FanHouse ChrisTillman

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.

Before we get our heaping of box score browsing, let's look at a related subject: The fantasy baseball stretch run. With the annual ushering in of September baseball, we see roster changes galore. Not only are there call-ups with the legal expansion of rosters, but players with seemingly minor injuries are shut down on teams who have fallen out of the race. You also have younger players being given an audition for 2010, or being shut down so the team doesn't overwork them in their first season of increased workload. If you are in the thick of things in your fantasy baseball race, now is not the time to use a laissez-faire approach.

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.

The second half of the season is in full swing and lo and behold if capitalism hasn't reared it's ugly head once again. Billy Beane was spun off Matt Holliday (as expected of course) and the eleventy billion dollar payroll machine that is the New York Yankees are in first place in the AL East. (Of course, that can't explain why the Mets are horrible but that's a whole other thing.)

Will the Yankees' surge be enough to propel them into the critically important No. 1 slot of the FanHouse MLB Power Rankings? Find out after the jump.

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

I had planned on writing about Chris Tillman, a pitcher in the Orioles' system, for the latest edition of Kids anyway, but now the piece has added significance. Reports have been rampant around the web that Tillman will be getting the call early next week. We knew that, but Tillman has now been scratched from his scheduled start Wednesday night in Triple-A. Considering no injury is being reported, it would appear the Orioles are ready to let the youngster get his first taste of of the bigs very soon.

Tillman is a 6-foot-5, 21-year-old right-hander who has had good success in the minors.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

Why Brian Roberts and why now? The Orioles haven't had a winning season this millennium. Andy MacPhail is entering his second full season in control of the team's baseball operations. The five-year plan, it would seem, is still several seasons away from coming to fruition.

Baltimore handed Roberts a four-year, $40 million contract extension over the weekend. He is 31, and that question lingers. Why give Roberts $10 million a season when he figures to be on the down slope of his career before the O's are in any position to win?

The Orioles continued their winter quest to upgrade what was a woeful rotation in 2008 by acquiring Rich Hill from the Cubs for a player to be named later.

Hill is only one year removed from an 11-win season in which he pitched 195 innings, posted an ERA of 3.92 and whiffed 183 batters, but the left-hander had since fallen out of favor with Chicago manager Lou Piniella. Once you're in Piniella's doghouse, it's awfully hard to climb out of it, and since Hill is out of options a trade became necessary.

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Mark Teixeira, merely the best free agent left on the market, is set to choose a team before Christmas. It's probably fitting then that there are four calling birds (and maybe a fifth looming giant) in pursuit of his services.

Teixeira is the ideal Scott Boras client. First and foremost, he's a tremendous ballplayer, but he's also calm and collected with the press, a family man, and, most critically for Boras' purposes, seemingly completely willing to go to the highest bidder.

Let's assume for a second that Teixeira isn't a Boras-bot sent from the future to destroy humanity lighten up some billionaire owner's wallet. Let's assume that big Tex will consider a wide variety of factors as he makes the most important decision of his baseball-playing life.

Which team, then, should he sign on the dotted line with?

Our MLB editor files dispatches from this year's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.

Three managers of AL East teams spoke with the media this afternoon/evening (for a more extended look at the Rays, try this), and with very little actually happening on the first day in Las Vegas, it's a good time to look at baseball's most imposing division.

The standard for excellence in the other divisions in baseball is roughly 90-92 wins. That's not the case in the East, where 95 wins are almost always required to guarantee a spot in the postseason.

For a team like the Orioles, that can be awfully intimidating. While the Yankees have their hand in virtually every free-agent pie, Baltimore is relegated to building slowly, to nurturing the farm system and hoping its young players pay off big in the near future.

"It's a great time to be an up and coming prospect in our organization," said manager Dave Trembley. But even with a collection of impressive young talent -- names like Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Nolan Reimold -- the O's are facing long odds and Trembley has no pie-in-the-sky aspirations, merely repeating the mantra "we have to get better."

Well, yeah, but the rub is just how much better they actually have to get.

If you're a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it's easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their struggles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Last week, the Orioles celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 1983 World Series title. That was the last time the once-proud franchise won a championship, in case you were wondering, and it's been a decade since they were relevant.

Eight days later GM Andy MacPhail did nothing at the trade deadline despite his club's grim chances in 2008. Closer George Sherrill is still an Oriole. So is second baseman Brian Roberts, first baseman Aubrey Huff, outfielder Jay Payton and starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera.

To an outsider it might look like the latest gaffe from a front office that has been as hapless as they come since the days of the Clinton administration. But spend a few days with the team at Camden Yards and you get an entirely different vibe.

MacPhail has overhauled the organization in such a way that there's very real hope for the very near future. In perfect concert, manager Dave Trembley has changed the clubhouse culture, stressing things like accountability, respect and appreciation. It's enough to make you see the light at the end of the tunnel, if nothing else.

Remember all the craze for Homer Bailey last year? It's weird because you rarely hear the hype on him anymore, and he's only 22. The Reds obviously think they tried to bring him aboard too early in his professional career last season, because they are running out the likes of Matt Belisle and Josh Fogg instead of letting Bailey take his lumps in the show. It makes sense, I mean, he had only 64 career minor league starts before this season.

So far this year he's been about the same command-wise as last year in the minors. In 66 2/3 innings he's struck out 54 and walked 29. The walks were the problem in the bigs last year, so the Reds would still like them to come down some more. His ERA (4.05) and WHIP (1.38) are far from impressive, either.

Verdict: I'd still stash him for help come mid-July on. He'll get things figured out soon and once the Reds realize they are out of race they'll start running out their future rotation. Rank him behind sure-things like Max Scherzer and ahead of injury risk gambles like Curt Schilling.

After the jump we'll check out a few others currently toiling in the minors.