FanHouse Brett Wallace

These Kids Are Alright is FanHouse's look at minor league prospects who could have a fantasy impact in the near future.

Even if you don't avidly follow prospects or the minor leagues, you have probably heard of Brett Wallace before. Remember, he went to the Oakland A's in the Matt Holliday trade. At the time of the deal, R.J. White mentioned that Wallace will likely end up at first in the future. He has played five games at first base for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate (the Sacramento River Cats), while staying at the hot corner 24 times. Another thing he's been doing? Hitting home runs.

Troy Glaus has been trying to come back from injury all season, and the timetable just keeps getting pushed back. The latest news is that he has left his minor-league rehab assignment and is shut down indefinitely. With around two months left in the season, we are nearing the writing-on-the-wall portion of Glaus' 2009 campaign.

It's easy to say his season is in jeopardy, but we already knew that. The Cardinals already knew it, otherwise they wouldn't have pushed all their chips to the middle of the table in acquiring Mark DeRosa and Matt Holliday (DeRosa can play second, third or outfield, but with Holliday around they don't have a place in the outfield for him).

So you thought that once Matt Holliday went to St. Louis and Cliff Lee wound up with the Phillies deadline day itself would be anticlimactic? Hardly.

Three All-Stars, including a former Rookie of the Year and Cy Young, went elsewhere on July 31, and all that happened while the biggest name on the market all month, Roy Halladay, stayed put.

No, this deadline did not disappoint. There was a flurry of activity right down to 4 PM ET and a legitimate shocker to finish it all off. What better way to wrap up all of the intrigue then with a look at the early winners and losers? Join me -- and a few other members of the MLB FanHouse crew -- as we break it all down after the jump.

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Three games into the Matt Holliday era in St. Louis, things are looking great for his fantasy owners. He's 7-for-11 batting behind Albert Pujols with two runs and three RBIs to his credit thus far. While this acquisition will almost assuredly be a rental for St. Louis, he provides a ton of needed offense that will have the Cardinals competing for the NL crown. Needless to say, he was the best possible option for NL-only leaguers holding on to that #1 waiver priority.

The Cardinals have officially landed the biggest prize of the 2009 trading season so far, acquiring left fielder Matt Holliday from the A's in exchange for three minor-league prospects.

FanHouse's Ed Price and Jeff Fletcher first confirmed the deal early Friday afternoon, with sources from both clubs indicating that initial reports from ESPN's Tim Kurkijan and FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, were "on the money."

"We are extremely excited to have acquired Matt Holliday," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement. "Matt is an impact player who gives us an instant added threat in the middle of our lineup. These types of opportunities are rare. The price to complete this deal was steep, but our organization feels that it should greatly improve our chances to compete for a postseason berth."

NEW YORK – Thanks in part to the influence of a 300-game winner, and the brother of a 300-game winner, the Rangers no longer have to try to out-slug people.

In the most remarkable turnaround of the season, Texas' pitching staff is actually pretty good, with a 4.46 ERA after shutouts Thursday and Friday and allowing three runs Saturday. If the Rangers can keep it there all year, it would mark the first time since 1993 the franchise had an ERA better than 4.50.

Not coincidentally, Texas leads the AL West at 35-26, the second-best record in the league.

"This is my third year here," right-hander Brandon McCarthy said, "but in two years I got sick to death of hearing, 'Texas pitchers stink. Texas pitchers stink.'

"Now we can turn those tables a little bit, be the group that maybe changes that whole mindset. It would be an awesome accomplishment."

CBS Sports' Danny Knobler is reporting on his blog that St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak is placing Troy Glaus' odds of returning to the Cardinals' lineup in 2009 as "50-50." Given that Glaus is currently recovering from surgery on a shoulder that's bothered him on and off for six years and the constant changing of his return timetable, this isn't really surprising news, but I don't suspect that that makes it any easier for the Cardinals to hear.

If Glaus can't make it back (and to be fair, a 50-50 chance he doesn't return means that there's a 50-50 chance he does), the Cardinals are going to need more help from someone at third base. Neither Joe Thurston (.224/.336/.364) nor Brian Barden (.259/.315/.414) have been particularly good in Glaus' absence, and Tony La Russa has already chewed up and spit out rookie David Freese, who got 22 miserable at-bats before being demoted back to Triple-A Memphis.

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

Big Apple, we have a problem. And one that could be a major concern in fantasy baseball leagues, too.

Jose Reyes, undoubtedly a top-10 fantasy pick, left Wednesday's game against the Dodgers after aggravating a right calf injury while trying to leg out an infield single. Reyes had missed five straight starts with the injury, and it looks like a trip to the disabled list is a possibility at some point. The Mets can consider alternatives to watching Ramon Martinez twirl his toothpick bat -- like the versatile Mark DeRosa -- but the solution isn't so simple for fantasy owners relying on his speed.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

With the recent news that Mark DeRosa is on the trade block and the White Sox have possibly landed Jake Peavy, junkies of major league baseball trade rumors got an early glimpse at what promises to be a very interesting July. It's far to0 early to know exactly who will be in the market for what -- or who can afford to take on temporary payroll in this economy -- but it's certainly fun to speculate. Let's do it.

Earlier Wednesday in the power rankings I speculated -- off the cuff -- that Cleveland would start trading veterans. Well, it appears they will, because Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting the Indians have officially placed Mark DeRosa on the proverbial trading block.

The versatile DeRosa can play adequate defense anywhere on the diamond except shortstop, center field and the battery, which could make him an attractive trade piece for teams with a variety of different needs. One in particular everyone is hearing is the New York Mets.