Give it up for Ubaldo

The early pick for fantasy's best pitcher in 2010 is Ubaldo Jimenez, and it's not even close.

Before the season you would have guessed Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay or maybe CC Sabathia or Zack Greinke. And while all of those guys have made their share of positive contributions, Jimenez has topped them all.

A record of 10-1. An ERA of 0.78. A 0.90 WHIP. Seventy strikeouts against 26 walks.

The numbers for the Colorado Rockies ace are nearly impeccable. He's this year's Greinke - a guy we knew was good, but never dreamed could be THIS good. Outdueling Lincecum? Leading the majors in wins? Putting up better stats than Halladay? If you saw all that coming, take a bow, because you're smarter than everyone else.

So can Jimenez keep it up? I don't see why not. The 26-year-old is on a roll, and while his ratios are probably due for some regression, there's no reason he can't keep up a Cy Young-caliber season. I wouldn't consider selling high on him unless I were getting an top-flight fantasy ace (Lincecum/Halladay) or an elite hitter in return.


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CC's near no-no

I was lucky enough to witness CC Sabathia's gem on Saturday at Tropicana Field. Never been anywhere close to seeing a no-hitter in person (though I covered a few Little League softball no-nos back in the day as a cub reporter), so I was pretty into it.

Cruising through 7.

Foiled in the 8th.

Kelly Shoppach had to go and ruin it for me (and CC, I suppose) with four outs to go. But it was a great performance from Sabathia nonetheless, and it got me thinking about the Yankees' ace from a fantasy perspective.

You can make a case that, along with Roy Halladay, CC is the surest thing in fantasy among starting pitchers. Think about it: He's the ace of a squad that's roundly projected to win 90-plus games; he's a veteran pitcher with a marvelous track record and no serious injury history; he hasn't pitched fewer than 230 innings or won fewer than 17 games in the past three years; he hasn't had an ERA higher than 3.40 in the past four years.

I ranked CC No. 24 overall among all fantasy players in my preseason rankings and the fourth pitcher on the list, behind Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke. But Greinke doesn't have nearly the track record of Sabathia or nearly as strong a team, and was placed there mostly based on his upside. You can make a case CC deserves to be as high as No. 3. He's one of the select few pitchers you can always keep in your lineup and never even consider benching.

Peace of mind in fantasy baseball is a beautiful thing. And so are one-hitters.

Inside the Top 50

A few random insights into my Top 50 players list:

Albert Pujols is the consensus No. 1 fantasy pick in almost every rankings, including mine. But I went with Alex Rodriguez at No. 2 over Hanley Ramirez because I think A-Rod still has at least another year of elite production and could rival Pujols' offensive numbers. If you look at what Rodriguez did last year despite the missed games with a hip injury and the fallout from his steroid admission, you could easily make a case this will be a special year for him.

But I'd still be thrilled to build my team around Han-Ram at shortstop, even though his steals totals have been in decline.

Just a personal preference, but I don't like taking pitchers in the first round, which is why Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum are just outside the top 10. And surprise - I like Halladay this year in the NL just slightly more than fantasy favorite Lincecum.

Evan Longoria edges David Wright as my top third baseman. I just can't put Wright's awful 2009 out of my mind, even though he says this year will be different.

Adrian Gonzalez is a tad higher on my list than some others I've seen. That's in the hopes that he gets traded somewhere this season - Boston, perhaps? He'd have hit 50 HRs or more last year if he didn't play home games in Petco Park.

I'm a little down on Ichiro Suzuki this year. Last season's leg troubles and declining SB/runs totals scare me a little.

I have similar concerns about Brian Roberts, who's stolen base numbers have dropped from 50 to 40 to 30 in the past three seasons and who's still recovering from a herniated disk that's kept him out of spring training games so far. But with 2B being such a shallow position he might be a risk I'm willing to take.

Jonathan Broxton is the only closer who cracks the top-50. And I'd still probably avoid taking him (or any closer) that high.

B.J. Upton rounds out the list in the hopes he'll have a bounce-back year at the plate. He could be a steal.

New Face, New Place: Roy Halladay, Phillies

Just when you thought Roy Halladay couldn't get any more valuable ...

Halladay's numbers the past eight years have been out-of-this world, and they came with the Blue Jays in the AL East. Now he's in the NL with the Phillies. No DH. Pitcher batting ninth. Better offense backing him up. Tough park, yes. But also consider:

g Halladay's new home, Citizens Bank Park, was 16th in home runs allowed in 2009. Right behind it at No. 17? Rogers Centre in Toronto.

g The general rule of thumb is to shave at least a half a run off a pitcher's ERA when he moves from the AL to the NL. Halladay's ERAs the past two seasons? 2.79 and 2.78.

g Halladay's career ERA against the NL in interleague play: 2.65.

g He won 17 games last year. On a team that won 75 games.

In other words, there's a whole lot to like about Halladay in 2010. I have zero concerns about his age or durability at this point. I think he'll be out to prove he's baseball's best pitcher as he strives for the first playoff appearance of his career. And I think he could outperform Tim Lincecum as fantasy's top pitcher this year.

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New Face, New Place: Cliff Lee, Mariners

Normally a pitcher who's moving from the NL to the AL is due for a little bit of a downgrade. That's just something that comes with the tougher, DH-included lineups of the Junior Circuit.

But will it be the case for Cliff Lee?

Lee was phenomenal last year as a late-season acquisition by the Phillies, leading them all the way to the World Series. Now he's a little ticked that the Phils decided to get rid of him this offseason, trading him to the Mariners and acquiring Roy Halladay in his place.

Lee pitched to a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts for Philly and was even better in their hitter-friendly home stadium, Citizens Bank Park, posting a 2.52 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in five starts. And now he's moving back to the AL, where he spent his entire career with the Indians prior to last summer's deal and won a Cy Young in 2008. His new team's offense won't be nearly as good as the slugging Phillies (Seattle was one of the league's worst offensive teams in 2009), but he'll have a stellar defense behind him and the benefit of pitcher-friendly Safeco Field.

I expect Lee to be every bit as good in Seattle as he's been the past couple seasons. He's easily a top 10 fantasy pitcher in 2010.

Hamels dodges a bullet

Sleep easy, Cole Hamels owners: The Phillies ace has no structural damage in his pitching elbow, only inflammation.

That's really the best news you could have hoped for after Hamels reported feeling stiffness and tightness. He's not out of the woods yet - the Phils will obviously take it slow with their 25-year-old World Series MVP, and there's some talk of him not being ready on Opening Day. But that's not going to scare me away at this point ... he's dealt with injuries before and is still clearly a top-10 fantasy starter. In fact, I currently have him ranked fifth, just a tick ahead of Roy Halladay. That might be a little controversial - Halladay's as steady as they come - but I believe the sky's the limit for a healthy Hamels, and he could finish the year as fantasy's No. 1 starter.

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