There is a clear number one choice here, but lots of interesting stories. Despite the picture, Manny doesn’t get the top spot.

1. The collapse of Andruw Jones-Is there a more compelling fall from grace than Andruw Jones? After 92 HR and just under 260 RBI in 2005 and 2006, he hit .222 in 2007 and has absolutely cratered in 2008. We can speculate on steroids, hidden injuries, personal problems or who knows what, but no one has yet to come up with a good reason for this drop off. He is still getting a lot of walks, but simply isn’t making contact with a 64% contact rate. He has never been a good BABIP guy though his 23% hit rate this year is unusually low even for him.

Statistically, if we view a player’s possible results based on his actual talent level as a bell curve, then some portion of the time a player will overachieve just because he is one of the 5% that falls outside the two standard deviation range. Perhaps this is what happened with Andruw Jones in 2005 and 2006; he simply overperformed based on randomness. Or maybe that is what is going on right now.

2. The Fall of Russell Martin?-Yesterday I read that Martin is apparently not well liked by his teammates and has a much higher view of himself and his ability than he ought to, so that his work ethic is not the greatest. That may or may not be true; what is true is that his second half has been mediocre. A .697 OPS with a .263 xBA and 52% groundball rate does not a star make. In June he only hit .267 and in July he hit .266. He may just be hitting a wall but intimations about his work ethic and inflated sense of self-worth may give owners pause.

3. The Manny Trade-This was a far bigger story to the real baseball world rather than the fantasy baseball world but it is still a big story. 2007 showed Manny on the slow road of decline, but he has turned it around in 2008, at least on the surface. 2008 has seen a power resurgence, but not to the 2006 or prior levels, and he has his lowest walk rate, contact rate and expected batting average since 2003. LA is a better park than Fenway for right handed power hitters, as hard as that may be to believe and I admit that I am not 100% sure it is really true, but that is what the numbers say. He has an OPS above 1,000 in July and August and if that hot streak continues into Spetember then he may have officially turned around his decline.

4. The Buzzsaw-That is Chad Billingsley for non-listeners of ESPN’s Fantasy Focus podcast. Billinsgley has vaulted into the top echelon of pitchers in the NL.  His control continues to improve and he strikes out a ton of batters. Add to that the fact that he is getting 50% groundballs and has improved his overall skill set in the second half and you have a strong CY Young contender next year if the improvement continues. I just might take him over Tim Lincecum next year….

5. James Loney Proving he is for Real-Others may not think this is a significant story, but it is one that has flown below the radar. Loney has not yet shown power, but he has proven that he will be a very solid big leaguer. His .300 average matches his expected batting average, he has a decent batting eye and average power for now. He reminds me a lot of Robinson Cano with a better batting eye, or John Olerud. That power will come though and when it does he will be a top quality fantasy player and a down ballot MVP candidate who will challenge for a batting title.