By Darryl Reina
It's September 1st, and this week's RealGM Player Rankings feature a NEW #1 and #2 Player along with some NEW names in our Top 25 for the very first time. A number of ballclubs still have the playoffs on their minds, as baseball's best players prepare themselves for "crunch time."
This Week (Last Week)
1.(2.) Albert Pujols: Behind Pujols (.320, 39 HR's, 109 RBI's) the Cardinals now lead the NL-Central by 5 games.
2.(5.) Ryan Howard: The young slugger now has 49 HR's (a Philly club record) to go along with 128 RBI's. If the Phillies can win the Wild Card, you might be looking at the NL MVP.
3.(1.) David Ortiz: The Red Sox's MVP has been in and out of the hospital this week and Boston is reeling (47 HR's, 121 RBI's).
4.(4.) Derek Jeter: Despite only a 5-5 week for the Yankees they have increased their Division lead with Jeter now hitting .340. If Papi can't come back, he might be a lock for MVP.
5.(3.) Alfonso Soriano: Where will Soriano land next season (43 HR's, .295)? 50/50 in reach?
6.(6.) Miguel Cabrera: The Marlins have been hot and may be a "player" in the Wildcard race, with Cabrera leading the way (.338).
7.(8.) Carlos Beltran: Another productive week for Beltran (39 HR's, 117 RBI's, .286).
8.(7.) Joe Mauer: Mauer is still leading all MLB hittter's with an outstanding .350 average.
9.(11.) Miquel Tejada: The Orioles SS returns to Oakland this weekend and jumps to #9 (.333).
10.(12.) Travis Hafner: Hafner's numbers are excellent and he makes our Top 10 for the first time (.310, 42 HR's, 116 RBI's)
11.(9.) Roy Halliday
12.(10.) Manny Ramirez
13.(16.) Vladamir Guerrero
14.(21.) Johan Santana
15.(13.) Justin Morneau
16.(15.) Vernon Wells
17.(17.) Ichiro Suzuki
18.(22.) Brandon Webb
19.(18.) Mariano Rivera
20.(20.) Freddy Sanchez
21.(25.) Lance Berkman
22.(23.) Carlos Zambrano
23.(HM) Jermaine Dye
24.(19.) Justin Verlander
25.(HM) Jon Garland
Honorable Mention: Ray Durham, Robinson Cano, Mark DeRosa, Joe Borowski, Steve Trachsel, Jason Marquis, C.C. Sabathia, Josh Johnson, Omar Vizquel, Jason Schmidt, Paul Lo Duca, Dave Roberts, Dan Haran, Chase Utley, Alex Rodriquez, Francisco Rodriquez, Roy Oswalt, John Smoltz, Billy Wagner, Chris Capuano, Chien-Ming Wang, Brad Penny, Ervin Santana, Gary Matthews, Jr., Barry Zito, Ivan Rodriquez, Curt Schilling, Nomar Garciaparra, Mike Mussina, Brian McCann, Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes, David Wright, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Casey Blake, Grady Sizemore, Carlos Lee, Jason Isringhausen, Bobby Abreu, Jeremy Bonderman, Trevor Hoffman, Matt Holiday, Chris Carpenter, Jim Thome, Michael Young, Ryan Zimmerman, Jason Giambi, Bobby Jenks, Todd Jones, Johnny Damon, Randy Johnson, Aaron Harang, Garrett Atkins, David DeJesus, and Mike Piazza.





