FanHouse BenFrancisco

After the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series championship, highly respected general manager Pat Gillick decided to step down. A few days later, the reins of the franchise were handed to rookie general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., who had been serving as Gillick's right-hand man for the past three seasons.

Needless to say, Amaro wasn't exactly heading into an easy gig. He was taking over a team that had nowhere to go but down, he was succeeding someone considered one of the best in the business and he was doing it in the unforgiving city of Philadelphia. The deck was already stacked against him, but Amaro appeared to make matters worse when his first big move drew the skepticism of many: he signed Raul Ibanez instead of retaining the services of Pat Burrell.

The Phillies have landed left-hander Cliff Lee of the Indians.

FanHouse first reported that, according to a major league source, the clubs were "very" close to deal that would send Lee to Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon. The Phillies also got outfielder Ben Francisco to bolster its right-handed bench, while sending Cleveland will Single-A right-hander Jason Knapp, right-hander Carlos Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson.

This could mean Toronto hangs on to ace Roy Halladay, at least until the offseason. Halladay seemed to prefer to go to Philadelphia if he was traded. Boston might be a possibility, but the Yankees don't want to add payroll and the Dodgers may not be willing to part with the package of prospects the Blue Jays seek.

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

With a starting rotation containing Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Matt Harrison, Scott Feldman and Brandon McCarthy, it's pretty safe to say many mixed leagues went through draft or auction day without mentioning a single starting Rangers pitcher -- unless it was in jest.

The joke is on us, because the Rangers starting rotation is pretty damn legit right now. After Sunday, the Rangers now sport the fifth-best starter's ERA (4.25) in the American League.

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.

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Team that should have more doctors on staff. Lofty expectations turned sour when major keys to the Indians lineup went down with injury in 2008. Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, Fausto Carmona, and Jake Westbrook all lost significant time to various maladies. The health and or hasty return of these guys, and the continued health of Kerry Wood are crucial to the Indians having any success in 2009.

The Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians may both call the AL Central home, but apparently that isn't going to stop them from trying to work out a trade that would help both teams.

You see, the Royals feel like they need to improve their offense, and while they're at it, they'd like to move David DeJesus to left field, where he's a better defensive option.

The Indians, meanwhile, have a surplus of young outfield talent and have an opening at third base after sending Casey Blake to the Dodgers in July. They were hoping Andy Marte would grow into that third baseman, but it's starting to look like Marte will never reach the potential the Tribe originally saw in him.

Which is why this prospective trade between the two teams makes so much sense.

So now that the Cleveland Indians have shipped C.C. Sabathia off to Milwaukee, we can officially say that the Indians are done trying to win in 2008. The focus has now been moved to preparing this team for the 2009 season and trying to figure out which pieces fit into that picture, and which ones don't.

While none of us can see the future, there is something about this Indians team that most of us have known for quite a while, and that is the fact that Grady Sizemore will not be a lead-off hitter his entire career. When Grady first came up with the Indians, everybody knew he was destined to be a middle of the order type guy, but with the Indians monster lineup the last few seasons, there was no need to do it.

Well, it's time now. Grady has grown up and he's ready to be the guy the Indians build their lineup around. Travis Hafner's power and ability to make contact with the ball have magically* disappeared and there's no guarantee they'll ever come back, so there is an opening.

Eric Wedge is currently batting Ben Francisco third, and Jhonny Peralta in the clean-up spot (where Jhonny's been raking). Meanwhile, Sizemore has an OPS of .914 and leads the American League with 22 home runs, yet he only has 50 RBI. How can that be? Well, since Grady hits lead-off, 16 of his 22 taters have come with nobody on base.

The problems that the Cleveland Indians are having on offense this season can't all be pinned on one player in particular. It's really been an entire team effort, as there are only two players on the team who started on Opening Day who are currently hitting over .255 on the season. They are Grady Sizemore (checking in at a robust .258) and Victor Martinez, who is hitting .292.

Of course, even though Martinez has the highest batting average of all the Indians regulars (Ben Francisco is hitting .304, but he's only played in 26 games) he still hasn't been as productive as Sizemore. Grady may only be hitting .258, but he's slugging .488 and has an OPS of .859. Martinez, on the other hand, is slugging .351 with an OPS of .685.

Victor's career marks are .465 and .836. Of his 49 hits this season, 39 of them have been singles. The only extra base hits he's had are his 10 doubles, as Martinez is yet to hit a home run this season. Why the drop off in power for the catcher who's averaged 21 homers and 99 RBI over the last four seasons?

His manager, Eric Wedge, thinks it has a lot to do with the hamstring injury Martinez suffered on Opening Day against the White Sox.

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote that want ad for the Cleveland Indians, who were looking to fill a position out in left field? Well, stop sending in your applications because apparently the Indians found someone to take the job. As a result, Jason Michaels is about to be designated for assignment.

Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro held a conference call on the team's day off Monday to announce officially what had been rumored for a few days: The team will designate veteran outfielder Jason Michaels for assignment and recall rookie Ben Francisco from Triple-A Buffalo today.

''(Francisco) is an outfielder that we felt potentially could give our club a spark. (He's) obviously got more power and has the ability to not necessarily be a platoon guy,'' Shapiro said. ''He has been a guy who has hit left- and right-handed pitching, so he gives [Indians manager] Eric [Wedge] the ability to both keep [left fielder] David Dellucci strong and healthy and also protect [right fielder] Franklin Gutierrez some as well.''

This move is one that had to be made, because while Dellucci has been giving the Tribe some production, Michaels has been terrible. In 21 games he's hit .207/.258/.276, which just doesn't cut it unless you're some kind of defensive superhero, which Michaels isn't.

Ben Francisco hasn't really done much better down in Buffalo, hitting .228/.308/.315, but he did go 2-for-6 in a brief four-game stint with the Indians a few weeks ago.

The Atlanta Braves are known for stocking their lineup with homegrown prospects, from Chipper Jones to Brian McCann, from Jeff Francoeur to Yunel Escobar. But if I were a major league GM, Atlanta's farm system is the last place I'd look when brainstorming a potential trade. Why? Because they have an uncanny knack for only dealing prospects who don't pan out.

Remember the hype that once surrounded Dan Meyer? He was supposed to be the next great Braves ace; now he's a 26-year-old A's farmhand. What about Wilson Betemit? Once considered the best prospect in baseball, he's now a mere utility man, and not a very good one at that.

Perhaps the most damning example of the Braves selling a guy while his value was high is Andy Marte. In the winter after the 2005 season, he was considered one of the top prospects in the game and was the centerpiece of two blockbuster trades, first going to Boston in a package for Edgar Renteria and then to Cleveland in a package for Coco Crisp.

Since then? The guy's put in two uninspiring minor league seasons while hitting just .196 in 291 big league at-bats, including one hit in 13 at-bats this year. Once considered the team's third basemen of the future, he could be hours away from being the third baseman of the past: the Buffalo News reports that the Indians may designate Marte or Jason Michaels for assignment to make room for the arrival of Ben Francisco, a fringe prospect who likely projects as a fourth outfielder. But should Marte really be considered a real disappointment or just another Braves' triumph?

Things just keep going splendidly for the Indians this season. They can't hit, they can't get anybody out, and now they're having trouble keeping the guys that have performed well so far healthy. The latest blow hits the starting rotation, as the Indians announced today that they've placed Jake Westbrook on the disabled list with a strained left intercostal muscle.

If you're not a doctor on the side like I am(and by doctor, I mean blogger with access to Wikipedia), and don't know what the left intercostal muscle is, it's one of the muscles around your rib cage that help you do the little things like breathe.

So even though the muscle strain is on Westbrook's non-throwing side, it can't be the most pleasant injury to have, and wouldn't get any better if he tried to pitch through it. Westbrook has pitched well so far this season, though his 1-2 mark after four starts is more an indication of the lackluster Cleveland offense rather than his 2.73 ERA.

This cloud does have a silver lining for the Tribe though, as moving Westbrook to the disabled list opens up a roster spot for Ben Francisco. Francisco could be just the guy the Indians are looking for to fill that job opening they posted here on FanHouse yesterday. Francisco hit .362 for the Indians in spring training this year before being assigned to Buffalo, and though he's been struggling there so far (.208/.288/.551), he can't be much worse of an option than Jason Michaels and David Dellucci at this point.