A Mystery Writer Publication Special 95 championship $4 The edition! CIMA League Times

Vol. VIII, No. 5 October 15, 2006 REDS #1! White Sox Upset Nats for Western Crown

by Editor in Chief, The Mystery Writer

The Reds Answer Their J Critics o s great as it was to win that first one, I think I’m enjoying this one even more. Our ’96 team set a points H “Arecord, but never got the kind of respect I thought we deserved. Winning again and joining five other owners who have won a more than one championship seems like a validation of our franchise’s competitiveness and our approach to winning,” said the Reds’ n very happy owner, David Brantlinger. In the end, the Reds overwhelmed all of their Eastern Division challengers, finishing Reds more than 400 points ahead of both the sec- ond-place Athletics and third-place Braves. Johan Santana... The Orioles and Marlins finished fourth and Santana was lights out in September. With out, Roy Halliday fifth, respectively, well out of contention. hurting, and Felix Hernandez stumbling a bit, it was Johan to the Red’s rescue. In The Reds’ competition for this year’s the season’s final 30 days, Santana won four games and contributed 157 points to championship came out of the West. Going the Reds’ cause. “Santana was huge for us down the stretch, and every man on this into the season, the Nationals (previously squad knows that this championship wouldn’t have been possible without Johan,” the Dodgers) were coming off back-to-back said Reds’ top kick, Dave Brantlinger. championships and were installed as the preseason favorite to win both the Western systematically rebuilding their franchise, the White Sox were looking like the biggest Division and a third straight CIMA League came out of the blocks fast. Their quick start, kid on the block with the Nationals the only championship. Early season injuries to allstar coupled with the Nationals’ misfortunes, team capable of upsetting the Sox’ run to a first baseman Derrek Lee, gave White Sox management and their fans a Western Division title. Marcus Giles and right-handed flame-throw- reason to believe. As the separations began to occur, the er Rich Harden transformed the Nationals’ As we approached mid-May, a two-horse “haves” began searching the “have-nots” for season. The preseason favorites were in trou- race was emerging in each division. The East opportunities to improve. By the trading ble, and the newly installed management was was settling into a dogfight between the deadline, three of the four contenders had facing some tough decisions. front-running Athletics (the 2005 Eastern Meantime, the White Sox, who had been Division champs) and the Reds. In the West, see The Reds’ Answer, page 6 Western Division

White Noise. What can you say? The Sox’ 7,667 points, while only good enough for the sec- ond spot this season, would have been enough to have won the championship last season. This is one very productive offense, with several tremendously gifted young starters. If the Sox can find a top-notch , they’ll certainly begin the 2007 season as a favorite to win the West and, like was true this year, a contender for the championship. Rumor has it that Joel Zumaya may just be the closer the Sox need.

National Alert. The injuries to Lee and Harden were a shame and, absent those injuries, there’s no doubt that the Nationals’ season would have had a different ending. That said, those injuries and the Nats’ reaction to them caused the Nationals to get a whole lot older this year. The question facing the Nationals is whether, after examining their roster this off-season, they decide to reload or rebuild. From this writer’s perspective, I think they’re in for several lean years and rebuilding is the way to go. came on strong during the second half of the season and should be ready for a break-out year in 2007.

New York Times. Despite a number of very talented young ballplayers, this Yankee team is still a couple of years away from contention. That said, other than the Yanks themselves, how many of you knew that the Yankees had the most productive pitching in 2006? Well, they did. Still, their offense is anemic and must develop.

I think Jose Reyes is the best offensive player in baseball— period.

Filibuster. The Senators are better than they were, but they’re not nearly as good as they need to be. While the good news is certainly the pick-up in the 2006 draft of Papelbon, Santana, and league R.O.Y. Matt Holliday, the bad news is the move of Soriano to the outfield and Papelbon from the bullpen. Unless these switches aren’t made, the Senators have two big holes to fill on a team that already finished fourth in the West. Does Bubba Crosby have compromising pictures of Bill Kingsley…if not, what’s the obsession?

Tiger Beat. As the Nats got older, the Tigers got younger. The 2007 Tiger franchise will be much improved and, if they can begin to get some big-league experience and production from Brandon Wood, Stephen Drew, and Delmon Young, they may be one of the league’s most-improved teams. While there is much to be happy about, the diagnosis of and the surgery on Pedro Martinez are tough blows to a team that needed every one of their players healthy and available to make a strong move next Brian McCann has emerged as one of the league’s best season. backstops.

The CIMA League Times  Eastern Division

Red Square. What’s left to be said? The Reds won and deserved to win. Brantlinger has suffered, if not thousands, hundreds of words of criticism from this rag in the past and has earned our heartiest congratulations on his championship win. Can the Reds repeat? Certainly. Their championship this year is new evidence of an astrological discovery known as “Brantlinger’s Comet.” It is a bright red star that is observed every ten years. First sighted in 1996, next sighted this summer (2006) and, according to many astrologers and every living, breathing Wang, Sheets, Wood, and Baldelli for Suzuki? Huh??? baseball expert, not expected to be seen again until 2016.

Jock Jive. The A’s played it smart this season. As desperate as they are to win their first league championship, when faced with adversity (injuries to Pujols and Oswalt), they stood firm rather than trade away talent in a mad effort to recover. The A’s go into next season much stronger than they entered this season. Over the summer, Justin Morneau has emerged as a top-tier producer, Dustin Pedroia has stamped his ticket in the Sox’ infield, Chuck James has emerged as one of the best young left-handed starters in The A’s seem to have gotten the best of the Marlins in the baseball, and Troy Tulowitzki has laid claim Beckett-for-Buehrle deal. But, the jury ordered din- to the shortstop position in Colorado. The A’s ner—stay tuned. are ready for a big rebound.

Smoke Signals. While the Braves finished a disappointing third, they were just 22 points behind the A’s for the second spot in the East and can point to a number of very positive developments this season. Chief among them, the emergence of Eric Bedard as a quality power-pitching southpaw. While these types are not mandatory, most CIMA League champions have one—see Johan Santana and . Next season, the Braves are hoping that Brad Lidge regains his confidence, Billy Butler finds his Only one starting outpointed John Smolz this way into the Royal lineup and the rest of these year—Johan Santana. Is that wild, or what? Kudos to Braves stay healthy. If that happens, you can’t Smolz. count this Braves team out.

Bird Droppings. Like the A’s, the Orioles stood pat this season. Despite crippling in- juries to and Bartolo Colón, both slated as front-line on this Birds team and, despite the loss of both second basemen, Cantu and Kinsler, to injury, injuries to Shannon Stewart, Cliff Floyd, and Alex Rios, the Orioles never flinched. Rather, they watched Jeff Françouer, , Hanley Ramirez, and Scott Olsen develop. As bad as the Orioles season went, Oriole fans have much to be excited Will Orioles keep three top shortstops and three top third- about. This team can come back and, if they basemen, or will they look to deal someone this offseason? stay healthy next season, will. …doubtin’ a deal!

Fish Tales. The Marlins are the worst team in the league, and it is not really a close call. I predict the Marlins draft 18 players next season. Though they have a number of quality young players, they aren’t deep enough to qualify as a kiddie pool. Hurst may have five CIMA League championships, but that sixth one is going to be a long time in coming. Jim (Rodgers) and Boog (Powell) will notice signs of evolu- tion in the fish they’re catching before this Marlins team will win a title. Hell, they finished 1,752 points behind the Reds. If you’d given them Pujols, Isn’t there a single ray of light…? No. Not really. Mauer and Santana, they still would have fin- ished 177 points behind. This Fish stinks.

 The CIMA League Times West Division #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 White Sox Nationals Yankees Senators Tigers

1B P. Konerko *596 1B J. Giambi *580 1B N. Johnson *542 1B J. Thome *616 1B T. Helton *530 1B M. Jacobs 399 1B P. Fielder *492 1B L. Overbay 529 1B C. Shelton 297 1B M. Teixeira *620 2B P. Durham 495 1B J. Huber 24 1B C. Jackson 444 1B D. Barton M 2B J. Kent* 386 2B C. Utley *648 2B C. Figgins *504 2B R. Weeks 298 2B A. Soriano *642 2B M. Ellis 333 2B H. Kendricks 180 2B M. Giles 434 2B R. Cano *421 2B L. Gonzalez 78 2B R. Belliard *396 SS M. Young *585 SS M. Tejada *589 SS BJ Upton 108 2B J. Castillo 367 SS K. Greene* *326 3B C. Atkins *667 SS J. Hardy 88 SS J. Upton M SS E. Renteria *508 SS S. Drew 160 3B M. Teahen 390 3B M. Mora *514 SS J. Reyes *614 SS B. Crosby 257 3B S. Rolen* *523 C I. Rodriguez *587 3B I. Stewart M 3B H. Blalock *479 SS C. Barmes 308 3B A. Marte 121 C V. Martinez *717 3B M. Cabrera *656 3B C. Jones *485 3B A. Beltre *515 3B B. Wood M C D. Navarro 259 C J. Lopez 306 3B A. Gordon M 3B S. Hillenbrand 399 C B. Molina 443 OF J. Damon *560 C J. Posada *599 C J. Estrada 459 3B P. Feliz *474 C B. McCann* *608 OF B. Giles *539 C J. Mathis 46 C Y. Molina 340 C M. Piazza *457 OF C. Lee* *635 OF G. Jenkins 410 OF A. Jones *640 C K. Johjima *548 C M. Barrett 439 OF G. Sheffield 141 OF M. Bradley 329 OF B. Abreu *644 OF K. Griffey 380 C J. Buck 356 OF DL Young 82 OF J. Pierre 464 OF A. Huff 381 OF V. Wells *591 OF G. Anderson *441 OF C. Beltran* *653 OF R. Church 188 OF C. Burke 286 OF B. Baldelli 323 OF J. Jones *458 OF A. Rowand* 299 OF N. Gorneault M OF C. Granderson 474 OF A. Kearns *509 OF J. Reed 126 OF N. Markakis *400 OF L. Millage 115 OF S. Green 416 OF M. Holiday *634 OF J. Hermida 212 OF J. Dye *623 OF M. Murton 392 OF H. Matsui 178 DH T. Hafner *616 OF J. Gomes 336

SubTotal 5,522 SubTotal 5,218 SubTotal 4,805 SubTotal 4,745 SubTotal 4,691

RS M. Clement 168 RS J. Vazquez 459 RS B. Myers 489 RS B. Radke 383 RS T. Hudson 466 RS K. Millwood *477 RS J. Schmidt 455 RS B. Webb *578 RS V. Padilla 531 RS M. Mussina *547 RS C. Zambrano *610 RS J. Blanton *507 RS J. Peavy 490 RS K. Benson 363 RS J. Jennings 367 RS J. Verlander *549 RS AJ Burnett 368 RS A. Miller M RS S. Ponson 148 RS K. Escobar 422 RS J. Seo 163 RS A. Reyes 197 RS D. Cabrera 382 RS C. Carpenter *559 RS P. Martinez 362 RS J. Zumaya 247 RS J. Patterson 67 RS C. Hansen 30 RS E. Santana 541 RS C. Pavano INJ LS O. Perez 231 RS C. Schilling *558 RS C. Wang *551 RS C. Young 439 RS J. Lieber 325 LS C. Hamels 370 LS R. Johnson *597 RS B. Sheets 266 RS F. Garcia *560 RS J. Westbrook 484 LS S. Kazmir 413 LS Z. Duke 367 RS K. Wood 38 LS T. Lilly *535 LS J. Francis *442 LS C. Capuano 449 LS T. Glavine 506 LS B. Zito *551 LS D. Davis 434 LS J. Lester 235 LS N. Lowry 259 RS D. Haren *526 SubTotal 1,636 SubTotal 1,662 SubTotal 1,680 SubTotal 1,654 SubTotal 1,515

CL E. Guardado 208 CL J. Nathan 563 CL F. Rodriguez *709 CL J. Devine 10 CL M. Rivera *497 CL T. Jones *509 CL BJ Ryan *580 CL H. Street 548 CL J. Papelbon *530 CL B. Wickman 471 CL M. Gonzalez 376 SubTotal 509 SubTotal 580 SubTotal 709 SubTotal 530 SubTotal 497 White Sox Nationals Yankees Senators Tigers Grand Total 7,667 Grand Total 7,460 Grand Total 7,194 Grand total 6,929 Grand Total 6,703 Change Change Change Change Change

Marlins #2, Tigers #3 Reds #3, Tigers #4, A’s #2 White Sox #1 Nats #1

The CIMA League Times  East Division #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Reds Athletics Braves Orioles Marlins

1B R. Howard *750 1B A. Pujols *718 1B L. Berkman *682 1B C. Delgado *568 1B D. Lee 181 1B R. Sexson 544 1B S. Casey 314 1B D. Johnson 220 1B A. LaRoche 496 1B C. Kotchman 38 2B M. Loretta *432 1B J. Morneau *637 1B A. Phillips 172 2B J. Cantu 308 1B J. Wilkerson *270 2B J. Barfield 403 2B O. Hudson *472 2B J. Vidro 329 2B I. Kinsler *361 2B D. Uggla *538 SS J. Guzman 36 2B B. Roberts 457 2B P. Polanco 320 SS R. Furcal *560 SS J. Uribe 339 SS D. Jeter *643 2B D. Pedroia 45 2B T. Iguchi *475 SS H. Ramirez 546 SS J. Peralta *435 3B N. Garciaparra *475 SS C. Guillen *554 SS J. Rollins *602 SS F. Lopez 507 3B A. Rodriguez *661 3B M. Lowell 471 SS J. Wilson 333 SS J. Lugo 339 3B T. Glaus *576 3B A. LaRoche M 3B M. Ensberg 399 SS T. Tulowitzki 64 3B E. Chavez *444 3B D. Wright 621 3B C. Tracy *498 C J. LaRue 137 SS R. Adams 168 3B A. Ramirez *594 3B R. Zimmerman *572 OF C. Crawford *539 C J. Mauer *716 3B B. Inge *463 C M. Lieberthal 225 C J. Kendall *567 OF R. Winn 413 OF JD Drew 535 3B E. Encarnación 378 C T. Hall 241 C AJ Pierzynski 532 OF L. Gonzales 482 OF J. Gibbons 266 C P. LoDuca *536 C R. Hernandez *591 C J. Saltalamacchia M OF P. Wilson 392 OF J. Guillen 185 C R. Barajas 335 C J. Varitek 389 OF B. Bonds 471 OF B. Hawpe *482 OF R. Ibañez *630 OF V. Guerrero *622 OF N. Swisher *570 OF S. Stewart 133 OF G. Sizemore *604 OF A. Dunn *573 OF M. Ramirez *562 OF K. Mench 342 OF M. Cameron *520 OF J. Willingham 431 OF I. Suzuki *535 OF P. Burrell *516 OF J. Bay *630 OF C. Floyd 260 OF J. Edmonds 358 OF B. Anderson 441 OF C. Crisp 300 OF T. Hunter *525 DH D. Ortiz *723 OF R. Langerhans 236 OF J. Kubel 149 OF A. Rios 435 OF J. Burnitz 244 OF J. Lane 257 OF E. Brown 470 OF C. Gonzalez M OF M. Ordoñez *537 OF J. Francouer *511 OF B. Butler M OF C. Quentin 154 SubTotal 5,477 SubTotal 5,080 SubTotal 5,125 SubTotal 4,760 SubTotal 4,027

RS R. Halladay *532 RS R. Oswalt 541 RS B. Penny 548 RS G. Maddux *492 RS D. Lowe *523 RS F. Hernandez *476 RS J. Contreras 459 RS M. Morris 367 RS B. Colón 56 RS L. Hernandez 453 RS R. Lopez 361 RS J. Beckett *558 RS J. Lackey 515 RS M. Prior 63 RS A. Eaton 218 RS Jared Weaver 380 RS J. Garland *562 RS J. Smoltz *611 RS R. Sosa 150 RS C. Billingsley 234 RS D. McGowan 47 RS J. Suppan 404 RS J. Bonderman *552 LS CC Sabathia *472 RS J. Weaver 307 LS J. Santana *720 LS A. Pettitte *528 LS J. Moyer 383 LS M. Mulder 200 RS R. Harden 149 LS F. Liriano 444 LS C. Lee 479 LS J. Washburn 303 LS D. Willis 460 RS M. Cain *504 LS G. Chacin 272 LS E. Bedard *546 LS S. Olsen *466 RS K. Davies 126 LS C. James 366 LS P. Maholm 317 RS R. Madson 374 LS M. Buehrle *398 LS O. Perez 231 LS J. Vargas 50 LS B. Chen 70 SubTotal 1,728 SubTotal 1,648 SubTotal 1,709 SubTotal 1,430 SubTotal 1,425

CL F. Cordero 370 CL T. Hoffman *648 CL B. Lidge *520 CL J. Isringhausen *481 CL B. Wagner *614 CL C. Ray 480 CL D. Turnbow 381 CL R. Dempster 379 CL E. Gagne 3 CL J. Valverde 303 CL B. Jenks *613 CL C. Cordero 446 SubTotal 613 SubTotal 648 SubTotal 520 SubTotal 481 SubTotal 614 Reds Athletics Braves Orioles Marlins Grand Total 7,818 Grand Total 7,376 Grand Total 7,354 Grand Total 6,671 Grand total 6,066 Change Change Change Change Change Braves #2, Reds #1

 The CIMA League Times For as long as

“ men have played

baseball, it has been hmmm…who ’dat? generally accepted

that good pitching

The Senators took Matt Holliday with the second overall pick in the ’06 draft, will always beat good and he proved worthy. Matt produced big numbers from the start, finishing the year with 634 points and the league’s Rookie-of-the-Year award. “Bill and I agreed that Holliday was the guy we wanted, and when the Braves hitting. The Reds’ passed on him, we didn’t hesitate,” said Senators GM Aaron Jones.

The Reds’ Answer, continued from story on p. 1 championship 2006 made important deals, deals that would de- boss, Doug Cushman. termine their ultimate fates. The Reds and Nationals signed off on seems just another The White Sox picked up allstar outfield- several big deals. At season’s end, both teams er Jermaine Dye from the Braves, a power- could point to three of their 13 starters as hitting outfielder the Sox felt they needed to being players picked up via trades this sea- confirmation of that hold off the Nationals and make a run at the son. The Reds’ newbies were shortstop Derek 2006 championship. Jeter and outfielders Adam Dunn and Ichiro “We felt we had enough quality at all of Suzuki. The Nats’ starters were first baseman truth the starting 13 positions to win the cham- Jason Giambi, catcher Jorge Posada, and . pionship, with the possible exception of our right-handed starter . outfield depth. While we thought we could Of the four “haves,” only the Athletics count on Damen and Giles, an injury to Jen- decided to stand pat and play the cards they kins and the lack of solid production from were dealt. A’s fans may be critical of owner ” our other outfielders made the acquisition Bill Groves and his front office for not hav- of Dye so important for us,” said White Sox ing been more aggressive; but, in the final

The Kaz Ibañez Ex-Red emerged this season as one of the league’s power pitchers. A slightly built southpaw, he can bring it at upwards of 98 mph, proving he has 700-point potential. “He wore down in the stretch, but if he adds 10 pounds of muscle this off- season, he could push 650 points next year,” said Doug Cushman.

Can’t Catch Chase! With the prospect of Soriano moving to OF, emerged as the league’s best keystone player. After posting 574 points in ’05 (missing all-stars by just 6 points to Soriano’s 580), Utley improved this year to 648, edging Soriano by the same 6 points (Alfonso ended with 642), and earned himself both Division and League All-star selection at 2B. The CIMA League Times  analysis, it is hard to imagine that the A’s had any real opportunities to sufficiently improve themselves through trade to overtake what proved to be a very potent Reds team. “We looked for help at second and third, but we were not able to agree about any trade opportunities that we thought were good for us, both in the short, and, as importantly, long term,” said Groves. By late summer, the race had come down to a battle between the best in the West and the best in the East: the resurgent White Sox against the improving Big Red Machine. The A’s had fallen back, and the Nationals, while still holding on, clearly lacked the kind of fire power they needed to make a September surge. “When we lost Derrek, Rich, and Mar- cus, we had two choices: we could chuck the season and hold on to our best talent, allow our misfortunes to secure us a nice draft po- “ sition and be ready to come back and fight

hard in 2007; or, we could offer up some

Foley? manual of our talent for healthier replacements and dues

ricks T

make a run at a third straight championship. NAMBLA Dirty Dirty We decided to be aggressive,” said the Nats’ Pay first-year owner, Keith Parsons. The principal beneficiaries of all of this wheeling and dealing (other than the White The Brantlinger Sextet—These Cats Really blow! Sox and Reds, of course), were the Tigers and Marlins. The Tigers, while finishing in the The “dims” brain-trust take a Chairman Howard “Screeeeeec- Western Division cellar, begin next season break from a band practice ses- chh” Dean; Sen. Hillary “I-Did- sion at a leaders meeting of the Not-Have-Sexual-Relations-With- with a young , Johnny Gomes, 13th annual Legislative Issues and That-Woman-(Barbara-Mikulski)” Denny Haren and a healthy Hideki Mat- Answers Resource Symposium to Clinton; and Charles “Bring-Me- sui—all bought and paid for with the Tigers’ congratulate one of their own, Da- the-Garbage-of-Michael-Steele” former aging stars , Jorge Posa- vid Brantlinger, on his Reds 2006 Schumer. da, Jason Giambi, and Curt Schilling. CIMA League Championship. Pictured seated, from left: Reds “When we recognized that we couldn’t Pictured standing (for nothing) owner David Brantlinger, and win this season, we took a hard look at our from far left: House Minority Lead- Sen. Harry “Tell-Osama-(I-mean- roster and realized that we had a combination er Nancy “Two-Heartbeats-Away- Obama)-that-we-killed-the-Patri- of some aging, but still performing veterans, From-the-Presidency” Pelosi; DNC ot-Act” Reid. and a number of very impressive youngsters. We decided to swap our aging veterans for some less experienced, but equally produc- tive, players. We’re very satisfied with how in the bargain was one of those good deals from shortstop and, while we hated to trade we managed this strategy and are hoping that for both teams,” said Marlins COO Gary Sizemore, just couldn’t pass up Derek,” said our fans are as excited as we are when we start Hurst. Brantlinger. the 2007 season on much firmer footing,” In what may have been the most impor- From the Marlins’ perspective, there was said Tigers GM, Joe Kilty. tant deal of the year, the Marlins hooked up more in this deal than may have appeared. The Marlins were, as one might have ex- with the Reds for what seemed to many as “We’re two or three years away from be- pected, the first of the vultures circling the a lopsided deal in the Reds’ favor. The Reds ing serious contenders, and we needed to Nats’ misfortune. “Having built that Nats sent and Johnny Peralta to get younger. Sizemore is four years younger team, I was very familiar with their roster. the Marlins for all-world shortstop Derek than Dunn, and we think he’s going to be When Lee and Harden went down, I saw Jeter and the powerhitting outfielder Adam more productive than Dunn right now. And, an opportunity for a nice two-for-one, and Dunn. While it seems the Reds may have Peralta, while largely an unknown, is eight the Nats liked the offer. We hated giving up been strong enough to have won this cham- years Jeter’s junior. We hated trading Derek, Mark, but we believed that, given our situa- pionship without Jeter, his addition proved but he’ll be in his mid-thirties when we’re tion, and, in particular, our need for strong, most of the margin they can claim over the seriously contending again. Lastly, we were young pitching, the opportunity to swap White Sox. see Reds Answer, back page Teixeira for Lee and get Harden thrown in “We knew we had to get more points  The CIMA League Times 2006 Final Standings Eastern division HP PP TP PB Reds 5,477 2,341 7,818 –– Athletics 5,080 2,296 7,376 442 Braves 5,125 2,229 7,354 464 top five Orioles 4,760 1,911 6,671 1,147 Team TP PB Marlins 4,027 2,039 6,066 1,752 #1 Reds 7,818 –– #2 White Sox 7,667 151 Western #3 Nationals 7,460 358 division HP PP TP PB #4 Athletics 7,376 442 White Sox 5,522 2,145 7,667 –– #5 Braves 7,354 464 Nationals 5,218 2,242 7,460 207 Yankees 4,805 2,389 7,194 473 Senators 4,745 2,184 6,929 738 Tigers 4,691 2,012 6,703 964 2007 Draft Order (as of 10/01/2006)

Round Team 1 2 3 4 5 Marlins Nationals1 Tigers Nationals2 Yankees9 Orioles Senators Yankees Braves Marlins3 Athletics Yankees10 Nationals Tigers5 White Sox Senators8 Reds Marlins6 Yankees7

1 to Nats in Harden/Lee-for-Teixiera deal 6 to Marlins in Peralta/Sizemore-forJeter/Dunn deal 2 to Nats in Gomes/Matsui/Teixiera/Molina-for-Glavine/Posada/Giambi deal 7 to Yankees in Wang/Sheets/Wood/Baldelli-for-Suzuki deal 3 to Marlins in Iguchi/Varitek-forCordero deal 8 to Nats Senators in Swisher-for-Garcia deal 4 to Braves in Dye-for-Dempster deal 9 to Yankees in Hudson deal 5 to Tigers in Haren-for-Schilling deal 10 to Yankees in Gonzalez-for-Blalock deal

The CIMA League Times  2006 AlL- Stars West position East Mark Teixeira, Tigers 620 1B Ryan Howard, Reds* 750 Chase Utley, White Sox* 648 2B Dan Uggla, Marlins 538 Jose Reyes, Yankees 614 SS Derek Jeter, Reds* 643 Garrett Atkins, White Sox* 667 3B , Marlins 661 Victor Martinez, White Sox* 717 C , Reds 716 , Nationals* 656 OF Raul Ibañez, Reds 630 Carlos Beltran, Tigers* 653 OF Jason Bay, Braves 630 , Nationals* 644 OF Vlad Guerrero, Athletics 622 Travis Hafner, Yankees 616 DH , Reds* 723

Carlos Zambrano, White Sox* 610 ST Johan Santana, Reds* 720 Randy Johnson, Nationals 597 ST John Smoltz, Braves* 611 , Yankees 578 ST Jon Garland, Athletics 562 Felix Rodriguez, Yankees* 709 CL Trevor Hoffman,A thletics 648

*All-League Selections

League Awards

Most Valuable Player Ryan Howard Reds

Cy Young Award Johan Santana Reds

Rookie of the Year Matt Holiday Senators

 The CIMA League Times to take Kazmir’s place in the Sox’ rotation, Jeter’s a Winner and Felix Hernandez stepped in for Liriano When the struggling Marlins sent Derek Jeter to the Reds, he seized for the Reds, neither were as effective as the the opportunity and put up career starter they were replacing. numbers. Jeter was responsible In the end, the Reds’ pitching was just a for most of the Reds’ point margin little stronger than the White Sox’ offense. over the White Sox. “Derek was on fire from his very first at bat. For as long as men have played baseball, it We’re darn lucky to know we’ll has been generally accepted that good pitch- be starting next spring with #2 on ing will always beat good hitting. The Reds’ our side,” said Reds owner Dave 2006 championship seems just another con- Brantlinger. firmation of that truth. While the league chooses the Most Valu- able Player, Award winner, and Rookie of the Year, I thought it appropri- ate to end this story with Reds owner Dave Reds’ Answer, continued from story on p. 7 Brantlinger’s answer to our question about who he considers to be the Reds’ MVP this desperately interested in having the opportu- and their newest acquisition, Jermaine Dye, year: nity to pick the player we want in next year’s were putting up tremendous numbers. “Boy, that is a real tough one. I guess I’d draft, and Dunn, qualifying as he did at first The Reds’ young hitters, Ryan Howard say Ryan Howard. He just seemed to ex- base, lessened our opportunity to get the and Joe Mauer, were joined by the veteran plode, and his heroics energized our stretch first pick in the 2007 draft. Taken together, leadership of Derek Jeter, Adam Dunn, Da- run. But, how in the world can I single out we thought it was a good deal for us,” said vid Ortiz, and the surprising production Ryan, as incredible a year as he had, when I Hurst. from Raul Ibañez to answer the Sox, point just got through watching Santana [Johan] After the deadline and throughout all of for point. literally pick this Reds starting staff up on his August and September, the White Sox and Interestingly, both the Sox and Reds were shoulders and carry them through the entire Reds battled each other as hard as any two dealt similar tough, late-season blows. When month of September? I guess maybe they CIMA League teams have ever battled. The both lost their third starter (for the Sox, should share the award, so long as they let White Sox, led by their all-league second young lefty Scott Kazmir, and, for the Reds, Derek [Jeter] have it every so often,” laughed baseman Chase Utley, young catcher Victor their equally young left-hander Francisco a jubilant Brantlinger.u Martinez, flamethrower , Liriano). While stepped up

Ryan Howard After showing just how good he could be in a short-season callup last year, Ryan exploded this year. His 750 points topped all producers. His top-of-the-class performance in ’06 earned him the following bling-bling: CIMA League’s 2006 Top Point Producer; 2006 CIMA League All-Star 1B; 2006 CIMA League M.V.P. Award; and 2006 CIMA League Championship. When a 26-year old (in his first full season) hits .313 and bombs 58 taters, what can we expect when he’s 30?