MLB Players of the Week.

This is for last week.
At some point maybe I will start posting these on a more appropriate day, like Sunday or Monday.

AL--Felix Hernandez, Seattle. Anyone who saw his performance against the Sox in the Dice-K Bowl will understand this choice. Or just look at his stats to date: 17 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 18 Ks, 4 BBs. Ladies and gents, meet the next superstar major league pitcher. He could be Pedro, or Clemens, or Seaver, or Gibson . . . name your favorite Hall of Fame pitcher, and this guy could be him. It should be pointed out, though, that very few pitchers who have been phenoms at such a young age (he just turned 21) end up having long and successful careers (Bob Feller and Robin Roberts were two that bucked the trend). An awful lot of those guys flame out early (Abbott), or succumb to injuries (Nolan), or just never recapture the magic of their opening act (Valenzuela). Some of them discover the joys of cocaine (Gooden). But barring an injury (or a lot of cocaine), I can't see how this guy doesn't end up winning a lot of games.
Interestingly, Hernandez was first offered a contract by the Yankees, back in 2002 when he was 16. He turned them down and soon after signed with the Mariners, mostly because Freddy Garcia was his favorite player. What, Ramiro Mendoza wasn't good enough for him?
NL--Carlos Lee, Houston. A 3-homer, 6-RBI game is a pretty good way to get some attention for Player of the Week. He leads the NL in RBI with 16.