From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
As Major League Baseball launches into the second half of their season Thursday night, there is one playoff race that should intrigue and excite fans no matter where their allegiances may lie. The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays may just be the best three teams in the American League (for my money, they are). Yet, all three reside in the AL East, which means only two can make the playoffs.
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.
We had to break the trend. Sure, the Dodgers might have a better record than everyone else -- but competition has to count for something, doesn't it? The Dodgers have mutilated the mediocre-at-best NL West to the tune of 26-9. This means they are 14-11 against everyone else. Is that a top-two team in baseball? Hardly, I'll take the heated-rivals: Yankees (who have overcome a slow start to go 19-7 since May 12) and Red Sox (18-8 against the best division in baseball) as the top two.
We just concluded our fantasy draft here at Fanhouse. I have to say that I like what I did here.
It's a 12-team, rotisserie mixed-league using standard 5X5 scoring categories and rosters that include two catchers, a first baseman, a second baseman, a shortstop, a third baseman, a corner infielder, a middle infielder, five outfielders, a utility hitter, nine pitchers and three bench players.
Here's the Extra Base Knox team:
Round 1(3) - Albert Pujols, Cardinals - Wright and Hanley Ramirez went with the first two picks. Pujols is the best remaining player so I went with him. I'll take his massive offense in four of the five categories and smile all the way.
Round 2(22) - Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners - I made a tough decision here between him and Justin Morneau. I love Ichiro's speed and great batting average. With such high batting averages from my first two picks, I should be able to grab a big home run hitter with a low average later in the draft if I choose.
Round 3(27) - Carl Crawford, Rays - I didn't go power, I went speed again. Crawford plus Ichiro will pretty much guarantee my team is near the top in stolen bases.
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 ... Best team in baseball. Yes, they are still better than the Yankees and Red Sox. Lost in all the joy of last season were the facts that two key players were injured down the stretch and another had an absolutely dreadful offensive season. Throw in the addition of Pat Burrell, and the continued growth of the young pitching staff, and you have a team who can take on the big-spending Yankees and venerable Red Sox.
As we'll preach time and again at FanHouse, compiling a successful fantasy baseball team isn't about the most productive players. It's about what players give you the most value. Carlos Quentin was much more valuable last season than Ryan Braun -- despite ending with slightly inferior numbers -- because of how much cheaper he was to attain than Braun.
The best way to compile a winning team is to recognize areas where you can maximize the value of your draft picks. Not spending high picks on closers is one way to do this. Finding players being underestimated is another. Another, still, is to find places lacking depth and grab a strength.
From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.
While there is still time left in the Hot Stove season, and there are a few high quality players left on the market -- Ben Sheets, anyone? -- the Yankees have been the team who has made the biggest splash in all of baseball thus far. That splash was seemingly a reaction to missing the playoffs for the first time since the strike-shortened 1994.
In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.
On the precipice of their first World Series title in 28 years, the Phillies deserve a world of credit for the way they have executed in October. They have played to their strengths all month long, and as it turns out, those strengths are enough to win a title.
They have a dominant ace in Cole Hamels who may very well close the Fall Classic out Monday night. He's 4-0 in October and he gives the opposing pitcher very little room for error. The rest of their rotation has flown under the radar in part because of Hamels' excellence and in part because of a ballpark that inflates ERAs, but it's proven to be very capable, too, behind the southpaw ace.
They have a lights-out bullpen that finishes with Brad Lidge, but also features top-notch flame-thrower Ryan Madson as the bridge to Lidge and a number of useful situational guys like Scott Eyre and Chad Durbin.
And they have a power-laden offense that has much more balance than the Rays -- one that is capable of putting crooked numbers up on the board as it did in Game 4, but also capable of staying in the game even when it struggles with runners in scoring position because of the home run ball.
If Monday is a coronation, it will have been well earned indeed.
There are quite a few people out there who will tell you that the only reason MLB finally decided to implement the use of replay in it's games this season is because there were a few bad calls in New York. Had their been a rash of missed calls in a couple of Royals games, nobody would have cared, and it never would have happened.
While there's probably some truth behind those feelings, I highly doubt they were the only reasons baseball finally woke up and joined the 21st century, but it is fitting that the very first use of the new replay system involved Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees.
Tropicana Field hosted history on Wednesday night, when instant replay was used for the first time in Major League history.
Alex Rodriguez hit a 2-2 pitch from Rays closer Troy Percival high over the foul pole in left in the ninth inning and, to add to the confusion, the ball ricocheted off the D-ring catwalk. Third-base umpire Brian Runge ruled the ball fair.
Dioner Navarro and Rays manager Joe Maddon both argued that the ball was foul, and after a brief talk amongst themselves, the umpires decided to break the replay cherry. Two minutes and fifteen seconds later they emerged with the news that they were right, the ball was fair.
The game went on, Tropicana Field did not self destruct, and the sun came up this morning.
With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.
- The Cavalry Arrives: The rosters expand from 25 to 40 today, allowing clubs that have fallen out of contention to give their younger players a taste of the majors and giving contenders the chance to add another bullpen arm or bench bat for the stretch run.
A few players to keep an eye on that could actually contribute to contenders down the stretch:
Doug Slaten, RP, Diamondbacks - Should give Arizona a much-needed left-handed bullpen arm for the final month. James McDonald, SP, Dodgers - Could get a spot start or two.
Jonathon Niese, SP, Mets - He's starting against Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Phil Humber, RP, Twins - One of the players acquired by Minnesota in the Johan Santana deal, Humber will start out in the bullpen, which hasn't been as strong as the Twins would like, but he could also make a spot start if needed.
John Jaso, C, Rays - Whither David Price? As Pat Lackey pointed out last week, he might not be as ready as most people think. Jaso has a gaudy .820 OPS at Triple-A Durham, and with Dioner Navarro nursing the bumps and bruises of a long season, he could spell the catcher effectively.
Obviously the fantasy season is past the halfway point, but you gotta work with me here. There aren't any games that count for the next few days, so it's the perfect time to formulate these teams. Unlike the actual All-Star game, there are different parameters for judging who makes the fantasy All-Star team. Value matters. For example, Hanley Ramirez is obviously the best fantasy player in baseball. He was a high first round pick in every draft, though, so he's not really exceeding expectations.
There's a reason you make the fantasy All-Star team this way ... owners don't win leagues by drafting Hanley Ramirez first overall. You do, however, win your league by loading up on value picks like Josh Hamilton and Geovany Soto ... while you lose your league by taking some of the big names I'm going to list on the "bad" team.
I've named each team after their backstop. Why? I felt like it.
Let's have fun.
TEAM GEO (these are the fantasy All-Stars)
C - Geovany Soto -- You can convince me that you thought Geo was a top ten catcher and that he'd hit 20 home runs coming into the season. You can't convince me that you had him top three and on pace for almost 30.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
As we'll preach time and again at FanHouse, compiling a successful fantasy baseball team isn't about the most productive players. It's about what players give you the most value. 
In the 
There are quite a few people out there who will tell you that the only reason MLB finally decided to implement the use of replay in it's games this season is because there were a few bad calls in New York. Had their been a rash of missed calls in a couple of Royals games, nobody would have cared, and it never would have happened.
With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in 
Obviously the fantasy season is past the halfway point, but you gotta work with me here. There aren't any games that count for the next few days, so it's the perfect time to formulate these teams. Unlike the actual All-Star game, there are different parameters for judging who makes the fantasy All-Star team. Value matters. For example, Hanley Ramirez is obviously the best fantasy player in baseball. He was a high first round pick in every draft, though, so he's not really exceeding expectations. 
