Home Run Champion

Ryan Howard hit just three April home runs in 2007, but still finished with 47 by season's end. Jeff Zelevansky/SI

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AL

2007: David Ortiz, Boston. He finished third with 35 homers. Hey, that sounds like something out of the '80s.

2008: Alex Rodriguez, New York. The man is just too good to ignore. Hitting smarts to go with strength.

NL

2007: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia. With 47 homers, he finished a strong second to Prince Fielder.

2008: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia. He might push 60 if he avoids another slow start.

Batting Champion

AL

2007: Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle. Hit .351 and still didn't win the title, finishing second to Magglio Ordonez.

2008: Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle. Come on, taking anybody else is like taking anyone in the field over Tiger Woods.

NL

2007: Garrett Atkins, Colorado. I told Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd in spring training that Holliday would be the batting champ. He told me it would be Atkins. So I changed my mind. Holliday won it.

2008: Chase Utley, Philadelphia. A talented left-handed hitter in a hitters' ballpark who runs everything out, Utley can hit .330 in a bad year.

Most Wins

AL

2007: Josh Beckett, Boston. The majors' only 20-game winner.

2008: Roy Halladay, Toronto. With a good bullpen behind him, it might simply be a matter of making all of his starts.

NL

2007: Roy Oswalt, Houston. Finished with 14 wins for a disappointing Astros team.

2008: Johan Santana, New York. Should win 20 games for the Mets.

Comeback Player

AL

2007: Rich Harden, Oakland. Broke down again.

2008: Rich Harden, Oakland. It's an annual tradition here. If Harden can give Oakland three healthy months, GM Billy Beane just might deal him for major-league ready young players before he breaks down again.

NL

2007: Derrek Lee, Chicago. Excellent year (.913 OPS) after playing in just 50 games the prior season.

2008: Nick Johnson, Washington. You're looking at 25 homers, 100 RBI, a .400 OBP and excellent defense if he finally stays healthy.

Most Overrated

AL

2007: Gil Meche, Kansas City. It was more of a reflection on his contract than his talent, but Meche put up a very good season: 3.67 ERA, more than 200 innings and an All-Star selection. My bad.

2008: Juan Uribe, Chicago. I'm not sure anybody even thinks that highly of him, but apparently the White Sox do. They should have released him, but instead are starting him at second base. He has more than 3,000 career at-bats with an on-base percentage worse than .300. Only two other players still have a job after being that bad for that long: Alex Gonzalez and Corey Patterson.

NL

2007: Juan Pierre, Los Angeles. He played his way into becoming the most expensive fourth outfielder in baseball.

2008: Jim Edmonds, San Diego. Home runs since 2004: 42, 29, 19, 12. RBI since then: 111, 89, 70, 53. Runs: 102, 88, 52, 39. Stolen bases: 8, 5, 4, 0. Anybody see a pattern here for a center fielder who turns 38 this summer? Apparently not the Padres.

Most Underrated

AL

2007: Lyle Overbay, Toronto. Slogged through an injury-marred, disappointing year.

2008: James Shields, Tampa Bay. His career strikeout-to-walk rate is almost four-to-one. Few pitchers command their fastball better than Shields.

NL

2007: Bill Hall, Milwaukee. Asked to play center field, Hall didn't put up anywhere near the numbers he did in 2006.

2008: Khalil Greene, San Diego. He's the best hitter you never hear about. Why? The ridiculous splits caused by playing at Petco Park. He's a mouse at home (.228, 27 home runs, .370 slugging; includes 11 games at Qualcomm Stadium) and a lion on the road (.280, 47 homers, .515 slugging). Indeed, his road slugging average is the same as the career slugging percentages of Rafael Palmeiro, Willie McCovey and Jose Canseco.

Breakout Player

AL

2007: Howie Kendrick, Los Angeles. The future batting champ did hit .322, but injuries limited him to 88 games.

2008: B.J. Upton, Tampa Bay. Sure, he put up good numbers last season, but you haven't seen anything yet. A 30-30-.300 season is well within reach at age 23. Do you know who has done that at such a young age? Only two players: A-Rod (10 years ago) and Jose Canseco (20 years ago).

NL

2007: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco. Came through as one of the most exciting young pitchers in the game.

2008: Justin Upton, Arizona. Many choices here, from Kershaw to Jay Bruce to Geovanny Soto to Franklin Morales to Matt Kemp, but I'm keeping it all in the family, with B.J.'s little brother putting up big numbers in his first full season.