Who Is Hot & Who’s Not - The Latest In Baseball Superstars

Each year baseball entails new players who lead the league in different statistical categories.  Those players that lead these respective statistical categories year in and year out are those who become superstars within the game.  Each generation of baseball players has its’ own respective superstars and the current generation is no exception.

Who Hot:

1. Roger Clemens, P - Houston Astros - Clemens pitches for the Houston Astros and is currently in his final Major League season at 44 years of age.  Throughout his career which began in 1984, he has been a superstar; however, what makes Clemens even moreso special now is the fact that unlike most players who tend to see their skills decline in age, he has gotten better.  Arguably Clemens has had the best seasons of his career after the age of 40 as he has led the National League in E.R.A. for two consecutive years.

2. Manny Ramirez, LF - Boston Red Sox - Over his career Ramirez has made claim to going down in the history books as one of the best hitters to ever play Major League Baseball.  Even though his defense is a liability, throughout his career Ramirez has averaged a .330 batting percentage, 40 home runs, and 135 RBI.   Although this season he has not received the same hype that other players in the league have, he is quietly having what would be a career-year for many other players.  This season Ramirez is hitting .313 with 34 homeruns and 101 RBI.

3.  Ryan Howard, 1B - Philadelphia Phillies - In this, his rookie season, Howard has hit 57 homeruns and will likely reach the famous 61 homerun mark set by Roger Maris in 1961.  Such a rookie season is unprecedented in the history of baseball and will go down as one of the best years in the history of the league.  Howard has single-handedly carried the Phillies to the verge of earning a wild card by hitting .312 and knocking in 140 runs.

4. Albert Pujols, 1B - St. Louis Cardinals – Even though Pujols missed a month early in the season due to injury, he still managed to rack up MVP statistics once again.  This season Pujols is hitting .330 with 46 homeruns and 133 RBI.  According to a poll of his peers, Albert is the best baseball player in the Major Leagues as year after year he is contention for a triple crown while providing the St. Louis Cardinals gold glove defense at first base.

5. Joe Mauer, C - Minnesota Twins - In only his third Major League season Mauer has earned high praise and is considered a leading candidate for American League MVP.  While flirting with a .400 batting average throughout the first half of the season, Mauer has single-handedly carried the Twins to the post-season.  Although his power stats are not gaudy, he has batted .344 and played gold glove defense behind the plate.

6. Johan Santana, P - Minnesota Twins - Over the past four years this left-hander has quietly compiled one of the best stretches a pitcher has ever had in the baseball history.  Each time Santana toes the rubber the Twins are all but guaranteed a victory.  This season he has won 18 games to only 5 loses while compiling a 2.77 ERA with 240 strikeouts.  Along with Mauer, he has nearly carried the Twins to a playoff birth in the American League.

Who’s Not:

1. Barry Bonds – Even though Bonds is perhaps the greatest player the game has ever known, he has been under fire over the past three seasons for accusations of steroid use.  Given this, many people have criticized Bonds and questioned his place in baseball history.  Although this season he passed the immortal Babe Ruth as the second leading homerun hitter of all-time, he is engulfed with negative scrutiny that has cast a shadow on his all-time greatness.

2. The Chicago Cubs - The perennial losers have seen nothing but the same this year as they are competing with the Kansas City Royals for the first team to lose 100 games.  This year has seen the Cubs pitching staff lose two of its best pitchers as Mark Prior and Kerry Wood experienced career-threatening injuries.  What once seemed to be one the best pitching staffs in the National League has been reduced to yet another rebuilding attempt.  Making the Cubs struggles even worse is the fact that they have one of the highest payrolls in baseball; yet continue to be perineal losers.