General Manager
Branch Rickey 1913-1955 Browns/Cardinals/Dodgers/Pirates
Signed Jackie Robinson and drafted Roberto Clemente, played a major part in developing frame work the Minor League Farm System, introduced the batting helmet.  Won 4 World Series with the “Gashouse Gang”.

Honorable Mention 
John Schuerholz 1981-2007
Architect of Royals and Braves championship runs.  Won 15 division titles in free agency era. 

Manager
John McGraw 1899-1932 Baltimore Orioles/New York Giants
2763-1948 with a .586 W-L% 11 Pennants 3 World Series Titles

Honorable Mention
Joe McCarthy 1926-1950
2125-1333 .615 W-L% best in the history of baseball
Cubs/Yankees/Red Sox 9 Pennants 7 World Series titles

Bobby Cox 1978-1985, 1990-2010 Braves/Blue Jays
2413-1930 .556 W-L% 14 consecutive division championships, 5 Pennants, 1 World Series title

Catcher
Johnny Bench 1967-1983 Reds 
2-time NL MVP by the age of 25, won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves

Honorable Mention
Josh Gibson never played in MLB, but his legend is too intriguing to not take into consideration. 

First Base
Lou Gehrig 1923-1939 Yankees
8 seasons with more than 200 hits, 4 seasons with more than 165 RBI’s. 13 seasons with an OPS over 1.000

Honorable Mention
Albert Pujols 2001-present day Cardinals
The greatest hitter I’ve watched in person.  On pace to surpass many of the all-time greats.  With every player of the current era, you have to wonder if his numbers are tainted as well. Unfortunately, it’s a case of guilt by association. 

Second Base
Rogers Hornsby 1915-1937 Cardinals/Cubs/Giants/Braves/Browns
3 seasons with over a .400 batting average, 7 batting titles, led league in RBI 4 times. 

Honorable Mention
Jackie Robinson 1947-1956 Dodgers played only 10 seasons, but one of the first run producers from the position

Shortstop
Honus Wagner 1897-1917 Pirates/Colonels
”The Flying Dutchman” won 8 NL batting titles, led the league in slugging 6 times, and stolen bases 5 times. 

Honorable Mention
Ernie Banks 1953-1971 Cubs 4 consecutive seasons of 40 plus homers won back to back MVP’s.

Third Base
Michael Jack Schmidt 1972-1989 Phillies
13 seasons with 30 plus homers.  Led the NL in homers 8 times. 3-time NL MVP

Honorable Mention
Eddie Mathews 1952-1968 Braves/Astros/Tigers 512 HR 1487 SO 1444 BB show power with good plate discipline. 

Outfielders
Hank Aaron 1954-1976 Braves/Brewers
Subtract the 755 HR and he still had 3016 hits.  1402 BB to 1383 SO in his career.  6856 total bases and 2297 RBI both most in history of baseball.

Willie Mays 1951-1973 Giants/Mets
Mays hit 660 HR playing in cavernous pitchers parks.  What would Willie Mays do if he played in some of the launching pads of today?  Mays is the greatest defensive outfielder in the history of the game. 

Ted Williams 1939-1960 Red Sox
“Splendid Splinter” Is 8th all-time in avg, 1st in OBP, 2nd in SLG, 2nd in OPS.  What would the numbers be if he didn’t miss time due to military service?  I also own a Sears Ted Williams Fishing Rod that I was my grandfathers. 

Honorable Mention
Mickey Mantle 1951-1968 Yankees
3-time MVP won AL Triple Crown in 1956.  536 HR as the greatest switch hitter that ever lived. 

Joe DiMaggio 1936-1951 Yankees
In 12 of his 13 seasons the Yankee Clipper had more walks than strikeouts, while in 7 of the 13 seasons he had more HR than strikeouts.  

Ty Cobb 1905-1928 Tigers/Athletics
4189 career hits, highest career batting average in the history of baseball at.366, won 11 batting titles.

Designated Hitter
Babe Ruth 1914-1935 Red Sox/Yankees/Braves
In today’s game Ruth probably wouldn’t have seen the field much.  You find a way to squeeze in a guy with 714 HR, 2213 RBI and a career OBP of .474

Starting Pitchers
Cy Young 1890-1911 Spiders/Americans/Naps/Perfectos/Cardinals
the award is named after him, how could he not be on the list?  22 seasons with a 2.63 career ERA. 511 career wins and his other pitching records will never be broken.  Adjusted ERA 138

Walter Johnson 1907-1927 Senators
Won 417 games with a career 2.17 ERA. From 1910-1916 didn’t post an ERA over 2.00.  2-time MVP, Adjusted ERA 147

Randy Johnson 1988-2009 Expos/Mariners/Astros/D-backs/Yankees/Giants
303 career wins. 5 Cy Young Awards. Adjusted ERA 136. 10.6098 SO per 9 IP highest in the history of baseball

Lefty Grove 1925-1941 Athletics/Red Sox
300 Wins with a career 3.06 ERA. Adjusted ERA 148 2nd highest in history of baseball

Greg Maddux 1986-2008 Cubs/Braves/Padres/Dodgers
“The Surgeon” won 355 games in the steroid era of baseball to go along with the trend of building launching pad ball parks.  His 1992-1998 performance didn’t have a WHIP higher than 1.049 with his highest ERA during that stretch coming in a 2.72.  Won 4 consecutive Cy Young awards and 18 Gold Gloves, Adjusted ERA 132

Honorable Mention 
Pedro Martinez 1992-2009 Dodgers/Expos/Red Sox/Mets/Phillies
3 Cy Young Awards Career 2.93 ERA and .687 Winning Percentage Adjusted ERA 154 highest in the history of baseball, 1.0398 SO per 9 IP 3rd highest in the history of baseball

Warren Spahn 1942-1965 Braves/Mets/Giants
13 seasons with 20 plus wins. 382 complete games with 363 wins.  Most wins by a left-handed pitcher.  Adjusted ERA 118

Christy Mathewson 1900-1916 Giants/Reds
373 Wins with a career 2.13 ERA. Adjusted ERA 135

Sandy Koufax 1955-1966 Dodgers
His dominance during the 1961-1966 seasons may never be matched again.  The last 4 seasons of his career didn’t have a WHIP higher than 0.985 Won Cy Young Award and MVP in 1963 going 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA, Adjusted ERA 131

Tom Seaver 1967-1986 Mets/Reds/White Sox/Red Sox
311 Wins with a career 2.86 ERA, 3 Cy Young Awards, Adjusted ERA 127

Closer
Mariano Rivera 1995-present day Yankees
526 career saves and the most dominant ever to seal a victory.  10-time All-Star

Honorable Mention
Dennis Eckersley 1975-1998 Indians/Red Sox/ Cubs/ A’s/Cardinals
His dominance with the A’s changed the way the game was played.  In 1992 won the Cy Young Award and MVP as a member of the A’s

Prince Fielder was plunked in the back by Giants Barry Zito in his first at-bat of the spring.  Zito’s motive was revenge for the walk-off celebration that the Brewers did against the Giants late in 2009.  The fact that some Giants players allegedly stewed over that all offseason makes me wonder what direction the organization is going this season.  So what if the Brewers went overboard with the late game celebration. I’m tired of hearing about old school unwritten baseball rules being broken.  Some people whine how they were shown up instead of admitting their sucktitude.  Drilling a guy in the first Cactus league game of the season is pathetic.  That kind of meatball mentality is something that people hold onto for reasons I can’t figure out.  What exactly did that accomplish other than making your team look stupid? I hold Bruce Bochy in very high regard as a manager and am very surprised to see his team resort to that kind of behavior.  The Giants won the contest 5-3.

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I also love to grab established veterans that are coming off an injury.  (Jason Bay 2008, Jermaine Dye 2008, Victor Martinez 2009).  Injured players are regularly downgraded and it’s a time to get maximum value for less.  Don’t get scared away from a guy that got hurt one year.  If the opportunity presents itself I’ll grab Grady Sizemore, Jose Reyes, and Brandon Webb in the middle rounds without hesitation.  However, I do avoid guys that have a track record of injuries like Josh Hamilton, Erik Bedard, Rich Harden, and Ben Sheets. 

I’m usually one of last teams to select pitchers because their too volatile from year to year.  Owners that spent early on Brandon Webb last season were burned.  I waited on starting pitching to build up my hitters.  I had a staff of Adam Wainwright, Josh Johnson, Matt Cain, Javier Vasquez, and Jered Weaver.  If you do your homework you can find terrific value in the middle rounds for pitchers.  I’m targeting Clay Bucholz and Homer Bailey as guys for my rotation this season.  The young hurlers looked like they took a step forward at the end of the season.  Roy Oswalt’s back injury is a red flag for the ace pitcher.  His track record is too good to pass up in the late rounds.  Tim Hudson and Francisco Liriano are farther removed from Tommy John surgery.  Hudson’s track record of success is too enticing to pass up.  Liriano’s value may be low due to an awful 2009 campaign.  The winter league success sparked my curiosity and I’ll take a chance on the southpaw.    

I also grab closers in the mid to late rounds and watch the waiver wire at the beginning of the year like a hawk.  Closer is the most combustible spot in fantasy baseball, so why spend early?  J.J. Putz was a high pick in 2008 blowing holes in fantasy rosters.   B.J. Ryan’s 2007 season of 5 saves didn’t help early spending owners.  2009 waiver wire gems David Aardsma, Andrew Bailey, and Ryan Franklin far outperformed many closers that were drafted.  How many people kicked themselves for passing on Huston Street last year?  Street went from the penthouse to the outhouse and back with 35 saves and the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career.  Do your homework and you can get maximum value closers.       

I also look at guys that are replacing big name free agent losses.  I take the best available player in each round of the draft, but the latter rounds are all for guys with upside.  After Mark Teixeira left the Angels for the Yankees, I found out who was in line to take over the first base job.  Kendry Morales was slated to get the first crack at the job, so I took a late flier on him.  A .306 avg. 34 HR and 108 RBI was maximum value for a late round pick.  His Angels teammate Brandon Wood fits the description of what I’m looking for.  Chone Figgins left for the Mariners and Wood gets the first crack at the hot corner.  I’ll take him late with a low-risk pick.  If Wood doesn’t pan out, I’ll have a guy to cut for something else I see on waivers.   

I often take chances on post-hype sleepers.  Alex Gordon is a guy that’s fantasy value couldn’t get any lower.  I’m going to take a chance on him in the later rounds.  Sometimes it takes guys a little bit longer to get their career on track.  Gordon was drafted ahead of Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki, so the talent is there.  Alex Rios is another player to take a chance on later in drafts.  Rios had a horrendous 2009 season batting .247 with a .395 slugging percentage.  U.S. Cellular field is historically a launching pad.  As a third or 4th outfielder Rios could be worth the risk.   

You must do your homework to play for league championships.  Guys that come to the draft with a magazine bought on the way over are just contributing to the fund.  Drafting off track records are the building blocks to a contending team.

Uecker’s 50 plus years in baseball is commemorated inside the stadium.  Mr. Baseball has meant so much to the franchise often times, he’s bigger than the franchise.  I worked at a small full service radio station in Central Wisconsin after graduating college.  At the time the Brewers were absolutely terrible.  This was the Davey Lopes and Jerry Royster era of bad Brewers baseball.  Listeners of the station I’d meet at events would talk about how they listened to games not so much because they were die-hard Brewers fans, but they loved to listen to Bob Uecker.  Around the house doing work or out on the boat, Uecker helped to pass the time.  That was the first time I truly realized Uecker’s power on the air.  If I were to put together a Mount Rushmore of Brewers baseball it would be Yount, Molitor, Uecker, and Selig.  Aaron’s contributions to the game of baseball and city of Milwaukee are tremendous, but his accomplishments came as a member of the Braves.  Down the road, the Brewers should consider adding statues of Molitor and Uecker.