Ryan Howard

News broke on Sunday that the Phillies organization has discussed the idea of trying to use slugger Ryan Howard to pry Albert Pujols from the Cardinals.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro flatly denied the rumors, saying, "I don't know who you're talking to, but that's a lie."

Amaro may be denying it, but the idea makes a lot more sense than you would think.

As baseball fans and sabermetric gurus, we all believe that we can predict how a player will perform year in and year out. We spend hours of our precious time watching video and looking up stats. We know who is real and who isn't.

This will begin my 2010 MLB preview. I intend to touch every team in the major leagues in installments by division. The lineups I provide will be what I predict will be the most productive for each team for the MAJORITY of the season (e.g., Jason Heyward will be listed as the Braves RF even though he may not begin the season as the starter).

I will also provide the stereotypical letter grade to each team's lineup, rotation, bullpen, and bench. Though it is trite, I think all baseball fans can identify with the letter grade system.

In this two part series, I will rank the top players in the National League East. The rankings were made through the analysis of statistics such as batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and on base plus slugging percentage.

Several other factors were also taken into consideration such as age, injury, and defensive ability.

There are some situations where the players are so closely ranked, it is nearly impossible to decide between.

At the age of 37, Raul Ibañez put up some of the best numbers of his career, hitting .272, with 34 home runs, and 93 RBI.  

At the age of 30, Jayson Werth put up some of the best numbers of his career, hitting .268, with 36 home runs, and 99 RBI.

When most people think of fantasy sports, they think football. Sure, it’s the most popular, but it’s also probably the easiest to win and requires the least amount of attention. But by no means is that all there is.

Considering the time of year, why not give fantasy baseball a try? In fact, go one step further and join a league with an auction draft. It involves much more strategy than your standard league (with its random draft order).

This article originally appeared on PhillyFanComplex.com .

My earliest memories of Phillies baseball were of muggy, rain-delayed July games at Veterans Stadium, with the season already a lost cause, and where the few thousand (drunk) fans in attendance huddled in the dark concrete concourses of the Vet.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been fantastic over the last two years, repeating as National League Champs and winning the World Series in 2008.

The main reason why they have done so well isn’t because of their pitching. It’s because of their three core players in Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard.

All four of them have been key parts of the Phillies success since they joined the team.

I recently took a written beating for saying that I thought Joe Mauer was helped greatly by being a catcher, in his recent naming as the American League's Most Valuable Player for 2009.

With that being said, is Mauer not only the best catcher in the game, is he also the best player in MLB? Let's not throw pitchers in this mix, I would like to be able to compare "apples with apples."

We waited nearly three decades to celebrate a winner in Philadelphia. A quarter century of tormenting coulda’s, maddening woulda’s, and hopeless shoulda’s.  

Every team had their chance.

Allen Iverson led a no-holds-barred attack at the mighty Los Angeles Lakers, only to be shackled in five quick games.

After blitzing their way through the Eastern Conference playoffs in 1997, the Flyers were shown the door by the Detroit Red Wings in a four game shellacking.