FanHouse Jason Schmidt

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

One of the most prized prospects in baseball is blossoming before our eyes. And his timing couldn't be better as the Colorado Rockies are in the thick of a Wild Card hunt.

Carlos Gonzalez did it all in the minor leagues. Before being called up he hit ten home runs and batted .339 in 48 games. He struggled a bit upon arriving in Denver, but now is really turning it on.

Over the last month, Gonzalez is batting .432 with a home run and three stolen bases. His 1.114 OPS shows that he's really creaming the ball and his eruption is fueling the Rockies' winning ways. On Sunday Gonzalez went 3-for-5 and brought his season batting average up to .283.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

With the non-waiver trade deadline looming just eight days away, it seemed like the perfect time to warn teams about the dangers of a deadline deal. There are plenty of good trades on the books. Then again, it's the swaps that blow up in the face of a team that seem to stick with us. That's nothing new. We know the famous, ill-fated John Smoltz and Jeff Bagwell deals, but for now let's look at recent history by ranking the 10 worst deadline deals of the 2000s.

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.

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

Many times when fantasy owners wait patiently on a potential star to be promoted to the majors, they have to deal with disappointment initially before the payoff finally comes. Take Adam Lind and Felix Hernandez as a few guys who didn't start to fulfill their potential until this year. Sometimes, though, you get a Ryan Braun, Evan Longoria or Tim Lincecum, who immediately start paying dividends. The latest? Braves' 22-year-old phenom hurler Tommy Hanson.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Jason Schmidt's long road back to the majors finally ended on Monday night. Schmidt pitched in a big-league game for the first time in 25 months, two shoulder surgeries ago. In his return to the mound, he gave up three runs in five innings, picking up the victory.

Schmidt gave up three in the first, but then he did not allow another hit through the next four innings. His fastball topped out at 87 mph as he worked through a 91-pitch outing.

"It was an emotional day," Schmidt said. "It's been a struggle. I didn't want it to take this long, but unfortunately, it did. Before the game, driving here and getting all the phone calls and text messages from everybody, there was a lot of buildup. It was fun, and I'm glad we came out on the winning end of it."

Schmidt got some help from Manny Ramirez, who hit his 537th homer to pass Mickey Mantle, moving alone into 15th on the all-time list.

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It's not a pretty week to be trolling the waiver wire for two-start pitchers. Forty-four in all throw twice in fantasy week 16 and 66% of those are risky picks. All 29 of the risky picks won't turn out bad. Guys like John Smoltz and Andy Pettitte could turns things around and excel. But, all in all, stick with the safer one-start pitchers this week and hedge your bets for next week.

First pitch tonight is at 7:05 PM ET. Make sure to get your rosters set prior to that.

Must Start
Tommy Hanson, Braves - Monday vs SF (J. Sanchez) and Saturday at MLW (Y. Gallardo)
Derek Lowe, Braves - Tuesday vs SF (R. Sadowski) and Sunday at MLW (M. Burns)
Ted Lilly, Cubs - Monday at PHI (R. Lopez) and Sunday vs CIN (M. Owings)
Cliff Lee, Indians - Tuesday at TOR (B. Cecil) and Sunday at SEA (G. Olson)
Nick Blackburn, Twins - Monday at OAK (G. Gonzalez) and Saturday at LAA (S. O'Sullivan)
Kevin Millwood, Rangers - Monday vs BOS (J. Smoltz) and Sunday at KC (S. Ponson)

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

With the recent news that Mark DeRosa is on the trade block and the White Sox have possibly landed Jake Peavy, junkies of major league baseball trade rumors got an early glimpse at what promises to be a very interesting July. It's far to0 early to know exactly who will be in the market for what -- or who can afford to take on temporary payroll in this economy -- but it's certainly fun to speculate. Let's do it.

Pedro Martinez, a 37-year-old in the twilight of his career, is still searching for big league work this season. The three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight time All-Star has been spending his time pitching for the Dominican Republic. Thanks to a rousing upset at the hands of the Netherlands, though, the Dominican is done playing.

The Mets, for obvious reasons, were continually tied to Martinez over the course of the past few weeks, but they don't want him. The Dodgers, on the other hand, seem a bit intrigued -- specifically general manager Ned Colletti.

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

They are forgotten men this time of year -- especially with the surprisingly entertaining World Baseball Classic and the daily drama surrounding Alex Rodriguez to distract us. But while most of us yawn indifferently at Spring Training games and count down toward Opening Day, they have something to prove. They are the veterans coming off of a lost season in 2008 (because of injury or otherwise).

And for them, spring games are about re-establishing confidence in their own abilities and instilling renewed faith in those abilities in the decision-makers on their teams.

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 ...
Eventual landing spot for Manny Ramirez. Seriously, it's going to happen sooner or later, so we'll just assume it's already happened for the purposes of this post. Obviously, if he either signs elsewhere (unlikely) or sits out this season (as unlikely as the holier than thou media embracing A-Rod), we'll have to re-fantasy-spin the entire offense. He's that important to the lineup.