FanHouse Fantasy Baseball

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

One fantasy baseball question becoming increasingly more prevalent these days is very succinct: Is David Ortiz done? The problem? It's a tough question to answer. What do we actually mean by "done?" Is he ever going to be the guy who hit 54 home runs or the one who drove home 148 runs again? No. Not a chance.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia owners eat your heart out. Relative unknowns -- and likely undrafted in nearly all mixed fantasy leagues -- Ricky Romero and Glen Perkins are straight dealing right now. And after three outings each, it's time to start wondering if the quick starts are not flukey.

Brandon Webb's had plenty of virtual ink dedicated to his stiff shoulder over the last week, and while that won't let up anytime soon, there will be a slight reprieve: Webb is headed to the 15-day disabled list.

The Diamondbacks announced the move on Sunday afternoon and it is retroactive to last Tuesday and, frankly, it makes a lot of sense (especially after he was scratched from his next start already).

"I feel like we're making progress on it, but we just need a little more time to make sure it's totally good," Webb told reporters.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your crammed subway car, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday morning.

There were a bunch of eye-opening performances scattered throughout Thursday's games, but none bigger than the seven one-hit innings hurled by Chris Carpenter. The 33-year-old hadn't won a game for the Cardinals since the 2006 World Series, yet there he was, striking out seven Pirates and needing just 92 pitches to get through his day of work. Is Carpenter already back to fantasy ace status, or was this just the stinkin' Bucs making him look good?

So, seriously, who was that masquerading as Brandon Webb yesterday? There was no sink on his patented sinker, his velocity was down and he gave up two home runs. Do you know when he gave up his second home run in 2008? May 3, when he was busy running his record to 7-0. Yes, we need to realize he's likely got about 34 more starts this season.

Still, there's a bit more concern with Webb than just a bad outing. The reason he looked more like Jason Marquis than Brandon Webb could have had something to do with a bum wing. Webb said he was experiencing shoulder stiffness.

PHOENIX -- Although the Athletics have said for a while that they expected Eric Chavez to be ready to be in the lineup on opening day, on Monday morning Chavez himself said it.

"Without jinxing myself, definitely," Chavez told FanHouse when asked if he'd be ready for the April 6 opener against the Angels.

That's not a minor admission from Chavez, who normally refuses to look beyond his next at-bat or ground ball.

PHOENIX -- Justin Duchscherer is going to have arthroscopic surgery on his balky right elbow, most likely knocking him out of action for at least the first month of the season.

The A's haven't yet worked out the details on when or where Duchscherer will have the surgery and they won't know exactly how long he'll be out until doctors get in there and see what needs to be done. Typically, a pitcher would miss at least six weeks with even the most mild arthroscopic cleanup on his elbow.

Duchscherer, a two-time All-Star and the only pitcher in the A's rotation with any sort of successful track record, did not talk to reporters today, directing them to manager Bob Geren for comment.

"Anytime you lose a guy it's disappointing, especially a guy who was pegged as a possible No. 1 guy," Geren said.

As I scrolled through the latest average draft position report on Mock Draft Central, I started to realize how much I love the entire Marlins rotation to provide stellar value this season. I knew I liked them, but as the numbers currently stand, I love them.

Obviously, let's not get nuts and start taking them in the first round or anything, and there are some more valuable than others. The fact is, though, that each of the five possesses very solid value at this point in draft season.

Jeff Francoeur burst onto the Atlanta baseball scene in 2005, a homegrown talent with huge upside potential. He showed some value in 70 games that season after being called up, but really exploded in 2006 with 29 home runs and 103 RBI. The next season was another growing year as he brought his batting average up to .293 and still hit 19 home runs and 105 RBI. His 2008 season should have been another growth -- almost breakout -- season. But, something different happened.

Thursday was a see-saw type day for fantasy baseball analysts. We were left scrambling to rework our cheat sheets in the wake of the news Alex Rodriguez would miss at least a month of the regular season. Once we got done with said scrambling, we heard that he's actually going to rehab and play through a torn labrum in his hip.

After all was said and done -- including the revelation to non-medical people that the labrum is in both the hip and the shoulder -- the No. 1 overall pick discussion can be revisited. Hanley Ramirez, Albert Pujols and David Wright should certainly be involved, but it's possible to consider Jose Reyes as well.

So ... who do we have?