FanHouse Gerald Laird

Earlier this season the Chicago Cubs offense was struggling and Milton Bradley was not getting along with hitting coach Gerald Perry. So after considering that Bradley was making a significantly larger chunk of cash than Perry was, the team decided to relieve Perry of his duties and called up Von Joshua from their Triple-A affiliate in Iowa to replace him.

Now Joshua didn't do much to salvage Bradley's season in Chicago, but after taking over the job the Cubs did improve from 14th in batting average to sixth in the Majors, and also went from 15th to sixth in runs scored. So as a way of thanking Joshua for the improvements the team announced on Monday they won't be bringing him back next season.

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.

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...
Most disappointing team of 2008. This goes for real and for fantasy. Nearly the entire team was a massive bust last year -- I said nearly, because the man in the picture to the right was immune in fantasy -- as the team finished in last place. They've made some changes, and the players coming back need to just play better.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Detroit Tigers.

A preseason favorite to win the pennant a year ago, the Tigers collapsed under the weight of unreal expectations. Trading for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis was supposed to put this team over the top, but in hindsight Detroit's lineup, while potent, was never as good as it looked on paper and the pitching and defense ranked among the worst in the league.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday.

Can you feel it? Spring is in the air. Real, actual baseball games were played Wednesday in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. The arrival of baseball games is mostly pleasant for fans, even if the contests mean nothing and their favorite players end up doing wind-sprints in the outfield by the fourth inning. But it can also bring a bit of anxiety.

Winter is mostly gloomy with the next nine innings so far away, but it is also a time for boundless optimism. Squint hard enough between the leafless trees and falling snow and you can almost see Carl Pavano pitching 200 innings. Maybe that's why Spring Training can cause a little panic -- all it takes is one bad start to shatter the wildly optimistic construct of the 2009 season we've spent all winter putting together in our heads.

Our MLB editor files dispatches from this year's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.

Baseball fans know what the Winter Meetings are. They know what happens every year -- trades, big signings, and plenty of gossip in the lobby of a grand hotel. What they might not have an idea about is what the atmosphere is like inside the Bellagio.

(Full disclosure: This is my first trip to the Winter Meetings, and, frankly, it was a little bit terrifying flying out here. I had absolutely no idea what to expect.)

Let's start with the city. Las Vegas seemed a bit deflated when I arrived Sunday night -- a perfectly understandable feel considering the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight was the night before. The Winter Meetings are a nice distraction, but Vegas seems to love big prizefights more than anything else.

Still, if my conversation with the cab driver who took me from the airport to my hotel is any indication, the denizens of Sin City seem virtually oblivious to the baseball invasion. He had no idea what the Winter Meetings were or that they were taking place in Las Vegas, but he had plenty to say about the National Finals Rodeo, which are taking place through the end of this week at the Thomas and Mack Center. Go figure.

One of Dave Dombrowski's first decisions of the offseason was to move Brandon Inge back to third base, pushing Carlos Guillen to left field. The move made perfect sense: Inge is a Gold Glove-caliber fielder whereas Guillen played like he was wearing cement boots and using a frying pan for a glove.

On Sunday, Dombrowski replaced Inge behind the plate, picking up Gerald Laird from the Rangers in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects: Guillermo Moscoso, a 25-year-old righthander who spent most of last season in Single-A, and Carlos Melo, a 17-year-old righthander who's yet to pitch above rookie league.

All in all, it doesn't seem like too high of a price to pay for Laird, a capable starting catcher who hit .276 (92 OPS+) in 344 at-bats last season. He'll get the job done without being a complete blackhole and at least has the potential to be above average for his position. In Detroit's lineup, that's all they really need from their starting backstop.

With Laird out of the picture, it'll be that much more difficult for another team to pry Jarrod Saltamacchia or Taylor Teagarden away from the Rangers. For the moment, those two figure to share catching duties, though Saltamacchia could also see time at first base.

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.

When you're the Texas Rangers, and you have a grand total of one playoff win in 47 years of existence, there's little place to go but up. Thanks to GM Jon Daniels' dilligent work in the draft and in last year's Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne deals, that's just the direction in which they're headed.

There are a lot of things to feel good about in Arlington these days, actually. The Rangers had the best offense in the American League last year and could conceivably be better in 2009. The farm system is overflowing with talent and almost certainly one of the five best in the game. There's even optimism about the return of Nolan Ryan as the team's president.

If you're looking for a club that could make a Rays-like rise in the near future, the Rangers might be the best candidate. The question isn't if, but when they make their presence felt, and the answer to that query will determine in part how aggressive Texas is this winter.

Over the last few weeks Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been hearing rumors that he may end up being traded to the Boston Red Sox this winter. The Rangers are rather crowded behind the plate, as they also have Gerald Laird and Taylor Teagarden, and a trade of one of them would make sense.

Well, while nothing is set in stone as to which one the Rangers are going to trade, that hasn't stopped Jarrod from sharing his feelings on the situation. He's not exactly trying to hide the sheer excitement he feels when he pictures himself in a Red Sox uniform.

"That would be a dream come true," said Saltalamacchia, 23. "I'd love to go there and either work under Jason [Varitek] for a year or two or just go there and catch full-time.

"I love watching Jason. He's like an idol of mine. I watch him and I learn from him and I'd love to be able to spend time with him. I saw him this year and we talked for a while and I learned so much from him in the short time we had."

Jarrod also goes on to say he'd welcome the trade because it would give him a chance to catch more often than he does in Texas. Of course, I'm not sure Jarrod realizes that if the Red Sox trade for him and also re-sign Varitek, they'll have three catchers as well. Well, unless Jarrod can show he knows how to catch a knuckleball and the team parts ways with Kevin Cash, which I don't see happening.

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Unless you're a Red Sox fan, the best story in baseball this year is the Tampa Bay Rays. By now, everyone likely knows the story but let's recap. In 1998, the Rays came into existence. In every season between 1998 and 2007, they won between 61 and 69 games, except for in 2004. They won 70 that year.

This year, though, is a different story. With last night's win over the Red Sox, they've got 90 wins and a two-game lead in the AL East, a division that seemed to be locked in a deep stranglehold that the Yankees and Red Sox would never let up. The amazing part is that everyone saw this coming in some form. GM Andrew Friedman has rebuilt Chuck LaMar's mistake from the ground up and the Rays are winning because they're good, not because they're lucky.

Baseball is cyclical and every couple of years, a young team bursts on the scene and surprises everyone. Who among baseball's long suffering franchises is next? There are seven franchises that haven't made the playoffs since the turn of the century; the Pirates, Nationals, Royals, Brewers, Blue Jays, Reds, Orioles, and Rangers (sorry Mariners and Giants fans, you've been good this century and that disqualifies you from this exercise), so let's take a look at them and see if we can't figure out who might be in line for the next turnaround.