The closer position is a tricky one in fantasy because of such drastic change that occurs during the course of a season. A closer today may crumble tomorrow. An injury to one of your star closers creates value for a middle reliever that is by no means guaranteed to land on your roster.

Reliability is the name of the game and where our focus lies this week. While George Sherrill and Kerry Wood have posted upper-tier type numbers, they still fall behind some of the game’s best, most experienced stoppers. Francisco Rodriguez, though in the middle of his least dominant season, tops the list with a whopping 27 saves. Read more »

Injuries and ineffectivness have been causes for a shakeup in our Week 7 player rankings. Preseason No. 1 Alex Rodriguez (quad) still clings to a top-five position as he nears a return from the disabled list. Meanwhile, slugging first basemen Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder and David Ortiz are all on the decline because of sluggish starts.

The hottest hitter in baseball, Houston first baseman Lance Berkman, charges from the No. 20 spot all the way to No. 5 behind a remarkable May, in which he has hit .574 with seven homers and 18 RBIs. Alfonso Soriano is also on a tear, moving into our top 10 with five home runs and 10 RBIs over his last five games. Read more »

The Baby ‘Backs sit atop our baseball team power rankings, as we make a belated debut to the 2008 season. Across the country, the upstart Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins have climbed to the top of the mighty AL and NL East divisions and into our ever-important top 10.

Underachievers are sprinkled throughout the bottom half of the rankings, with the 17th-ranked Milwaukee Brewers and 22nd-ranked Seattle Mariners heading the class. Kansas City and Pittsburgh again reside near the cellar, but are both showing signs of hope and improvement. The same can’t be said in Washington, where there is too little talent to dream of a sudden turnaround. Read more »

Alex Rodriguez sits atop Imaginary Diamond’s first player rankings list, largely out of respect for what he did last season. Hanley Ramirez, Chase Utley and David Wright are all nipping at his heels, especially with A-Rod parked in the garage with a sore quad.

Rising on this week’s list are Lance Berkman, who has gone on a five-category tear to start the season; Rafael Furcal, who looks fully healthy after an injury-plagued 2007; Chipper Jones, who’s hitting everything that moves; Carlos Zambrano and Miguel Tejada.

Some of those falling down the board are Ryan Howard, who’s missing everything that moves; Adam Dunn, for the same reason; C.C. Sabathia, who dug fantasy owners a huge hole in the pitching categories; Eric Byrnes, who has two sore hamstrings; and others. Read more »