FanHouse ChadTracy

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.

It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.

The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.

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."

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

Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia owners eat your heart out. Relative unknowns -- and likely undrafted in nearly all mixed fantasy leagues -- Ricky Romero and Glen Perkins are straight dealing right now. And after three outings each, it's time to start wondering if the quick starts are not flukey.

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.

Baseball is here. Only for three days so far, but that's enough for knee-jerk reactions and our collective excitement, certainly. Are the Yankees in trouble? Will Ken Griffey, Jr. lead the Mariners back to glory? Are the Orioles for real? Are the Braves bound for the playoffs again? Will the Marlins manage to save baseball and win the National League East? What happens when Jim Thome and Kyle Farnsworth meet in a hadron collider?

Find out the answers to these questions -- and more! -- after the jump.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks began 2008 white-hot and were considered a legitimate World Series contender, storming out to record 12 games over .500 on May 18. They then proceeded to slap together two straight sub-.500 months, managing a 22-33 record in May and June, scoring just 90 runs in the latter monht.

When the Dodgers finally acquired Manny Ramirez, well, things snowballed and Arizona suddenly found itself out of the playoffs altogether.

From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Chad Tracy missed a good chunk of the 2008 season due to knee surgery, which held him to only 273 at-bats. Tracy says he's been healthy since mid-way through the off-season and manager Bob Melvin expects big things from him in 2009 saying he can see it as Tracy drives the ball.

When I see him drive the ball to left-center field, for me, his legs are under him," Melvin said. "Those are the ones he was having a little trouble getting out there and extending on, probably trying to pull a little too much. And when he did he hit the ball the opposite way, it (was) not with the force he had before. Now it looks like to me he's hitting it hard the either way.

Tracy's average draft position right now is a very low 387.75. If he can return to 2005 form where he hit 27 home runs and batted .308 or anywhere close to that, he'll be a steal.

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 ...
Still incredibly young Diamondbacks. It seems like when the Backs failed to keep the momentum going after an early season charge, people forgot this was still a very young team. The overwhelming majority of the roster is younger than 30, and most of the offense is younger than 27. This means we have a large group of guys who have the potential to throw up career-year type numbers at the drop of a hat. Be ready ...

Walkoff Walk points us toward this MLB.com feature (which should be your first hint that something went horrible wrong here) about the Arizona Diamondbacks and their, ahem, interesting taste in music. This is apparently a running feature on MLB.com, and boy, is it enlightening. For example, favorite songs include "Swing" by Trace Adkins (Stephen Drew), "No Leaf Clover" by Metallica (Jim Thome), "These Are My People" by Rodney Atkins (Chad Tracy) and so forth.

There aren't a whole lot of sophisticated choices in there, but not everyone is an unabashed music snob like yours truly, so that's fine. What's worse than having questionable taste in music is not caring enough about the one song you're asked to think about all year. Take it away, fellas:

Drew: "At one point I didn't even come out to any music. For me, I don't really care about it. The other guys were saying they wanted me to have a song, so that's how it works for me. It's country and I like country music, so it's not too bad. I'm a low-key guy. I just go out and play every day and just have fun with the guys."

Jackson: "I just like the beat. There's no particular reason. I just heard it and liked it. It's got a little techno beat in it, too. That's how I roll."

Thome: "I just kind of roll with it. I'm not an overly big music guy, so whatever they play is fine. No biggie. I don't even really hear it up there. If I would think about it, I probably would, but I don't pay much attention. I'm focusing what I'm trying to do. So no big deal."

I don't ask my baseball players to have taste in music, or to really even care about music in general, but come on, guys: Please, please, please give your intro music a little consideration. Think about it a little bit. Cultivate it carefully. In some cases, it's all we really know about you, and if we think you're a metal head when your favorite new album is Erykah Badu, you're just deceiving us.

The Arizona Diamondbacks, in need of some offense to keep above that precious .500 mark and in first in the NL West, were rumored to be a suitor for Mark Teixeira as the trading deadline approaches.

And apparently, they were suitors for Manny Ramirez as well. "Were" being the key word in both instances, because it appears that both potential deals are no longer on the table. (So sayeth sources.)

The D-Backs have had no discussions with Boston about Ramirez, the source said Monday, countering a report in the Providence (R. I.) Journal that said the D-Backs were believed to be one of four teams that contacted the Red Sox about Ramirez.

"That's a non-issue," the source said.

As for Teixeira, the D-Backs have had discussions with Atlanta for several days but have not found enough common ground to make a deal work.

After the D-Backs inquired about Teixeira earlier this month, Atlanta came back with an offer that the D-Backs dismissed out of hand - Chad Tracy and minor league right-handers Max Scherzer and Jarrod Parker, according to two sources. Atlanta also brought up Conor Jackson.

The sides just don't match up, the source said.

The Tribune's source also mentions that the Braves would have to be willing to accept Tracy and a mid level prospect (something we already knew, no?).

Arizona is lauded for its recent ability to generate and maintain home grown talent (and rightfully so, although Carlos Quentin might disagree) recently and most of their roster, Dan Haren excepted, is from the farm system. Meaning, it seems pretty unlikely that they will cough up someone with high upside like Scherzer or Parker.

Also meaning a deal between the Braves and the Snakes for Tex looks pretty unlikely at this point.

It has been a long, long season for the Atlanta Braves. What started as a legitimate World Series campaign has suddenly become an injury riddled nightmare for first year GM Frank Wren.

Yet, he refused to give up on the season and trade the team's biggest soon-to-be free agent asset, Mark Teixeira. Until now.

On Monday afternoon, the Braves officially glued a ribbon on Teixeira's head and stationed him in their main display window. After gathering their chief decision-makers in Atlanta for a meeting Monday, they then began the process of informing other teams that they plan to trade Teixeira if they get the right deal.

The feeling of clubs that have spoken with Braves GM Frank Wren is that he hasn't seen anything lately that would convince him his team has a 41-17 run in it (which is what it would take to get to 90 wins). And neither has anyone else.

Wren followed his team to Philadelphia over the weekend, to try to get "a feel" for which way it was headed, he said. What he witnessed was almost incomprehensible -- a weekend in which the Braves blew leads of five-plus runs to the same team in back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history.

Well, it was a decent run for the Braves this year. I mean, not actually "decent" but they at the very least hung in there given the nature of all the injuries they have sustained. And, it has to seem pretty obvious that the injuries to Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson are the final straw for the season.