Fantasy

1. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

2. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

3. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

4. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies

5. Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies

6. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

7. Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants

Over the past two years, Brandon Webb has thrown a grand total of four innings in the major leagues.  However, in 2011 he will attempt to fill the void in the Texas Rangers’ rotation created by Cliff Lee packing his bags and heading to Philadelphia.

Prior to his injury problems, Webb was one of the elite players in the game. 

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan is reporting Adrian Beltre has agreed to a six-year, $96 million contract with the Texas Rangers. The deal is pending a physical, and is not expected to be made official until next week.

1. Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals

2. Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Detroit Tigers 

3. Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds

4. Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers

5. Hanley Ramirez, SS, Florida Marlins

6. Carl Crawford, OF, Boston Red Sox

7. Ryan Braun, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

8. Matt Holliday, OF, St. Louis Cardinals

9. Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays

10. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees

Last March, I conducted a study on pitchers who’ve posted a single-season ERA of 2.50 or less since 2000. (You can read that article here.)

In my research, I made several interesting discoveries. First, there were 11 different sub-2.50 ERA seasons between 2000 and 2005. Between 2006 and 2008, however, there were none.

Many owners prefer to wait until the tail end of their drafts to fill their catching position.  While I may not necessarily be in favor of it (something we will discuss at a later date), let’s take a look at a few options who may be available in your draft after Round 18 (an ADP of 216 or later according to Mock Draft Central) and are certainly worth targeting:

As we head towards our fantasy drafts for 2011, there’s a debate raging as to who should be the first pitcher off the board. 

Sure, you may get the occasional person who prefers Tim Lincecum, but for most the decision comes down to the 2010 Cy Young Award winners: Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez.

Who should be the first pitcher off the board on draft day? Let’s break it down category-by-category and see:

Strikeouts

In articles like this, many websites will provide readers with the best overall prospects at any given position, but the intention here is to focus on those prospects that are likely to provide the greatest fantasy impact for the 2011 season; thus, while Oakland 1B prospect Chris Carter may have some long-term potential, he won’t be on my list because he is blocked—at least in the short-term—by Daric Barton.

Ditto for Yonder Alonso in Cincinnati.

Heading into 2010 fantasy owners wanted to believe that the Chicago White Sox’ Gordon Beckham would mature into a must-use second base option.  He was coming off an impressive rookie season as a third baseman (.270, 14 HR, 63 RBI, 58 R in 378 AB) with a line that certainly would play well at second base especially when projected over a full season.

Unfortunately a repeat performance was not in the cards as Beckham struggled:

Thought we were going to leave you hanging, huh? No such luck—let's tune in.

Mutt Munson: "Hello everyone, I'm Mutt Munson and I'm here with my great friend and longtime broadcast partner Jock Johnson, and today from Fenway Park we bring you the final game of what has been a thrilling match up so far between loaded contingent from New York and Boston.