FanHouse CollinBalester

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.

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 ...
Team full of question marks and limited fantasy options. Some nights you might find yourself wondering what packs more punch: the first six batters in the Nationals lineup or a six-pack of Natty Lites. Right before Spring Training, the Nationals secured a legitimate power hitter in Adam Dunn, acquired Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham from the Marlins and took a shot on the ever-enigmatic Daniel Cabrera. But even with the arrivals, this is a ragtag group when it comes to fantasy value, but at least it all comes at a very cheap price.

Thankfully for bloggers and baseball fans alike, the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes will likely draw to close in the next few days, if not the next few hours.

The Red Sox say they will not be "a factor" in the bidding, but they probably will be. The Angels are out of the running, and seem much more serious about it than Boston. The Yankees are lurking, but appear unwilling to get involved unless Teixeira's demands drop considerably, and the Orioles are lagging behind everyone else, hoping against hope that Tex will sign at a huge discount just to play in his hometown.

All of which brings us to the Nationals, who, despite finishing with the worst record in baseball this year, remain a factor. Considering the massive rebuilding project they're facing, that's no small achievement, and it's enough to make pitcher Collin Balester awfully optimistic about the state of baseball in the nation's capital.

Every month, Washington pitcher Collin Balester appears on a satellite radio show (MLB Home Plate, Sirius 210 and XM 175). It's called "Minors & Majors with Grant Paulsen." When Paulsen asked Balester this week about his feelings if the Nationals sign Mark Teixeira, here's what Balester said...

"If that happens it's going to be a dream come true. That guy is a great player and if he comes to the nation's capital, watch out, we're going to the World Series and we are winning it all. I'm calling it right now. We're playing four games in the World Series, sweep, see ya!"

It's been a highly disappointing season for the Nationals, to say the least. Injuries to Paul Lo Duca and Chad Cordero didn't get the season off on the right foot. Then they lost Nick Johnson for the season and Austin Kearns for a month. In the past week alone, they lost Lastings Milledge and Shawn Hill to the DL, and just found out today that Cordero is out for the season. Throw in a 33-51 record, and it's already a lost season in the District.

But here's a beacon of light: Hill's injury has paved the way for Collin Balester to make his anticipated major league debut:

"It's awesome. He is gong to have an opportunity up here. Hopefully, he is going to do well," said Nationals left-hander John Lannan, who is a good friend of Balester's. "It's a long time coming. He has worked hard. It will be good to see him up here." (...)

"He is a great pitcher," said right-hander Steven Shell, who played with Balester in Columbus. "He is a power pitcher. He has a great fastball. He's a good kid."

And he gets to face the Marlins in his major league debut ... the team that leads all of baseball in home runs (that fastball had better be a little more than great tonight). So while his first start might be rough, Balester will have a few starts to show what kind of prospect he is.

The news that Odalis Perez will miss his next start for the Nationals most likely isn't going to create a lot of ripples in the sports world. But the end result of Odalis Perez's tendinitis might pave the way for the next Jay Bruce, for those of you who are actually looking for the next Jay Bruce. On the list of possible replacements for Perez's next turn in the rotation on Sunday, an interesting name came up:

Collin Balester: Balester pitched on Tuesday, so he could be inserted into the rotation without having to adjust the timing of his starts. On Tuesday, he advanced his record to 6-3 with a 5 1/3-inning performance where he allowed two hits and one run.

Balester has been considered one of the Nationals' best prospects, as Baseball America had him on their top ten prospect list for the Nats back in 2005, and rated his fastball the best in the system. This season saw improvement for Balester on the AAA level, as his walks are down and strikeouts are slightly up from his time at Columbus last year ... but he's already given up 11 home runs in 56+ innings this season as opposed to three in 51+ innings last season at Columbus. Not spectacular numbers, and yes ... it's silly to predict instant greatness for a minor leaguer. But if you're looking for the next rookie to knock your socks off in '08, Balester isn't a bad guy to consider. Let's see if the Nationals agree.