FanHouse Adam Jones

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

Thanks to an infusion of young talent, there are some good vibes floating around Camden Yards -- no small feat considering the fact that the local nine hasn't had a winning record since 1997.

Of course, an infusion of young talent won't be enough on its own in the enormously challenging AL East. The Orioles need immense improvements on the corners of their infield and especially in their pitching staff -- which ranked last in the American League in ERA in 2009. That can't all come from the maturation of a select group of youngsters groomed on the Baltimore farm, though, so there will be plenty on general manager Andy MacPhail's plate as he tries to take the next step in turning the O's into legitimate challengers.

---

---

Long considered one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball by those in sabermetric circles, Derek Jeter won the fourth Gold Glove of his career on Tuesday, proving that no matter what statistically-oriented folks think of Jeter's glovework, he enjoys a good defensive reputation among those within the game.

Joining Jeter on the AL Gold Glove team is Yankees teammate Mark Teixeira, who was recognized for the third time, as well as outfielders Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners) and Torii Hunter (Angels), who both won the award for the ninth time.

Sylvester Stallone has Hollywood all a twitter (the old school use of the word) right now over an action flick he is producing called The Expendables. Reason is, it stars a bunch of guys' guys including Jason Statham, Jet Li, Julia Roberts' brother Eric and Mickey Rourke, who back in the day I thought Bruce Willis was a cheap imitation of. The movie is about a team of mercenaries who go to some South American country to overthrow a dictator.

Silly me. I heard the title and thought it was about NFL players and wondered who was going to play Kansas City running back Larry Johnson (he was still employed by K.C. as I wrote this) or exiled NFL cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones.

After all, other than the food service workers chronicled by investigative writer Eric Schlosser in his best-selling 2002 tome Fast Food Nation, what laborers are more expendable than highly compensated NFL players?

---

---

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

By now we all know of the greatness of San Francisco pitcher Tim Lincecum. He's the best pitcher in baseball this season, with a 2.34 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 233 strikeouts in 200 1/3 innings. But there's another hard-throwing young kid in the Giants organization that, like Lincecum, has a shot to be one of the league's best very quickly. He's a guy you want to burn that No. 1 waiver priority on, in case he sticks in the rotation for the rest of the season. He is Madison Bumgarner.

I've already spoken about injuries to Mariano Rivera and Huston Street in Thursday's version of Roto Rush. Wednesday night, Tom Herrera and I spent a good portion of our weekly Fantasy Baseball Cram Session podcast talking about other injuries around Major League Baseball. We hit upon Michael Young and Adam Jones and did some speculating on Jake Peavy.

While injuries were the main topic, we spoke about other topics, too. We talked a little about a potential platoon situation for Lance Berkman in Houston and we threw out a handful of household names that most fantasy owners should be dumping at this point.

Give us a listen after the break.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Tuesday marked the day for roster expansion, which usually means opportunities for young players, but two veterans made emotional returns to the big leagues: Atlanta's Tim Hudson and Houston's Aaron Boone.

Hudson, who had been out for 13 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery, picked up a victory over the Marlins in his return. Pitching on the same mound where Hudson was hurt last year, he gave up two runs in the first but then nothing else through 5 1/3 innings.

---

---

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

The team might not win a lot of games, but it sure is fun watching the Washington Nationals hit.

In yesterday's 8-3 win against Milwaukee, the Nationals received dingers from Christian Guzman, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Zimmerman. The round-tripper was Guzman's fifth of the year. Seeing Dunn and Zimmerman display some power is nothing new for Nationals fans; in fact, the pair has hit homers in the same game four times in August and the seventh time this season. The round-tripper was Guzman's fifth of the year.

SEATTLE -- Given that the Mariners have struggled mightily offensively, the signing of No. 2 pick Dustin Ackley serves as a serious momentum boost for an organization looking to escape a series of shaky moves under the Bill Bavasi tenure.

For example, Bavasi traded Adam Jones and George Sherill for Erik Bedard, and he selected Cal's Brandon Morrow over the University of Washington's Tim Lincecum in the 2006 draft. Morrow is in the minors while Lincecum is one of the top starting pitchers in the major leagues.

So the Mariners needed this. They needed to sign the best hitter in college baseball. Ackley hit .422 with 22 home runs and 73 RBI in 66 games for the University of North Carolina. Signing him went down to the final minutes, with general manager Jack Zduriencik revealing that the deal was agreed upon at 8:45 PM PT, about 15 minutes before the deadline.

When the Seattle Mariners sent five players to the Baltimore Orioles last February to land Erik Bedard, they did so with the intent of having Bedard help them win the AL West. Instead, in his two seasons as a Mariner Bedard has been paid $14.75 million to make thirty starts while Adam Jones appears on the verge of superstardom for the Orioles.

Needless to say, it hasn't been the greatest trade for the Mariners, and on Wednesday it got a bit worse. Bedard is going to undergo exploratory surgery on his left shoulder and it's going to put an end to his season.

BALTIMORE -- Sheila Dixon ought to dig up Bill Bavasi's address and send him a long, well thought out thank you note. Someone in the Charm City ought to show some appreciation for the former Mariners general manager for doing his best to get the Orioles turned around, it might as well be the mayor of Baltimore.

It was two winters ago that Bavasi sent Adam Jones, Chris Tillman and George Sherrill to the O's in exchange for Erik Bedard. For the first time since that deal, all three appeared on the same major league field together.

Jones homered and had four RBI in Baltimore's 7-3 win. Sherrill was in line to get the save, warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the eighth inning before getting the night off when the Orioles tacked two runs onto their lead. And Tillman, making his major league debut, got a no decision after allowing three runs in 4 2/3 innings. Not bad for a start.

"We can hit, it's a matter of good pitching," Jones said after the win.