FanHouse Clay Buchholz

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

Heading into 2009, here's what we thought we knew about Rich Harden: Absolutely lights out stuff, but can't be counted on to stay healthy consistently. In 2008, he went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 148 innings. Those are elite numbers on a per-start basis. The problem, of course, is that he only made 25 starts. In 2007, he had a 2.45 ERA, but only pitched 25 2/3 innings.

Until Monday night, 2009 had been quite surprising from the 27-year-old right-hander.

Manny Ramirez is in Albuquerque, Jimmy Rollins isn't stealing bases, and Alex Rodriguez's batting average resembles 2008 Craig Counsell. Top picks have disappointed and the fantasy baseball world has been turned upside down by injuries (Thanks, Dice-K!). Knox Bardeen and I try to sort through the madness in this week's cram session. Check out the podcast after the jump.

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

The only downside of the NBA playoffs is that I feel like I miss some baseball that I would normally get to see. But with the Lakers (sigh) crowned champs now, both Kobe Bryant and I -- he was at the stadium, I was pantsless in my apartment, natch -- got the chance to watch the Angels and Dodgers go to civil war on Sunday Night Baseball.

And what I was treated to was a very impressive showing from my current favorite mancrush, Clayton Kershaw. You might know him as the "next Sandy Koufax" if you're a real devote, but more than likely, you know him as the "inconsistent southpaw who has yet to really flourish in the Dodgers rotation."

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

I learned how to play fantasy sports 10 years ago from my stepdad, who's been playing it since the days when rotisserie baseball didn't even exist. Back when he was a teenager, it was called Strat-O-Matic, a simulation board game that seemed more laborious than fun to me. Then again, they also had fun flipping baseball cards instead of preserving them.

One of the first things he ever taught me about veteran players was the basic tenet of: "Look on the back of the baseball card." Sure, there are outliers, but seeing career statistics is comforting, and can often tell you a lot about a batter's peak performance.

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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.

Sorry for the delay, kiddos, on the Power Rankings. I'm sure you spent the entirety of Wednesday wondering "WHERE IN GOD'S NAME ARE THEY??? WITHOUT THEM I'LL HAVE NOTHING TO BANTER SENSELESSLY ABOUT TO MY CO-WORKERS!!!1" Or something like that. Either way, it's time to debate the worthlessness of your favorite baseball team in numerical form once again. Do enjoy.

These Kids Are Alright is FanHouse's look at minor league prospects who could have a fantasy impact in the near future. Pay attention, we gave you Mat Gamel and Nolan Reimold the day before both were promoted.

For this week, we're going to concentrate on three guys who should be a help to pretty much any fantasy owner in the very near future. Matt Wieters recently got the call and will make his major league debut Friday. Clay Buchholz and Tommy Hanson continue to tear up the minors. Let's take a look at the respective value of all three players at this point in the season.

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

Joe Mauer has done everything he can to singlehandedly kill spring training as we know it.

Everyone else needs seven or eight weeks to get ready. But this guy gets 15 at-bats in minor-league camp, another 15 in Class A, and then shows up in the majors and hits .500 his first 10 games.

"Everyone keeps asking me what's going on," Mauer told FanHouse. "I really don't have any answer for that."

As we've now witnessed a touch over a month of minor league baseball, it's worth it in many fantasy leagues to look ahead at who may be making a visit to the majors sometime this season. Remember, Ryan Braun, for example, wasn't yet in the major leagues at this point in his rookie season. This isn't to say that all of these guys -- or any -- will have that sort of an impact in the majors this year.

We're just giving a quick, non-comprehensive list of players who are playing relatively well in the minors this year and/or who have a chance to make a fantasy impact at some point. We'll start with the big names, but it won't be limited to just them. Dynasty league players should be paying the most attention.

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

After a terrible first week, Texas first baseman Chris Davis was one of the hot topics of concern in fantasy baseball circles. My colleague Matt Snyder recently tried to put those fears to rest in Slump or Suck, and right on cue, Davis went ahead and smashed them with his bat.

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.

We're almost there. You can smell it in the air, can't you? That's right ... the NHL playoffs! Ha. I kid, of course. No one actually watches hockey (if it even exists). But people do get amped up for baseball, and the season is upon us. So, in that vein, we've got our final installment of preseason power rankings ready for your digestion. Play ball.