Hanley Ramirez

There are few "sure things" in life. Some that come to mind are death and taxes, which are not exactly what most people like to think about. But, with the baseball season less than four weeks away, lets take a look at each team's "money player" for the 2011 season. "Sure thing" will be defined as anybody who has and will put up consistent numbers over a minimum of a three year period. We aren't looking for flashes in the pan as much as legitimate stars who have been and will be consistent throughout this season and their career. 

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Here’s an early look at the N.L. only 2011 shortstop rankings.

1. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies: It’s really a toss-up between Tulo and HanRam. They are both five-category players. I prefer Tulo because of his ballpark and lineup.

Spring Training starts up in less than a week and the upcoming baseball season should be a great one. The NL MVP is most prestigious individual award in National League.

The National League MVP is awarded annually to the player who has the most value to his respected team. Recent winners of the NL MVP include names such as Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, and other greats.

In follow-up of my AL list I have decided to make an NL version of the preseason prediction.

The consensus number one pick in nearly every draft you participate in or read about is Albert Pujols. And rightly so; the guy has been putting up monster numbers year in and year out for quite some time.

This is not going to be a post knocking Albert Pujols as the number one guy. This is going to be a post explaining why I don’t think it’s a one-man race for that top pick and why Hanley Ramirez should be in the discussion and considered if you have the first pick.

By Mike Harris, Senior Writer for 4thandHome.com

Our first entry in this series looked at the September Star phenomenon and how an astute eye could have forecasted a Jose Bautista 2010 breakout. This week, we take a look at our first nominee, Drew Stubbs, to determine if he's destined for 2011 stardom.

There isn't much content online about auction drafts. I think that's mostly because its more challenging and therefore less popular.

You can auto-draft (a.k.a. skip the draft) and end up with a very good team. Going into an auction, the best laid plans win.

While the auction never goes exactly as planned, the guy who does the best job at executing the plan will end up with the best team, at least out of the gate. There are many different strategies for auctions, and I cannot adequately explain them all, but here are a few simple rules to follow.

This is it, the Florida Marlins final season. After 2011, there will be no more baseball in Sun Life Stadium, no Major League baseball in Miami Gardens, no more empty stadiums or the perception of the team being known as second class citizens on welfare.

In 2011, the Florida Marlins have one last chance to win a championship before their big transformation.

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There is no doubt about it—The Philadelphia Phillies are definitely the favourites to represent the National League at the World Series.  Adding Cliff Lee to an already dreamy rotation that includes Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels makes it seem like Philadelphia will go 162-0 this season.

The Phillies also have a powerful lineup to go with their Aces-high pitching staff.

A few weeks ago, Brian Cashman made headlines.  He made a comment, stating that when Derek Jeter's time at shortstop is over, he would be moving to center field.  It's almost unthinkable that the best shortstop the Yankees have ever seen might be vacating the position soon. 

Even so, it's not uncommon to see a move like this.  For example, the legendary Mickey Mantle moved from center field to first base after years of abuse on his legs caught up to him. 

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.