Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Third Basemen Rankings

Third base isn't exceptionally deep, but a couple of solid options (Boston's Kevin Youkilis and Seattle's Chone Figgins) will earn eligibility at the position in April.

Here are our top 15 fantasy third basemen for 2011:

1. Evan Longoria, Rays: Everywhere you look, Longoria will likely be the top-ranked fantasy third baseman and you'll likely need a top-five to have the chance to draft him. As the third-overall pick in the 2006 draft, Longoria is still only 25 years old with plenty of upside. In other words, a season of .294-100-33-113-15, which are his career highs, (or better) is certainly possible in 2011. (And hopefully there won't be any more stolen AK-47 stories this year.)

2. David Wright, Mets: After a disappointing 2009 season, Wright was shy of a 30-20 season by exactly one home run and one stolen base. By hitting a career-low .283 last year, Wright ended a streak of five consecutive seasons of hitting .300-plus. In other words, if things fall into place, Wright has as good of a chance as any third basemen to finish with a line of .300-100-30-100-20.

3. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals: Zimmerman missed 20 games last season, but he set career highs in home runs (33), runs scored (110) and runs batted in (106) while playing 157 games in 2009. Although he won't steal many bases, he will provide a boost in all of the other four categories.

4. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: A year older? Who isn't, right? Granted, A-Rod is nowhere near the all-around fantasy stud he once was and he hasn't played more than 138 games in any of the past three seasons. That said, Rodriguez has posted 30-plus homers and 100-plus runs batted in every season since 1998 including in the past three seasons. In my opinion, he's sliding to a point where he could out to be a bargain in most drafts.

5. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox: Although he's not yet eligible at third base, he will be at some point in April depending on your league's eligibility requirements. Here's what I wrote about Youkilis in our first base rankings, where he's No. 7: "Over the past five seasons, Youkilis has not played more than 147 games in any year. Provided he stays healthy for a full season, Youkilis could/should put up around or more than 100 runs, 100 runs batted in, 30 homers while hitting .300."

6. Adrian Beltre, Rangers: Beltre, who turns 32 years old in April, is now entering his 14th season in the big leagues. Only twice in his 13 years has he hit over .300 with 28-plus home runs and 100-plus runs batted in. Coincidentally, both of those seasons happened before getting a big contract. While he has the skills to do it a third time in his career in 2011, I'd like to see back-to-back strong seasons from Beltre before I'm a buyer at these prices.

7. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: Bautista led all of baseball in home runs last year with 54, which is nearly equal to his home run output from 2004 to 2009 (59 home runs total). While a repeat performance is highly unlikely, there's a good chance that he can follow up last year's league-leading performance with 35-40 homers in 2011.

8. Casey McGehee, Brewers: Only two other third basemen -- Longoria and A-Rod -- have more runs batted in than McGehee (149) since July 1, 2010. While he won't steal bases, like most third basemen won't, McGehee will help in the other four statistical categories in standard 5x5 categories at a very reasonable cost.

9. Aramis Ramirez, Cubs: Last year, Ramirez hit only .241, which was lowest batting average since 2002. From 2004 to 2009, Ramirez hit .289 or higher every season including .300-plus in four out of six seasons. Although Ramirez only played 124 games last year, he drove in 100-plus runs in all five seasons in which he has played 125-plus games since 2003. Provided he can stay healthy, a bounce-back season seems reasonable.

10. Pablo Sandoval, Giants: Sandoval broke out in 2009 -- hitting .330 with 25 home runs and 90 runs batted in. Although he had a disappointing season in 2010, Sandoval is only 24 years old, lost a substantial amount of weight in the off-season and shortened his swing. Based on his average draft position of 127 from Mock Draft Central, Sandoval seems to offer more reward than risk this season.

11. Pedro Alvarez, Pirates: There's no doubt that Alvarez has tremendous upside and potential. Although Alvarez struck out in 34.3 percent of his major league at bats last year, he combined for 29 home runs and 117 runs batted in between Triple-A and the big leagues.

12. Martin Prado, Braves: Prado, who played mostly second base and some third base last year, is moving to left field for the Braves and soon will be eligible at three fantasy positions. In a career-high 140 games last season, Prado hit .307 and 15 home runs with 100 runs scored.

13. Michael Young, Rangers: Young, who is a career .300 hitter, hit 20 home runs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2004 and 2005 seasons. While he may or may not hit 20-plus homers in three straight seasons for the first time in his career, Young is one of the more consistent hitters in the game.

14. Mark Reynolds, Orioles: The good news? Reynolds is the only player in baseball to hit 100-plus home runs and steal 40-plus bases during the past three seasons. The bad news? He's hit .234 during that span while striking out an average of 213 times per season.

15. Ian Stewart, Rockies: Stewart isn't going to win a batting title any time soon and missed about a quarter of the 2010 season. But with good health, Stewart has the power to hit 25-30 home runs in an offense that features two of baseball's elite hitters: Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki.

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

See our other fantasy rankings for infielders: C - 1B - 2B - SS

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Shortstop Rankings

The top two fantasy shortstops are two of the best options in all of fantasy baseball, regardless of position. After Florida's Hanley Ramirez and Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki are gone, however, major question marks exist with many of the rest.

Here are our top 15 fantasy shortstops for 2011:

1. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins: Ramirez has hit .300-plus and 20-plus home runs in each of the past four seasons. In addition, HanRam has stolen 30-plus bases in four of five seasons. The ceiling? A season of .342-125-33-106-51 (BA-R-HR-RBI-SB) would tie all of his career highs.

2. Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies: Tulowitzki is one season removed from a 30-20 season. Despite missing one-quarter of last season, Tulo still managed to hit 27 home runs with 95 runs batted in while hitting .315. While he's the second-rated shortstop on our list, Tulowitzki could be one of the top three or four overall players selected in your draft based on average draft position from Mock Draft Central.

3. Jose Reyes, Mets: From 2005 to 2008, Reyes stole 58-plus bases per season while missing only 15 games during that four-year span. Over the last two seasons, Reyes has stolen 41 bases in 169 games. With a new contract on the line, how many steals and games will we see from Reyes in 2011?

4. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies: Over the past three seasons, Rollins has missed 106 games. While he likely won't duplicate his 2009 numbers (21 homers and 31 steals), it wouldn't surprise me to see Rollins finish with 15 home runs and 25 steals (or better).

5. Derek Jeter, Yankees: The good news? Jeter posted double-digit homers and steals for the 15th consecutive season. The bad news? Jeter hit only .270, his lowest average during that 15-year span, and only ten home runs, which ties a low during that span. Jeter will likely score more runs and hit for a higher average than Rollins while Rollins will likely hit more home runs and steal more bases.

6. Alexei Ramirez, White Sox: Through his first three seasons, Ramirez has been remarkably consistent in the five standard categories in 5x5 leagues. Career lows for Ramirez: .277 average, 65 runs, 15 home runs, 68 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases. Career highs: .290 average, 83 runs, 21 home runs, 77 runs batted in and 14 stolen bases.

7. Elvis Andrus, Rangers: In each of his first two seasons, Andrus has stolen 30-plus bases. But hamstring issues slowed him down last year as he had 18 of his 32 steals in the first two months of the season.

8. Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks: At a position with a scarcity of power, Drew is one of a handful of shortstops with 20-homer potential and he had double-digit steals last year. If you're league rewards for triples, Drew has finished in the top three in the category in each of the past three seasons.

9. Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: Over the past three seasons, Furcal has missed a total of 203 games including 65 of them in 2010. On a positive note, Furcal stole 22 bases, which is his highest output since 2007 (25 steals) and he enters a walk year.

10. Starlin Castro, Cubs: As a 20-year-old, Castro hit exactly .300 in his rookie season. Through 20 spring games, Castro is hitting .344 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in. Although he has four homers this spring, he hit only three in 125 games (463 at bats) last season.

11. Ian Desmond, Nationals: In his first full season with the Nationals, Desmond had double-digit home runs and steals with ten and 17, respectively. Desmond hit higher after the All-Star break (.283) than before it (.255) so a season with a .280 average, 15 home runs and 20 steals seems reasonable.

12. Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: Cabrera failed to play 100 games last season due to a broken forearm, but he's having a great spring, for what it's worth. Through 17 spring games, Cabrera it hitting .385 with three home runs, 12 runs and four steals. He won't help in homers, but when he played 131 games in 2009, he hit .308 with 81 runs scored, 68 runs batted in and 17 steals.

13. Erick Aybar, Angels: Aybar won't help much at all in the power categories, but he stole a career-high 22 bases last year and hit a career-high .312 the year before that. If he hits .300 with 20-plus steals, he's a solid value at this spot.

14. Yunel Escobar, Blue Jays: Escobar entered 2010 as a career .301 hitter while coming off career highs in runs (89), home runs (14) and runs batted in (76). However, last season was mostly a year that Escobar would like to forget as he posted career lows in batting average (.256) and home runs (four) while driving in only 35 runs. Perhaps a higher post-trade average in Toronto (.275) over his average in Atlanta (.238) bodes well for a bounce-back in 2011.

15. Jhonny Peralta, Tigers: Although Peralta is struggling this spring (.206 with no home runs or runs batted in through 21 games), you can do worse than get 15 homers and 81 runs batted in from a late-round shortstop as he put up last season. In addition to shortstop, he's eligible at third base, another talent-scarce position. Since 2005, Peralta has driven in 68-plus runs every season with 81-plus in each of the past three. During that same span, he has belted 20-plus homers three times.

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Catcher Rankings

Year in and year out, catcher has often been a talent-scarce position when it comes to fantasy baseball.

In 2011, that's not necessarily the case.

In my opinion, the top four fantasy catchers are head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, but there are plenty of options as you go deeper into the draft that can help (or, at least, won't hurt) your team.

Here are the top 15 catchers for 2011:

1. Joe Mauer, Twins: Although Mauer is the top option at catcher in fantasy baseball, the power he exhibited two seasons ago (28 home runs) was nearly wiped out by the team's move to Target Field. Mauer, the 2009 American League MVP, hit only nine home runs -- even worse, only one in 239 at bats at home -- in 2010. That said, Mauer has won 60 percent of the A.L. Batting Titles over the past five seasons.

In our opinion, who should be the No. 2 fantasy catcher is less clear-cut, which led us to set up this poll question and this discussion thread so let your voice be heard.

2. Victor Martinez, Tigers: Martinez, who was in Boston last year, led all catchers in runs batted in (79) while hitting over .300 (.302, to be precise) in 2010. Now that V-Mart is with Detroit, he is expected to see lots of, um, action as the team's designated hitter, which should boost his number of plate appearances.

3. Buster Posey, Giants: Posey, last year's NL Rookie of the Year, hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 runs batted in. Last season, Posey played 30 games at first base, but manager Bruce Bochy says that Posey will get a "complete day off" when he's not catching in 2011.

4. Brian McCann, Braves: During the span of the past three seasons, McCann leads all catchers in runs batted in (258) and is second in home runs (65) to Mike Napoli. That's the good news. The bad news is his batting average has slid in back-to-back seasons (.301 to .281 to .269).

5. Geovany Soto, Cubs: In the past three seasons, Soto has hit .280-plus twice with a sub-.220 season in between. During that span, Soto has averaged only 116 games per season and has hit one home run per 22.5 at bats. If he stays healthy and gets close to 500 at bats (as he did in 2008), a realistic line for Soto is .275-60-20-75.

6. Carlos Santana, Indians: A top ten prospect by Baseball America in 2010, Santana was called up in June and hit .345 with four homers and 15 runs batted in over 18 games that month. After June and before getting hurt, however, Santana hit only .207 with two home runs and seven runs batted in over 28 games. The sky's the limit for Santana, but there may be some bumps along the way for the young catcher.

7. Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks: Montero missed roughly half the season in 2010 and hit only .222 (35 for 158) from August to October. In the previous season (2009), however, Montero hit .294 with 16 home runs in 128 games.

8. Matt Wieters, Orioles: In many instances, folks overreact to the hype. While Wieters has generally disappointed since being called up, he's still under 25 years old. There is time for him to develop into an elite fantasy catcher and he might actually be somewhat under the radar heading into 2011.

9. Mike Napoli, Rangers: Over the past three seasons, no catcher has hit more home runs (66) than Napoli, who lands in Texas (via Toronto) this off-season. After a couple of seasons with a respectable batting average (.270-plus), Napoli regressed last year to .238 (his lowest average since his rookie season). Although he hit over .300 versus lefties (.305), he hit only .208 against right-handers.

10. Kurt Suzuki, Athletics: Last season, Suzuki hit a career-low .242 although he ranked fourth amongst catchers in runs batted in (71). This off-season, the A's made a few free-agent acquisitions that should help take some pressure off Suzuki and help him bounce back. The question is how much? If it's to 2009 levels (.274 average with 15 home runs and 88 RBI), he's a huge bargain at where he's being drafted.

11. Jorge Posada, Yankees: The addition of Russell Martin will help Posada, who has played only 282 games over the past three seasons, keep from wearing down in 2011 as he's expected to mostly be the team's designated hitter. I expect his batting average to bounce back closer to his career average (.275) and excluding the 2008 season when he played only 51 games, Posada has hit 18-plus homers every year since 2000.

12. Yadier Molina, Cardinals: It's not too often that you get (nor do you look for) stolen bases from your catcher, but Molina has 17 of them over the past two seasons. Molina's batting average declined to .262 last year, but his cumulative batting average over the past three seasons is .286. Molina is a guy that likely won't hurt your roster while giving you something that you would least expect from this position.

13. Chris Iannetta, Rockies: Iannetta is the anti-Mauer. He's not going to win a batting title anytime soon, but he's close to a lock to provide you with 20-plus homers from the catcher position with the full-time job, which he now has. In 154 games over the past two seasons combined, Iannetta has hit only .216 but he also hit 25 home runs (in 477 at bats). That's one home run per every 19 at bats.

14. J.P. Arencibia, Blue Jays: Arencibia is another guy that will likely hurt you in batting average but help you in the power categories. Between Triple-A and a few games with the Jays last year, Arencibia hit a total of 34 home runs in 496 at bats.

15. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies: Ruiz is the Adam LaRoche of the catcher position. In other words, his splits before and after the All-Star break tell a completely different story. Over the past three years, Ruiz has hit only .237 before the break, but he has hit .285 after the break. The contrast wasn't as great in 2010 (.283 and .316 splits, respectively).

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Monday Night Links

''He said, 'Good luck. Sincerely, Ozzie.' And couple more phrases,'' said [Cubs manager Lou] Piniella [of a note left by Ozzie Guillen]. ''It wasn't twitted, and I'm appreciative of that.''

Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee had a pain-free catch for a second day in a row.

Giants ace Tim Lincecum threw seven scoreless innings in tonight's win over the Astros.

Albert Callaspo might start at third base for the Royals on Wednesday.

In his first at bat of the season, Mets third baseman David Wright homered.

And Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones homered twice.

Meanwhile, Braves rookie phenom Jason Heyward crushed a home run in his first-ever at bat in the big leagues.

Blue Jays closer Jason Frasor said of his blown save today: “Unfortunately, I have 48 hours to think about it. I’m six years older than I was when I first started blowing games, so it’s a little easier.”

The Red Sox will give Josh Beckett $68 million over four years.

Meanwhile the Pirates have the lowest payroll ($35.4 million) in baseball in 2010.

Shameless plug(s) of the day: Check out our 2010 fantasy football (quarterback) rankings or weigh in on a McNabb-versus-Kolb discussion on our football forums.

Soriano to bounce back? Yeah, right!

Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano, who has five years and $90 million left on his contract, expects to have a big season in 2010.

That makes one of us.

''Maybe if I stayed healthy and put up the numbers I did to get the contract, people wouldn't talk about it,'' Soriano said, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. ''But it's not that I can't do it because I lost my talent. It's my injuries. The last three years, if I [was] 100 percent, I know I could put up some numbers [to show] why I got the contract.''

Soriano blames his knee for his (lack of) production in 2009. In 117 games, he hit .241 with 20 home runs, 55 runs batted in and nine stolen bases.

Out of seasons in which Soriano had 450+ at bats, those were all career-lows with the exception of home runs. He hit 18 home runs in 2001.

''If I play at 100 percent and I don't put up the numbers, then I have to worry about it. But I know whatever happened last year is because of the problem with my knee. My emotions are good because the talent is there. That's the key to everything.''

In fantasy baseball (or fantasy sports, in general), "the key to everything" is drafting players that are values based on where they are being drafted. Currently, Soriano is being drafted with the 79th overall pick as the 24th outfielder drafted, according to MockDraftCentral.com.

Instead of overpaying for Soriano, let others overpay for his services.

Cubs suspend Milton Bradley for rest of year

The Chicago Cubs have suspended Milton Bradley for conduct detrimental to the team (or, as I call it: the Terrell Owens rule).

Bradley said, "you understand why they haven't won in 100 years here." Those comments were made after he was scratched from Saturday's lineup. Now he is scratched from the rest of the season.

"Recently, it's become intolerable to hear Milton talk about our great fans the way he has," general manger Jim Hendry said. "We pride ourselves on having the greatest fans in baseball, so at this time we felt it was best to send him home for the rest of the season."

Bradley, who has two years remaining on his three-year contract, was only hitting .257 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI.

Now the question is: Did Bradley play his last game for the Cubs this year or forever?

Are you smarter than a Cubs' fan?

You are if you're a White Sox fan. At least, that's according to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella noted the surge in attendance at U.S. Cellular Field when the cross-town rivals played each other this weekend compared to the 22,000 that showed for the Dodgers-White Sox series.

Why?

Of course, the never-shy Guillen had the answer:

"Because our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans," Guillen said. "They know we're [expletive]."

Guillen said Cubs fans will watch any game at Wrigley Field because "Wrigley Field is just a bar."

I'm not a Cubs fan. Or a White Sox fan. But how can you not love Ozzie?

Milton Bradley back in lineup

A day after being sent home by Cubs manager Lou Piniella, Milton Bradley was back in the Cubs' lineup in the three hole.

But Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune asks the question: Do the Cubs regret signing Bradley?

As Rogers points out, the Cubs bypassed other free-agent outfielders, such as Bobby Abreu, Raul Ibanez and Adam Dunn, in favor of the hot-tempered Bradley. Last year, Bradley hit .321 with 22 home runs in Texas and led the A.L. in on-base percentage (.436).

Bradley signed a two-year contract worth $20 million. Once Bradley plays in 75 games this season, the deal becomes a three-year contract worth $30 million.

According to the Associated Press, Piniella and Bradley have made up.

"I apologized for the last comment I made, told him he knows in the context I meant it," Piniella said. "But I also told him that just can't continue, to have shenanigans that we've put up with. I told him he's going to hurt somebody, he's going to hurt himself."

"No, man, I don't have a problem with Lou at all," said Bradley. "Initially I was just a little shocked at how everything happened suddenly. But it's something I have to deal with."

So far this season, Bradley is struggling as are the Cubs (35-35) in general. Bradley is hitting only .237 with five home runs and 16 RBIs.

If the struggles continue, this probably won't be the last confrontation. Then again, if the struggles don't continue, this probably won't be the last confrontation.

Harden to miss rehab start today

Cubs pitcher Rich Harden, who was placed on the DL on May 18, was scheduled to make a rehab start today for Triple-A Iowa. Per the Chicago Tribune, he was scratched for undisclosed reasons.

Harden was also supposed to pitch Friday against the Twins, but that will be pushed back as well.

In eight starts, Harden is 4-2 with an ERA of 4.74 and 53 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings.

He has missed four starts while on the DL.

Carlos Zambrano ejected from today's game

Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano was ejected from today's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after he argued a call at the plate and bumped umpire Mark Carlson.

After getting ejected, Zambrano "ejected" Carlson, threw the ball in the stands and then took his frustrations out against the Gatorade machine with a baseball bat.

I'm no marketing genius (heck, I'm no any kind of genius), but perhaps PowerAde should contact Big Z about a marketing deal?

Maybe it'll help offset the lost wages from the fine and suspension that is soon to follow...

Aramis Ramirez has dislocated shoulder

If it weren't for bad luck lately, Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez wouldn't have any.

After making a nice catch on a Ryan Braun grounder, Ramirez dislocated his left shoulder.

A couple of weeks ago, he strained his calf and missed six games.

Cubs place Carlos Zambrano on DL

The Chicago Cubs have placed pitcher Carlos Zambrano on the 15-day DL.

Zambrano tweaked his hamstring yesterday while beating a bunt in the fifth inning.

Per the Chicago Sun-Times, GM Jim Hendry expects Zambrano will "probably need two to two-and-a-half weeks" to recover.

The Cubs recalled infielder Bobby Scales from Triple-A, but they will likely call up a starter from the minors to make what would have been Zambrano's start on Friday at Milwaukee.

Per Hendry, one pitcher it won't be is Jeff Samardzija, who has been working relief for the past 11 days.

Aramis Ramirez back in Monday's lineup?

Per the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Cubs will have their third baseman back in tomorrow's lineup against the San Francisco Giants.

When Aramis Ramirez returns to the lineup, manager Lou Piniella says he's "going to change the combo a little."

According to the Chicago Tribune, Ramirez will likely bat fifth behind Derrek Lee and in front of Milton Bradley.

Ramirez, who hasn't played since pinch-hitting on May 1st, is leading the Cubs in batting with a .352 average.

Cubs retire #31 for Jenkins and Maddux

Last month, the Atlanta Braves announced they would retire number 31 in honor of Greg Maddux on July 17th.

Today, the Chicago Cubs retired number 31 in honor of Maddux and Ferguson "Fergie" Jenkins.

Previously, the Cubs have retired four other numbers: 10 (Ron Santo), 14 (Ernie Banks), 23 (Ryne Sandberg) and 26 (Billy Williams).

Major League Baseball retired number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson.

"It's a tremendous honor," Maddux said, "and it's pretty cool to have it up there with Fergie, too."

"The fun part of doing what we did is putting that uniform on, and you're at home on that field in the ballpark," Jenkins said. "It's your second home."

"I always felt like it was a privilege to wear the uniform," Maddux said. "Almost every day, when I was sitting there putting it on, I would realize it was a privilege and an honor to put on the uniform.

"Because I felt that way, I tried to do it right," Maddux said. "I just tried to do it right every day and didn't worry about what the score was in the ninth inning. As long as I did everything right before the game was over, I felt pretty good about myself."

Both pitchers had two separate stints with the Cubs. Jenkins pitched for the Cubs from 1966-73 and 1982-83. Maddux pitched for the Cubs from 1986-92 and 2004-06.

In his career, Jenkins won 284 games, struck out 3,192 batters and had an ERA of 3.34. He won the Cy Young in 1971 when he threw 30 complete games that year.

Maddux finished with 355 wins, struck out 3,371 batters and had an ERA of 3.16 in his career. He won four Cy Young awards consecutively from 1992 to 1995, the first of which was won with the Cubs.

Carlos Zambrano left today's game with strained hammy

Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano left today's game against the Florida Marlins in the fifth inning with a strained hamstring.

Zambrano allowed two runs and four hits in the five innings he pitched.

He was hurt after beating out a bunt in the bottom of the fifth inning. Rich Harden ran for him and scored on a Derrek Lee grand slam.

Per the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs will evaluate Zambrano over the next two days to determine the severity of the injury. His next scheduled start is Friday against Houston.

Could Peavy end up in Milwaukee?

Per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, he wouldn't be surprised if the Milwaukee Brewers, who traded for C.C. Sabathia last off-season, make a push for Padres ace Jake Peavy.

Peavy has a full no-trade clause in his contract until 2010. After that he'll have the ability to veto trades from certain teams.

Like last year, the Brewers will have a strong offense led by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. However, to compete for the N.L. Central crown, they will most likely need pitching help.

With the exception of 2006, Peavy has had a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the past five seasons.

It's unlikely that Peavy ends up in Milwaukee, but I would be surprised if he's pitching in San Diego in September. Unless he's the road pitcher.

Geovany Soto could avoid DL

Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, who hurt his shoulder on Tuesday, is feeling better each day and is likely to avoid landing on the disabled list.

''[The team doctor] expects him to be ready in a few days,'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''If it's too long, we can't continue to carry one catcher. So we'll just have to wait and see how he responds to rehab and the medication.''

The soonest (although not likely) return for Soto would be Sunday. However, Soto wouldn't comment on when he might return.

''I don't know. I just play ball. I'm not a doctor,'' Soto said of a timeline for his return. ''I just want to get in there as fast as I can. And I trust my doctors and trainers in the organization.''

In Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues, the Cubs' all-star catcher was (on average) the fourth catcher selected behind Russell Martin, Brian McCann and Joe Mauer with an average draft position of 55.7.

In 2008, Soto hit .285, 23 homeruns and drove in 86 runs.

Greg Maddux to have number retired by Braves

Greg Maddux will have his number (31) retired by the Atlanta Braves on July 17th.

From 1992 to 1998, Maddux was a dominant as any pitcher (perhaps ever). His highest ERA during that seven-year span was 2.72. And that season (1996) was significantly higher than the other six seasons. His second-worst ERA during that span was 2.36.

In his career, Maddux won four consecutive Cy Young awards (1992-1995) and eighteen Gold Glove awards.

Maddux, who played with the Cubs, Braves, Dodgers and Padres, finished his career with a 355-227 record, 3,371 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.16.

Cubs go with Gregg over Marmol

Per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Cubs have named Kevin Gregg as their closer over Carlos Marmol.

During the past two seasons, Gregg was the Marlins closer. He saved 32 games in 2007 and 29 games in 2008. Last year, Gregg also blew nine save opportunities.

As the set-up man to Kerry Wood last season, Marmol saved seven games and was credited with 30 holds.

Marmol is likely the team's closer of the future, but will remain the set-up man for now.

Corey Koskie officially calls it quits

Corey Koskie, who was out of baseball in 2007 and 2008, has decided to end his comeback attempt and call it quits.

Koskie, who was playing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic, suffered dizziness after diving for a groundball.

After the 2006 season, he left baseball due to concussions. While he doesn't believe he suffered a concussion from the recent play, he started to question whether it was worth it.

"After that play I kind of thought, 'What am I doing out here?' " Koskie said. "Whether I got the wind knocked out of me or what, I did feel a little funky after it. I don't think it was a concussive event, but I did feel a little funny."

For his career, Koskie hit .275, 124 homeruns, drove in 506 runs and stole 71 bases. He had a career year in 2001 when he had a line of: BA of .276, 100 runs, 26 HRs, 103 RBI and 27 SBs.