FanHouse David Weathers

Left on Base is MLB FanHouse's link dump.

- David Weathers has been shipped to the Brewers for a player-to-be-named. It should help to shore up the Milwaukee bullpen, though it does nothing for the rotation -- which, outside of Yovani Gallardo, is pretty damn awful.

- Apparently David Eckstein is not too worried about winning anymore. The 34-year-old middle infielder, who already has two world series rings, had the chance to be traded to the Twins and turned it down. The Twins are hanging in the AL Central race for dear life, so it's not like the postseason was a given. Still, the Padres are far out of anything relevant and are one of the worst teams in baseball.

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 who definitely won't be clogging up the bases. That joke never gets old, but, seriously, this is a team who has the potential to make some noise. Their lineup and rotation are both good, and there are several solid fantasy players here. If you want stars, though, keep on moving. There are lots of really good players here, just no great ones.

All in all, 24 players were offered arbitration by last night's midnight deadline, including 15 Type A free agents and nine Type B. Players are classified using a rating system created by Elias Sports Bureau to determine the level of compensation a team receives if a player refuses arbitration and signs elsewhere.

Most of the time, Type A free agents are elite players who are all but certain to refuse the offer in anticipation of receiving multiyear offers on the open market. This year's Type A free agents to receive offers include: A.J. Burnett, Orlando Cabrera, Juan Cruz, Brian Fuentes, Orlando Hudson, Raul Ibanez, Derek Lowe, Darren Oliver, Oliver Perez, Manny Ramirez, Francisco Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Mark Teixeira and Jason Varitek.

If any of those players refuse arbitration to sign elsewhere, their new teams will have to cough up two draft picks as compensation. That said, most of them are so talented that the prospect of losing a draft pick or two won't intimidate interested suitors. In other words, if you're favorite team is committed to signing Manny, losing a measly draft pick or two won't stop it. But for older players who only have one or two productive seasons left (Oliver, Varitek: I'm looking at you), losing draft picks is something worth thinking twice about.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

The Tigers were the most disappointing team in the majors last year. A preseason pick for the World Series by many, they finished dead last in the AL Central, thanks mostly to a pitching staff that ranked 27th out of 30 teams and a defense that committed the second most errors in the league.

Only the Yankees and Mets spent more money last year, and the Tigers don't have nearly the revenue stream of their Big Apple counterparts. As such, GM Dave Dombrowski is expected to slash and burn the payroll this winter. Can he bring the Tigers back into contention without draining owner Mike Ilitch's pockets? He's facing an uphill battle, for sure, especially considering duds like Dontrelle Willis, Gary Sheffield and Nate Robertson will cost the team $33 million alone.

Monday marked the first time that the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds met since Reds radio announcer Marty Brennaman called Cubs fans "the most obnoxious in baseball" after they threw a bunch of baseballs on the field. Marty then followed that comment up by calling Cubs fans "brain dead" a few days later.

Needless to say, those comments didn't make Brennaman very popular amongst Cubs fans (though White Sox fans no doubt loved it). Well, Brennaman's partner in the radio booth, former Red Jeff Brantley, decided to one up his colleague on Sunday. After the Reds lost their fifth straight game, Brantley said "I'm not including everybody but there are some guys on this team ... if they win, great. If they lose, they could care less."

Current Reds reliever David Weathers was listening on the radio at the time, and he was not amused.

"Maybe he knows more about the game than we do," Weathers told TV reporters before the Reds played the Cubs on Monday. "If he does, congratulations, maybe he should come out with a uniform on."

Though after the Reds ended their losing streak by beating the Cubs on Monday night, Weathers had calmed down, and was pretty shocked by the attention his comments were receiving.

Lots of times when two bad teams get together, they play a largely uneventful series that doesn't leave fans shaking their heads in amazement. Luckily for everyone involved, game one of the sad Pirates/Reds match-up wasn't such a game. In fact. after a kind of slow start, the Pirates 10-4 extra inning win (yes, a six-run extra inning win) had everything you'd expect from two such teams.

Just some of the highlights:

• Paul Maholm and Aaron Harang, two struggling starters both with ERAs of over 4.80 coming into tonight's game, looked like Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson on the mound last night. Harang went eight innings and allowed two runs on five hits with five K's, Maholm went seven and allowed two runs on seven hits with 6 K's.
• Neither team actually mounted any offense in the first nine innings. The Pirates hit two solo homers (Jason Bay and Xavier Nady) in the second innings, the Reds hit two (Ken Griffey Jr. and Brandon Phillips) in the sixth.
  
• The Pirates scored eight runs in the tenth inning against the Reds sad excuse of a bullpen.
  
• The Reds botched a wheel play on a bunt to allow those eight runs to score.
  
• Even with an eight run lead, Pirate closer Salomon Torres gave Pirate fans everywhere heart attacks when he gave up two runs in the bottom of the tenth.
  

To give some quick perspective on the Pirates' eight-run tenth and the meltdown required for David Weathers, Brad Salmon, and company to allow it to happen, the Pirates didn't score eight runs in a game in the entire month of April and in fact only had three games all season in which they'd scored eight or more. I know what you're thinking. Yes, these teams will play three more games before this is all said and done.

The Reds' bullpen is awful. I mean, just really really bad. In two days this week, they've blown two games in the late innings to the Houston Astros and I honestly think I'd probably have to take my shoes off to count the number of games they've blown this year. And they've taken a beating in blogs and in the Cincy papers because, well, that's what happens when you suck really bad at your job. But today brings a new revelation... they actually know they suck. Here's closer David Weathers (who helped blow last night's game) in today's Cincinnati Enquirer:

"We know we're blowing games," Weathers said. "It's frustrating to all of us. You guys (in the media) act like it's more frustrating to you.

"You all don't put on the uniform. It hurts us personally."

Weathers apologized for snapping, but he knows the bullpen's performance has to change for the Reds to be successful.

"We've got to stop all the talk," Weathers said. "It's got to start tomorrow. If we go out there with a lead, somebody needs to get it done."

Still, help doesn't really appear to be on the horizon because the article goes on to suggest that GM Wayne Krivsky isn't going to call anyone up. That seems kind of insane. Besides Weathers and Kirk Saarloos, no member of the Reds GM has a WHIP below 1.35 and most of them have ERA's above 4.50. If Krivsky wants to stick with the same guys, the same things are going to keep happening. Of course, last time Krivsky tried to trade for bullpen help, he made the infamous Austin Kearns trade. So either Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang, and co. start making 8-inning starts regularly, or the Reds are pretty screwed.