Wednesday's matchup is our first among National League players and it may be the closest battle yet. These NL East studs are both in their twenties and can both hit for power. Why Heyward is a Franchise Player Had it not been for Giants catcher Buster Posey, Heyward would have been the NL's Rookie of the Year last fall. He received nine first-place votes to Posey's 20. That will matter little in the grand scheme of things. After a superb freshman campaign, the outfielder is on track for an even better 2011. He hit .277 with an OPS of .849 in 520 at-bats, including a decent strikeout/walk ratio (128 Ks to 91 BBs) for a rookie. He slugged 18 home runs and 36.1% of his hits went for extra bases. His WAR of 4.4 was just outside the NL's top 10, behind established names like Pujols, Gonzalez, Tulowitzki and Holliday. In terms of OBP (.393), only Joey Votto, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder were better in 2010. He may have struck out 128 times, but he also drew the fourth-most walks (behind Fielder, Pujols and Gonzalez). Why Ramirez is a Franchise Player Ramirez, the 2006 NL Rookie of the Year and a three-time All-Star, has never hit fewer than 17 home runs or hit lower than .292 in a full season. He's also fairly reliable given his style of play and position, having missed an average of 10 games over his five seasons. In 2008, when he garnered MVP attention, he ranked second (7.6) among NL players in WAR and the shortstop dropped just one spot to third in 2009 (7.2). He's also consistently among the NL's top hitters in terms of batting average, OBP, SLG and OPS. In three straight seasons beginning in 2007, he ranked either third or four among NL players in runs created. It's no fault of his, but any stats-loving baseball fan has to wonder what kind of numbers he'd put up with more protection in the lineup and better table-setters. Click here to see this year's 'Be A GM' bracket.