. This, after hitting in six different spots in the order at least 14 times last season.

Buster Posey’s bat is living up to the hype.

12. Giants (14). Stephen Strasburg’s much-anticipated call-up will generate more headlines, but catcher Buster Posey’s arrival in San Francisco likely will have more of an impact in the playoff race. In his first two games after arriving from Class AAA Fresno—where he was hitting .349—Posey went 6-for-9 with four RBIs for the parent club.

13. A’s (16). This was a good week for the A’s. Not only did they climb back into first place in the AL West, but they got Brett Anderson back in the rotation. In his first start since April 24, the 22-year-old lefty allowed just three baserunners in 5 2/3 shutout innings against the Tigers on Saturday.

14. Tigers (7). Speaking of the Tigers, they had a similar experience on Sunday—young fireballer Max Scherzer came back from the minors to strike out 14 A’s in 5 2/3 shutout innings.

15. Rangers (12). This was a horrible week for the Rangers. Not only did they fall out of first place in the AL West, but they had to put slugger Nelson Cruz on the disabled list, and young lefty Derek Holland had to leave his start Sunday in the second inning with a sore shoulder.

16. Rockies (18). Troy Tulowitzki has five homers and 10 RBIs in his past 10 games after just one homer and 16 RBIs in his first 38. Not coincidentally, the Rockies are 7-3 in that stretch.

17. Mets (19). The Mets have more wins at home (19) than any team in baseball. Of course, only one team (the Orioles) has fewer road wins than the Mets, who have just seven victories away from home.

18. Marlins (15). Time for a minor-league update. Mike Stanton, the best Marlins prospect since Miguel Cabrera, is crushing the ball for Class AA Jacksonville as a 20-year-old—the 6-foot-5 outfielder has 18 homers and a 1.143 OPS. Yikes.

19. Nationals (17). Here’s a bit of a surprise. Entering the week, Josh Willingham leads the National League with his .429 on-base percentage. His previous career high is .367.

20. Angels (20). The Kendry Morales injury could be devastating. The switch-hitting slugger leads the Angels in homers, RBIs and batting average.

21. Cubs (22). Alfonso Soriano’s slugging percentage (.585) is higher than Aramis Ramirez’s OPS (.508)

22. Royals (25). Billy Butler enters the week with a .348 batting average, which puts him 20 points behind Justin Morneau, the AL leader. It also puts him 23 points ahead of Martin Prado, the NL leader.

23. White Sox (24). Remember the Longoria tidbit? Rios is the other guy with double-digit steals and homers, and he bests Longoria in both categories. Rios has 11 homers and 16 stolen bases to go with his .312 average and .958 OPS.

Corey Hart has put on a surprising power display.

24. Brewers (26). Prince Fielder has played every game and Ryan Braun has missed just two. But, Corey Hart leads the team in home runs (12) and Casey McGehee leads the Brewers in RBIs (41). Though, to be fair, McGehee’s total leads the NL and Hart is tied for first in the league.

25. Pirates (23). Impressive work thus far from reliever Evan Meek, who has a 0.92 ERA and a 0.955 WHIP through 29 1/3 innings.

26. Diamondbacks (21). Ian Kennedy was the Diamondbacks’ best starter—by far—this April, posting a 2.54 ERA in his six starts.

27. Indians (27). Another minor-league update: He’s no Mike Stanton, but catcher Carlos Santana is crushing the ball for Class AAA Columbus—10 homers and a 1.013 OPS.

28. Mariners (28). Yes, it’s still early, but that 14-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio Cliff Lee is sporting is pretty impressive.

29. Astros (29). Fifteen Astros position players have at least 22 at-bats this season, and 11 of them are hitting .242 or worse.

30. Orioles (30). Brian Matusz is going to have a long, successful major league career, but he’s dealing with consistency issue at the moment. In his past four starts, he’s given up 6, 0, 7 and 6 earned runs.

Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ryan_fagan.

Last season, the Rockies were 20-29 heading into June; the Angels were 25-24. They each went 72-41 from June 1 on, resulting in a postseason berth for each. Only the Yankees (74-38) were better during that span.

Colorado and Los Angeles are off to similar starts this season, but which is more likely to get hot, make a 2009-like run and reach the postseason?

Chris Bahr explains why the Angels have a better opportunity to do so, while Ryan Fagan makes his case for the Rockies:

Troy Tulowitzki has found his power stroke.

The goal was to avoid a spring slumber.

Jim Tracy, the manager with the magic touch last summer, told Sporting News this past offseason that he was priming his squad for a hot start. "Let’s get busy and have people be aware of the fact that this is how we expect to play from Day 1 of the season and not wait until the middle of June or whatever it was (last year)," he said.

It isn’t mid-June yet and the Rockies aren’t as bad as they were at this point last season, but this wasn’t the start Tracy imagined. His team has been hanging around the .500 mark and hasn’t been more than two games above or below .500 all season.

But make no mistake, the talent is there — and it is starting to rouse from its slumber.

Troy Tulowitzki, the one Colorado hitter capable of carrying his team offensively for a long stretch, has found his power stroke. He wasn’t horrible through his first 38 games (.295 average, .362 on-base percentage), but the power wasn’t there. Tulowitzki, who has twice hit at least 24 homers and twice driven in at least 92 runs, had just one homer and 16 RBIs in those first 38 games. In his past five games, though, he has pounded four homers.

Veteran first baseman Todd Helton has raised his average from .250 to .283 in the past nine games. He no longer is the anchor of Colorado’s lineup, but he isn’t quite done yet, either.

Ace Ubaldo Jimenez has done his best Zack Greinke impression this year — vaulting to superstar status — and shows no signs of reverting to the inconsistency of his younger days. Jhoulys Chacin, a 22-year-old rookie, has a 3.19 ERA in his five starts.

A turnaround often requires a catalyst. Last season, it was the managerial change to Tracy. This season, it could be the return of Jeff Francis. The lefthander won 17 games during the Rockies’ improbable run to the 2007 World Series but hadn’t pitched in the majors since September 2008. His long and arduous journey back from shoulder issues ended on May 16, when he tossed seven strong innings against the Nationals. He followed that up with 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Royals. His two-start totals include a 0.68 ERA and 1.20 WHIP.

More help is on the horizon. Closer Huston Street is working his way back from a shoulder injury, and Jorge De La Rosa, the lefthander who won 16 of his last 19 decisions in 2009, is coming back from a finger injury. Both have started their individual rehab processes, which coincide with the rehab process the team is working on at the moment.

Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com.