Around The Majors- Wednesday

Evening edition going down today, I'll update the race in the AL East, tell you what's on tap for tonight, go through some news and notes, and discuss some topics along with some guest analysts.

M.L.B. Update
Rookie Andy Sonnanstine outdueled Dice-K Matsuzaka as the Devil Rays defeated the Red Sox 6-5 at Fenway. Carlos Pena drove in 3 in the win. Shelly Duncan hit a 3 run bomb off of Jaime Walker to tie it in the 9th and waste a stellar outing from Erik Bedard- again, but Mariano Rivera had another bad outing and gave up 3 in the 10th as Baltimore outlasted the Yankees 6-3. Aubrey Huff had a 2 run homer in the 3 run extra frame. Boston still leads New York by 5 in the AL East.

On Tap
Detroit is in a heated series against Cleveland, and they'll send rookie prospect Jair Jurrjens to the mound against Indians ace Fausto Carmona (7pm ESPN). The Angels look to hold off Seattle in the AL West, they send Dustin Moesley against rising star Shawn Marcum in Toronto. Meche and Padailla pitch in Texas, and Buehrle faces Blanton in a good duel in Oakland. Philadelphia wants to stay in their division race, they'll send promising rookie Kyle Kendrick to the mound against Tim Redding of the Nationals. John Maine faces Matt Morris in a quality matchup as the Mets go to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates. The hot Diamondbacks travel to Miami to meet with the Marlins, Doug Davis goes against the surprising Sergio Mitre. Atlanta hosts the Giants as Tim Hudson goes against Russ Ortiz. St Louis has a golden opportunity to get back into the playoff race, they send Joel Piniero against rookie Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers. The Cubs also want the NL Central, they send Ted Lilly against the Reds' Phil Dumatrait. In a battle of NL West contenders, Colorado sends rookie prospect Ubaldo Jimenez against Padres star Chris Young, who's still trying to get back to form off of the DL. Los Angeles sends out ace Brad Penny to break their funk against Jason Jennings of the Astros.

Standings
The Yankees have won 7 of 10 but are still 5 games back of Boston in the AL East. Cleveland and Minnesota have both dropped 7 of 10, the Indians have lost 4 in a row and is 1 game back of Detroit in the AL Central, the Twins are 7 out. The Angels lead Seattle by 3 in the AL West. The Mets lead Philadelphia by 3 games and Atlanta by 3.5 in the NL East. The Cubs have lost 3 straight and 7 of 10 to go 1.5 back of Milwaukee in the NL Central. St Louis is only 4.5 out right now. Arizona have won 7 of 10 and leads San Diego by 2 games in the NL West. Colorado is 5 out, and the Dodgers are 6.5 games out.

News and Notes
- On the deadline to sign draft picks, there has been a flurry of activity among teams today. Tampa Bay has inked top overall selection David Price to a 6 year deal worth 8.5 million guaranteed. There are a total of 5 first round picks who haven't signed yet including 2nd overall pick Mike Moustakas for the Royals, 3rd overall pick Cubs IF Josh Vitters, and the 5th overall pick Baltimore's C Matt Wieters.
- Prince Fielder was suspended 3 games by MLB for inappropriate and aggressive conduct in an altercation on Sunday with home plate umpire Wally Bell.
- Former major leaguer Jose Offerman went primal on two players in an independent Atlantic League game between the Long Island Ducks and the Bridgeport Bluefish. He was arrested and charged with 2 counts of 2nd degree assault. He homered in the 1st inning and was hit in his next at bat against former Phillie Matt Beech. Offerman charged the mound with his bat, and broke Beech's right middle finger and hit Catcher John Nathan in the head, causing a concussion. Offerman has posted $10,000 bond, and has been suspended from the league indefinitely and could be banned for life.
- Congrats to Bobby Cox, he was tossed from last night's game against the Giants, breaking John McGraw's record for the most ejections of all time. There will be no asterisk here.
- Arizona did some roster reshuffling today, placing Chad Tracy on the DL and designating BK Kim and Joe Kennedy for assignment.
- Alex Gonzalez went on the bereavement list for the Reds as they brought up Mark Bellhorn. Detroit signed their first round pick Rick Porcello, and the Giants inked their 1st rounders Madison Bumgarner and Wendell Fairley. The Brewers designated Chris Spurling for assignment, and Vincente Padilla was activated from the DL as Brandon McCarthy went on the shelf. Adam Eaton went on the DL as well.

Hot Topics
The Playoffs are approaching in most fantasy leagues, and that begs the question of who the MVP of fantasy baseball is this year thus far. I asked ESPN expert Nate Ravitz, and his answer may surprise you.
"In terms of the straight up best fantasy player of the year, right now it's Hanley Ramirez by a nose over A-Rod." Ravitz said. In the league I run with my points system on ESPN.com, Ramirez is 11th and A-Rod is 2nd to Jake Peavy. But I'll agree that Hanley's all around stats for this year are certainly remarkable and worthy of most valuable status.
"Hanley is on pace for almost 30 homers, 50 steals, and hitting .340. Can't beat that." It's hard to argue with statistics like that. Hanley has been overhsadowed by his NL East SS conterparts Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes, but the people in the know are recognizing that Ramirez has improved so much that he could be a first round pick in most mock drafts next season. In terms if value MVP's, Ravitz is going with a young Brewer and an experienced Tiger.
"In terms of most bang for the buck It's probably Magglio (Ordonez) or, depending on what you had to pay, Ryan Braun."
In most leagues, Braun was probably picked up off of waivers, and did he sure pay dividends for the team that acquired him. Braun doesn't even rank in the top 100 players in my system, but he wasn't up the first 2 months. Imagine where he'd be if his stats were pro-rated. Ordonez is 10th on my SOS rankings, and was definitely overlooked at the drafts.

I've never been accused of having East Coast bias, but many people are forgetting about the races in the AL and NL West. Though Arizona has been scorching as of late, ESPN analyst Steve Phillips told me that the division winner won't be wearing red.
"I think the Padres will end up winning the West, passing Arizona." Phillips told SprungOnSports. "The Padres pitching will be tough to face in the playoffs, but they score so few runs that it makes it a little easier for opponents in close games."
Though the Friars are far from being an offensive juggarnaut, their pitching is quite supberb. A playoff rotation of Peavy, Young, and Greg Maddux will be hard to stop, and Heath Bell and Trevor Hoffman make for a dangerous bullpen duo. In the Junior Circuit, Phillips thinks that the Angels are a team primed for a postseason run.
"The Angels are an interesting team, they have pitching depth and the unique ability to manufacture runs better than almost anyone in baseball, and that bodes well for playoff games, which tend to be close and hard faught."
Chone Figgins, Gary Matthews, and Reggie Willits set the table really well for big boppers Vlad Guerrero and Orlando Cabrera, and almost everyone in their order is a threat to steal. The continued success of John Lackey is now paired atop the rotation with surprise stud Kelvim Escobar. And with Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez anchoring the bullpen, the Angels could be tough to tame in the playoffs. But will the Halos even get there over the Seattle Mariners?
"The Angels are hearing footsteps from the Mariners, bit I think they will hold them off."
Needless to say, the wild wild west has returned in full force in the major leagues.