SI's Top 100 MLB players

[Collier11]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/07/21/top.100/index.html

[JLEW1818]

hard to argue with Fat Albert not being number one... although my stros are shutting have been shutting him down the past 2 nights... Collier you ready for sweep tonight?

[Collier11]

who is in first place Jlew? thats what I though ;)

I still cant believe MLB would ever approve that sh*tbox of a stadium as professional

[JLEW1818]

lol , we are coming for yah!! Tonight is going to be an absolute classic game... Roy vs Carp... on espn too .. FYI

[Collier11]

should be great

[JLEW1818]

nvm Boston @ Rangers got the Espn game .

[Scott D]

wow, ESPN clearly hates baseball.

[Eielson]

Manny needs to be higher!

[Collier11]

Top player, not hitters is the reason I think

[JLEW1818]

red birds.... more like dead birds.... right?

[Scott D]

I'm surprised Manny didn't request to be 99th.

[JLEW1818]

Sources: Holliday deal is done

The Athletics and Cardinals have completed a trade that sends outfielder Matt Holliday to St. Louis in exchange for third baseman Brett Wallace, outfielder Shane Peterson and right-handed pitcher Clayton Mortensen, sources confirmed to ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

In addition, sources said the Athletics will throw in $1.5 million to the Cardinals.

Holliday, 29, is eligible for free agency after this season, and has had a lackluster season overall with the Athletics, hitting .287 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs.

But he has hit well this month, batting .344 with a .421 on-base percentage, and one scout who has seen him play said Tuesday that Holliday is swinging the bat as well now as he has all year. The Cardinals have been searching for a way to upgrade their offense to build some lineup protection for first baseman Albert Pujols.

Earlier this season, St. Louis had indicated to other teams that it did not have a lot of money to spend, but it's possible that the Cardinals' front office could navigate that issue by getting approval from ownership, or by having Oakland kick in some money to offset the money still owed to Holliday, which is about $6 million.

Oakland acquired Holliday in a trade with Colorado last fall, in the hope that he would be the anchor to the Athletics' offense. But Holliday -- and the whole Oakland offense -- has struggled for much of this year, and rival general managers have wondered if the shift in baseball's economics might compel the Athletics to move Holliday.

Holliday is earning $13.5 million in salary this season, and in order for Oakland to recoup draft picks, it would have to offer him arbitration. Holliday could be in line for an award of $16 million, something that might be more difficult for the small-market Athletics to absorb. The Yankees, after all, declined to offer Bobby Abreu arbitration last fall because they feared that he might accept it.

Information from ESPN The Magazine senior writers Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian was used in this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4353256

good stick for the red birds