The List : 20 - 6

Almost there (I do like to tease).

There are some seriously talented individuals in this bit but just wait till the top five are announced. They'll leave you scratching your head as to why they are there I'm sure.

20 Dontrelle Willis, P, Florida Marlins
Dontrelle Willis always looks like a kid who has suddenly found himself living a dream as a ballplayer. The high socks, the crooked angle of his hat and his baggy uniform all add to the illusion and then you have the kind of delivery you do when you’re messing around playing catch in the garden with a friend.
His youthful enthusiasm seems boundless and sometimes it seems as if you’d have to go out and pick him up and drag him back to the dugout kicking and screaming to take him out of a game. He wants to go nine, he wants to have every at bat and field every ball. He just wants to play ball and it’s a good thing he knows how or he’d end up sulking on a porch somewhere.

19 Roy Halladay, P, Toronto Blue Jays
In his Cy Young winning season Halladay showed what sort of a competitor he is and has been suffering from the fall out of all that exertion ever since. Whenever his team needs him he answers the call whenever able.
When healthy he has one of the biggest arsenals of quality pitches of anyone in the game and can shut down anyone. It would be easy to make a case for him being the best in the AL and I’m not sure I’d argue.

18 Barry Bonds, LF, San Francisco Giants
There are very few players in professional sport whose presence on a team impacts every scenario of the oppositions approach. It doesn’t matter who is at the plate for the Giants, the thought going through every ones mind is how many guys after this is Barry? Bonds impact every plate appearance for his whole team and when he’s at the dish himself he strikes fear into the hearts of pitchers everywhere because they know if they make even the slightest mistake against him the ball will be a distant memory.
Barry Bonds makes me think of what life must have been like when Babe Ruth was around. That’s how good he is and its got nothing to do with steroids.

17 Johan Santana, P, Minnesota Twins
Johan Santana is the new guy who people will think if his ERA is over 3.00 then he must have had a bad year. On a bad day he is tough to hit, on a good day he is un-hittable. He’ll come at you with the hard fastball and then pull the string on that incredible change up which is fast becoming one of the toughest pitches around.

16 Curt Schilling, P, Boston Red Sox
In my mind Curt Schilling has been the best big game pitcher of the last fifteen years. In ‘93 he almost single handedly beat a highly talented Blue Jays team. Then came his World Series co-MVP in 2001 and then came the performances that will define his career and etch his name into the storied history of MLB when he fought through the pain barrier to help lead the BoSox to the 2004 title. Those exploits throughout the ‘04 playoffs might well cause his career to come to an abrupt end very soon but it really epitomised the way he has played his entire career.

15 Carl Crawford, LF, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
This guy was amazing to watch when he was just a speedster but it seems that every year he adds something to his game. He’s developed good patience at the plate which has gotten him on base more and enabled him to find better pitches to show off the improved power.
He’s toiled in relative anonymity down in Tampa so far in his career but soon he will be surrounded by enough talent that he will finally be able to show all the things he is capable of.

14 Manny Ramirez, LF, Boston Red Sox
Manny Ramirez has asked to be traded again and when I heard that all I could think of is, “That’s so Manny.” Ramirez is just such an aloof and flaky guy that nothing you hear about him is surprising and when you see him in the outfield with a bottle in his pocket you don’t think about how idiotic it is you just put it down to Manny being Manny…oh and 40+ HR, 120+ RBI and a .300+ average every year will also help you to be more understanding.

13 Justin Verlander, P, Detroit Tigers
In one emergency start for the Tigers last year, Justin Verlander had a few troubles in the first inning and then shut down the opposition for the next four innings even though he didn’t have his best stuff on the day and couldn’t locate his breaking pitches.
Verlander will turn 23 by the time next season starts and already might have the best fastball in baseball and when he refines his motion to help him locate a sharp breaking ball then he could really be something else especially with a cocky attitude that makes him believe he can beat anyone.

12 Miguel Tejada, SS, Baltimore Orioles
If the Orioles ever manage to put a winner on the field then Tejada will be the MVP. As it stands you could still just give him the award most years.
There is nothing he can’t do as he makes spectacular plays in the field, runs the bases, and has emerged as one of, if not the, best RBI man in the game. He’s also a tremendous leader and energetic clubhouse presence who is not afraid to get in peoples face if they aren’t performing and always backs himself up with performance on the field.

11 Ken Griffey Junior, CF, Cincinnati Reds
For baseball fans of a certain age there is no one greater than Junior. The sexiest swing in the game, even now, and every homerun he hits is just beautiful to watch. People give him a hard time because he always seems to be injured but the reason he gets those injuries is because he always wants to make those plays in the outfield (he dislocated his shoulder diving to make a game saving catch, what more do you want?) but even with all that criticism and all the hardship he still has that swagger even if that great smile of his doesn’t come so easily.
For me Junior Griffey will forever be the very antithesis of how baseball should be played and I know a whole generation of fans will agree with me.

10 Jake Peavy, P, San Diego Padres
Its amazing to look at what Peavy has done in his short time in the Bigs whilst being treated with kid gloves by the Padres. He already has an ERA title to his name which he won whilst being in the same league as Randy Johnson while he was on top of his game. Peavy is just coming into his physical prime and every time I see him I ask myself what isn’t he capable of? He definitely could win a Cy and it wouldn’t surprise me if he won a strikeout crown he just has the great stuff, the great instincts and the desire to succeed and it really seems more a matter of time till he gets around to doing everything.

9 Brad Lidge, P, Houston Astros
Complete and total filth. He should have a health warning placed upon him or he should simply be banned from being used under the Geneva Convention or something. Lidge throws a lively high-90’s fastball and then backs it up with that hard slider that must have been developed as part of the Philadelphia Experiment because there is no way that it conforms to the laws of physics as we know them.

8 Carlos Delgado, 1B, New York Mets
I never get tired of seeing people truly enjoying themselves on the field and Carlos Delgado has one of the biggest smiles in the game. He never stops smiling and he gives himself plenty of things to smile about as he pounds the ball wherever he goes.

7 Mark Buerhle, P, Chicago White Sox
You never get bored when Mark Buerhle is on the mound, mainly because there isn’t enough time between pitches to do so. As soon as the game starts he takes to the hill and pitches without any fuss, without any hoopla. The hitter steps in and is instantly placed under fire by Buerhle’s arsenal and no matter what happens in that AB he will attack the next guy, and the next, until the game is over.
Mark Buerhle is a true ace who goes out there every fifth day (he’d probably go every fourth or maybe third day if you asked him), works long and gets decisions. He is a stabilising force on arguably the best pitching unit in the game and doesn’t need to strike out 200 guys to do it.

6 Livan Hernandez, P, Washington Nationals
People talk about how overrated wins are as a stat for pitching as they are subject to too much criteria out of the hands of the pitcher. I say innings pitched is an underrated stat as it is rarely brought up but pitchers stay in the game for as long as they are effective and that means lots of innings pitched. IP also means that for every inning you work, there is one less inning for your middle relief to pitch which means that they stay fresher and, therefore, more effective which enables a team not only to be in a good position to win on that day but also the next.
Even if your team is being blown out every now and then someone needs to suck it up and eat some innings for the good of the team. In short, there is no real downside to someone who is capable of devouring innings. And who has lead the Majors in innings pitched the last three years? Livan Hernandez…oh and he’s shown he’s clutch too.