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.
While the majority of the American workforce got a day off on Labor Day, some major league hitters were getting their power stroke on in a big way. With only 11 games on the docket, four players left the yard twice in one game: Derrek Lee, Billy Butler, Mark Teixeira and Juan Uribe. The fantasy fallout isn't huge, save for one; Lee's having a resurgence, Butler a breakout campaign and Teixeira an MVP-caliber season. Uribe, though ... that's news.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That it's quite a luxury to have a dependable setup reliever with closing experience such as J.J. Putz or Carlos Marmol. Just ask the Royals or the Tigers or the Astros or the Red Sox.
Kansas City's Kyle Farnsworth, right, Detroit's Brandon Lyon and Houston's LaTroy Hawkins -- all signed to contracts in the offseason -- each allowed a tying or go-ahead homer in the eighth inning of his game. Boston's Hideki Okajima gave up a pair or runs to turn a 5-1 game into a tight one.
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.
Meet the... Most disappointing team of 2008. This goes for real and for fantasy. Nearly the entire team was a massive bust last year -- I said nearly, because the man in the picture to the right was immune in fantasy -- as the team finished in last place. They've made some changes, and the players coming back need to just play better.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Detroit Tigers.
A preseason favorite to win the pennant a year ago, the Tigers collapsed under the weight of unreal expectations. Trading for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis was supposed to put this team over the top, but in hindsight Detroit's lineup, while potent, was never as good as it looked on paper and the pitching and defense ranked among the worst in the league.
When drafting in fantasy baseball, I often find rankings are a lot less useful than using the tier system. Simply group guys together with others who will perform similarly, and you won't focus on single players. Being frazzled when that single player is taken immediately before your pick is a good way to ruin your draft.
We're definitely not proponents of drafting closers high, but getting the last member of a tier at good value could work in the right situations.
The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday.
Can you feel it? Spring is in the air. Real, actual baseball games were played Wednesday in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. The arrival of baseball games is mostly pleasant for fans, even if the contests mean nothing and their favorite players end up doing wind-sprints in the outfield by the fourth inning. But it can also bring a bit of anxiety.
Winter is mostly gloomy with the next nine innings so far away, but it is also a time for boundless optimism. Squint hard enough between the leafless trees and falling snow and you can almost see Carl Pavano pitching 200 innings. Maybe that's why Spring Training can cause a little panic -- all it takes is one bad start to shatter the wildly optimistic construct of the 2009 season we've spent all winter putting together in our heads.
Lyon, obviously, would want to go somewhere and be the full-time closer, seeing as how he's had success in the role before. The Tigers need to bump everyone a step back, at least, since Rodney fared poorly in his chance to close games last season.
All in all, 24 players were offered arbitration by last night's midnight deadline, including 15 Type A free agents and nine Type B. Players are classified using a rating system created by Elias Sports Bureau to determine the level of compensation a team receives if a player refuses arbitration and signs elsewhere.
If any of those players refuse arbitration to sign elsewhere, their new teams will have to cough up two draft picks as compensation. That said, most of them are so talented that the prospect of losing a draft pick or two won't intimidate interested suitors. In other words, if you're favorite team is committed to signing Manny, losing a measly draft pick or two won't stop it. But for older players who only have one or two productive seasons left (Oliver, Varitek: I'm looking at you), losing draft picks is something worth thinking twice about.
The Indians were originally expected to address their middle infield before attempting to sign one of the many second-tier closers on the market, but after determining that neither Orlando Hudson (wrist) nor Rafael Furcal (back) were worth the risk, they've now set their sights on plugging the back of their bullpen.
Instead, the Indians would be wise to let someone else give K-Rod a record-breaking contract while getting nearly the same production at half the price from Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood, Trevor Hoffman, Brandon Lyon, or another free agent, or trade for one of the handful of accomplished closers rumored to be on the block, such as J.J. Putz, Jose Valverde or Bobby Jenks.
My guess is that the Indians make a move for Trevor Hoffman. GM Mark Shapiro has already admitted that Hoffman is one of the guys he wants to look at, and at 41 years old, Hoffman likely won't be looking for as many years as most of the other free agents. Plus, while most of the other guys will likely wait for K-Rod or the Mets make a move to set the bar, Hoffman would probably settle for just a modest raise from last year's $7.5 million.
There isn't a team in baseball that couldn't use help in the bullpen. Fortunately for teams in need of relief help, this year's free-agent class is particularly deep in that area with record-setting closers Francisco Rodriguez and Trevor Hoffman on the market in addition to proven names like Brian Fuentes and Brandon Lyon and quality sleepers like Juan Cruz.
Despite that depth, it may take several weeks for the market to sort itself out. There are two dominoes central to the relief market -- the Mets, the richest club in need of a bullpen upgrade, and Rodriguez, the top closer available -- and neither seems to be in a rush.
K-Rod's agent has already come out and said that his client will not sign until after the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, which wrap up two weeks from today. That's a move likely designed to heat up the market for Rodriguez, which has cooled considerably because of the surprising depth mentioned above. The record-holder for saves in a season is eyeing a record contract for a closer. He may get that, but with names like Hoffman and Fuentes also out there, it seems unlikely that he'll get the $75 million-plus deal he was looking for at the start of the offseason.
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.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
The 
According to the man who never sleeps, Ken Rosenthal, the 
All in all, 
The Indians were originally expected to address their middle infield before attempting to sign one of the many second-tier closers on the market, but after determining that neither 
There isn't a team in baseball that couldn't use help in the bullpen. Fortunately for teams in need of relief help, this year's free-agent class is particularly deep in that area with record-setting closers 
