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.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Alfonso Soriano and Fernando Tatis each hit game-winning grand slams, but they've got nothing on Josh Willingham. The Nationals' outfielder hit two grand slams -- in consecutive innings, no less -- to almost single-handedly beat the Brewers.
Willingham became just the 13th player to hit two grand slams in one game, the first since Bill Mueller did it for Boston in 2003. With eight RBI, Willingham tied the franchise record set by Tim Wallach with the Expos in 1990.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Prospects' careers don't always progress the way we hoped they would. While players like Rick Porcello and Clayton Kershaw became fantasy-relevant before their 22nd birthdays, Nolan Reimold had to wait until he was 25 to get a legitimate shot. Travis Hafner wasn't a true force until he was 27, etc.. In any case, like the curious one of scorching outfielder Garrett Jones, it's important to keep that perspective in mind.
So what exactly do we know about "The Robber Baron"? (Other than the fact that he's drilled nine homers in his first 17 games with Pittsburgh)
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 
NEW YORK -- Already clinging to slim 
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
