SAN FRANCISCO -- After the San Francisco Giants got swept by the Los Angeles Angels last week, it made it easy to dismiss their prior hot streak as the result of a soft schedule full of Nationals, Diamondbacks and Marlins.
Then they did something this weekend that just might force you to pay attention. They swept the Texas Rangers, who came to AT&T Park in first place in the AL West.
"When you look back at a series like this, beating good teams, that's when you realize that we're a real threat," said Barry Zito, who carried a no-hitter in the seventh in Sunday's 3-2 victory.
The Giants are now 37-31, leading a crowded National League wild card race.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
For the most of past two seasons, Aaron Rowand has been a thorn in the collective sides of his fantasy owners. In the middle of May, his batting average even dipped down to .214 (he also only had 2 homers at the time). Starting May 10, though, Rowand has been mashing. In that 21-game span, he's hitting .378 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI. He's also accrued 10 doubles and scored 18 runs in that time.
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
While it's entirely possible the Blue Jays do hit a snag, isn't it about time columnists across the internet stopped doing Can the Blue Jays Really Keep This Up? pieces by now? I've seen at least 10 in the past three weeks. There are almost as many The Rangers Are For Real posts. The discrepancy in the media's faith in those two is likely due to the divisions in which the teams reside, but seven weeks isn't a small sample. At some point, you have to start giving credit where it's due.
Saturday Spotlight is a weekly lightning round of questions delving into the personalities of major leaguers.
James Shields wasted no time in becoming a fixture in the Rays rotation. The Rays signed him to a four-year, $11.25-million deal before he started his second full season in the majors. He delivered, winning 14 games and helping the Rays to a surprising AL Pennant in 2008.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
A few days before the 2009 Major League Baseball season began, I was watching MLB Network. They were doing their Cubs' installment of "30 Teams, 30 Days." As I went to take a sip of my beverage, former Indians and Rangers general manager John Hart, when examining the Cubs' lineup, said, "you know you're gonna get your 30 homers from Derrek Lee." I'm pretty sure I spit Pepsi all over the room in disbelief.
The biggest competition in White Sox camp this spring was the same one it's been the last few seasons: the battle for center field and the leadoff spot. The three candidates were Brian Anderson, Jerry Owens, and Dewayne Wise, with Owens starting camp as the favorite. Well, now Owens will be leaving camp without being able to say he's even a member of the White Sox organization.
On Monday the White Sox placed Owens on waivers, which means that Dewayne Wise will be the team's starting center fielder and leadoff hitter.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the ... Team desperately needing a bat in the middle of the order. It's too bad money is so tight right now, because the Giants could certainly use a certain eccentric slugger in the middle of their order. They still aren't altogether out of the running for Manny Ramirez, but I believe he's staying put in Los Angeles. Too bad they wasted all that money on Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.
It's no secret that the Giants need offensive help. They've finished 15th in the National League in scoring two years running. It's also become abundantly clear that they're gearing up for a run at the NL West crown in 2009, having signed Randy Johnson, Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry this offseason.
The Giants, the NL West's most active team this winter, are quietly making an aggressive play for free agent Manny Ramirez, according to a major-league source.
Acquiring Ramirez would come with a number of headaches -- from simply having the mercurial slugger on their roster to likely having to trade one of their incumbent outfielders (Randy Winn, Aaron Rowand, Dave Roberts). But all in all, he'd probably be worth it for a team that isn't all that far from seriously contending. They play in a soft division where 85 wins could easily equal a playoff berth.
That's especially true when you consider three factors: (1) the market for Ramirez is severely depressed because of the number of all-hit, no-field corner bats on the market, (2) signing him would simultaneously improve the Giants' offense and weaken the rival Dodgers and (3) it would save GM Brian Sabean from having to engineer a complex trade for a bat that would cost him one of his top young pitchers like Jonathan Sanchez.
Sign Manny? Sure, why not? It's not like folks in San Francisco aren't used to having a sometimes-surly, Hall of Fame slugger prowling around in left field after all.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.
The Giants were not a disappointment in 2008 as far as I'm concerned, because they only lost 90 games and did not finish in last place. Going into the season, in looking at the rosters, Giants fans had to expect 100 losses and a definite last place finish. Moving forward, there is hope for a quick franchise turnaround.
Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and even the injury-prone Noah Lowry have the makings of a quality young starting rotation. They could be above average with offensive support and an improved defense. Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand can be helpful players on a good team, but they cannot be the centerpieces of the offense, as they were this past season. Randy Winn and Fred Lewis are viable starters for '09, but they need to be slotted at the end of the batting order.
The key to the approach for 2009 is to try and compete without foregoing the future. The rotation, closer Brian Wilson, and potential stars like Madison Bumgarner, Conor Gillespie, and Buster Posey are too valuable to deal in a trade just to land one player.
I was at U.S. Cellular Field last night sitting behind home plate when Carlos Quentin hit his major league-leading 35th home run of the season into the left field seats. Seeing Carlos go deep this season was nothing new, but there was something different about his blast on Monday night.
It didn't mean anything. The White Sox were already sporting a 12-5 lead on the Mariners, so his solo shot didn't factor into the game's result. Very rarely has that been the case for Quentin this season. Carlos came to the White Sox in an offseason trade with the Diamondbacks, and he came with very little fanfare.
At the time most White Sox fans - including myself - were still a little sore about missing out on Torii Hunter and local legend Aaron Rowand. So when they found out that Kenny Williams' big plan was to bring in some outfielder nobody had ever heard of, and one that was coming off of shoulder surgery to boot, Sox fans weren't pleased.
Well thank God Kenny Williams runs the team, and the fans don't.
The only reason Quentin even made the Sox roster out of spring training was due to a groin injury suffered by Jerry Owens. Owens' injury opened a spot in the outfield, and Carlos was going to keep it warm for a few games until he could come back.
SAN FRANCISCO -- After the San Francisco Giants got swept by the Los Angeles Angels last week, it made it easy to dismiss their prior hot streak as the result of a soft schedule full of Nationals, Diamondbacks and Marlins.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
The biggest competition in White Sox camp this spring was the same one it's been the last few seasons: the battle for center field and the leadoff spot. The three candidates were 
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
It's no secret that the Giants need offensive help. They've finished 15th in the National League in scoring two years running. It's also become abundantly clear that they're gearing up for a run at the NL West crown in 2009, having signed 
I was at U.S. Cellular Field last night sitting behind home plate when 
