Mark Teixeira

Over the next two weeks, I’ll examine the relative strengths and weaknesses of the teams in the AL East, on a position-by-position basis.

The players at each position will be ranked in relation to their peers within the division, with each team being assigned points based on where their player ranks in comparison to the other players.

Today, the series continues with a look at the first basemen.

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If anybody has got it made in the game of baseball today, it's Albert Pujols.  He is currently the hot topic of debate in the newspapers, on websites, on television, and even in conversation.  He's currently entering the final year of his current contra - as if you all didn't already know that - and he's contemplating on taking his unmatched skill elsewhere.

In The Fantasy Fix's newest series, 2011 Fantasy Baseball Great Debate, our writers discuss two positional players and try to convince you which player to pick first on draft day. In this article we compare the two big bats of Mark Teixeira & Adrian Gonzalez. 

If Mark Teixeira were coming off either his 2008 or 2009 season, he would be the popular choice in this little Teixeira-Gonzalez debate.  In those two seasons he averaged a .300 average with 36 HR, 102 R, and 121 RBI. 

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.

With Boston's offseason spending spree and Tampa Bay's everything-must-go jumble sale, one can make a pretty good stab at how the AL East will play out in 2011.

The Yankees and Red Sox will fight it out for the top spot, the Blue Jays and Rays will compete for third and fourth and the Orioles will still languish at the bottom.

Obviously, any of the bottom three could make a run to the postseason as the Rays did in 2008, but it would be a staggering turnaround.

When fans, analysts, and experts alike begin to determine a player's value, defense is often second nature. It doesn't jump off the back of a baseball card like Albert Pujols' home run totals, Ryan Howard's RBI totals, or Jose Reyes' stolen bases. However, defense is a crucial part of the game of baseball. It makes great offensive players elite, and players who lack the offensive wherewithall a positive outlook on their game.

So, how do you go about ranking the best defensive players in baseball?

For all the discussion about how Cliff Lee could decide the American League Championship Series in a potential Game 7, it turned out the 

Last night, the New York Yankees were blown out for one final time in 2010, watching as the Texas Rangers celebrate with ginger ale on the pitcher's mound after closer Neftali Feliz struck out Alex Rodriguez for the last out.  Good to see A-Rod finally help Texas to the World Series!

More seriously though, the Yankees' window is quickly shutting, as even all the money in the world won't be able to get the Yankees out of their current troubles.

History in sports usually has to do with some sort stat, which can be a predictor for the future regarding similar circumstances.

So, with the Yankees down 2-3 in the ALCS series to the Texas Rangers, it got me thinking of how the bats could stay hot for more than just one game.

The Texas Rangers have dominated the New York Yankees in this series. They have outscored them 30-11, outhit .307 to .198, and the Yankees are only hitting .154 with runners in scoring position. Aside from the top half of the eighth inning in Game 1, the Rangers have dominated the Yankees in every way. C.J. Wilson dominated Yankee ace CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee dominated Andy Pettitte and Colby Lewis dominated Phil Hughes.