Rankings/List

The final major pieces of the 2010-11 Major League Baseball offseason fell into place this past week. Former superstar sluggers, weathered but still talented, Andruw Jones and Manny Ramirez signed one year deals with the Yankees and Rays respectively. Both now older and fatter should be their teams' designated hitters.

It is the best day of the Hot Stove season—the day you slog out to the mailbox, brush the snow off the top, open the front door and discover a highly-anticipated package from Baseball America.

It is the day BA’s annual “Prospect Handbook” arrives at your home.

After going 11-4 as a rookie, there were high hopes for Tommy Hanson going into last season. Despite 75 more innings pitched, he finished with one fewer win en route to a 10-11 season.

It would be easy to be disappointed by the sub-.500 record, but there was more to the story. Despite a difference of 0.257 in winning percentage, his ERA went up just 0.44 to a rock solid 3.33. His WHIP actually dipped a bit from 1.18 to 1.17.

When Carl Crawford signed an enormous contract with division rival Boston, the Tampa Bay Rays lost one of it's all-time greatest players. In it's short history, full of consistent losing and doubt (with shades of joy and little success), 'CC' was a nine year force, the Rays true all-star and, so it seemed, the franchise player. Crawford, in the end, will have spent a majority or large chunk of his career with Tampa when all is said and done.

First base is a funny position.  

Often, the first baseman is the team's best hitter, but one of its worst fielders.  Many first baseman are both indispensable (to the batting order) and replaceable (in the field).  

One of the keys to winning your fantasy baseball league is maximizing your players' potentials by playing them only in their most ideal circumstances. What do I mean by that?

Many Major League Baseball hitters have strengths and weaknesses, most notably hitting versus right or left-handed pitchers. For a pitcher, an example might be that your pitcher only pitches well at home or on the road. So how can you use this on draft day to your advantage? 

Oakland Athletics center fielder Coco Crisp has established himself as a top outfielder in the game of baseball. His tremendous speed and awareness makes him a perfect player to patrol the outfield.

On top of his defense, Crisp has established himself as a top leadoff man in the big leagues. His quick hands help him get on base and quick feet make him a threat to steal every time he reaches base.

When asked to name his top five favorite center fielders to watch, Crisp had a tough time coming up with a list.

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.

After their offseason fire sale, the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays lost a lot of key players from their multiple playoff teams. In order to recover, they will need new players to step up to a more prominent role.

These power rankings take into consideration how much the loss hurts the Rays and if they have a viable replacement. 

The key losses to the Rays roster are mostly in their bullpen. The reason being that they do not have many proven players to fill in. In other areas they have players that have at least a year or more experience in the majors. 

Third base may arguably be the hardest position to play in all of professional sports. Hitters at the peak of their power strokes ripping line drives only 90 feet away and smoking ground balls can make it tough for even the best of athletes.

The following list of players counts down the best third basemen for each franchise in the MLB.

The Players are in no specific order as their accomplishments and trends are closely influenced by the era in which they played in.

Hitting lead-off, the Seattle Mariners...