From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
With the non-waiver trade deadline looming just eight days away, it seemed like the perfect time to warn teams about the dangers of a deadline deal. There are plenty of good trades on the books. Then again, it's the swaps that blow up in the face of a team that seem to stick with us. That's nothing new. We know the famous, ill-fated John Smoltz and Jeff Bagwell deals, but for now let's look at recent history by ranking the 10 worst deadline deals of the 2000s.
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.
What a zany week for a pair of pitchers with amazing stories: Zack Greinke is America's favorite story right now, somehow managing to be hotter than Twitter. (And if Oprah starts doing him too, I'm just quitting. And I mean everything.) Meanwhile, Rick Ankiel (you may hear word of this "podcast" we're doing about him, but that's because I'm shameless like that), a former star on the mound as well, nearly decapitates himself running into an outfield wall. And yet, life goes on. Just like our Power Rankings.
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.
It's been a while since a week of baseball was this sad -- we saw the tragic passings of Nick Adenhart, Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych. And without waxing too sentimentally, it's the loss of these men that remind us exactly just how little sports matter in the grand scheme of things. RIP, gentlemen. Power rankings (that feel just a tad inconsequential, to be honest) after the jump.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Nationals can still go 0-162. Washington lost at Atlanta in a game that ended at 1:25 AM ET, thanks to a two-hour rain delay and 10 innings.
The Nationals came back from deficits of 4-1 and 5-4, tying the game 5-5 with a run in the top of the ninth. But lefty Joe Beimel, their seventh pitcher, had to work a second inning and gave up the winning run in the 10th, when Kelly Johnson hit the winning single.
Washington, 0-4, left 16 runners on base. The good news for the Nationals is they are getting closer to a win; after losing by six runs on Opening Day, they have cut their final deficits to five, two and now one. Also, the Nats are just three games behind the Braves in the wild-card race.
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.
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- While many teams look at young pitchers racing toward the future at the back of their rotation, the White Sox are looking to an old guy trying to revive the past.
On Wednesday, Bartolo Colon did just that, making like it was 2005 all over again.
The 35-year-old Colon blanked the A's over 4 1/3 innings. A scout who covers the White Sox told FanHouse Colon was throwing "88-91, best velo this spring. Had great feel for the change. Kept the ball out of the middle of the plate."
FanHouse breaks down the who's who and the what's what of the baseball world each week with our MLB Power Rankings.
Spring Training is always a time of year when false hopes or false assumptions are built based on performance. It might Jeff Francoeur lacing the ball, for instance. Or Yovani Gallardo stinking the joint up. But it is also a time of year when season-altering injuries are revealed. For instance, Alex Rodriguez will miss the first 10 weeks of the season because of surgery. Chipper Jones is dealing with an oblique injury. Oh, and this Manny Ramirez guy signed with the Dodgers. So even though it might seem premature to react in a knee-jerk fashion, it's not.
Hence, we have our second installment of preseason MLB Power Rankings, just to keep your jones going for America's pastime.
Starting Five
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- While many teams look at young pitchers racing toward the future at the back of their rotation, the White Sox are looking to an old guy trying to revive the past.
