2014 NL Central

I've done my projected top 10 at each position (not a fantasy list); here I'm diving a little deeper by ranking at the divisional level.

And there's something extra at the end.

NL Central
1. St Louis
2. Cincinnati
3. Pittsburgh
4. Milwaukee
5. Chicago

Catchers
1. Molina StL
2. Martin Pit
3. Lucroy Mil
4. Mesoraco Cin
5. Castillo Chi

First Base
1. Votto Cin
2. Rizzo Chi
3. Adams StL
4. Sanchez Pit
5. Francisco Mil

Second Base
1. Walker Pit
2. Phillips Cin
3. Wong StL
4. Barney Chi
5. Gennett Mil

Shortstop
1. Segura Mil
2. Castro Chi
3. Peralta StL
4. Cozart Cin
5. Mercer Pit

Third Base
1. Carpenter StL
2. Alvarez Pit
3. Ramirez Mil
4. Frazier Cin
5. Olt Chi

Left Field
1. Holiday StL
2. Marte Pit
3. Davis Mil
4. Ruggiano Chi
5. Ludwick Cin

Center Field
1. McCutchen Pit
2. Gomez Mil
3. Hamilton Cin
4. Bourjos StL
5. Sweeney Chi

Right Field
1. Braun Mil
2. Bruce Cin
3. Craig StL
4. Schierholtz Chi
5. Tabata Pit

Top 10 Starting Pitchers
1. Wainwright StL
2. Latos Cin
3. Wacha StL
4. Cole Pit
5. Cueto Cin
6. Bailey Cin
7. Liriano Pit
8. Cingrani Cin
9. Gallardo Mil
10. Garza Mil

Relievers
1. Chapman Cin
2. Grilli Pit
3. Rosenthal StL
4. Marshall Cin
5. Melancon Pit

MLB 2014 Top 100 80-61

100-81 is here.

MLB Network is beginning it's countdown of the 100 best players in baseball for the upcoming year, each time they roll out a new section, I'll do the same with mine, and add a bonus at the bottom.

MLB Network

80. Albert Pujols (I've got him higher, bullish on Pujols this year, maybe for the last time)

79. Pedro Alvarez (he's below)

78. Sal Perez (not on my list, he'd be just outside)

77. Carlos Santana (already appeared)

76. Josh Hamilton (already appeared)

75. Eric Hosmer (didn't make it)

74. Hunter Pence (he's below)

73. Michael Cuddyer (that is crazy)

72. Justin Upton (much higher)

71. Anibal Sanchez (higher)

70. Jason Kipnis (already appeared)

69. Gio Gonzalez (higher)

68. Madison Bumgarner (much higher)

67. Greg Holland (all my closers have already appeared)

66. James Shields (already appeared)

65. Matt Carpenter (much...much higher)

64. Brian McCann (already appeared)

63. JJ Hardy (not on my list - there isn't a person on the planet who thinks he's better than Carpenter)

62. Ian Desmond (not on my list)

61. Jose Reyes (much higher)

Jividen
80. CJ Wilson

79. Neil Walker

78. Pedro Alvarez

77. Doug Fister

76. Aaron Hill

75. Carlos Gomez

74. David Ortiz

73. Jed Lowrie

72. Yoenis Cespedes

71. Jordan Zimmerman

70. Manny Machado

69. Brett Lawrie

68. Everth Cabrera

67. Kyle Seager

66. Chase Utley

65. Alex Cobb

64. Shane Victorino

63. Jayson Werth
62. Hunter Pence
61. Jedd Gyorko

Athlete of the Month, February 2014

January is here.

Malcolm Smith. Runners-up: Yuzuru Hanyu, Ted Ligety, Adelina Sotnikova

Two months down, 10 left in the race for Athlete of the Year

January - Kevin Durant
February - Malcolm Smith

MLB 2014 Top 100 100-81

MLB Network is beginning it's countdown of the 100 best players in baseball for the upcoming year, each time they roll out a new section, I'll do the same with mine, and add a bonus at the bottom.

MLB Network:
100. The Late Derek Jeter (not ranked on my list)
99. Brandon Phillips (unranked)
98. Torii Hunter (unranked)
97. Andrelton Simmons (ranked much higher)
96. Shane Victorino (solidly higher for me)
95. Ian Kinsler (much higher)
94. Gerrit Cole (unranked)
93. Shelby Miller (unranked)
92. Michael Wacha (unranked)
91. Trevor Rosenthal (unranked)
90. Patrick Corbin (I admire the commitment to kid pitchers, but again, unranked)
89. Clay Buchholtz (unranked)
88. Matt Cain (much higher)
87. Josh Donaldson (much higher)
86. Joe Nathan (unranked)
85. Matt Wieters (unranked)
84. Billy Butler (unranked)
83. Jon Lester (you'll find him below)
82. Koji Uehara (you'll find him below)
81. Chase Utley (a little higher on my list)

Jividen
100. Angel Pagan
99. Koji Uehara
98. AJ Griffin
97. Kenley Jansen
96. Brian McCann
95. Jake Peavy
94. Carlos Santana
93. Coco Crisp
92. Matt Moore
91. Brandon Belt
90. Freddie Freeman
89. Jon Lester
88. Jason Kipnis
87. Wil Myers
86. James Shields
85. Chase Headley
84. Cole Hamels
83. Craig Kimbrel
82. Josh Hamilton
81. Chris Davis

Barry Bonds 25 Biggest Giants Home Runs

Barry Bonds hit 594 regular season and playoff homers for the San Francisco Giants.

As ranked by Win Probability (meaning the home runs that most impacted that specific game, not based on the importance of the game, or the length or historical importance of the home run) here are his 25 biggest.

#25 7-24-03 (Homer #646) The first pitch of the Bottom of the 9th, Bonds hits a walk off homer against Arizona (Myers). It was Bonds's 33rd of the season; to that date he had a 1.244 OPS for the season.  The Giants moved to 28 games above .500.  This was Bonds's 39th birthday and he made a game saving throw in the top of the 9th. 36% WPA.

#24 8-19-03 (Homer #651) Another walk off, this time to break a 4-4 tie in the 10th against Atlanta (King). It was his 38th homer of the season and raised his OPS to 1.277. The Braves, incidentally, were 37 games above .500.  This was Barry's first game back after taking the weekend off to be with hid dad, who was on his deathbed. 36% WPA.

#23 6-16-93 (Homer #195). This one tied the game, the Giants were down 4-3 with two out in the 9th in Cincinnati (Dibble) when Bonds hit this one.  San Francisco scored two more in the 10th to win it.  The Giants moved to 19 over .500 and Bonds moved to a 1.211 OPS in his first year as a Giant.  36% WPA

#22 5-26-97 (Homer #342). Another walk off, this one breaking a 3-3 tie against the Astros (Lima). Bonds had 3 hits. 36.2% WPA

#21. 5-9-94 (Homer #230) Not every important homer comes at the end of the game; this is a third inning grand slam to give the Giants a 4-1 lead over the Rockies (Reynoso). The Giants went on to win 12-5.  36.6% WPA

#20. 7-6-95 (Homer #274) Down 5-4 in the top of the 9th in Cincinnati (Brantley) Bonds hit a 3 run homer to give the Giants the final 7-5 margin of victory. This was Bonds's third game winning homer that week. Bonds's OPS+ for the season (a season during which he had been booed, at home, at least twice) went to 1.016. 37.3% WPA

#19 8-23-01 (Homer #549) How about a pinch hit, 9th inning tie breaking home run against the Expos (Lloyd). The Giants followed up with 4 more runs and beat Montreal 10-5.  This was Bonds's 55th (out of the eventual 73) on the season and 549th for his career, moving him past Mike Schmidt into 8th place (as of this writing, he's first overall) His OPS was 1.317. This was Bonds's first pinch homer as a Giant; this win was San Francisco's 20th out of 26, as they got to within a game and a half of the division lead. 37.4% WPA.

#18 5-14-97 (Homer #340). Barry sure hit a lot of big homers in Cincinnati. 10 days before the Lima homer we saw at #22, Bonds broke a 2-2 tenth inning tie against the Reds (Remlinger). The Giants picked up another and won 4-2.  That moved San Francisco to 23-13, their best start since '73. 37.6 WPA

#17. 8-15-93 (Homer #212) Bonds hit two here in Wrigley; the first was a two run shot that tied the game in the third, the one that makes our list was a tiebreaker in the 11th (Myers); Matt Williams then followed with his second of the game (he and Bonds also went back to back in the third) and the Giants won 9-7.  38.3% WPA.

#16 6-5-02 (Homer #587) Here's another early inning grand slam.  Down 1-0 in the third in San Diego(Tankersley) Bonds's 11th career slam gave the Giants a 4-1 lead on the way to a 12-2 win. Bonds's OPS hit 1.377.  This homer, a 482 foot bomb, one of the farthest in San Diego history, moved him past Frank Robinson into 4th place on the all time list.  38.5% WPA

#15. 4-12-04 (Homer #660). The homer that tied Mays.  Down 4-2 with two out in the 5th, Bonds hit a 3 run homer to give the Giants a 5-4 lead over Milwaukee(Kinney) in a game they'd go onto win 7-5. It was Bonds's 28th Splash Hit. Before the game, Wayne Gretzky and Bill Russell presented Bonds with his 2003 MVP Award.  38.5% WPA.

#14 5-30-93 (Homer #190). Down 3-1 in the 7th in what was not yet the last ever real pennant race, Bonds hit a 3 run homer to give the Giants their eventual 4-3 margin of victory in Atlanta(Glavine). The Giants moved 5 in front. 39.2% WPA

#13 6-24-02 (Homer #591) Bonds hit a 3 run homer to tie the game in the 7th - and then in the 9th, Bonds beat San Diego (Hoffman) with the homer that reaches number 13 here, just inside the right field foul pole, leading to a 7-6 Giants win. It was Bonds's 60th career multi-homer game.  39.2% WPA

#12 6-5-00 (Homer #469) 2 out in the top of the 11th, Bonds broke a 4-4 tie against the Angels (Hasegawa) and the Giants won 5-4. Bonds had two more hits and a walk, moving his OPS to 1.269. 39.4% WPA

#11 8-16-01 (Homer #546) A week before homer #19 and on the 53rd anniversary of Babe Ruth's death.  Down 3-2 to the Marlins(Darensbourg) in the bottom of the 8th, Bonds hit a 2 strike 3 run homer to give the Giants their final 5-3 margin of victory. Bonds also homered in the 4th, getting him to 53 on the year. That broke Mays's Giants single season record and Mize's left handed NL record. 40.5 WPA%

#10 5-17-95 (Homer #262) Bonds hits a two run homer 412 feet into the Candlestick upper deck with the Giants down 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th to Chicago(Foster) the Giants only got one other hit the entire day (and had a perfect game being thrown against them into the 6th) but that 2-1 score held up. 41.2% WPA

#9. 8-21-03 (Homer #652) Two days after Bonds walked off the Braves back in #24, he did it again here.  Score tied, bottom of the tenth, Bonds hits the first pitch to dead center, beats Atlanta again(Hodges), and then goes to see his dad who would die from cancer two days later. It was Bonds's 39th of the season, moving him to a 1.273 OPS.  41.9% WPA

#8. 5-28-04 (Homer #671) Bonds's 10th career walk off. 2-2 bottom of the 9th, 2 out, 2 strikes, Bonds (following a 2 run Grissom game tying single) sent Colorado home with a 2 run homer (Harikkala). Bonds had 3 hits on the day and left with a 1.437 OPS. The Giants won their 7th straight. 43.4% WPA

#7. 7-23-93 (Homer #204) The first game on the list where the Giants lost.  Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th to Philadelphia(Schilling, who may be in prison by the time you read this). Bonds homered to tie the score - but San Francisco lost in 14.  44% WPA

#6. 4-18-94 (Homer #227) Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th to Montreal (Shaw) Bonds homered to tie the game - and the Giants went on to win in 11 when Bonds walked, stole second, and then scored the winning run on a Carreon single. 46.9% WPA.

#5 4-26-06 (Homer #711). The Giants lost this one too - with 2 out in the 9th, the Giants were down by two to the Mets(Wagner) Bonds pinch hit a game tying homer in a game the Giants lost in 11. 48.7% WPA

#4. 6-20-97 (Homer #349) Another Giants loss.  Down 1 to the Dodgers (Worrell) 2 out, bottom of the 9th, Bonds hit his second homer of the day to tie a game the Giants would lose in the 10th. 48.8% WPA

#3. 7-18-95 (Homer #278) Another loss. Down 1 to the Marlins(Nen) 2 out, bottom of the 9th, Bonds hits his second homer of the day, this one over 450 feet into the right field upper deck at Candlestick (he also homered in the 8th) to tie a game the Giants would lose in the 14th. 48.9% WPA

#2. 9-13-98 (Homer #407) Down two to the Rockies(McElroy) in the bottom of the 8th, Bonds hits a 3 run homer to give the Giants their final 4-3 margin of victory.  This moved Bonds past Duke Snider into 26th on the all time list.  61.2% WPA

#1. 6-30-95 (Homer #272) Down 6-4 in the bottom of the 9th to San Diego(Hoffman) Bonds hit his second of the game, a three run walk off that got the Giants to .500 with a 7-6 win.  80.4% WPA