FanHouse AaronCook

Things are obviously going pretty well for any team that wins 11 in a row, but the Rockies are giving baseball people reason to believe they might be legitimate.

Pitching has been the Rockies' issue when they've struggled, and a scout who saw the Rockies sweep the Mariners over the weekend said that they seem to have some quality arms these days.

"They're all pitching well right now," the scout said. "Jason Hammel had a really good game and good stuff the day I was there. Jason Marquis had his sinker working and he pitched well. And the big guy, Ubaldo Jimenez, has great stuff. He was 95-99 consistently, with a good breaking pitch and his changeup was working. It's all going to boil down to if those guys keep doing what they do best, which is sinker-slider for Hammel and Marquis, and Jimenez is a power pitcher who is going to win as long as he throws strikes."

There are a plethora of two-start pitchers hurling in week five (Monday, May 4th - Sunday May 10th) of the fantasy baseball season. There are 58 total this week and you late sleepers are luck that all of the Monday games are night games. You won't need to set you lineups until 7:05 PM ET.

[Update: 7:48 AM ET] : Two games were rained out yesterday. The Mets and Phillies did not play and the Angels and Yankees were rained out as well. Here is the fallout from those two postponed games as it relates to two-start pitchers.

MLB Power Rankings: Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.

Baseball is here. Only for three days so far, but that's enough for knee-jerk reactions and our collective excitement, certainly. Are the Yankees in trouble? Will Ken Griffey, Jr. lead the Mariners back to glory? Are the Orioles for real? Are the Braves bound for the playoffs again? Will the Marlins manage to save baseball and win the National League East? What happens when Jim Thome and Kyle Farnsworth meet in a hadron collider?

Find out the answers to these questions -- and more! -- after the jump.

As you set your fantasy lineups for week one remember that there are 43 starting pitchers this week who will start twice. I've broken these 43 pitchers into three categories. There are 19 "must start" pitchers, nine solid options, and 15 risky hurlers throwing twice.

For the record, since there is only one game tonight featuring the Braves and the Phillies, and it's a Sunday night game, you'll find that in most weekly leagues Derek Lowe and Brett Myers (tonight's starters) will only have one start in week one, even though they'll be starting twice in their teams first seven games.

Tim Lincecum looks to have a cake walk first week as he faces Milwaukee and San Diego. While Paul Maholm, Ian Snell, John Lannan and Scott Olsen have some of the toughest two-start schedules as they face tough teams in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Florida.

MLB Power Rankings: Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.

We're almost there. You can smell it in the air, can't you? That's right ... the NHL playoffs! Ha. I kid, of course. No one actually watches hockey (if it even exists). But people do get amped up for baseball, and the season is upon us. So, in that vein, we've got our final installment of preseason power rankings ready for your digestion. Play ball.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Colorado Rockies.

The Colorado Rockies have long been one of the strangest paradigms of Major League Baseball. They seem to thrive on their home park of Coors Field, which provides Rockies hitters with seemingly supernatural power abilities. Of course, as always, that power comes with a price -- it's extremely rare to see a Colorado pitcher provide the team with any sort of successful season.

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 ...
Humidor! Seriously, didn't you hear that Colorado now stores their baseballs in a humidor and Coors Field is no longer a hitter's park? If someone in your league really believes that, just let them. You'll know the truth -- which is that Coors Field bore witness to the third most runs scored and third most home runs in baseball last year. In 2007? Third in runs, fifth in home runs. You can't just negate thin air with a cigar-housing device. It's a hitter's park, and it's consistently one of the most hitter-friendly.

Though it isn't likely to be announced until next week, the Cubs and Rockies have agreed in principle to a trade that will send starting pitcher Jason Marquis to Colorado in exchange for reliever Luis Vizcaino.

In a vacuum, Marquis is probably the more valuable player, if for no other reason than he's a starter, but of course moves like these don't happen in a vacuum. The Cubs aren't losing much in Marquis other than mediocrity, and while that has very real value in the major leagues, they have the depth to easily replace him. It's been a rocky couple of years for Vizcaino, who Chicago is receiving in return, but he still misses bats, and he's sliding into one of the deepest bullpens in the league, meaning he won't have to shoulder too much responsibility.

Perhaps more importantly, the Cubs are shedding $10 million in salary by dealing Marquis. Lightening the payroll is the first domino that needed to fall for GM Jim Hendry to round out the rest of the roster. Hendry now has the flexibility to add an outfielder like Milton Bradley or Bobby Abreu and maybe even revisit the Jake Peavy trade talks.

As for the Rockies, Marquis gives them another low-ceiling groundball pitcher to go alongside Aaron Cook in their rotation. He's probably not going to win them the division, but he won't keep them from doing so either.

Years from now when people look back on the 79th All-Star Game, they'll remember a few things. First and foremost, they'll remember the celebration of Yankee Stadium, one of baseball's last remaining living museums, in its final season. Right alongside that, they'll think fondly of Josh Hamilton. Even if you're sick of hearing about his intense battle with drug addiction, the sight of him launching 500-foot homers into the black New York sky at the Home Run Derby won't soon be forgotten.

And perhaps after that, they'll remember the actual game itself for its record length -- 15 innings over four hours and 50 minutes. It's safe to say nobody will be thinking of the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium as a classic.

Part of that was the ugliness of the game. This Midsummer Classic had everything -- blown calls by the umpire, poor baserunning, way too much Aaron Cook, epic offensive squanders and even three errors by poor Dan Uggla.

But the flaws in the structure of the current incarnation of the All-Star Game were also on not-so-sparkling display. Major League Baseball still has the best showcase event in American professional sports, but it's not above a little cosmetic overhaul now and again.

With that in mind, here are four things that baseball should change to improve the All-Star Game. (There was plenty of time to come up with a list Tuesday night).

Maybe the All-Star Game is a meaningless to the players and just an excuse for Bud Selig to admire himself for a week. That doesn't mean that the selections should be stupid. Today, the MLB 'Haus gives you All-Star Grievances.

Grievance: Cole Hamels out, Aaron Cook in. When the teams were announced, Cole Hamels was 9-5 with a 3.22 ERA, while Aaron Cook was 11-5 with a 3.37 ERA. But Hamels' other numbers blow Cook away: Cole has only five more walks while trouncing Cook in K's 110-59, and has a 1.02 WHIP as opposed to a 1.26 WHIP for Cook.

So How Did This Happen? The Rockies defeated the Phillies in the NLDS, that's how. With Matt Holliday already on the squad as an alternate, you can bet that Charlie Manuel would have taken Hamels over Cook in a second ... but Clint Hurdle, as a perk of winning the pennant, went with his guy.

Grievance: Pat Burrell gets the Shaft. Pat Burrell is headed towards his best season ever, and is in the top ten in most of your big offensive categories. You could absolutely make a case that Ryan Ludwick, whom Burrell bests in OPS and home runs, should be in the vote for the final player while Burrell should be in.