10 MLB Stars Who Will Get It Done This Season

With the Los Angeles Dodgers selling for a record $2.15 billion, Major League Baseball is healthy and thriving. But the biggest lure are the stars that play the game.

Meanwhile, those stars need to produce in order to keep the interest level up. That said, which stars are going to fulfill their promise this season and which ones are going to let us down?

There are several intriguing angles this season. We get to watch as arguably the best hitter in baseball, Albert Pujols, starts his post-free agency career in the American League, with the Los Angeles Angels.

Another interesting storyline will be the emergence of Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish, who will make his major league debut against the Seattle Mariners on April 9 at Rogers Ballpark in Arlington. 

And speaking of those same Mariners, another Japanese ballplayer will be out to prove that he is not done. The 38 year-old Ichiro Suzuki is coming off of his first sub-200 hit season since he came to MLB in 2001.

There are countless fans, owners and GMs who will be watching closely for the stars of MLB to shine in 2012. Recognizing that, let's pick out 10 of those stars who will have the best seasons in 2012.

Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays

Bautista, a.k.a. "Joey Bats," burst onto the scene in 2010, when he blasted 54 home runs and became the subject of almost constant scrutiny over where the sudden power had come from.

But the fact is, he developed a new swing and approach that lent itself to new-found power at the time when he had just his second season of full-time at-bats.

Meanwhile, Bautista has been the model of consistency, so there is no reason not to expect similar results in 2012. His base skills (contact rate, walk rate and HF/FB) have been almost the same the past two seasons. His batting average has oscillated due to a BABIP difference, but 40 homers and 100 RBI are almost a certainty.

In fact, Bautista had, by far, his best batting average and on-base percentage in 2011. He hit over .300 for the first time and got on base almost 45 percent of the time.

At 31, he will slowly be entering his decline phase. However, Bautista blossomed later that some, so he has less mileage on his body.

One minor concern is his post All-Star plight last season, when he hit .257 with only 12 homers. However, for those of you who still feel Bautista is a fluke, I say you are wrong.

The table-setters in the Blue Jays lineup may not do him any favors, but Bautista will hit.

Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

The only question about Tulowitzki is, will he stay healthy? Because if he does, he will hit for average and power, and he will field his position as the best defensive shortstop in the National League.

If you don't like "Tulo," you don't get what is good about the game. This is a guy with enormous talent, yet is humble, never flashy and he plays the game the right way.

He plays the most important defensive position on the diamond, and at age 27, should be peaking in 2012. He has been the model of consistency as well.

Over the past three seasons, he has hit 32, 27 and 30 home runs while driving in between 92 and 105 runs and batting around .300, with an OBP of at least .370.

He has also been a monster after the All-Star Game in each of the past two seasons. Last year, Tulowitzki had a slash line of .356/.426/.634 in the second half of the season. So, as the season goes on, he gets better.

Defensively, he ranked second in the NL among shortstops with a UZR/150 of 7.9.

Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

It is interesting that the next player listed on this slideshow had virtually identical offensive value per plate appearance with Tulowitzki. Longoria has a 136 wRC+ to Tulowitzki's 137 wRC+. Even if you aren't into FanGraphs' advanced metrics, what I'm saying is that both are among the best players in the game.

Another similarity to Tulo is that Longoria also plays excellent defense. While Longoria is a third baseman, he plays his position equally as well as Tulo plays shortstop.

But perhaps the most striking similarity is that both players seem like genuinely good guys with no real (known) baggage, which is saying something in this information age of social media.

However, the one area where they are somewhat disparate is that while Tulo had a great 2011 season, Longoria is coming off of a disappointing year, except in the power department.

However, despite a career-low .244 batting average, Longoria still led all AL third sackers in WAR value (6.1). But his BABIP was .239, almost 100 points lower than his normal results.

This means that Longoria may have hit into some bad luck in 2011, and therefore, could be expected to resume his career averages in 2012.

But even with that BABIP, Longoria still mashed 31 homers and drove in 99 runs. His walk percentage was the highest of his major league career (13.9 percent).

Defensively, his UZR/150 was once again very solid, at 14.2. At 26 years old, Longoria is poised to have his best season to date in 2012.

Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks

Well, this is interesting. Upton marks the fourth consecutive player listed here that bats from the right side. Will a lefty raise his head at some point?

While we wait with baited breath, let's look at Upton.

Upton had a fine season in 2011, and his overall value was the third-highest of all NL outfielders (6.4 WAR). Upton is also the youngest of the players on this list so far. He won't turn 25 until August, so there is no reason to expect any regression from this star.

Upton's 2011 was quite impressive. He cut his strikeout rate to below league average for the first time (18.7 percent in 2011, 23.9 percent career). He had a career high in home runs, runs, RBI and stolen bases. His ISO was the best of his career, too (.240 in 2011, .211 career).

In short, only five outfielders in all of baseball outproduced Upton in 2011. And while he hit career highs in all those areas, the fact that there’s no obvious outlier in his peripherals bodes well for 2012 and beyond. All of his numbers were within a reasonable range of his normal numbers.

His BABIP was below his career average, and his increase in power was tied to an increase in fly balls, but even that seems sustainable. He hit 44.8 percent fly balls last year, and his career number is 41 percent. 

At 24, if he improves, he will be scary good.

Robinson Cano, New York Yankees

Finally, a left-handed hitter makes an appearance on this list! Cano is here not only because he is a great player, but he is just so darn consistent. He has averaged 160 games, 27 home runs, 104 RBIs, 103 runs scored and a .314 batting average over the past three seasons.

A career .308 hitter, Cano produced a .302/.349/.533 slash last year with 28 homers and 118 RBI. At 29, Cano is poised for his best season ever.

Not many second basemen hit like Cano does, and while he does benefit from that short left-field porch in Yankee stadium, he hit almost as many homers on the road last year as he did at home.

Cano even hits left-handed pitching very well. In 2011, he hit .314 vs. southpaws, and his slugging was almost identical to his output against righties.

Cano plays in New York and has adjusted to the bright lights and media attention well. So there is no reason to expect a drop-off on his numbers.

With apologies to Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler and Brandon Phillips, Cano remains the best all-around offensive second baseman in the game.

Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels

I realize that Pujols is moving to the tougher American League and will have a lot of pressure to produce in the first year of his free-agent contract, but I believe in Albert, at least for the next couple of seasons.

While the Angels may eventually regret paying Albert $30 million at age 41, in 2012, he will produce similar numbers to his career norms, and that's pretty damn good.

Consider this: He comes off the worst season of his 11-year career and still finished with a .299 average with 37 home runs and 99 RBI. That would be most players' career year.

He turned 32 in January, but it's not yet time to call out the walker for Pujols, who should still have some solid years left. He is a proud athlete who will be out to prove that last year wasn't a signal of an impending decline.

On one hand, you may think that picking Pujols is a cop-out, as anyone can predict a future Hall of Fame player like Albert, who has had as good of a stretch as any player in MLB history, to hit well this year.

But there are plenty of people who expect him to fail, though I am not one of them. Again, I wouldn't have given him a 10-year contract, but for the time being, Pujols should remain an offensive force.  

Clayton Kershaw

Finally, a pitcher makes the list. Kershaw is arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now. A southpaw, he went 21-5 with a 2.28 ERA in 2011, and at 24, will only get better.

Kershaw is an excellent example of why win-loss records are not a good way to value starting pitchers. He pitched very well the past three seasons, yet went only 21-18 over 2009 and 2010 combined.

But last year, Kershaw was finally rewarded for his outstanding stuff. Only three pitchers had a higher WAR in 2011 than Kershaw (Roy Halladay, CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander). And while Halladay and Sabathia are 30 or older and Verlander has the plight of the Cy Young jinx hanging over him, Kershaw is, I believe, headed for another stellar season in 2012.

Only Halladay (2.20) had a better FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) than Kershaw (2.47). He relies less on his curveball than he did when he first came to the big leagues, and now, his slider is his weapon of choice.

While the slider produces arm strain, there are no unusual red flags in his delivery that would suggest a serious injury is on the horizon for the Dodgers ace. If he stays healthy, he will continue to dominate.

CC Sabathia

The Yankees hurler belongs on this list for two reasons. First, he is one of the best starting pitchers in the game. And two, he pitches for a ballclub that should continue to produce runs.

That combination means that you can expect Sabathia to continue posting near 20-win seasons in a large market. And speaking of large, his frame seems to be holding up well, though one has to wonder if, as he ages (Sabathia turns 32 in July), his weight won't start to become an issue for him.

But in the meantime, there is no reason to expect a decline in performance from Sabathia. And that means another outstanding season.  He was 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA in 2011, and only Halladay had more value (7.1 WAR).

While I expect Felix Hernandez to continue to be dominant, King Felix suffers from a lack of offensive production, which negatively affects his rate stats. To many baseball followers, the resulting poor W-L record overshadows his otherwise brilliant performances.

But even baseball lifers who do not value advanced metrics can easily see that Sabathia is good, and that, combined with his New York presence, makes his more of a so-called "star" in MLB today.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red sox

With this pick, I am going to buck the trend that has stated, all winter, how Ellsbury will regress in 2012. But even if he does, and I do think it's reasonable to assume he won't hit 32 bombs again in 2012, he is good enough to have another outstanding performance.

That's because he is young and he can do it all. He hits for both average and power. Even with a decline in his power numbers, I still expect 20-25 homers from him this year.

But Ellsbury also does a lot with the glove and his base running. He is an above-average centerfielder and would probably make and even better left fielder, though the advanced metrics do not always agree.

His UZR/150 was a robust 15.7 last year, but in his previous full season (2009), Ellsbury was a -10.0. But he is generally regarded as a solid fielder, and his speed helps him track down balls that others may not get to.

And speaking of that speed, he adds value with his base running as well. He has stolen 159 bases over his previous three full seasons combined (2008, 2009 and 2011), with a career-best 70 in '09.

Ellsbury should continue to be one of the top outfielders in the game this season.

Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

Why Fielder over other great first basemen such as Joey Votto, Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez? Call it a hunch or whatever you'd like, but I feel that Fielder will continue his torrential power numbers in 2012 despite the pressure of signing that big contract. 

Now on one hand, that's easy to see, since he has had a great offensive career and is coming off of another terrific season in 2011. But that's true of the others as well.

But Cabrera could be slowed by that orbital fracture and will be expected to play third base this season, which could be a disaster defensively for the Tigers. 

But with Fielder joining a lineup that includes the aforementioned Cabrera, there is no reason to expect a decline in Fielder's performance despite jumping to the stronger AL.

Really, you could put lots of players in a hat and pick one for the 10th spot on this list, and you probably wouldn't go wrong. But I really like Fielder's approach and the way he deflects pressure. He plays with an attitude, but doesn't seem to let things get to him.

That doesn't mean that I don't have some long-term concerns over his body type affecting him as he ages. But for now at least, I expect the 27-year-old Fielder (he turns 28 in May) to continue to produce prodigious power numbers in Detroit.