FanHouse FreddySanchez

The San Francisco Giants announced today that they've come to terms with second baseman Freddy Sanchez on a two-year deal. Terms weren't announced, but with the Giants holding an $8 million option on Sanchez, it's probably safe to assume that the cost for them per year will be less than that. T

That option would've vested for Sanchez on its own if he'd reached 600 plate appearances, but a shoulder and knee injuries limited him to just 25 games in a Giants uniform after he was traded to San Francisco from Pittsburgh. The shoulder's been a nagging problem for Sanchez for some time, but when healthy Sanchez has been one of the best hitting second basemen in the NL over the past few seasons, being named to three of the last four All-Star teams and winning a batting title in 2006.

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.

Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.

Since taking over as Pirates general manager in the fall of 2007, Neal Huntington has been almost singularly focused on rebuilding the Pirates' ravaged farm system. This has necessitated trades of some of their best and most popular players, including Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, and Nyjer Morgan, which has seriously upset the more impatient Pirate fans, who are about to endure a 17th straight losing season.

With this in mind, it's a bit of a surprise to hear that the Pirates front office has offered both Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez contract extensions. Both players have 2010 options, Wilson's is a team option worth $8.4 million and Sanchez's is a vesting option worth $8 million if he reaches 600 plate appearances, that are a bit pricey for the Pirates' tastes, and as a result both were previously thought to be on the trade block.

With two trades already under his belt, it's clear that Pirates' GM Neal Huntington is intent on setting the trade market this year rather than waiting for it to be set by someone else. With Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan already shipped elsewhere, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dejan Kovacevic reported Thursday that the Pirates' are now "pushing" for a trade of their only 2009 All-Star, second baseman Freddy Sanchez.

Sanchez is in the midst of a nice bounceback season after a shoulder injury ruined most of last year for him. He's currently hiting .315/.355/.477 with 25 doubles and six homers, looking much more like the National League's 2006 batting champ than the player that hit .271/.298/.371 last year. The biggest obstacle to a deal right now is probably the $8 million vesting option for 2010 that would make him a pricey acquisition if he gets to 600 plate appearances this year, something he's likely to do with 329 plate appearances in 74 games this year.

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.

Well, I'll tell you one thing: baseball ain't boring, folks. At least if you're in the middle class anyway; the upper crust is (somewhat) starting to establish itself across MLB's ranks and the bottom portion of the league is certainly holding steady. But in the middle, well, goodness. We have a lot of would-be title contenders. How's your semi-crappy team faring in the all-important MLB FanHouse Power Rankings this week? Find out after the jump.

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.

Well, that took freaking forever ... but the Blue Jays finally started to stink the joint up. I swear to you, you can't stay long atop the MLB Power Rankings -- our failure by osmosis jinxing ability is just too strong, son. At any rate, it was a weird week for ranking baseball: the Cubs continued to skid, the Padres went on a tear and Toronto fell off the face of the planet. So, yeah, spiciness ensued, and you may take the jump to see how badly your team fared. Unless you're a Rangers or a Braves fan, in which case they couldn't have done that poorly.

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

Dare we say it? He's back. The man who won the 2005 Cy Young and finished third the following season is officially back in the Cardinals rotation. He made the Brewers -- one of the best hitting teams in the league -- look stupid for eight innings Monday, which means he's now thrown 23 innings of shutout ball this season. His staggering numbers thus far: 23 innings, 0 earned runs, 23 strikeouts, 10 hits, 4 walks.

The 26-year-old Rickie Weeks looked to be finally fulfilling the promise of his lofty draft spot (second pick overall in the 2003 draft). He was hitting .272 with 9 home runs, 24 RBI, 2 stolen bases and 28 runs. Now, what appeared to be his breakout campaign has been summarily dismantled on one swing. Weeks tore up his wrist on a swing Sunday and his season is over.

There's no rest for the weary in fantasy baseball, though. Weeks owners must lick their wounds and find a way to recover. A recovery should be possible, considering how little owners probably had to spend on Weeks in their auctions or drafts. The three options are as follows (make sure to check out number three).

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Monday night, Ryan Braun hit a first-inning home run off of Jeff Karstens of the Pirates. Two innings and two bombs later (by Rickie Weeks and Mike Cameron, respectively), Braun wore a Karstens fastball in the middle of his back. It was the first pitch of the at-bat, so it appeared to be an intentional beanball.

Both benches were warned by the umpiring crew and no Pirates were hit in retaliation for the rest of the game. According to Braun, though, that's not a sign the team has forgiven and forgotten.

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

In news that probably means a lot more to fantasy baseball players than real baseball fans -- with all due respect to the Pirates and their true fans -- Ryan Doumit is going to miss the next 8-10 weeks. He'll be undergoing wrist surgery and have some pins inserted. As fantasy owners, we must march on and look at how to replace the production of a very solid offensive catcher.