Major League Baseball announced the winners of its prestigious awards this week; now, FanHouse is following suit. We voted on winners in five categories (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Draft Day Bargain, Draft Day Bust), the results of which are revealed below. Remember, this awards show deals strictly in fantasy baseball. I'll also throw in a few awards I'm personally doling out for performances that made the 2009 season what it was.
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.
Considering the Cubs were probably the most disappointing team in baseball in 2009, they definitely have their work cut out for them this offseason in order to return to being a legitimate contender. I guess Cubs fans should take solace in the fact that a winning season was considered a colossal failure -- after all, they have had a winning record in three consecutive seasons for the first time since the Nixon administration now. It's simply a sign that the bar has been raised in Wrigleyville. No longer content to play "lovable losers," Lou Piniella's Cubs are determined to win it all. New owner and lifelong Cubs fan Tom Ricketts has guaranteed the Cubs will win a World Series under his watch.
After altering the best Cubs team since 1945, general manager Jim Hendry has to find a way to get some of that magic back in 2010. He'll have to start by unloading one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
Year in and year out the Texas Rangers are one of the best offenses in baseball, routinely finishing among the league leaders in runs scored and home runs. While the players have come and gone through the door, the one constant has always been hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo.
Jaramillo has spent the last 15 seasons with the Rangers and helped mold young players into batting champions and MVPs, but after a down season for the Rangers offensively, it seems both Jaramillo and the Rangers have decided to make a change. After receiving a one-year offer from the Rangers to return in 2010, Jaramillo has decided he's going to end his time in Arlington and test the open market.
In an odd way, 2009 has been somewhat of a lucky season for Alfonso Soriano. Not because he's played well for the Chicago Cubs, as he's only hitting .240 with 20 home runs, but because Milton Bradley has drawn most of the vitriol from the Chicago media and Cubs fans. So Soriano's lack of production has been somewhat under the radar.
I wouldn't even be surprised if some Cubs fans hadn't even noticed that Soriano hasn't played a game since September 3rd as he battles through a lingering knee injury. It doesn't sound like he'll be back in the lineup anytime soon, either, as it seems he's going to undergo surgery and miss the final few weeks of the year.
NEW YORK -- Already clinging to slim wild-card hopes, the Cubs have now shut down left fielder Alfonso Soriano indefinitely with a sore left knee.
"Look, this is the right approach," manager Lou Piniella said Friday. "I thought about this long and hard yesterday on the airplane trip from Chicago to here and all last night I vacillated about it. And this morning I still felt the same way, that this was the best thing to do for this young man. And I stick to it."
Asked if Soriano might be done for the season, Piniella said, " I'm not going to go that far. ... I don't know exactly when or how soon, but we'll revisit it."
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.
John Lackey threw eight innings on Sunday, striking out six and not surrendering an earned run. It was his 100th career victory. He should have been the man of the hour, right?
That would have been the case had Kendry Morales not jacked his 30th home run of the season and stolen the show. At least among fantasy circles, anyway.
Morales had twelve career home runs entering the 2009 season and big shoes to fill as the Angels handed him the keys to the kingdom at first base as Mark Teixeira left for the Yankees. He's handled the task admirably batting .311 and is fast approaching the 100-RBI mark. He's also leading the league in RBI since the all-star break with 45.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Scott Feldman is having a big season for the Rangers, especially on the road. Feldman beat the Twins, 3-0, on Saturday in Minnesota. Although Feldman lasted just 5 2/3 innings, the scoreless outing helped him improve to 10-1 with a 2.92 ERA on the road. Feldman has won his last six road starts, equaling Adam Wainwright for the longest streak in the majors this season.
For the season, Feldman is 14-4 with a 3.72 ERA. He has a chance to be the first Rangers pitcher to win 15 games with an ERA below 4.00 since Ken Hill went 16-10 with a 3.63 ERA in 1996.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
While it was just one game, Cole Hamels sure looked like he was back in vintage form.
The Phillies ace, who is rocking a 4.52 ERA and 1.34 WHIP this season, threw eight shutout innings in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, striking out seven batters in all. Hamels actually has been better than his ERA and WHIP indicate, as he now has 126 Ks versus just 33 BBs this season. I'll take that K/BB ratio from my pitcher any day, as nine times out of ten, the ERA and WHIP will be sparkling.
Unfortunately for Hamels, the ninth inning ended up being the most dramatic frame of the game.
CHICAGO -- Tuesday night, in keeping with masochistic tradition, 40,000 fans will file into an ancient ballpark, ignore the reality of the standings and root for the Cubs to beat the Washington Nationals. They'll do so even though the Nationals, I dare say, might be better than the Cubs these days. This would be the ideal evening to boycott the one sports team in America that never, ever gives its diehards a reward for their loyalty, a franchise headed toward a 101st consecutive season without a World Series title.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham accomplished a feat that had been done just twice in National League history before yesterday, smacking two grand slams in the same game. Check this out -- the first National Leaguer to do this was Tony Cloninger, a pitcher, and the second was Fernando Tatis, who you may remember hit both his grand salamis in the same inning. By comparison, Willingham's slams look mundane. Ten American League players have also hit two grand slams in the same game, with the trick last being accomplished in 2003 by Bill Mueller.
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.
Year in and year out the Texas Rangers are one of the best offenses in baseball, routinely finishing among the league leaders in runs scored and home runs. While the players have come and gone through the door, the one constant has always been hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo.
In an odd way, 2009 has been somewhat of a lucky season for Alfonso Soriano. Not because he's played well for the Chicago Cubs, as he's only hitting .240 with 20 home runs, but because Milton Bradley has drawn most of the vitriol from the Chicago media and Cubs fans. So Soriano's lack of production has been somewhat under the radar.
NEW YORK -- Already clinging to slim wild-card hopes, the Cubs have now shut down left fielder Alfonso Soriano indefinitely with a sore left knee.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
