FanHouse JeffKeppinger

MLB Power Rankings: Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.

HAVE YOU HEARD? YANKEE STADIUM HAS A WIND TUNNEL!!! Does it matter/is it real? Probably not. In fact, it might actually be on the other end of the spectrum of importance when compared to MLB Power Rankings. This week, we welcome another brand new No. 1 at the top of our rankings, although, all spoiler alerts aside, it's from the same division as last week! Debate the quality of your team, after the jump.

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

Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia owners eat your heart out. Relative unknowns -- and likely undrafted in nearly all mixed fantasy leagues -- Ricky Romero and Glen Perkins are straight dealing right now. And after three outings each, it's time to start wondering if the quick starts are not flukey.

This move kind of flew under the radar, but I think it's worth noting today. Yesterday, the Astros sent minor league second baseman Drew Sutton to Cincinnati to complete the trade that the two teams made for Jeff Keppinger shortly before the regular season started. I don't know how they do it, but it seems like at least once a week the Astros make a move that makes me scratch my forehead and wonder just what's going on in their front office.

To a casual observer, this might seem like a pretty lateral move. Keppinger's hit well with the Astros so far and Sutton is a 26-year-old who's just breaking in to Triple-A for the first time. But look a little deeper, and see that Sutton had a huge breakout year in Double-A last year and he's one of the only remaining bright spots in a farm system that's been ravaged by trades, giving away draft picks to make free agent signings, and poor drafting.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Cincinnati Reds.

Once one of the most admired franchises in professional sports, the Reds have now suffered through nearly a decade of futility. The last time they finished above .500 was in 2000, when they won 85 games. The last trip to the postseason was in 1995. Even their gorgeous ballpark is barren for much of the summer, as the Reds finished 23rd in attendance last season. It's safe to say that the days of the Big Red Machine are a distant memory.

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.

Given that the Reds are in last place in the NL Central and they've fired their GM already this year, it's safe to infer that they're not off to a great start. One of the few bright spots for them this year has been shortstop Jeff Keppinger. After a solid end of the year last year, he's mostly kept up the pace into 2008, hitting .320/.365/.442 coming into tonight's game. Unfortunately, he fouled a pitch off his kneecap tonight and broke it. That's right ... broke his kneecap. Ouch.

Tonight the Reds replaced him with Jerry Hairston Jr. and unfortunately, he's probably the long-term answer for the Reds at that spot as well. In fact, he's going for an MRI tomorrow, so we probably won't know what the Reds are planning until they know just what the extent of the injury is. Generally, though, the prognosis for a broken kneecap is pretty grim.

What should the Reds do assuming Keppinger is out for a considerable amount of time? Shift Hairston to short, call Jay Bruce up, and move Corey Patterson to the bench. Actually, they should've done that before Keppinger got hurt. And they should probably find a better shortstop then Hairston, while they're at it. And Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. should put their houses on the market, because if the Reds' season wasn't shot before tonight, it sure is now.

Everyone in Pittsburgh has a favorite "Why Dave Littlefield should be fired" story. There's tons of them. I mean, the guy's been on the job since mid-2001 and he's managed to not improve the Pirates at all since he took the helm. My favorite Littlefield story? The one chronicled in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today, the one about how he turned down Ryan Howard in a trade for Kris Benson in the summer of 2004 because the Pirates already had Brad Eldred.

Yeah, you read that right. The Pirates, who have been searching for a left-handed power bat since PNC Park and its 320 foot right field porch opened in 2001, turned down a trade for the left-handed first baseman that has thumped 91 homers in his last 250 or so games. Eldred? He's got fourteen bombs in his career.

This is why speculation that Littlefield will be canned after the season is so rampant, because it's insane that he's still employed. Instead of pulling in Howard as a return for Benson, he pulled off a three way traded that netted him Ty Wigginton (who the Pirates waived after the 2005 season), and Jose Bautista (a player the Pirates had in their own organization but lost when Littlefield failed to protect him in the Rule 5 draft) while also giving up Jeff Keppinger, who's killing the ball in Cincinnati right now. Howard is, of course, the reigning NL MVP.