Baseball By Paul

Continuing the release of my initial listing of the Top 100 fantasy baseball players, here are players 80 through 61 (age in parentheses):

80. Daisuke Matsuzaka – Boston Red Sox, SP (27):
Met and you could probably even say surpassed expectations in the first half (3.79 ERA), but did a complete 180 after the break (5.07 ERA). All in all, he put together an impressive “rookie” campaign that showed more than enough to make him a buy in 2008. There is plenty to love within his skill set and his 2007 numbers, but then you put him on a team that will set him up for plenty of wins and he is an easy inclusion for this list, even for someone that doesn’t highly rate pitching.

79. James Shields – Tampa Bay Rays, SP (26):
Shields put together a breakout season complete with a tiny WHIP (1.11) and enough strikeouts (184) to land a spot in the top 10 amongst American League starters. Furthermore, all signs suggest it wasn’t a fluke. He pitched much better than his 12 wins suggested, but a brutal bullpen in the bay cost him dearly. The front office has taken strides to repair the tattered mess, which will benefit Shields and 87th ranked teammate, Scott Kazmir. Shields displays far better control than Kazmir which netted him the more favorable ranking as I feel it will translate to more wins in the long run and likely even a better ERA giving him the edge in three of the four categories for starters.

78. Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners, SP (22):
Look at me, starting off the second tier with a trio of arms!! Hernandez followed up his poor first half (poor against expectations, at least) with a strong second half despite a significant drop in strikeouts per nine innings (9.5 in the first half, 6.8 in the second). To this point, Hernandez has been something of an enigma in his two full seasons, but did show improvements from 2006 to 2007, except against lefties. Southpaws clubbed .299 off of him after getting to him for a .281 average in ’06. He needs to get a handle on facing lefties, but I expect more growth in 2008 as he continues to piece things together.

77. Rafael Furcal – Los Angeles Dodgers, SS (30):
He clearly was not himself during the first half with a mere one home run and seven stolen bases due in large part to an ankle injury. That first half performance caused him to snap his streak of four straight double-digit home run seasons as he only rebounded with five in the second half. It wasn’t just the power that dipped in 2007; in fact, he experienced dips across the board. Looks completely healthy and back on a green-light situation with 12 steals in September. There is no reason he shouldn’t be back in ’05-’06 form this season.

76. Jason Bay – Pittsburgh Pirates, OF (29):
If I had done this list a year ago, Bay would have been in the top 25 and thus, his 76th ranking this year would likely have been the biggest year-over-year tumble. Of course, this is the debut of such a list, so he merely has a chance to be 2009’s Most Improved. The disastrous performance looks to be an aberration when looking at his history so predicting a return to excellence seems reasonable. Age sides with him at just 29 and he had put together three strong years prior to last year’s collapse. I recognize the potential to get back in the 30-100 realm, but I can’t safely predict it when looking at the 2007 numbers top to bottom.

75. Vernon Wells – Toronto Blue Jays, OF (29):
Bombed his 2007 season after signing his mega-extension with the Jays before the season. He cut his home run output in half (32 to 16), dropped 26 runs batted in to 80, stole seven fewer bases (down to 10) and lost 58 points off of his batting average leaving him at a paltry .245. Currently, his 2003 and 2006 seasons stand as aberrations against a series of good, but not great seasons during the rest of his career. Patience has worn thin with owners waiting for superstardom allowing his teammate, Alex Rios, to pass him on the fantasy landscape.

74. Joe Nathan – Minnesota Twins, RP (33):
Nathan has put together four excellent seasons since becoming a closer in 2004, but last year saw a significant dip in strikeouts per nine innings, though he still nabbed one per inning. Elevated WHIP (though still a meager 1.02) likely caused by spike in batting average against (up to .211 from .165). Regardless, Nathan is still as consistent as it gets when talking about top-level closers.

73. Edgar Renteria – Detroit Tigers, SS (32):
The move to Detroit’s extremely potent lineup will likely allow a return to the 100-runs scored level. Batting average is where the bulk of his value is derived, but he does offer a nice double-digit mix in both power and speed. Skills and move to a more power-friendly home park suggest something very similar to the past two seasons of production. Of course, his one year in the American League (’05 with Boston) is the only season that he didn’t put together that kind of season since 1999, so bid accordingly.

72. Jorge Posada – New York Yankees, C (36):
He put up his best batting average ever at age 35, but don’t bet on it sticking. However, you can’t argue with the power at catcher regardless of age and then you factor in the plentiful RBI & runs scored opportunities with that Yankee lineup and you have a solid option at a painfully thin position. He has hit fewer than 20 home runs just once since 2000 (19 in ’05), so you can comfortably bank on another 20+ dingers in 2008.

71. J.J. Putz – Seattle Mariners, RP (31):
Wow, Putz has put together two straight brilliant seasons and nothing suggests that anything but another top season is forthcoming. He has struck out well over one per inning in both of his seasons as a closer while keeping runners off base at a remarkable clip (0.92 and 0.70), too. He could add a run to his 2007 earned run average and raise his WHIP by 30% and still be the league’s best closer.

70. Jonathan Papelbon – Boston Red Sox, RP (27):
Flirted with the notion of joining the rotation, but instead decided to strikeout 13 batters per nine innings en route to 37 saves. Lefties managed just a .104 average off of the eccentric Papelbon, 99 points down from 2006’s clip. Provided he gets enough opportunities, he will eclipse the 40-save mark this season. He will also pile up a ton of K’s once again, so pay for this bankable talent if you’re so inclined to pay for top-level saves.

69. Danny Haren – Arizona Diamondbacks, SP (27):
Well it looks like this tier is the pitcher-heavy one with half of the 20 players being mound men. Haren switches leagues after dominating the much tougher one a season ago. He wasn’t as good as the numbers suggested in the first half nor as bad as the numbers suggested in the second half. In fact, he pitched similarly in each half and has been extraordinarily consistent the past three seasons. Assuming he gains the natural boost from shifting to the easier league, he is an easy buy in 2008.

68. John Lackey – Los Angeles Angels, SP (29):
Lackey has been a real workhorse the past five years with 33 starts in four of them and 32 in the other one. Last year, he was a viable Cy Young candidate in the American League for much of the season. In fact, at the break he was 11-5 with a 2.91 earned run average. It wasn’t that he collapsed in the 2nd half, rather that stronger candidates emerged leaving him with merely a great season on his hands as opposed to award winning. He is a bona fide ace for the Angels and your fantasy team. His pattern of health allows him to be as consistent as you can expect any starting pitcher to be.

67. Michael Young – Texas Rangers, SS (31):
I don’t want to cast aspersions upon him, but it is interesting that Young became a power threat while playing with Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro in 2003, an alleged and a proven steroid abuser. He put up home run totals of 14, 22, 24 and 14 from ’03-’06 after hitting just 20 in his first two seasons combined. Now, he was in his prime during that period so it is hardly unreasonable that he obtained the power surge legitimately, but it is odd that it disappeared so quickly when that is usually a skill that stays with you into the twilight of your career. He is in a three-year slide for homers bottoming out with just nine a season ago. A career .302 hitter, Young definitely has a bankable category that he has sustained over his seven seasons, but he also delivers runs and RBIs rather consistently, too, averaging 98 and 87, respectively, for every 162 games played. A better lineup (adding Milton Bradley, Ben Broussard, Josh Hamilton and full seasons of Hank Blalock and Jared Saltalamacchia) could improve the 80 runs and 94 RBIs from ’07.

66. Torii Hunter – Los Angeles Angels, OF (32):
Parlayed two excellent seasons into five-year, $90 million dollar deal with the Halos despite the fact they had signed poor man’s version of Hunter a year earlier in the form of Gary Matthews Jr. Though meaningless for the purposes of fantasy baseball, the signing gives the Angels probably the strongest outfield trio in baseball as Matthews shifts to left and Vlad Guerrero remains in right. Hunter fell off a bit in the 2nd half of last year, but still managed solid numbers. If you are looking for more than 25 home runs and 90 runs batted in, you are likely to be disappointed, but he chips in double-digit steals with those numbers and is riding a three-year uptrend in batting average so he has become a reliable albeit unsexy fantasy option for the outfield.

65. Bobby Abreu – New York Yankees, OF (34):
Though he curbed his three-year downtrend in home runs from a composite standpoint, he remains in a four-year power downtrend because he needed 57 more at-bats in 2007 to notch just one extra home run from 2006. However, as part of that Yankees lineup, he will remain a huge contributor in runs and runs batted in while delivering fair numbers in home runs and stolen bases. The x-factor for determining his overall value is batting average. He rebounded in the 2nd half of ’07 by hitting .309 after just .253 prior to the break. Is he at one end of those spectrums or does he split the difference and fall into a consistent .280-.290 realm? If you play in an OBP league, it’s irrelevant as he receives a huge bump with a consistent .400+ OBP year in and year out prior to ’07. Note that he did fix his OBP in the 2nd half as well with a .393 to end at .370.

64. Francisco Rodriguez – Los Angeles Angels, RP (26):
He has had three straight brilliant seasons as a closer and he just turned 26 yesterday! Sign K-Rod up for 12 strikeouts per nine, 40+ saves and great ratios each year. Closers are ridiculously volatile which is why there is a premium on the top talent and also why you can find an abundance of saves on the wire each year, so if you want to minimize the volatility and not worry about doing the homework to capture the closer du jour, then pay for or draft K-Rod and rest easy. He is my top closer for 2008.

63. Joe Mauer – Minnesota Twins, C (25):
Without a clean bill of health, I cannot justify paying top dollar for Mauer and since there is no way to ensure his health prior to the season (especially when he plays such a demanding position), you are better off leaving him as someone else’s problem. Now, many owners won’t have a problem with a .300 hitting catcher, but with all the hype, you would certainly think he does a helluva lot more. He has yet to deliver significant power, he has middling speed (though at catcher, little is expected) and 84 runs batted in is his career high. All of this despite the fact that 1273 of his 1416 at-bats in the past three seasons have come in the #3 spot. I don’t doubt his talent and see the potential for greatness, but given the price or pick that Mauer costs year in and year out, he is remarkably overrated on the fantasy landscape at this point.

62. Robinson Cano – New York Yankees, 2B (25):
Cano hits way too many groundballs to sustain the kind of home run potential he showed in his monstrous second half meaning it will fade barring a significant change in his approach. That said, he still has plenty to offer as part of that amazing lineup. Big average, decent power and great team-dependent offerings (runs scored & runs batted in) make Cano a premier choice for a position seeing some depth being added with the emergence of several players.

61. Justin Verlander – Detroit Tigers, SP (25):
Verlander actually improved upon a brilliant rookie season and at 25 years old, there is still plenty of growth forthcoming. Despite the elevated 2nd half ERA (4.47), there was plenty to like (increased K/9 and K:BB ratios) and his struggles were likely tied to stranding several fewer runners as well as some bad luck as more balls found open spots. Despite rookie success, many clamored for more strikeouts, so he delivered in ’07 moving from 6.0 to 8.2 per nine innings. Only a handful of pitchers are better and fantasy owners can realistically look to Verlander as a legit ace in ’08.

Welcome to my First Annual Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings. I know you might have been led here because of the fact that I am on a quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and will be posting reviews of each book read while undertaking the mission, but I will also be posting about a range of other things, though primarily sports. I’ve already put up a few such posts and they can be expected throughout this year. The following will obviously be one such post. I will break the list down into five sections starting with players 81 through 100. These rankings will assume a standard 5×5 league for the categories with 12 teams, though I feel they would still be worthwhile in 10 or even 14-team leagues with a few tweaks.

Speaking of tweaks, the next few days will be the unveiling of version 1.0 of the list and as things evolve with remaining Hot Stove action, injuries, depth chart moves and Spring Training performances, subsequent versions will no doubt be released with changes noted. I am more than open to constructive feedback on any and all versions of the list, so without further ado, let’s get to the opening tier. First, a few disclosures:

1. I looked at the past three-years of data (where applicable), though 2007 obviously held the heaviest amount of weight.

2. I take into account age meaning these rankings look at both this year and the future.

3. It also means that while you might see modest predictions for players within my Top 100 in various publications, if they are at a particular age, then I like their chance for breakout thus they might rank over someone with better raw numbers last year and the two before.

4. Age factor also means that I might rank someone 15th, but that doesn’t always mean I think you should pay more for him than someone ranked 22nd, but rather the 15th ranked player is a more valuable asset and should be targeted ahead of the 22nd player, though their prices may be significantly different. (Note: that doesn’t mean Justin Upton will be in the top 10, because at the end of the day, the goal is to win in 2008 and worry about the future later)

5. In future updates, it is unlikely that a new synopsis of each pick will follow, rather a sentence-long update should they have some newsworthy that needs mentioning.

6. Ok, here we go: (age listed in parentheses)

100. Jim Thome – Chicago White Sox, DH (37):
Thome remains a tremendous source of power as he has not hit fewer than 35 home runs since 1999 outside an injury-stunted 59-game campaign in 2005 that limited to just seven. Banged 35 a year ago despite missing 32 games meaning any modicum of health should translate into at least another 30-home run season. Being locked into DH and the elevated age are concerns, but you can’t argue with that kind of production.

99. Adrian Beltre – Seattle Mariners, 3B (29):
Still on the right side of 30 coming off of back-to-back solid seasons following post-walk year collapse. If you are looking for 20+ home runs (with a ceiling near 30) and 10+ stolen bases (with a ceiling near 15), then Beltre is your man! A career-high in doubles (41) last year continues seven-year uptrend in category and might indicate a pending home run boost. A potential, yet obscure, pattern for outburst? Beltre had a three-year uptrend in home runs (13, 21 and 23) before 48-home run explosion. He is currently in a 19, 25 and 26 upswing.

98. Matt Kemp – Los Angeles Dodgers, OF (23):
He has not displayed all the power of earlier minor league days at the major league level yet, but there is plenty of time. He should be the starting right fielder come Opening Day and with a chance to play all year, he might put together a 20-20 season. Better chance at the 20 steals than 20 home runs right now, but a great investment nonetheless. Full disclosure: I love young power-speed combo guys.

97. Jeff Francoeur – Atlanta Braves, OF (24):
Huge power drop (-10 HR from ’06) not seen in peripherals and he gave his owners 33 points of batting average to compensate. He doubled his horrid walk percentage (up to 6%) from ’06, but there remains plenty of room for improvement with that eye. He struck out less (albeit just three times) and walked more (a healthy 19-walk increase was an 82% gain) meaning he wasn’t just swinging for the fences during every at-bat like teammate Andruw Jones. Look for another stride this season as Francoeur develops into an excellent player both in fantasy & on the field for the Braves.

96. Mike Lowell – Boston Red Sox, 3B (34):
He has loved Boston with back-to-back 20-home run seasons, but stepped it up with a 40-point batting average increase (to. 324!) in 2007, as well. That will definitely regress, but power and team-dependent numbers (runs & runs batted in) remain strong in that lineup for 2008. Though 34, Lowell has played 150+ games in four straight seasons. Don’t pay for ’07 batting average, drop out if bidding starts creeping above the $20 mark.

95. Alex Gordon – Kansas City Royals, 3B (24):
Failed to meet completely unrealistic expectations in 2007, but definitely held his own in the 2nd half. He screams “post-hype sleeper!” if leaguemates soured because of 1st half struggles and low total batting average (.247). Still unlikely to meet the expectations of some, but a great target now and moving forward with 15-15 almost guaranteed and 20-20 possible.

94. Rickie Weeks – Milwaukee Brewers, 2B (25):
Upon further inspection, second base is much deeper than expected and Weeks is a prime reason. A rough batting average (.235) marred an otherwise solid campaign despite playing just 118 games. Weeks might even be a strong post-hype sleeper than Gordon with plenty to love moving into 2008. A clean bill of health should allow a full season which means a 20 HR-30 SB season is very possible. The batting average could still use work, but he receives a healthy bump in OBP leagues if he can maintain 16% walk rate from last year.

93. Carlos Zambrano – Chicago Cubs, SP (26):
The first pitcher on the list means it is time to let everyone know that I much prefer putting a premium on hitting than pitching. The stars will get their due on this list, but owners that do their homework early and throughout the season can afford to focus their auction dollars and draft picks on hitting while finding successful pitching later on for all categories (though more so with saves). Now onto the Big Z, five straight seasons of 200+ innings pitched is catching up to him with four straight gains in earned run average and a significant drop in strikeouts per nine, down to 7.4 from 8.8 a season ago and 8.1 in each the two seasons prior to that. The bounce-back is nice considering he was at a 5.25 earned run average after May. Mix these statistical red flags with a volatile temper displayed every five days by Zambrano and you have a potential bust on your hands. Buyers beware.

92. Andruw Jones – Los Angeles Dodgers, OF (31):
Easily the biggest bust of 2007 highlighted (or is it lowlighted?) by a .222 batting average. Virtually no other statistics can counter the damage of 572 at-bats of that average so it certainly didn’t help that he shaved 15 home runs off of his ’06 total and failed reach 100 runs scored or batted in. However, he moves to a more home-run friendly ball park in Los Angeles and can seemingly only get better after last year’s debacle. I would bid very cautiously, but you would be foolish not to be cognizant of how your league values his stock and be ready for a potentially huge power bargain. Upside is a return to 35-home run power.

91. Francisco Cordero – Cincinnati Reds, RP (32):
The National League’s worst bullpen (5.10 ERA) acquired a bona fide ace closer. Only the Colorado Rockies blew more saves than the Reds’ 28 from a year ago (29). Enter Cordero. He has been a top-notch closer since 2004 comes to Cincy off a career-high K/9 mark with 12.2 in 63 innings of work. His ability to blow away batters also led to a great season in keeping runners off base with a career-best 1.11 WHIP. As I mentioned during the Zambrano piece, I am a firm believer of finding pitching (specifically saves) during the season, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize the value of ace closers.

90. Delmon Young – Minnesota Twins, OF (22):
It is hard to cheer for a team that is consistently letting their best players go once they become bona fide stars and thus “unaffordable” for stingy owners like Carl Pohlad in Minnesota, but one of the silver linings is that the team is always bringing up or bringing in some of the brightest and best young talent. The Twins traded for uber-prospect Young this offseason as they had an abundance of arms that allowed them to move Matt Garza. Barely able to drink legally, Young put together a remarkably strong rookie campaign that generally would have brought home some hardware, but Dustin Pedroia’s role as a top-of-the-lineup catalyst for a great Boston Red Sox team prevented that from happening. Young has 20-20 potential for ’08, but the lack of patience is worrisome.

89. Paul Konerko – Chicago White Sox, 1B (32):
A bolstered lineup (adding Orlando Cabrera, Carlos Quentin and Nick Swisher) should alleviate pressure from the shoulders of Konerko, who pretty much allows you to bank on 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in each year. He struggled mightily against righties in 2007 (.244) and if that trend continues, it could spell trouble, but for now it is the aberration in the data since 2004. The aforementioned stronger lineup suggests he will return to 100-RBI level and re-enter 80+ runs scored realm.

88. Chris Young – San Diego Padres, SP (28):
Sorry Rangers fans, but Akinori Otsuka and Adam Eaton aren’t forthcoming in this list meaning the parts you got back for Young and the upcoming 84th ranked Adrian Gonzalez amount to more or less nothing. Heck, even if they were both upcoming, one isn’t even part of your team anymore. But I digress. Young is a pitcher on the cusp, but not without faults. Though he carries a three-year downtrend in ERA and three-year uptrend in strikeouts into 2008, his flyball rate remains frighteningly high. Luckily, his home ballpark is Petco Park which masks a lot of the negative impact this can have on his numbers, but if it remains at these levels, his ceiling will be limited. Struggled mightily in 2nd half of ’07 after a sparkling 1st half though a deeper look at numbers suggests that 2nd half might be closer what can be expected. Pitching in Petco to National League foes should keep ERA under 4.00, but he must fix control and flyball rate to become elite.

87. Scott Kazmir – Tampa Bay Devil Rays, SP (24):
Kazmir was amazing in the 2nd half of last year, but still needs to work on allowing fewer base runners in order get placed amongst the truly elite. Amongst his American League counterparts, he ranked 9th in ERA, but 26th in WHIP. The defense behind him tied for worst in the American League (.980 fielding percentage) meaning he is playing with fire by allowing all of those baserunners. You can’t go wrong with the 10 strikeouts per nine and the boatload of sub-4.00 innings. Wins will again be scarce in Tampa Bay.

86. Roy Oswalt – Houston Astros, SP (30):
Though very much a stud when it comes to starting pitchers, Oswalt has seen a rise in ERA each of the last three years and a drop in K/9 in each of the last four. That said, he put together a remarkable second half and even his bad seasons mean a sub-3.50 ERA with a handful of wins and 6.5 or more strikeouts per nine. Oswalt is a bankable ace meaning you pay the premium if your strategy is to lock down a true #1 starter.

85. Brian McCann – Atlanta Braves, C (24):
He batted 62 more times than in 2006 yet hit six fewer home runs, drove in one fewer run, scored 10 fewer runs and shaved 63 points off of his batting average yet he remained a premier offensive force at catcher. Power focus in 2nd half could mean a return to 20+ home run arena in 2008. His 18 home runs were 4th-best among catchers while the 92 runs batted in were good for 2nd behind Victor Martinez (114). Don’t bet on return to .300 just yet.

84. Adrian Gonzalez – San Diego Padres, 1B (25):
Put together a brilliant 30-100-100 that you almost come to expect out your 1st baseman in this era of power. Both halves were extremely well-balanced meaning even if you got on the Gonzalez bandwagon at the midway point; you got what you saw in the 1st half. There is nothing to suggest that 2007 wasn’t just the beginning of a series of 30-100-100 seasons for Gonzalez. He is likely available at strong keeper prices in most leagues, otherwise target him just behind the first wave of power like Fielder, Howard, Pujols, etc… at nearly half the price.

83. Ryan Zimmerman – Washington Nationals, 3B (23):
Back-to-back brilliant season and he is still just 23! He had a huge batting average recovery in the 2nd half after just a .245 heading into the break. He wasn’t all that phased by RFK’s ability to sap power from hitters with nearly half of his home runs (11) coming at home and now bids adieu to the cave with the new park opening up on March 30th of this year. Continued growth could see his first .300-30-100 season, even if the new park isn’t home run-friendly. He is the premier second-wave target if you prefer to let Rodriguez, Wright, Cabrera, Braun, Ramirez and Atkins fall while spending elsewhere.

82. Juan Pierre – Los Angeles Dodgers, OF (30):
A pure three-category guy that you can bank on each year for consistent delivery in stolen bases, runs scored and batting average. Still just 30 so he is no threat to slow down and only once in eight years has he batted below .287 (.276 in 2005). If his primary value comes in a category that is at such a premium (speed) and he is quite reliable in that particular category and two others and he doesn’t miss time (162 games played for five straight seasons), then why is he rated just 82nd on the list? Fair question. I am not a fan of paying for speed without getting much else and while he delivers in two other categories, neither carry immensely strong values. Plus, he is a leg injury away from suppressing his core value (and even one of his secondary values since he no doubt experiences a batting average boost from infield hits that come from the speed). I would rather acquire three 20-20 potential guys than a 0-60.

81. Aaron Harang – Cincinnati Reds, SP (30):
Now with three straight strong seasons under his belt, Harang is officially someone you can count on every five days. He strikes out almost a batter per inning and continues to improve year in and year out meaning the best may be yet to come. His flyball rate continued a 4-year rise, which could spell disaster in the Great American Ballpark, but he remained strong in the 2nd half of 2007 despite doubling his HR/9 rate from 0.7 in the 1st half.

Linda Cohn’s existence bothers me.

Leave it to the Worldwide Leader In Suckiness to blatantly blow something up and make it a far bigger story than it truly is. Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka put together a stellar complete game against the Detroit Tigers last night, but rest assured that it has absolutely NOTHING to do with Jim Leyland‘s comments the day before. First off, he said within the quote that Matsuzaka is a great pitcher, secondly, there are few things more blown out of proportion than “bulletin board items.” How many times do we see some guy on Team A running his yap in a playoff series only to have Team B end up winning? Is it because Team A’s player ran his yap? No. If a team or player needs to hear someone else’s comments to drive him towards victory, he shouldn’t be in the game to begin with. But good ol’ SportsCenter had to run the life out of the quote and the subsequent complete game by Matsuzaka. Ugh.

It was bad enough when they were forcing NASCAR down our throats, but now they are trying to get us to believe that the MLS is worth a lick. Why do they continue to believe that these fringe sports are worth our time? Nobody watches NBA, which isn’t even considered a fringe sport and the NHL (which I happen to love) is relegated to Versus for their playoff coverage, so if they can’t draw viewers, why do they think that NASCAR & MLS would??? I know I could just change the channel and not worry about it, but the fact that it used to be so great and has now turned to crap (a la the once great Simpsons television show) is so frustrating.