Today's Fantasy Rx

Today we conclude our presentation of the 2007 Fantasy Baseball Mid-Season All-Star Teams. To compile these rosters, we employed traditional 5x5 stats with OBP/SLG to resolve any otherwise tight races. We also used the current All-Star roster rules, including:

At least one representative from every team;

At least two representatives from every fielding position;

Twelve pitchers, including at least five starters and three relievers;

and five deserving candidates for the 32nd spot on each team.

Rotohelp's 2007 National League Fantasy Baseball Mid-Season All-Stars

Catcher: Few players at any position equal the value of the Dodgers' Russ Martin, though a paucity of alternatives places Milwaukee's Johnny Estrada onto the team by default over Ben Molina.

First Base: Milwaukee's Prince Fielder easily claims the starting job, but several others present solid cases. Though Dmitri Young, Derrek Lee, and Ryan Howard all will contend for a bench slot at the end, I can't deny the Cardinals' Albert Pujols a slot since he possesses the best combination of BA and quantitative stats available at this position.

Second Base: Though Philadelphia's Chase Utley doesn't lap the field, he holds a 29-point BA edge and a 120-point OPS edge on the other starters here. Thanks to decent BA and quantitative stats that put him on pace for a 30-30 season, Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips also looks like an easy inclusion.

Third Base: After consider Chipper Jones and Aramis Ramirez, I still can't deny Florida's Miguel Cabrera or New York's David Wright. Wright's 18 steals easily compensate both for Cabrera's slightly superior power numbers and BA edge, giving the Met the start.

Shortstop: In a stunningly good year for shortstops, the Mets' Jose Reyes still laps the field as the most valuable player in roto this year. Florida's Hanley Ramirez coasts to the back-up job, leaving Jimmy Rollins, Edgar Renteria, and J.J. Hardy in competition for one of those rare bench spots.

Outfield: Outstanding five-category contributions make Chicago's Alfonso Soriano and Arizona's Eric Byrnes starters, along with Colorado's Matt Holliday, a worthy choice courtesy of his .341/15/69 production. Among a lengthy list of deserving choices, Cincinnati's Ken Griffey, Jr. and both Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee of Houston merit inclusion.

Starting Pitcher: With no NL starter over ten wins, picking the top few pitchers requires little work. San Diego's Jake Peavy ranks the most valuable, closely followed by Padre teammate Chris Young and the Dodgers' Brad Penny. The Mets' John Maine also finishes very high in all four starting pitcher categories. IN a mild surprise, Atlanta's John Smoltz actually deserve the fifth starting slot, however due to his injury, Milwaukee's Ben Sheets also makes the team.

Relief Pitcher: Four NL closers demand inclusion, with the Dodgers' Takashi Saito, Padres' Trevor Hoffman, and Brewers' Francisco Cordero presenting the strongest cases and relegating Jose Valverde to the second round.

However, with 26 saves and solid qualitative numbers, Arizona's Valverde appears as valuable as any pitcher not already on the team and simply demands one of these three slots. Pittsburgh's Ian Snell probably makes this squad on his own merits but certainly claims any tiebreaker as the best available Pirate. Lastly, I can't deny the 124 strikeouts and 10 wins of Philadelphia's Cole Hamels, which make the youngster a worthy addition to the squad.

Bench: With impressive five-category stats, Jimmy Rollins claims the one overly open spot here since Dmitri Young will represent Washington, Chipper Jones edges out a big field of candidate by virtue of owning respectable stats and providing Atlanta an active rep in Smoltz's absence, and of course, Barry Bonds needs to bat in his home park as the Giants' best player.

32nd Man: From a long list of excellent pitchers, Cincinnati's Aaron Harang, Chicago's Ted Lilly, the Dodgers' Derek Lowe, Arizona's Brandon Webb, and the Mets' Billy Wagner earn ballot slots, with Lilly's ownership of the third-best WHIP in the league giving him a slight advantage in the voting despite the impressive numbers produced by every member of this quintet.

Today's Fantasy Rx: Several of these players unfortunately strike me as extremely risky heading into the second half, a list led by Dmitri Young that also features the inherent fragility of Bonds, Griffey, and Chipper Jones. All the young pitchers similarly look like sell-high candidates, including Hamels, Maine, and even Snell, assuming you can receive solid value in return for each of them.