In group two, we have the inexperienced playoff teams; these are the group of guys that are not only young, but unproven when it comes to the lights of October.

In group one this year, I have: The Evil Empire (Yankees), Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.

In group two this year: Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds and the National League West (Padres, Giants, Rockies).

I am definitely not saying the teams in group two cannot win a World Series, but what I am saying is look for moments of lapse in judgment as the playoffs come closer and the divisional series’ begin. Out of the ten teams I named above, only three of them have an under .500 record on the road [Rockies, Rangers, Braves]; I think that says a lot about both the talent in the playoffs this year and how the toughness of a long season has not worn down these teams.

The two teams I really want to focus on here are the Cincinnati Reds and the Texas Rangers. With managers like Ron Washington and Dusty Baker, the Reds and Rangers are going to enter the playoffs playing great baseball and with two of the youngest relief pitching studs in the game. Neftali Feliz and Aroldis Chapman are sure to have a huge impact on the playoff lives of both of these teams.

Chapman seriously reminds me of Francisco Rodriguez [K-Rod] for the Angels in 2002, when they won the World Series, he was a no-name pitcher the entire regular season and literally exploded when October game around. Chapman is lightning in a bottle that needs to be used very carefully (Mr. Strasburg), but also should give the Reds the reliever they need to beat the giants of the National League.

The Texas Rangers, on the other hand, have a ton more hitting than they do pitching. Starting with their own hitting machine Josh Hamilton, if the Rangers are going to win the World Series it will be behind this mans glove and bat. The only Texas Ranger with real playoff experience is the veteran Vladimir Guerrero, and if the Rangers are going to get by the Yankees or Rays, they are going to need the Impaler to come through in the clutch.

The other team I think has a real chance to make a splash in October is the Minnesota Twins. With the addition of Jim Thome to the clubhouse, the Twins look like an entirely different team this season. The Twins have experience in the playoffs, they have been there a bunch of times, and have lost to the powerhouses of the American League every single time. I think this could be the season they push through and fight for the right to go to the World Series. Justin Morneau has been out of the lineup for a good portion of the second half of the season, and the Twins have not faltered. They have the best catcher in the games in Joe Mauer, and at some point he is going to figure out a way to beat the Yankees or Rays and the Twins will advance.

The playoffs are just weeks away, and my suggestion to you is to watch every single game. With this many unexpected teams in the playoffs, anything can happen this year and I think we will see more parody than usual.

Fantasy Baseball Dugout is proud to have one of the six voting spots in Yardbarker’s Blogger Poll for MLB Power Rankings 2010. In addition to providing our insight on ranking each MLB team 1-30, we also monitor the NL East each week and drop a little insight on each team.

See below for our rankings for MLB Week 21.

It’s been about 10 weeks or so since we last published our poll. At the time, the Yankees had just taken over the Rays as the top team on the list. Due to going 7-3 in their last 10 games and seeing how they’ve once again tied the Yanks atop the AL East, the Rays once again sit atop our power rankings.

In other major AL East news, the Orioles finally moved out of the cellar in our power rankings… so props to the O’s. This week, they’re all the way up to no. 29 overall.

The links below point to our team archives in case you want to read everything we’ve got on each team.

1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. New York Yankees
3. San Diego Padres
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Minnesota Twins
7. Boston Red Sox
8. Texas Rangers
9. Philadelphia Phillies
10. San Francisco Giants
11. Chicago White Sox
12. St. Louis Cardinals
13. Toronto Blue Jays
14. Colorado Rockies
15. Los Angeles Dodgers
16. Detroit Tigers
17. Oakland Athletics
18. Florida Marlins
19. New York Mets
20. Los Angeles Angels
21. Milwaukee Brewers
22. Houston Astros
23. Washington Nationals
24. Kansas City Royals
25. Chicago Cubs
26. Cleveland Indians
27. Arizona Diamondbacks
28. Seattle Mariners
29. Baltimore Orioles
30. Pittsburgh Pirates

Some leagues don’t allow such activity by limiting the number of player adds you can make each week. However, if you can find a loophole in your league settings and add/drop pitchers all season long – you’re going to have a great chance to win the whole thing come September!

For the third consecutive season, we will be tracking two start pitchers to make sure you always win your pitching categories. That way, if you’re cutting Wandy Rodriguez because of his 8.30 ERA over the last month – you can add someone who can help you right away.

Below you will find each projected two start pitcher for fantasy baseball week 14 broken down into four categories – must start, would start, could start, and don’t start.

Must Start:

• Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies
• Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets
• Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays
• Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels
• CC Sabathia, New York Yankees

Would Start:

• Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays
• Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco Giants
• Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves
• Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
• Jake Peavy, Chicago White Sox
• C.J. Wilson, Texas Rangers
• Clayton Richard, San Diego Padres
• Carlos Silva, Chicago Cubs
• Trevor Cahill, Oakland Athletics

Could Start:

• Armando Galarraga, Detroit Tigers
• Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox
• Scott Kazmir, Los Angeles Angels
• Gavin Floyd, Chicago White Sox
• John Ely, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Tom Gorzelanny, Chicago Cubs
• Aaron Harang, Cincinnati Reds
• Javier Vazquez, New York Yankees
• Ben Sheets, Oakland Athletics
• Brian Bannister, Kansas City Royals
• Jeff Francis, Colorado Rockies
• Chris Volstad, Florida Marlins
• J.D. Martin, Washington Nationals
• Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies
• Kevin Slowey, Minnesota Twins
• Travis Wood, Cincinnati Reds
• Wandy Rodriguez, Houston Astros
• Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
• Randy Wolf, Milwaukee Brewers
• Barry Enright, Arizona Diamondbacks

Don’t Start:

• Kevin Millwood, Baltimore Orioles
• Aaron Laffey, Cleveland Indians
• Omar Beltre, Texas Rangers
• Nate Robertson, Florida Marlins
• Dave Bush, Milwaukee Brewers
• Dontrelle Willis, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians
• Jeff Suppan, St. Louis Cardinals
• Vicente Padilla, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Jake Arrieta, Baltimore Orioles
• Jesse Litsch, Toronto Blue Jays
• Brad Lincoln, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Ryan Rowland-Smith, Seattle Mariners

Some leagues don’t allow such activity by limiting the number of player adds you can make each week. However, if you can find a loophole in your league settings and add/drop pitchers all season long – you’re going to have a great chance to win the whole thing come September!

For the third consecutive season, we will be tracking two start pitchers to make sure you always win your pitching categories. That way, if you’re cutting Wandy Rodriguez because of his 8.30 ERA over the last month – you can add someone who can help you right away.

Below you will find each projected two start pitcher for fantasy baseball week 13 broken down into four categories – must start, would start, could start, and don’t start.

Must Start:

• Ricky Romero, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves
• Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati Reds
• Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
• Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies
• Cliff Lee, Seattle Mariners
• Phil Hughes, New York Yankees
• Mike Leake, Cincinnati Reds
• Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers
• Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

Would Start:

• Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
• Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox
• R.A. Dickey, New York Mets
• Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins
• Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants
• Ted Lilly, Chicago Cubs
• Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants

Could Start:

• Kyle Kendrick, Philadelphia Phillies
• Ricky Nolasco, Florida Marlins
• Brett Myers, Houston Astros
• Manny Parra, Milwaukee Brewers
• Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit Tigers
• Kevin Correia, San Diego Padres
• John Ely, Los Angeles Dodgers
• James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays
• Brandon Morrow, Toronto Blue Jays
• Fausto Carmona, Cleveland Indians
• Jeff Karstens, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Dustin Nippert, Texas Rangers
• Joel Pineiro, Los Angeles Angels
• Dallas Braden, Oakland Athletics
• Hisanori Takahashi, New York Mets
• Jason Hammel, Colorado Rockies
• Wade LeBlanc, San Diego Padres

Don’t Start:

• Jake Westbrook, Cleveland Indians
• Anthony Lerew, Kansas City Royals
• Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Randy Wells, Chicago Cubs
• Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles
• Joe Blanton, Philadelphia Phillies
• Wandy Rodriguez, Houston Astros
• Nick Blackburn, Minnesota Twins

Fantasy Baseball Dugout is proud to have one of the six voting spots in Yardbarker’s Blogger Poll for MLB Power Rankings 2010. In addition to providing our insight on ranking each MLB team 1-30, we also monitor the NL East each week and drop a little insight on each team.

See below for our rankings for MLB Week 11.

They fell from the top of our Power Rankings (which they originally topped) in MLB week 2 and dropped all the way to no. 3 by week 4. But this week, thanks to a 3-7 slide over a 10-game span by De Rays, Da Yanks have retaken the top spot in our power poll. Thanks to hot streaks by both the Da Sawks and the Braves, De Rays fall to no. 4 in Week 11.

Biggest movers of the week: the New York Mets, up six spots and the Cincinnati Reds, down seven.

Below, in ( ), you will find our week 10 power ranking for each team. Links point to our team archives in case you want to read everything we’ve got on each team.

1. New York Yankees (2)
2. Boston Red Sox (4)
3. Atlanta Braves (7)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (1)
5. Texas Rangers (9)
6. San Diego Padres (3)
7. Minnesota Twins (5)
8. New York Mets (14)
9. Los Angeles Angels (10)
10. St. Louis Cardinals (11)
11. San Francisco Giants (12)
12. Toronto Blue Jays (13)
13. Los Angeles Dodgers (6)
14. Detroit Tigers (15)
15. Cincinnati Reds (8)
16. Colorado Rockies (16)
17. Philadelphia Phillies (17)
18. Chicago White Sox (21)
19. Oakland Athletics (18)
20. Florida Marlins (19)
21. Chicago Cubs (22)
22. Washington Nationals (20)
23. Kansas City Royals (24)
24. Milwaukee Brewers (23)
25. Seattle Mariners (28)
26. Arizona Diamondbacks (27)
27. Cleveland Indians (25)
28. Houston Astros (26)
29. Pittsburgh Pirates (29)
30. Baltimore Orioles (30)

Some leagues don’t allow such activity by limiting the number of player adds you can make each week. However, if you can find a loophole in your league settings and add/drop pitchers all season long – you’re going to have a great chance to win the whole thing come September!

For the third consecutive season, we will be tracking two start pitchers to make sure you always win your pitching categories. That way, if you’re cutting Wandy Rodriguez because of his 8.30 ERA over the last month – you can add someone who can help you right away.

Below you will find each projected two start pitcher for fantasy baseball week 12 broken down into four categories – must start, would start, could start, and don’t start.

Must Start:

• Mike Leake, Cincinnati Reds
• Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
• Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals
• Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

Would Start:

• Livan Hernandez, Washington Nationals
• A.J. Burnett, New York Yankees
• Mat Latos, San Diego Padres
• Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves
• John Danks, Chicago White Sox
• Tommy Hunter, Texas Rangers
• Ervin Santana, Los Angeles Angels
• Anibal Sanchez, Florida Marlins
• Brett Cecil, Toronto Blue Jays
• Jonathon Niese, New York Mets
• Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros
• Jason Vargas, Seattle Mariners

Could Start:

• Bruce Chen, Kansas City Royals
• Gio Gonzalez, Oakland Athletics
• Wade Davis, Tampa Bay Rays
• Mitch Talbot, Cleveland Indians
• Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia Phillies
• Scott Baker, Minnesota Twins
• Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs

Don’t Start:

• Rodrigo Lopez, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Zach Duke, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Jhoulys Chacin, Colorado Rockies
• Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles
• Joe Martinez, San Francisco Giants
• Dave Bush, Milwaukee Brewers

Fantasy Baseball Dugout is proud to have one of the six voting spots in Yardbarker’s Blogger Poll for MLB Power Rankings 2010. In addition to providing our insight on ranking each MLB team 1-30, we also monitor the NL East each week and drop a little insight on each team.

See below for our rankings for MLB Week 10.

De Rays remain at no. 1, but Da Yanks are closer to taking over that top spot then than they have been in weeks. Duh Twins dropped a couple spots in my book as teams like the Padres (up six this week) and Red Sox (up two) continue to win at a more consistent clip. As the Phillies plummet towards .500, they continue to fall in the rankings. The Cardinals also took a major drop in the rankings this week.

Below, in ( ), you will find our week 9 power ranking for each team. Links point to our team archives in case you want to read everything we’ve got on each team.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (1)
2. New York Yankees (2)
3. San Diego Padres (9)
4. Boston Red Sox (6)
5. Minnesota Twins (3)
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (10)
7. Atlanta Braves (5)
8. Cincinnati Reds (8)
9. Texas Rangers (11)
10. Los Angeles Angels (12)
11. St. Louis Cardinals (4)
12. San Francisco Giants (14)
13. Toronto Blue Jays (7)
14. New York Mets (17)
15. Detroit Tigers (15)
16. Colorado Rockies (18)
17. Philadelphia Phillies (13)
18. Oakland Athletics (16)
19. Florida Marlins (19)
20. Washington Nationals (20)
21. Chicago White Sox (22)
22. Chicago Cubs (21)
23. Milwaukee Brewers (25)
24. Kansas City Royals (24)
25. Cleveland Indians (29)
26. Houston Astros (28)
27. Arizona Diamondbacks (27)
28. Seattle Mariners (26)
29. Pittsburgh Pirates (23)
30. Baltimore Orioles (30)

Some leagues don’t allow such activity by limiting the number of player adds you can make each week. However, if you can find a loophole in your league settings and add/drop pitchers all season long – you’re going to have a great chance to win the whole thing come September!

For the third consecutive season, we will be tracking two start pitchers to make sure you always win your pitching categories. That way, if Zack Greinke continues to need to carry a 6.59 ERA into the month of July – you’re not screwed.

Below you will find each projected two start pitcher for fantasy baseball week 11 broken down into four categories – must start, would start, could start, and don’t start.

Must Start:

• Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
• Johan Santana, New York Mets
• Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox
• Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies
• C.C. Sabathia, New York Yankees
• David Price, Tampa Bay Rays
• Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins

Would Start:

• Randy Wolf, Milwaukee Brewers
• Joe Saunders, Los Angeles Angels
• Jon Garland, San Diego Padres
• Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco Giants
• Ian Kennedy, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Trevor Cahill, Oakland Athletics
• Freddy Garcia, Chicago White Sox
• Hideki Kuroda, Los Angeles Dodgers
• C.J. Wilson, Texas Rangers

Could Start:

• Shaun Marcum, Toronto Blue Jays
• Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians
• Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers
• Aaron Harang, Cincinnati Reds
• Aaron Cook, Colorado Rockies
• Carl Pavano, Minnesota Twins

Don’t Start:

• Luke French, Seattle Mariners
• Chris Tillman, Baltimore Orioles
• Kenshin Kawakami, Atlanta Braves
• Felipe Paulino, Houston Astros
• Kyle Davies, Kansas City Royals
• Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs
• John Lannan, Washington Nationals
• Brad Lincoln, Pittsburgh Pirates

Fantasy Baseball Dugout is proud to have one of the six voting spots in Yardbarker’s Blogger Poll for MLB Power Rankings 2010. In addition to providing our insight on ranking each MLB team 1-30, we also monitor the NL East each week and drop a little insight on each team.

See below for our rankings for MLB Week 9.

The Phillies continue their descent down the rankings as they continue to lack any power in the lineup. De Rays remain at no. 1, Da Yanks stay at no. 2, and the Duh Twins are again no. 3. The biggest movers of the week are the Braves (up 7) and the Angels (up 8 spots) as each team has gone on impressive win streaks over their last 10 games.

Below, in ( ), you will find our week 8 power ranking for each team. Links point to our team archives in case you want to read everything we’ve got on each team.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (1)
2. New York Yankees (2)
3. Minnesota Twins (3)
4. St. Louis Cardinals (5)
5. Atlanta Braves (12)
6. Boston Red Sox (11)
7. Toronto Blue Jays (9)
8. Cincinnati Reds (4)
9. San Diego Padres (6)
10. Los Angeles Dodgers (8)
11. Texas Rangers (10)
12. Los Angeles Angels (20)
13. Philadelphia Phillies (7)
14. San Francisco Giants (15)
15. Detroit Tigers (14)
16. Oakland Athletics (13)
17. New York Mets (17)
18. C0lorado Rockies (16)
19. Florida Marlins (19)
20. Washington Nationals (18)
21. Chicago Cubs (21)
22. Chicago White Sox (22)
23. Pittsburgh Pirates (26)
24. Kansas City Royals (23)
25. Milwaukee Brewers (25)
26. Seattle Mariners (26)
27. Arizona Diamondbacks (24)
28. Houston Astros (29)
29. Cleveland Indians (28)
30. Baltimore Orioles (30)

Think there’s something horribly wrong with our list this week? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Some leagues don’t allow such activity by limiting the number of player adds you can make each week. However, if you can find a loophole in your league settings and add/drop pitchers all season long – you’re going to have a great chance to win the whole thing come September!

For the third consecutive season, we will be tracking two start pitchers to make sure you always win your pitching categories. That way, if Tim Lincecum continues to need to work on his mechanics deep into the month of July – you’re not screwed.

Below you will find each projected two start pitcher for fantasy baseball week 10 broken down into four categories – must start, would start, could start, and don’t start.

Must Start:

• Cliff Lee, Seattle Mariners
• Carlos Silva, Chicago Cubs
• Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets
• Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers

Would Start:

• Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox
• Carlos Monasterios, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants
• Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati Reds
• Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves
• Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays
• Armando Galarraga, Detroit Tigers
• Colby Lewis, Texas Rangers
• Phil Hughes, New York Yankees
• Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
• Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants
• Clayton Richard, San Diego Padres
• Kevin Slowey, Minnesota Twins
• Kris Medlan, Atlanta Braves
• Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels
• Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics

Could Start:

• Fausto Carmona, Cleveland Indians
• Scott Feldman, Texas Rangers
• Wandy Rodriguez, Houston Astros
• Jason Hammel, Colorado Rockies
• Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies
• Scott Kazmir, Los Angeles Angels
• Ben Sheets, Oakland Athletics
• Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox
• Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
• Jeff Francis, Colorado Rockies
• Chris Volstad, Florida Marlins
• Kyle Kendrick, Philadelphia Phillies
• Sam LeCure, Cincinnati Reds
• Ted Lilly, Chicago Cubs

Don’t Start:

• P.J. Walters, St. Louis Cardinals
• Wade LeBlanc, San Diego Padres
• Jeff Karstens, Pittsburgh Pirates
• David Huff, Cleveland Indians
• Brian Tallet, Toronto Blue Jays
• Brian Moehler, Houston Astros
• Brad Bergesen, Baltimore Orioles
• Kyle Davies, Kansas City Royals
• Edwin Jackson, Arizona Diamondbacks