Run average is a simple and effective way to determine how good a run scorer a player is. While many people look at on base percentage (OBP) as a way to determine a player’s capabilities in scoring runs, run average is arguably a more effective stat. While a player who gets on base at a high rate might score a lot of runs a player with a high run average is actually scoring runs at a high rate.

Run average is a much more valuable stat than batting average because a player who actually scores runs is much more valuable to a team than a player with just a high batting average.

In 2007 Japanese import Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners was second in the major leagues in batting average at .351 (behind Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers at .363). But Ichiro's run average was just .164. Gary Sheffield of the Detroit Tigers batted just .265 but his run average was .217. Despite a batting average that was .086 lower than Ichiro's, Gary Sheffield was a much better run scorer per at bat in 2007.

What is generally a good run average? Anything over .150 is good. Anything above .200 is excellent, and the very best players in history have occasionally gone over .300 in some seasons. The all time highest run average in baseball belongs to Babe Ruth at .259.

Players Who Had a Run Average Over .200 Last Season With a Minimum of 300 At Bats:

• Alex Rodriguez - .245
• Barry Bonds - .221
• Gary Sheffield - .217
• Rickie Weeks - .213
• David Ortiz - .211
• Kaz Matsui - .205
• Bobby Abreu - .203
• Ryan Braun - .202
• Carlos Pena - .202

Interesting list as it contains a couple of steroids linked players, an MVP, a Rookie of the Year, a Comeback Player of the Year, Big Papi of the World Champion Boston Red Sox, two New York Yankees, two Milwaukee Brewers, a Japanese player and a player who was recently indicted.

Bartolo Colon

Has had two injury filled years in 2006-2007. But he has the best career stats of any of the free agents under 40. Has a career record of 146-95 while pitching to just 89% of the league ERA (LERA) with a 2.3 K to BB ratio. He's a risk because of his injury problems but has the most upside of anybody available. The fact that he ranks number one shows just how weak the starting pitching free agents are.

Freddy Garcia

Missed most of last season after arm surgery. He too has great career stats with a lifetime record of 117-76 (.606) while pitching to 90% of the LERA and a 2.3 K to BB ratio. Without the arm surgery he'd rank number one. Big risk but big upside too depending on how healthy he is.

Carlos Silva

Career record of 55-46 (.545) while pitching to 98% of the LERA with a 2.3 K to BB ratio. Ranks this high because he's only 28. Getting out of the Dome in Minnesota could really help his career. He's the one guy you could take a shot with this year with a long-term deal.

Jon Lieber

Thirty-seven years old. Career record of 129-121 (.516) while pitching to 98% of the LERA with a fine 3.7 K to BB ratio. Starting pitcher who does not walk anybody. Had surgery last season to repair a ruptured foot tendon so he's an injury risk depending on how he comes back but has decent upside.

Tom Glavine

Won his 300th game last year for the Mets. Fine career stats of 303-199 record while pitching to just 84% of the LERA with a 1.8 K to BB ratio. He's 41 years old though and will probably only come back to pitch for the Atlanta Braves or New York Mets. Looks like he just signed with the Braves for $8 million.

Livan Hernandez

Supposedly 32 years of age but I think that's questionable. Has compiled a career record of 134-128 (.512) while pitching to 100% of the LERA with a 1.9 K to BB ratio. He'll eat up innings for you but his best days are probably behind him. Would still give him a shot at the right price.

Kenny Rogers

Has fine career stats but he's 43 years old and comes off an injury plagued year. Has pitched to 91% of the LERA in his career and compiled a 210-143 ( .595) record. But his K to BB ratio is just 1.7. I'd take a shot with him but only on a one year deal. Fired agent Scott Boras and will negotiate his next contract by himself.

Randy Wolf

Another pitcher coming off arm surgery. Wolf's career stats are decent though. He's pitched to 98% of the LERA and compiled a 78-66 record with a 2.2 K to BB ratio. He's a huge risk and has not completed a full season in 4 years but he can pitch a little when healthy.

Byung-Hyun Kim

Only 28 years old. Has a career losing record at 54-60 (.474) but has pitched to 94% of the LERA with a decent K to BB ratio of 2.1. In a lousy year he ranks in the top ten.

Kris Benson

Thirty-three years old and another pitcher who had season ending arm surgery last year. But he does have a career ERA that is below the LERA at 98%. Career record of just 68-73 (.482) with a 1.9 K to BB ratio. Big risk but does have a little bit of upside if he's healthy and his wife Anna is still pretty nice to look at.

One Pitcher Worth a Risk

John Thompson

If he's healthy. He does have a lousy career record of 63-85 (.426) but also has pitched to 97% of the LERA in career and has decent K to BB ratio of 2.2. Really bad year for pitchers.

Eight Pitchers to Forget About

Tony Armas

Has pitched to 106% of LERA and career record is 52-65.

Josh Fogg

Despite a 60-60 (.500) career record has pitched to 110% of LERA.

Jason Jennings

Lousy 1.5 K to BB ratio while pitching to 101% of LERA and losing record of 60-65 (.480).

Joe Kennedy

Career record of 43-61 (.414) while pitching to106% of LERA and 1.7 K to BB ratio. Might survive as reliever.

Kyle Lohse

Career record of 63-74 (.460) while pitching to 106% of LERA. Not worth paying him.

Odalis Perez

Career record of 66-70 (.485) while pitching to 106% of LERA.

Jeff Weaver

Decent K to BB ratio of 2.4 but record stands at 93-114 (.447) and has pitched to 108% of the LERA.

Kip Wells

Career record of 64- 91 (.421) while pitching.

Best hitter in baseball decided to opt out of his big money contract with the New York Yankees. The Yankees offered him an extension of around $30 million a year and I think it will be hard for any other team in baseball to beat that offer. Is he worth that much money? His typical 162 game season is 44 HRs, 128 RBIs, 128 runs scored, .306 average, .389 OBP and .578 SLG. Great production but his post-season production is considerably below that (.279 average, .361 OBP, .483 SLG) and his teams are just 3-7 in the playoff series he's competed in. As he chases the all time HR record he will generate a lot of publicity for whoever signs him. Looks like he will re-sign with the Yankees for $275 million over 10 years.

Barry Bonds

Yes he's 43 years old but based on the stats he put up last season he's the next best free agent hitter after A-Rod. In 340 at bats he hit .276 with a .480 OBP and .565 SLG. Scored 75 runs last year for a great run average of .221. Really needs to go the American League where he can DH because he really can't play the field any more. After being indicted by the Feds his baseball career is likely over.

Andrew Jones

Hit only .222 last year with a .311 OBP and .413 SLG. Still managed to hit 26 HRs, drive in 94 and score 83 runs. Still only 30 years old and would expect him to bounce back at least a little for whoever signs him. His typical 162 game season stats are 96 runs scored, 34 HRs, 103 RBIs, .263 average, .342 OBP and .497 SLG.

Mike Lowell

Hit .044 above his career average, .034 above his career OBP and .033 above career SLG. He's a good player but whoever signs him is taking him at his career highs in all the above categories. Has reportedly received offers from the Red Sox and the Yankees.

Aaron Rowand

To compare him to Torii Hunter (see below), he has scored 419 runs in 2,664 at bats for a run average of .157. So he's a better run scorer than Torii Hunter. He also has a higher career batting average and OBP than Hunter and is just behind him in SLG. He looks like a better bargain than Hunter to me and is also a few years younger. Career OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is .805.

Torii Hunter

Low OBP player, I would not break the bank to sign him. In his career he has scored 672 runs in 4,492 at bats for a run average of .150. That's decent and above average but just not worth paying really big bucks for. Career OPS is .793.

Mike Cameron

Not a great player but he's a serviceable OF for somebody. Career 162 game averages are 90 runs scored, 22 HR's, 82 RBI's, .251 average, .341 OBP and .445 SLG. Career OPS is .786 while his run average is .159.

Milton Bradley

Has not played a full season in 3 years now. Still he has talent. His career OPS is .797 and his career run average is .147.

Geoff Jenkins

Not a great year last season but career OPS is .843 and career run average is .150. He's 32 years old so he might be shot or he might bounce back for somebody.

Luis Gonzalez

Had a decent year for the Los Angeles Dodgers considering the home park is tough place to hit. In 464 at bats he scored 70 runs, hit 15 HRs and had 68 RBIs. That production is just about what the four players above him did but he is over 40 years of age.

Six Players Worth the Risk

Sammy Sosa

Cannot run well anymore and can't score runs but he did have 92 RBIs in 412 at bats for a great RBI average of .223.

Kaz Matsui

Scored 84 runs in 410 at bats (.205 run average) and stole 34 bases in 2007.

Luis Castillo

Can still get on base (.368 OBP in 2007) and score runs for you but has no power.

Kenny Lofton

Scored 86 runs in 490 at bats which is well above average major league hitter.

Mike Lamb

Had a .909 OPS last season. Need a 3B you can use him in a platoon.

Corey Koskie

Decent .833 OPS last season. Another 3B platoon option.

Three Players to Avoid

Yorvit Torrealba

No power and cannot get on base. Mets flirting with him but would be better off with Lo Duca for another year.

Sean Casey

Scored 40 runs and had just 54 RBIs in 453 at bats.

Rod Barajas

Cannot get on base

Closers

Mariano Rivera

The greatest closer in baseball history. Career ERA of 2.35 that is just 52% of the LERA. Excellent K to BB ratio of 3.6. Has 443 saves and counting. He is arguably the best free agent available this year even above A-Rod. His career ERA is half the league average. Be surprised if the Yankees do not re-sign him and as a Yankee fan I say they owe him one more big contract for all he has done for the franchise. He was the real MVP of the surprising 1996 World Champion Yankees and probably the most valuable player on all of the Championship teams he's played on.

Francisco Cordero

Has pitched to 68% of the LERA in his career with a 2.3 K to BB ratio. Great year for the Brewers in 2007 saving 44 games with a 2.98 ERA. Has 177 career saves. Easily best closer available after Rivera. Eric Gagne

Eric Gagne

Was great for the Rangers last year posting a 2.16 ERA but then was awful after the trade to the Red Sox posting a 6.75 ERA for the World Series champs. His career ERA stand at 81% of the LERA and his career K to BB ratio is 3.3. He did strikeout 51 batters in 52 total innings last season and worth the risk at the right price.

Octavio Dotel

Pitched to 83% of LERA in career with fine 2.6 K to BB ratio. Saved 11 games while posting a decent 3.91 ERA for the Kansas City Royals before being traded to the Atlanta Braves. Has saved 82 games in his career and looks like he could a decent closer for someone in 2008.

Armando Benitez

Has saved 289 games in career while pitching to 71% of LERA. Was not good last year as he battled injuries and posted an ERA of 5.36. He still struck out 57 batters in 50 innings so he still has some gas. Could close effectively for someone in 2008.

Bob Wickman

Pitched to 80% of LERA in career but K to BB ratio not great at 1.8. The Braves gave up on him last season even though he saved 20 games for them and pitched to below the LERA for them (92%) in 43 innings. Low end closer option for somebody in 2008.

Set-Up Relievers

David Riske

Career ERA of 3.40 which is just 76% of LERA. Was great for the Royals last season posting a 2.45 ERA. While team after team complains about their relief pitching this guy was out there last season as a free agent for anybody to sign and now he's out there again.

Mike Timlin

Has pitched to 78% of the LERA in his career and posted a 3.42 ERA last season for the World Series winning Boston Red Sox. Another solid relief pitcher.

Scott Linebrink

Has pitched to 79% of the LERA in his career with a fine K to BB ratio of 2.4.

Ron Mahay

Posted a terrific 2.55 ERA for the Braves last season and has pitched to 83% of the LERA in his career and he's a lefty.

Doug Brocail

After a few bad years came back to post a great 3.05 ERA for the Padres. Has pitched to 91% of LERA in career.

Matt Herges

Pitched to 90% of LERA in career.

Mike Myers

A lefty specialist pitches to 90% of LERA.

Luis Vizcaino

His career ERA is 97% of the LERA but has pitched to as low as 76% for a full season in his career. Posted a 4.30 ERA for the New York Yankees last season after coming over in the Randy Johnson trade. The Yankees certainly got a lot more out of him than the Diamondbacks did from Johnson.

Two Relievers to Avoid

Jeremy Affeldt

Despite posting a fine 3.51 ERA last season for the Rockies he's not worth a lot of money. Has pitched to 99% of the LERA in his career and has just a 1.6 K to BB ratio. Even while pitching to his low ERA last season in Coors field his K to BB ratio was just 1.4. Somebody will be dumb enough not to look through the transparent numbers and give him a big money relief contract this year.

Ron Villone

He's a lefty but his career ERA is just 104% of LERA and career K to BB ratio of 1.5 means he walks the house. Not what you need in a reliever.

This season the list of such players is as long as any other year. Larry Johnson was one of the first three players taken in just about every non-keeper fantasy football league draft this season but is currently just the 16th ranked back in my leagues. Frank Gore was probably a first round pick in most leagues and is currently just the 23rd ranked RB. Steven Jackson was taken high in most drafts and has done little so far this season.

This past weekend four RB's who were almost certainly available on the waiver wire's in your leagues after your drafts were over posted great stats. Jesse Chatman of the Miami Dolphins ran for 124 yards against the Buffalo Bills, Ryan Grant of the surprising Green Bay Packers ran for 119 yards including a 30 yard TD run against the Minnesota Vikings, Selvin Young of the Denver Broncos went for 109 yards and a TD score against the Kansas City Chiefs and Ernest Graham of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went for 124 yards and a TD against the Arizona Cardinals.

If you had and played any of the four RB's you have to be ecstatic over the production they gave you. In one of my fantasy leagues I'm having a down year but did pick up both Chatman and Grant over the last few weeks on waivers and played them both Sunday. They powered me to the high score, worth $36, for the week as I try to salvage something from the season in that league. For other owners lucky enough to have claimed any of the four they could be powering them into the playoffs and possibly a championship this year.

At the QB position Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Browns is having a great year and it is highly unlikely he was drafted in any fantasy leagues this year. So far this season he has produced more fantasy points than Peyton Manning. It's very likely he will lead a decent number of fantasy owners to a championship this year if he does not get injured. I grabbed him in another league I'm in and he has me in prime playoff territory (luckily I also drafted Braylon Edwards in that league and have gotten double scores nearly every week from the duo).

At WR, Wes Welker of the New England Patriots was probably not drafted in your leagues yet he currently has put up a lot more fantasy points than Chad Johnson, Roy Williams, Hines Ward and Andre Johnson. He's been a great waiver wire pickup for whoever got him, having already posted 651 receiving yards and 7 TD scores. If the Patriots keep putting up points in their games Welker is going to help some owners to a championship this year.

A few years ago in one of my leagues my team was struggling especially at the QB and WR positions. I was 3-5 and in danger of not making the playoffs. In desperation I claimed both Kerry Collins and Jerry Porter of the Oakland Raiders and plugged them into my lineup. Collins went on a tear and started putting up 300 yard games with lots of TD's and many of them were to Porter. I never lost another game that season and won that league's Super Bowl Championship.

Fantasy football drafts are important but paying attention to the waiver wires and making great waiver wire pickups during the season is arguably just as important. Just as they do every fantasy football season, waiver wire pickups are going to lead some fantasy owners right to Super Bowl Championships in their fantasy football leagues this season

Phillies Get:

Brad Lidge - will be 31 years old and has some of the best K rate's in baseball. Was a brilliant pitcher in 2004-2005 going 10-9 with a 2.09 ERA/ 14.3 K rate/ 2.9 BB rate/ 71 saves. Was a lousy pitcher in 2006 going 1-5 with a 5.28 ERA but maintained a high K rate of 12.5, though his BB rate rose to 4.3. He did save 32 games. Last season he went 5-3 with a 3.36 ERA/ 11.8 K's/ 4.0 BB's/ 19 saves.

No question that Lidge has great talent. His overall career numbers are: 23-20 record/ 3.30 ERA/ 123 saves/ 12.6 K's/ 3.8 BB's. While his BB rate is a little high his K to BB ratio is great at 3.3. Lidge is a pitcher who is well worth taking a risk on. Very few pitchers can K 12.6 batters per 9 innings and that's what the Phillies have now got.

Eric Bruntlett - nothing more than a throw in. Not much of a hitter.

Astros Get:

Michael Bourn - 24 year old OF. His game is speed and scoring runs. In 1,552 minor league at bats Bourn hit .284 with a .378 OBP and a .392 SLG. He stole 163 bases and scored 280 runs. His run average in the minors is .180. So far in the majors Bourn has batted 127 times and hit .268 with a .340 OBP and a .362 SLG. He's already stolen 19 bases and scored 31 runs. That's a very high run average of .244 probably because Bourn was pinch running. The Astros want to plug Bourn into the top of their order and if he can score runs at the same rate he did in the minors, .180, he'll be a good player for them. He has no power so scoring runs is his game.

Geoff Geary - 30 year old relief pitcher. Geary's career numbers are: 13-4 with a 3.94 ERA/ 5.8 K's/ 2.9 BB's. Acceptable K to BB ratio of 2.0. After a fine 2006 in which he went 7-1 with a 2.96 ERA and a fine K to BB ratio of 3.0, Geary was 3-2 with a 4.41 ERA and a K to BB ratio of just 1.5 last year. His career minor league numbers a pretty good at: 52-33 with a 3.25 ERA and K to BB ratio of 4.0. Geary has talent and the Astros have acquired a very serviceable reliever. He does not have Brad Lidge's stuff but he's not a bad pitcher.

Mike Costanzo - will be 24 years old. Has yet to play above AA. His career minor league numbers are: 1293 at bats/ 211 runs/ 52 HR's/ 217 RBI's/ .266 avg/ .364 OBP/ .456 SLG. So his run average is .163, his HR average is .04 and his RBI average is .168. That would be decent major league player if Costanzo could duplicate those numbers at the big league level. He is getting a little old to be considered a prospect anymore considering he has yet to play above AA in the minors. He could be a decent major league player but has little or no star talent.

So who got the better of this trade? Lidge has the most talent of anybody involved in this trade. If he pitches back to the way he did in 2004-2005 the Phillies have made a great trade and got the best of this deal. However if Lidge pitchers the way he did in 2006 then the Astros have acquired three serviceable players for someone who would not help their team.

First I'll add that I've been on the Pats bandwagon from game one. I've bet them against the spread every week by wiring money to my friend in Las Vegas and collected every week except for last night when the Pats only won by 4 points and the spread was 4 1/2. So I've been watching the Pats closely and most of their upcoming opponents.

The Buffalo Bills are up next for the Patriots after the bye week. The Bills are currently 4-4 after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday and I could see them beating the Patriots if everything broke their way. The Bills have some explosive players who can put points on the board. Lee Evans is always a deep threat at WR with his great speed. Rookie RB Marshawn Lynch took the ball 59 yards for a score in the 4th quarter against the Bengals to ice the game for the Bills. And Terrence McGee is still a big special teams threat to score a TD off any kick.

Even though the game is in Buffalo facing the Bills off their bye week is a break for the Patriots in my opinion. How many times in sports have we seen teams get up for big games and win those games and then come back flat the next week versus a lesser opponent. Happens in sports all the time and it could have happened to the Patriots except for the bye week. They could also come out flat after the bye week but I think the break came just at the right time for this team. The Bills could beat the Pats but need a lot of breaks and I think the Patriots win this game.

After the Bills, the Patriots play the Philadelphia Eagles in Foxboro. The Eagles are having a bad year and would need a minor miracle to make the playoffs. Despite that they do play hard but unless Donovan McNabb has one of his great 4 or 5 TD games I don't think the Eagles will win and you know New England head coach Bill Belichick will be focused on preventing McNabb from beating his team.

The Patriots then go on the road and play the Baltimore Ravens in week 13. You know the Ravens will play hard if the Pats are undefeated but I don't think they have enough offense to win the game. After the Ravens would come the Patriots next biggest challenge to an undefeated season, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are currently 5-2 and have given up only 91 points on the season. If the Patriots are undefeated coming into this matchup it would make for a great game. The Pats currently have scored the most points in the NFL by a wide margin and would likely be facing the NFL's stingiest defense in this matchup. The Patriots are home for this game which gives them a decided edge.

If the Patriots get through the Steelers game undefeated they face two of the weakest teams in their division and the entire NFL in weeks 15 and 16 in the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The Jets and Dolphins have but one win between them in 17 games so far this year. Both teams would probably treat their games against the Patriots as if it was the Super Bowl should the Pats some into these two games undefeated but neither team would likely win as both games are in Foxboro.

Which means the Patriots would come into week 17 needing to beat the New York Giants for an undefeated season. The Giants have been on a roll lately having won six games in a row, all against weak opponents. But the Giants do have a tremendous pass rush featuring Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan and Mathias Kiwanuka that currently leads the NFL in sacks with 30. And anybody who watched the Colts-Pats game knows that the Colts were able to stay in the game because of the pressure they were able to put on Patriots QB Tom Brady. So you would have to give the Giants a decent chance of being able to win the game.

This is a Saturday night game on the 29th of December in the Meadowlands and if the Patriots come into it undefeated a lot of NFL fans will be planted in their easy chairs in front of their wide-screen HDTV plasma television's hoping for a great show. The game would do a monster rating and I am personally hoping it happens and think there is a pretty good chance it will.

He played as a starting QB in more Super Bowls than any other QB in NFL history with 5.

He is the only member of any of the five teams he led to the Super Bowl to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Shannon Sharpe is not yet eligible and may get there but he‘d likely be the only other one). Think about that for a moment, and let's analyze it some more.

Every one of Elway's main competitors for greatest QB played on teams that contained Hall of Famers other than the competing QB.

Joe Montana played with fellow Hall of Famer, Ronnie Lott. Jerry Rice will join them as soon as he is eligible and was probably the greatest WR ever.

Steve Young also played with Rice.

Terry Bradshaw played with Hall of Famers, Mel Blount, Joe Greene, Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann and Mike Webster.

Johnny Unitas played with Hall of Famers, Raymond Berry, Art Donovan, John Mackey, Gino Marchetti, Jim Parker, Lenny Moore and Ted Hendricks.

Roger Staubach played with Hall of Famers, Tony Dorsett, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Randy White and Rayfield Wright.

Dan Marino played with Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson and never won a Super Bowl.

Payton Manning just won a Super Bowl but will be joined in the Hall of Fame by Marvin Harrison and probably others.

Tom Brady has won three Super Bowls and may rival Elway one day but it is too early to say if any of Brady's teammates will join him in the HOF.

John Elway played with no Hall of Famers in his career yet he was able to bring five of the teams he quarterbacked into the Super Bowl, which he was victorious in twice. (Shannon Sharpe might make the Hall of Fame but is not there yet.) John Elway did far more as a QB with the least amount of talent around him and is therefore the greatest QB in NFL history.

Edgar Martinez - his 162 game averages are as follows: 24 HR’s, 99 RBI’s, 96 runs scored, with a .312 average, .418 OBP and .515 SLG.

His .312 batting average currently ranks 80th on the all time list, and 75th on the retired list.

His .418 OBP currently ranks 20th on the all time list, and 17th on the retired list.

His .515 SLG currently ranks 61st on the all time list, and 42nd on the retired list.

Only 19 players in baseball history have ever had a higher OBP than Edgar Martinez. That is impressive.

Martinez finished his career with 2,247 hits, 309 home runs, 1,219 runs scored and 1,261 RBI’s. He scored over 100 runs five times, and drove in over 100 six times. He led the league 20 times in offensive categories, including two batting titles. He was an All Star seven times.

Anybody who ever watched Edgar Martinez play baseball knows he was a great hitter. But his stats come up a bit short when talking about the Hall of Fame. Also hurting him is the fact that he DH’d for most of his career. But the most important stat that will likely keep Edgar Martinez out of the Hall of Fame is his age.

Edgar Martinez did not play his first full season in the major leagues until he was 27 years old. He did play briefly in the majors at 24 and 25, and a little more as a 26 year old, but only a grand total of 246 at bats over those three years. Critical years for any player in terms of getting into the Hall of Fame.

The average Hall of Famer starts playing in the major leagues at around age 22. So Martinez is missing 5 years. If we take what Edgar Martinez did in his first two full years in the majors and average it out we end up with 85 runs, 157 hits, 13 HR’s and 51 RBI’s.

If we multiply those numbers by 5 and subtract what Martinez did do as a 24, 25 and 26 year old, we end up with 399 runs, 719 hits, 63 HR’s and 225 RBI’s.

Adding that to Martinez’s career numbers we get: 3032 hits, 372 HR’s, 1,486 RBI’s and 1,618 Runs.

Would Edgar Martinez get into the Hall of Fame if those were his career totals? Maybe not because he was a DH, but the 3,000 plus hits would probably get him in.

Edgar Martinez will likely not get into the Hall of Fame not because he wasn’t talented enough, but because he was forced to spend too much of his career playing in the minor leagues.

The Braves were willing to trade Renteria because they believe that Yunel Escobar is ready to step in and play SS for them everyday after he had a fine rookie year in 2007. In 319 at bats, Escobar hit .326 with a OBP of .385 and SLG of .451. He scored 54 runs in 319 at bats which is good for a run average of .169.

Renteria also had a fine year for the Braves last season. He hit .332 with a .390 OBP and a .470 SLG. He scored 87 runs in 494 at bats for a run average of .176. So Escobar's run average of .169 last season was not much behind what Renteria did. Hence one can understand the Braves willingness to trade the veteran SS for two prospects.

The prospects the Braves got back have plenty of talent and both are very young. Jair Jurrjens is just 21 years old and will be 22 by next season. His minor league numbers are pretty good but not outstanding. In 502 innings (a lot of innings for his age) his record is 35-21 with a 3.21 ERA with a 7.2 K rate and a 2.1 BB rate. A fine K to BB ratio of 3.4. All at AA or under. But those numbers indicate he can definitely pitch at the major league level and probably with some success. In 30 innings at the major league level last season he went 3-1 with a 4.70 ERA.

Gorkys Hernandez is just 20 years old and speed is the name of his game. In 174 minor league games, nothing above A ball, he stole 74 bases. He also hit .303 with a .348 OBP and a .413 SLG. He's scored 125 runs in 686 at bats for a run average of .182. If he can do that at the major league level the Braves have gotten a pretty good player.

Who got the best of this trade? Renteria is coming off arguably his best statistical year with the bat. He hit .041 above both his career batting average and career OBP and .063 above his career SLG. He will hard pressed to do that again. The Tigers may well have traded at the high for him but they do get a solid veteran to handle their SS needs.

The Braves acquired two minor leaguers with obvious talent. Jurrjens looks like he can pitch at the major league level and have decent success. He could make the Braves rotation next spring and give them years of quality starting pitching. Hernandez has blazing speed and looks like he has enough other tools to be a major league player also. You cannot teach speed. Hernandez is probably a few years away from the majors but it certainly looks like he will get there and be a decent player.

This is a trade that will most likely benefit both teams but I believe the Braves will end up coming out ahead on the deal. They dealt a veteran player at the high end of his ability to acquire two very young and talented players who can help them win for many years into the future.