Miguel Cabrera- Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers first baseman is simply having a monster year. There isn’t much more Miguel Cabrera could do to earn his $20 million pricetag. Miguel has a realistic shot at winning the batting title and RBI’s race in 2010 with two months to go in the season. The 27-year-old leads the league in OPS, slugging, and RBI’s and is second in the league in doubles and On Base Percentage. One thing hurting Cabrera’s chances at a AL MVP award is the rest of his team. Where would the Tigers be if Miguel wasn’t having a career year? The bottom of the AL Central that’s where.

Josh Hamilton - Texas Rangers

Josh Hamilton is another American league player having a career year at the plate, but the Texas Ranger does have the luxury of playing on a team that looks destined for October. The Rangers have opened a 8.5 game lead on the Oakland Athletics in the AL West, so barring a complete collapse, Hamilton should be playing in the postseason. The 29-year-old outfielder was completely out of baseball only three seasons ago, recovering from a serious addiction to drugs and alcohol. Hamilton presently is in the driver’s seat for the the 2010 batting title and leads the Rangers in all batting statistical categories expect RBI’s (Vladimir Gurrero leads team with 86).

Andre Dawson, Doug Harvey, and Whitey Herzog will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY this weekend. Beloved Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre “Hawk” Dawson will be the biggest name headed to hall in 2010. The .279 career batter spent 11 season in Montreal, before becoming a Cubbie legend in the mid-1980’s. In 1987, Dawson hit 49 home runs and 137 RBI’s on his way to the NL MVP Award. Joining Dawson this weekend in Cooperstown will be famed umpire Doug Harvey and 1982 World Series winning manager Whitey Herzog. Harvey earned the nickname “God” during his 30-year career umpiring in the major leagues. Herzog managed the Cardinals from 1980-1990 after spells with the Kansas City Royals, California Angels, and Texas Rangers. Finishing with six division titles, three NL pennants, and a World Series victory to his name, Herzog firmly deserved his place in the HOF.

For a guy making $20 million a year you would think it’d be hard to live up to your paycheck, but Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera has done just that thus far in 2010. Building on a great 2009 season, Cabrera leads Major League Baseball in home runs with 19 and RBI’s with 59. If the season ended today the 27-year-old would definantly be up for a MVP award in the American League. The first baseman is hitting .332 for the Tigers who are sitting in a game and a half back from the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins. Last Sunday Cabrera blasted a three run homer to push Detroit past Pittsburgh 4-3. With the quality players both the Twins and Tigers have on roster, the AL Central race should be exciting this summer. There’s little doubt that Cabrera’s brillance will play a huge part in the Tigers’ success.

Perhaps it’s a bit premature to enshrine Washington Nationals’ messiah Stephen Strasburg in Cooperstown, but some of his gear is already in route to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Nationals said that they are giving Strasburg’s hat and the ball that was used in the 21-year-old’s debut. Strasburg found some way to exceed the expectations put on his first MLB start by striking out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates this week. The San Diego born right hander devestated batters with his 100 MPH fast ball and wicked curve ball. Being an unknown quantiy to MLB players, Strasburg had a distinct advantage in his first start. Little can deny the #1 pick’s nasty stuff, however, with the amount of speed and movement he pitches with. In the minors, Strasburg had a ERA of 1.30 with the Syracuse Chiefs. The Nationals drafted another heralded prospect this week in 2010 MLB draft by selecting 17-year-old Bryce Harper. The future could be bright for the MLB’s youngest team.

Few MLB pitchers have accomplished what Dominican right hander Ubaldo Jimenez has already done this year. Jimenez is 9-1 in ten starts this season and dons a league best 0.88 ERA. In 2009, Jimenez showed glimpses of being a top pitcher going 15-12 with a ERA of 3.47, but nothing near the level of dominance he’s displayed in the first quarter of 2010. In 71.1 innings pitched thus far this season, Jimenez has only given up 7 runs and only one home run. The fans were on their feet last night in Denver when the 26-year-old finished up his 8 innings of shut out pitching. Colorado is currently four games behind the NL West leading San Diego Padres, but if the rest of starting staff gets their stuff together this season the Rockies should have a good shot at the postseason. Ubaldo makes his next start against next Monday against fellow ace Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants. Jimenez-Lincecum should be one of the best pitching duels of the year.

The city of Philadelphia was disappointed last year as their Phillies lost in six games to the New York Yankees in the 2009 World Series. After winning the World Series in 2008, Philadelphia has become a baseball-crazed town, but time will tell if the team can keep up such a high level of success. The Phillies off season saw Cliff Lee leave and Roy Halladay join the a already impressive roster. Halladay’s career winning percentage of .661 is staggering considering he spent his entire career in Toronto. If the 2008 version of Cole Hamels shows up this season the National League will have its hand full with the Phillies pitching staff. At the plate the Phillies are set for years with perennial All Stars Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the lineup. Raul Ibanez had a breakout year last season knocking out 34 home runs and making his first trip to the All Star Game. If the Mets power packed lineup stays healthy than the Phillies might be in for a fight in NL East, but otherwise expect to another division crown to be put up on the mantle in Philly.

ESPN ranked the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun as the Preseason #3 best MLB fantasy player behind only Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez this past week as the left fielder goes into the 2010 season. The Brewers didn’t make the playoffs in 2009, but Braun had a great year personally batting .320 with 32 HR’s and 114 RBI’s. Braun has had three of the best seasons any player has had in the MLB since he hit 37 HR’s as a rookie in 2007 winning the NL’s Rookie of the Year Award. He represented the USA at the World Baseball Classic starting in left field and won the Silver Slugger Award in 2009 for the second year in a row. The 26-year-old has accomplished incredible things in just three seasons, but only made $1,032,500 last season with his pay increasing year-by-year according to the 8 year contract extension he signed with the Brewers in ‘08 worth up to $51 million. The Brewers are likely to lose Prince Fielder eventually, but Braun contract will ensure they have one of baseball’s best hitters in their lineup for years to come. The real question is whether the Brew Crew can surround Braun with enough talent to make it to the playoffs while playing in a division with bigger market teams like the Cubs and the Cardinals.

Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Geoff Jenkins injured his shoulder this Sunday when he was accidentally hit by the barrel of his broken bat. Jenkins who immediately came out of the game at Florida is expected to be ready for the start of the Phillies’ series starting on Tuesday against the New York Mets. Jenkins bat broke on contact with the ball, and the left-handed hitter was hit on the right side close to his neck. The tickets continue to sell for the Phillies games despite this setback.

The Athletics traded SP Joe Blanton to the Phillies for three minor leaguers. This was the only deal the Athletics could make after Philadelphia insisted they needed a starting pitcher. The three minor leaguers involved are left-hander Josh Outman, second baseman Adrian Cardenas and outfielder Matt Spencer. This trade should make the fans stand in long lines for the tickets just to see how it turns out.

MLB announced yesterday that it had suspended outfielders Jay Gibbons of the Baltimore Orioles and Jose Guillen, of the Kansas City Royals, fifteen days each for violations of MLB’s substance abuse policy. Rich Levin, the league’s spokesman, said the duration of the suspensions reflected MLB’s rules at the times of the violations. The present policy dictates a fifty-game suspension for the 1st positive test for illegal performance-enhancing drugs