By Ray Flowers
May 12, 2008 3:41pm CDT

Who is the most valuable fantasy player going? Are saves "worth" more or less than stolen bases? How do you compare a hitter to a pitcher on an equal playing field? We at Rototimes have a tool called the Player Rater, and each week I will discuss the top-50 fantasy baseball players based upon the rankings of this tool using the following parameters: mixed league, 12-teams, standard 5x5 scoring, 14 hitters, nine pitchers, with a $260 salary cap.

You can find the actual Player Rater tool here
1. Lance Berkman, 1B/OF, HOU: Simply ridiculous the past six games (.682), the past 12 games (.500) and the past 19 games (.485). Over those 19 games he has eight home runs, 25 RBI and 24 runs scored. Amazing.

2. Hanley Ramirez, SS, FLA: After a slow start on the bases, he is now up to 13 SB, including four in his last nine games.

3. Chase Utley, 2B, PHI: Amazingly, he has gone eight games without a dinger, a span which has seen him knock in just two runs (.143 BA).

4. Rafael Furcal, SS, LAD: Even a sore back can't keep this guy from being a top play. That's what a .366-5-16-24-8 line will do for you.

5. Chipper Jones, 3B, ATL: What's wrong with Chipper? He's hitting only .367 in May (11-for-30).

6. Nate McLouth, OF, PIT: Has six home runs, 13 RBI and 16 runs scored in his last 17 games despite a .239 average.

7. Brandon Webb, SP, ARI: Last year his K/9 was 7.39, a number that is slightly down this year at 6.59. Still, that's about all the negative you can find with a guy who is 8-0 with a 2.41 ERA.

8. Carl Crawford, OF, TB: Carl has four steals in his last four games, but he is hitting just .254 with four SB over his last 12 games.

9. Derrek Lee, 1B, CHC: Overall numbers are great (.318-10-26-31-2), but May has been rough (.195-2-3).

10. Cliff Lee, SP, CLE: Cartoonishly good, Lee has 39 K and just two BB in six starts during which time he has held opponents to a .163 BAA, thanks to an unsustainable .216 BABIP.

11. Ichiro Suzuki, OF, SEA: Working on an 11-game hitting streak of 17 hits, leading to a .405 average in that time.

12. Kevin Youkilis, 1B, BOS: Has morphed into David Ortiz of years gone by the past week with five home runs, 10 RBI and eight runs scored in his last seven games.

13. Carlos Quentin, OF, CWS: Has rendered Jerry Owens insignificant with nine home runs, 29 RBI and 26 runs scored in just 35 games.

14. Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, BOS: Running like crazy with six SB in his last 10 games, but his batting average in that time is just .243, though it hasn't stopped him from crossing home plate nine times.

15. Miguel Tejada, SS, HOU: Tejada has 15 hits over his last 10 games (.341), though he has only one home run in that time.

16. Matt Holliday, OF, COL: Has been up and down so fat this year, but he's been on an upswing of late with a .400 average over his last eight games (12-for-30).

17. Dan Uggla, 2B, FLA: Possibly the best fantasy performer in baseball the past couple of weeks not named Berkman with eight home runs, 16 RBI and 15 runs scored in his last 12 games.

18. Carlos Gomez, SS, MIN: Gomez has a fantastic six SB in the last nine games, but keep an eye on that waning plate discipline that includes eight strikeouts in his last five games.

19. Ervin Santana, SP, LAA: Coming off his worst outing of the season (nine hits, five ER in 5.2 innings). In three starts at home, he is 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA and 0.82 WHIP. In six starts on the road he is 5-0 with a 3.44 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.

20. Ian Kinsler, 2B, TEX: This second sacker has been hot over the last seven days with a .379 average, seven runs and two SB. Heck, he even hit a home run, as well.

21. Conor Jackson, 1B, ARI: His last nine games have been pretty rough with a .258 average, zero home runs and just three runs scored.

22. Jonathan Papelbon, RP, BOS: He has been awful in May (0-2, 3.18 ERA, 1.06 WHIP). How good are you when those numbers qualify as an awful month?

23. Matt Kemp, OF, LAD: Almost no lefty can get him out (.396 average with all three of his home runs in 48 AB), though righties have been having a fairly easy time of it (.263 average and an awful .639 OPS).

24. Ryan Church, OF, NYM: Has been an equal opportunity hitter with a .316 average and .895 OPS against left-handers and a .323 average and .938 OPS against righties.

25. Albert Pujols, 1B, STL: Currently working on an 11-game hitting streak and a stretch of hits in 20 of 21 games.

26. Josh Hamilton, OF, TEX: Hitting only .225 over his last 10 games, but he has still managed to push seven runs across the plate in that time.

27. Edinson Volquez, SP, CIN: Amazing run to start the year. Here are his earned run totals for his seven starts – 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1 and 0.

28. Jose Valverde, RP, ARI: Has converted his last six save chances and hasn't allowed a run in 11 appearances, covering 12 innings.

29. Grady Sizemore, OF, CLE: Finally starting to drive the ball again with two home runs, a double, five RBI and five runs scored in the past five games.

30. Pat Burrell, OF, PHI: After a scalding April (.326-8-24), May hasn't been kind to Burrell so far (.216-1-6).

31. Xavier Nady, OF, PIT: No longer overlooked because of his fantastic run production – 11 RBI in the last 10 games and 34 RBI in 36 games.

32. Tim Lincecum, SP, SF: Over eight games he has allowed more than two earned runs just once.

33. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, SD: Has brought the production the past 10 games with four home runs and 10 RBI.

34. B.J. Upton, 2B/OF, TB: Hasn't gone deep in nine games and in fact he has just one in 22 outings. Do three SB in that time make up for that?

35. Ryan Ludwick, OF, STL: There haven't been too many hitters who have been hotter the past week (.478-4-9-5 in 23 AB).

36. Nick Markakis, OF, BAL: Hitting just .267 overall in large part because of a .222 mark in 36 AB against lefties.

37. Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP, BOS: Holding batters to a .170 BAA and a .209 BABIP. A major regression is coming unless he throws more strikes.

38. David Wright, 3B, NYM: Something is wrong here,isn't it? How could a guy this good hit .188 over 18 games? Guess he should talk to Ryan Howard to find out.

39. Chris Young, OF, ARI: Has been moved into the three hole and has responded. Young has three home runs, five RBI and six runs in his last seven games.

40. Mark Reynolds, 3B, ARI: Has 27 runs and 27 RBI, fantastic production for a guy who is hitting just .164 over his last 19 games.

41. Chien-Ming Wang, SP, NYY: If you remove his horrid outing on April 16th (eight ER, 12 base runners), he would have a 1.88 ERA and 0.98 WHIP.

42. Carlos Zambrano, SP, CHC: The big difference this year has been the control. Here are his K/BB ratio's the past three seasons – 1.83, 1.75 and 2.71.

43. George Sherrill, RP, BAL: Has 13 saves, but that 1.30 K/BB ratio is a bit scary.

44. Manny Ramirez, OF, BOS: Dealing with a sore hamstring, which is apparently affecting his ability to swing a bat (.179 over his last 10 games).

45. Jose Reyes, SS, NYM: Has six SB in his last nine games, though he is hitting just .222 in his last 18 contests.

46. Jason Bay, OF, PIT: Has really found his stroke over the past nine games, as he is hitting .387 with a .500 OBP, though it would be nice to see him drive in a few more runs (14 RBI this season).

47. Garrett Atkins, 3B, COL: Atkins is hitting .378 over his last 37 AB to up his season mark to .333.

48. Brandon Phillips, 2B, CIN: Six home runs and six SB are solid numbers, but the lack of power of late is a big concern (one home run in 11 games with only three RBI).

49. Jake Peavy, SD, SP: Peavy allowed four earned runs in his first four starts. Since then he has allowed 11 for a 4.01 ERA over his last four starts.

50. Johnny Damon, OF, NYY: Over the last seven games Damon has scored nine runs and is well on his way to returning to the 100-run club with 27 in 36 games.