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2010 Player Rosters and Salaries

VAN TASSEL

*OF Julio Borbon, 1

**SP Roy Halladay, 24

*SP Tommy Hanson, 7

*OF Jason Heyward, 1

*2B Aaron Hill, 3

**SS Derek Jeter, 25

**SP Cliff Lee, 8

*OF Andrew McCutchen, 1

*1B/3B Mark Reynolds, 7

Kevin Youkilis, 27

C.C. Sabathia, 32

Mariano Rivera, 24

Miguel Montero, 17

Rafael Soriano, 14

Max Scherzer, 12

David Aardsma, 17

Asdrubal Cabrera, 11

Jeff Niemann, 5

Drew Stubbs, 12

Yadier Molina, 8

Orlando Hudson, 6

Johnny Cueto, 6

Juan Rivera, 1

Michael Wurtz, 3

Randy Wolf, 5

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 277

SHAGGY

*SS Cristian Guzman, 3

**SP Rich Harden, 8

*RP Trevor Hoffman, 6

*OF Adam Jones, 5

*OF Adam Lind, 5

*C/1B Victor Martinez, 16

*SP Kevin Millwood, 2

*OF Ichiro Suzuki, 24

Prince Fielder, 36

Stephen Strasburg, 13

Cole Hamels, 22

Jake Peavy, 26

Martin Prado, 16

Matt Cain, 28

Carlos Beltran, 14

Adrian Beltre, 14

Brian Fuentes, 14

Mike Napoli, 10

Chad Qualls, 10

Rafael Furcal, 7

Jorge Cantu, 7

Troy Glaus, 3

Ben Sheets, 7

Freddy Sanchez, 1

Chris Perez, 8

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 305

DAVE

*SP Mark Buehrle, 8

*OF Michael Cuddyer, 3

*SS Yunel Escobar, 8

*SP Gavin Floyd, 3

*SP Jair Jurrjens, 8

**1B James Loney, 11

*SS Ryan Theriot, 5

*3B Michael Young, 17

Chase Utley, 44

Miguel Cabrera, 35

Jon Lester, 33

Jonathan Papelbon, 28

Hunter Pence, 20

Jorge Posada, 8

Ryan Doumit, 5

Jose Valverde, 14

Clay Buchholz, 9

Jorge De La Rosa, 9

Garrett Jones, 1

Ted Lilly, 2

John Baker, 4

Luke Gregerson, 4

Fernando Rodney, 2

Corey Hart, 3

Casey McGehee, 7

Penalty/Salary Lost: 13

Total: 304

MIKE

**OF Jay Bruce, 1

**OF Matt Kemp, 15

*SP Clayton Kershaw, 11

*SP Rick Porcello, 3

**C Joe Mauer, 25

**SP David Price, 5

*SP Adam Wainwright, 14

*SP Jered Weaver, 11

*3B Ryan Zimmerman, 14

Torii Hunter, 13

Curtis Granderson, 20

Matt Holliday, 31

Mark Teixeira, 34

Troy Tulowitzki, 38

Javier Vazquez, 16

Brandon Phillips, 27

A.J. Burnett, 11

Marco Scutaro, 5

Joba Chamberlain, 2

Fausto Carmona, 5

Jason Frasor, 5

Cody Ross, 1

Takashi Saito, 1

Mark DeRosa, 1

Trevor Cahill, 3

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 312

BILLY

*1B Adam Dunn, 15

*OF Brad Hawpe, 8

**C Chris Iannetta, 6

*3B Chipper Jones, 18

*1B Adam LaRoche, 3

*OF Ryan Ludwick, 9

*RP Hideki Okajima, 1

**SP Joe Saunders, 9

A.J. Pierzynski, 4

Zack Greinke, 35

Manny Ramirez, 22

Ben Zobrist, 25

Dan Uggla, 17

Frank Francisco, 13

Derrek Lee, 15

Brian Wilson, 15

James Shields, 16

Carlos Zambrano, 9

Bobby Jenks, 14

John Danks, 8

Scott Kazmir, 9

Aaron Harang, 6

Erik Bedard, 4

Kerry Wood, 6

Mike Cameron, 1

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 288

PINGREE

*SP Chris Carpenter, 11

*OF Andre Ethier, 15

**3B Alex Gordon, 14

**1B Todd Helton, 8

*RP Francisco Rodriguez, 25

*RP Huston Street, 10

*SS Miguel Tejada, 9

Shane Victorino, 17

Justin Morneau, 28

Johan Santana, 21

Russell Martin, 16

Matt Garza, 10

Howie Kendrick, 10

John Lackey, 19

Alex Rios, 10

Jhonny Peralta, 5

Kelly Johnson, 2

Phil Hughes, 7

Alfonso Soriano, 14

Octavio Dotel, 4

Nyjer Morgan, 8

J.J. Hardy, 5

Hiroki Kuroda, 6

Ken Griffey Jr., 5

Carl Pavano, 1

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 280

STEVE

*SP Josh Beckett, 21

*SP Kris Medlen, 1

**OF Carlos Quentin, 8

*C Matt Weiters, 15

David Wright, 40

Dustin Pedroia, 37

Jason Bay, 21

Stephen Drew, 20

B.J. Upton, 22

Lance Berkman, 20

Scott Baker, 9

Roy Oswalt, 13

Ryan Franklin, 10

J.A. Happ, 10

Johnny Damon, 5

Mat Latos, 4

Brandon Lyon, 5

Chris Young (SD), 6

Travis Hafner, 3

J.D. Drew, 1

Aroldis Chapman, 7

Miguel Olivo, 4

Scott Sizemore, 5

Justin Smoak, 3

Matt Lindstrom, 2

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 292

KEITH

*SS Elvis Andrus, 8

*SS Jason Bartlett, 4

*1B Billy Butler, 2

*OF Dexter Fowler, 3

*SP Felix Hernandez, 19

**3B Evan Longoria, 10

*OF Justin Upton, 12

*RP Joakim Soria, 17

*OF Denard Span, 4

Ryan Howard, 38

Tim Lincecum, 43

Ian Kinsler, 32

Ubaldo Jimenez, 19

Aramis Ramirez, 13

Brandon Webb, 18

Billy Wagner, 13

Bengie Molina, 8

Carlos Pena, 13

Brad Lidge, 8

Kevin Slowey, 8

Chris Coghlan, 5

Justin Masterson, 3

Matt Thornton, 3

Brandon Morrow, 1

Ian Desmond, 3

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 286

JJ

*RP Andrew Bailey, 5

*RP Neftali Feliz, 2

*OF Carlos Gonzalez, 2

**OF Josh Hamilton, 9

*OF Jason Kubel, 3

*OF Shin Soo-Choo, 5

*C Kurt Suzuki, 2

*SP Justin Verlander, 13

**1B Joey Votto, 7

Gordon Beckham, 20

Yovani Gallardo, 25

Brian Roberts, 20

Jose Reyes, 27

Dan Haren, 26

Carlos Lee, 20

Chone Figgins, 15

Chad Billingsley, 16

Francisco Liriano, 11

Erick Aybar, 2

Rickie Weeks, 10

Wade Davis, 8

Mike Gonzalez, 6

Buster Posey, 13

Jon Rauch, 3

Kevin Gregg, 7

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 277

DUGAN

*SP Brett Anderson, 6

**RP Heath Bell, 3

*RP Jonathan Broxton, 15

*OF Carl Crawford, 25

*OF Jacoby Ellsbury, 20

*SP Josh Johnson, 9

**C Brian McCann, 18

*1B Kendry Morales, 1

*OF Jayson Werth, 9

Jimmy Rollins, 22

Adrian Gonzalez, 31

Robinson Cano, 27

Ricky Nolasco, 13

Tim Hudson, 6

Placido Polanco, 6

Raul Ibanez, 15

Brian Matusz, 11

Vladimir Guerrero, 9

Conor Jackson, 1

Carlos Santana, 1

Ryan Rowland-Smith, 1

Clint Barmes, 1

David Freese, 1

Austin Jackson, 1

Jonathan Sanchez, 1

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 253

MICHIENZI

**RP Francisco Cordero, 19

*OF Nelson Cruz, 13
**1B Chris Davis, 6

*SP Ryan Dempster, 12

*SP Edwin Jackson, 1

*2B Jose Lopez, 7

*SP Paul Maholm, 7

*RP Carlos Marmol, 15

*C Geovanny Soto, 12

Nick Markakis, 23

Alcides Escobar, 12

Ian Stewart, 15

J.P. Howell, 7

Daisuke Matsuzaka, 10

Nate McLouth, 11

Matt Capps, 9

Leo Nunez, 9

Paul Konerko, 4

Randy Wells, 2

Brett Wallace, 5

Kaz Matsui, 1

Vernon Wells, 6

David Ortiz, 13

Homer Bailey, 6

Colby Rasmus, 3

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 228

DERICK

*SP Bronson Arroyo, 1

**2B/SS Alexei Ramirez, 7

*SP Wandy Rodriguez, 6

*1B/3B Pablo Sandoval, 13

Hanley Ramirez, 46

Albert Pujols, 48

Alex Rodriguez, 45

Ryan Braun, 40

Grady Sizemore, 25

Bobby Abreu, 17

Michael Bourn, 9

Joe Blanton, 4

Derek Lowe, 6

Nolan Reimold, 8

Brett Gardner, 1

Juan Pierre, 3

Rajai Davis, 5

Clint Barmes, 1

Ervin Santana, 1

Brad Penny, 1

Chris Volstad, 1

Daniel Bard, 8

Kyle Banks, 1

Matt Guerrier, 1

Penalty/Salary Lost: 0

Total: 298

In which we fawn over Brady's toughness, FJM-style

For those who aren't aware, the popular blog FireJoeMorgan popularized the blog style in which the author's work is pored over meticulously to point out any and all shortcomings. It is a brilliant method, and one that I will steal from liberally here with a post from NESN.com titled "Brady Named AP Comeback Player of the Year", link here, or as I like to call it, "Oh-Em-Eff-Gee, Brady is so gosh darn cute."

When you're one of the best quarterbacks of all time and you're lying in a heap on the field with torn knee ligaments,

and there's nobody there to hold your hand and kiss your forehead and tell you everything's going to be okay,

your comeback is going to be anticipated throughout the football world.

Unless you're a fan of the other 31 teams in the league, in which your reaction was a moment of shock, followed by a snicker and a shrug before you continue watching the other teams in the league (no seriously, they exist!).

For Tom Brady, it was, and the quarterback did not disappoint.

You know, if you don't count the significantly decreased stats, the lack of continuity of the offense all season long and the 10-6 record compared to the 16-0 record the last time he played a full season.

Brady was voted the AP Comeback Player of the Year, receiving 19 votes from a panel of 50 sportswriters

A bunch of Chowdaheads, no doubt.

around the country.

Oh. Sorry. Carry on.

He beat out Carnell Williams of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who received 14 votes.

Does he get a Cadillac for winning this stupid award?

Brady, who played just over seven minutes last season,

Known to Pats fans as "the only seven minutes that mattered in the 2008 NFL season."

turned in one of the best seasons of his career, yet he did so with relatively little fanfare.

Tom Brady can't even sneeze with relatively little fanfare. A quick Google search turns up more than 4,190,000 results for Brady. By contrast, a search for Peyton Manning turns up less than three million. Analysts pored over every little thing Brady did this season. They watched his surgically repaired knee like a hawk. If he so much as stepped forward with hesitation, they pounced. That's not "relatively little fanfare."

That's partly due to the 50-touchdown season he completed in 2007, which was the best in NFL history.

In case you had forgotten. Remember when Tom Brady was the best in NFL history? Yeah. That was nice.

This season, despite battling shoulder, rib and finger injuries,

all of which caused him to miss exactly zero minutes of playing time,

Brady posted his second-highest career stats in completion percentage (65.7), yards (4,398) and touchdowns (28).

Brady also had his second-best year in chin-dimplage.

Despite the success, Brady showed plenty of rust. That, combined with ribs that have been reportedly cracked all season,

"OW-AH QUATAHBACK IS MOHR-TAL! FACKIN A!"

resulted in some uncharacteristic mistakes. He threw an interception in the end zone in Miami in a game that the Dolphins ultimately won by a point, and he threw a pick that essentially sealed a Texans victory in Week 17.

In a game that they didn't need to win, in a game where Brady shouldn't have been playing, in a game where Brady's go-to receiver shredded the ligaments in his knee because he was playing in the first place. But continue.

However, despite the bad, there was more than enough good. For starters, he led the Patriots to a 10-6 record and a trip to the postseason -- something last year's 11-5 squad couldn't do.

Yes, that's exactly it. Matt Cassel can't lead the Patriots to the playoffs because he's not Tom Brady. That's how great Brady is. He can win the division with a lesser record! It's Brady Magic!

He also set the NFL record for most touchdown passes in a quarter when he threw five in the second quarter against the Titans. In that game, he threw for 380 yards and six touchdowns. He also had a career day at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16, when he threw more touchdowns than incompletions. He finished that game 23-of-26 (88 percent) for 267 yards and four touchdowns.

Neither of these teams made the playoffs. In fact, Tennessee was winless at the time. But good to see Belichick and company can dust off the "Eff You" game every once in a while and run up the score for good measure.

Brady spoke this fall about how the season-ending injury in 2008, while incredibly disappointing, was good for him in that it helped him appreciate the opportunity he has to play the game.

"It's a very physical sport, football is," Brady said, according to the AP.

He's dreamy AND insightful? Oh Gisele you sly fox you, you always catch the good ones.

"I had an unfortunate injury, but I think it's really helped me grow in a lot of ways as a person, as a player, as a teammate.

"Before the injury, I used to hurl throwing stars at my teammates if they blew an assignment. But now, I've learned to to be kindler and gentler, so I throw paring knives instead."

It really reinforces how much I enjoy playing the game and how much I love the game. And to have the chance to go out this year and play, it's great."

Williams played just 10 games combined in the previous two seasons, suffering from torn patellar tendons in each of his knees.

But his knees worked, and Brady's knee didn't. SUCK IT UP, PANSY. Maybe you should work on being a little more dreamy. It's a very physical sport, football is.

This year, he played in all 16 games, compiling 821 yards (3.9 YPC) and four touchdowns on the ground while catching 29 passes for 219 yards and another three touchdowns.

And those terrible stats were still enough for 14 votes. That should tell you everything you need to know about this award.

Other players who received votes included Titans quarterback Vince Young,

Last year's injury report: Out (Insanity)

Vikings quarterback Brett Favre,

Who played the entire season last year, then retired for the second time, then un-retired for the second time. The guy has the all-time record of 285 consecutive starts, dating to 1992, and it's an ACTIVE STREAK, and he got votes for Comeback Player of the Year. Wow.

Bengals running back Cedric Benson, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and Saints defensive end Anthony Hargrove.

It was hard to compete with Brady, though, as the 32-year-old is one of the biggest stars in the league.

And he's so much more handsome!

On Sunday, he'll take to the field hoping to begin a run that will end with bringing the Patriots back to the game's biggest stage.

And if he somehow leads this decidedly average squad back to the Super Bowl, then THAT will be a comeback.

Leading up to Week 15 (NFC)

Moving on to the NFC, and it's getting interesting. Just when you think one team is ready to challenge to be top dog, they falter. Let's take a look at the teams still in it...

PHILADELPHIA (9-4): A team winning the games that matter. Consider what this team has endured this year - an injury to its star QB, its top running back and two of its top receivers. Plenty of potential distractions, and a mid-season WTF moment in a loss against Oakland. And here they are at the top of a brutal division. They've lost to New Orleans (like everyone else), Dallas and San Diego. Two of those teams are almost assuredly going to have first-round byes. Another is probably a playoff team. Their defense isn't great right now - you can throw on Sheldon Brown. The rest of the schedule isn't a cake-walk, but they're better than all three remaining opponents. Win when it counts, and this is a team to be feared in the postseason.

DALLAS (8-5): My friend the Cowboys fan is imploring us not to use the D word. As in December. At this point, their late-season losses are in their heads. And the tough schedule isn't helping. They'll need to show some signs of life against New Orleans on Saturday or nothing is taken for granted, not even that playoff spot that seemed like such a sure sign. One thing's for sure - they're not the dominant team they looked to be at 8-3, and their inability to beat really good teams isn't going to give anyone any faith in them come playoff time anyway. If they miss the postseason, Wade Phillips is out as head coach.

NY GIANTS (7-6): 2-6 in their last eight and not inspiring much confidence. But the game against the Eagles on Sunday showed they still have some fight left. Still, winnable games in the next two - against Carolina and Washington - could prove to be their saving grace. Win those and set up a must-win situation against a Minnesota team that might not have anything to play for? This team's not out of it yet, especially with Dallas swooning.

MINNESOTA (11-2): Just when you thought they were in trouble, they play like gangbusters against Cincy. All three of the remaining games are winnable, but this team desperately wants to rest for the postseason. As predicted two weeks ago, Minnesota might be in for a rough patch if Favre - the all-time INT leader - starts throwing picks. He's started to regress down that path, so keep an eye out for his accuracy down the stretch, especially without safety valve Percy Harvin. And watch to see if defenses try to attack the void left at linebacker.

GREEN BAY (9-4): They just keep rolling. At this point, Green Bay's biggest weakness is the same as Dallas - they can't beat the elite teams. Three pesky teams remain against Pittsburgh, Seattle and a perplexing Arizona squad, but winning two should be enough for the Packers to cruise into the playoffs.

NEW ORLEANS (13-0): They're going for perfection, according to head coach Sean Payton. But here's one reason for pause with this team - they play their best football when the spotlight shines brightly on them. Look at the way this team plays when the spotlight isn't on them - three sluggish wins in five weeks against a beat-up Atlanta team, a bad Washington team and a terrible Rams team. Put it this way - if the game against Dallas was on Sunday at 1 p.m., I think the Cowboys win. But it's Saturday night at 8, so I think New Orleans has it locked down. That might be troublesome later on.

ARIZONA (8-5): Blow out the high-flying Vikings one week, drop seven turnovers against a lowly 49ers team the next. It's going to be that kind of season again for the Cardinals. Will the injury to Larry Fitzgerald make a major impact? One thing's for certain - if last week told us anything, it's that Arizona's rushing attack is shoddy at best. The problem is, when it really comes down to it, do you WANT to invite this team to throw the ball?

Division Winners: Philadelphia, Minnesota*, New Orleans*, Arizona (*-Bye)

Wild Card Winners: Dallas, Green Bay

No changes on the NFC front. Philly and Dallas play in Week 17, and the way things are shaping up, it looks like they could well play again in the first round of the playoffs. That's going to be very, very interesting. Dallas has beaten Philly once this year, but the two teams have been moving in different directions ever since. The question remains - can any of those four teams beat Minnesota or New Orleans? The answer two weeks ago was a resounding no, but we're starting to see some cracks in the armor of those two juggernauts. This race is far from over. But at the end of the day, with the road to the Super Bowl almost assuredly running directly through New Orleans - the toughest place to play in the league - any team will be hard-pressed to knock off the Saints this year.