Josh Beckett

You ever have a sports argument that stuck with you, and that you kept mulling over and over months later? I keep thinking about our All Star Game ranking discussion that we had here. Lately, I've felt vindicated for placing Josh Beckett on the same tier as Jake Peavy. That was singled out by Chris in his comment on my rankings. He felt Peavy should have been a level higher. Clearly Beckett, who has been the best pitcher in the playoffs twice, for two different World Series winning teams, is really putting together a special career. He might even be a rich man's Curt Schilling. Or perhaps more accurately, Roger Clemens's arm attached to Curt Schilling's heart. (Ewww...that's gross, if you take that literally.)

Meanwhile, not a lot was said about Jake Peavy demanding the ball on three days rest against the D-Backs on September 5 then promptly losing the game. That was a key game, even at that stage. The Diamondbacks took a 1-game lead out of that game and ended up winning the division by that margin. That's a bit of a debacle for Jake

I think I'd keep my rankings pretty much the same, except I'd move Beckett, Paplebon, and Holliday up to Tier 1 of the Young and Rising. I'm certain Ichiro is going to make the Hall of Fame, and I stand by my claim that Billy Wagner will too. I'm taking a step back on Utley, though, after perusing his baseball reference page.