From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
This coming weekend, Major League Baseball will reveal its 2009 All-Star teams. So what better opportunity than this to run through a list of this season's "Anti-All-Stars." Anti-All-Stars is far too bland a name, though, so we decided to name the team in honor of Andruw Jones. After all, he was the poster child for guys not earning the lucrative contracts bestowed on them last season. We'll sort through each position and find the player who is least helping his team in comparison to expectations -- whether monetary or from management.
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.
It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.
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 yesterday's Rush, we mentioned that Gordon Beckham is heating up and that the power would come. As if right on cue, he posted a 4-2-3-2 line in the box score. That is 4 at-bats, 3 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI, for those box score challenged. One of the hits was a home run. Beckham went through some predictable growing pains when he was first called up the majors, but he's since raised his on-base percentage to .353. His OPS is 1.396 in his last five games. It's time to keep your eyes on him in all fantasy leagues. There's a reason he was in the majors less than a year after he was drafted.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
By the looks of his season stats, you wouldn't know that Jordan Zimmermann has actually been one of the most dominant pitchers in the majors over the past month. We're talking a 1.90 ERA and a .198 batting average against. On that same note, Minnesota's Scott Baker is holding opposing hitters to a .205 average over his last five starts. The turnaround of these pitchers teach fantasy owners an important lesson about staying patient and swooping in when the time is right.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
I learned how to play fantasy sports 10 years ago from my stepdad, who's been playing it since the days when rotisserie baseball didn't even exist. Back when he was a teenager, it was called Strat-O-Matic, a simulation board game that seemed more laborious than fun to me. Then again, they also had fun flipping baseball cards instead of preserving them.
One of the first things he ever taught me about veteran players was the basic tenet of: "Look on the back of the baseball card." Sure, there are outliers, but seeing career statistics is comforting, and can often tell you a lot about a batter's peak performance.
NEW YORK -- Blasphemy, you'll say, but think about it. What are you going to remember about Tuesday night's Yankees-Red Sox game? David Ortiz's third home run of the year? Nick Green's second? Maybe Josh Beckett, fine, but the fact is this isn't 2003-04 anymore, the Red Sox own the Yankees now and they're both probably making the playoffs anyway, what with the Rays looking like World Series-hangover-roadkill.
No, this here is where it's at for big-time baseball rivalries circa 2009. Mets-Phillies has morphed from spring training trash talk to nailbiting, in-season theater, complete with all the subplots, drama and good, intense baseball you can take. Tuesday night had everything anybody could ask of a midseason rivalry game, and in the end it was the battered-underdog Mets who came away with a 6-5 victory that was in no way easy but in all ways satisfying.
NEW YORK – Jimmy Rollins swears he isn't obsessed with teams from New York. He doesn't spend late nights worrying about whether the Mets might finally shake the choke collars from around their necks, doesn't wake up thinking the Yankees just might be built for October.
So why does it seem Rollins is forever talking about the Mets and the Yankees? Two seasons ago he made a remark that proved to be pretty prophetic, saying his Philadelphia Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East, and Mets fans reacted as if Rollins personally removed the frontal lobe from Jose Reyes' brain. Now from Rollins' crystal ball comes this enticing prediction: the Phillies will play the Yankees in the World Series this October.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Who knew there was a hulking slugger waiting to bust out of Joe Mauer? After hitting his eighth jack in just 72 at-bats and driving in six RBI, the Twins catcher is putting all concerns to rest. Heck, he hit nine totalhome runs in 536 at-bats last season. So the "ailing" back is just fine, thank you very much, but is the power sustainable?
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
There's an awful, awful fantasy baseball stigma that's attached to players who struggle in April and May. See: Papi, Big. Although his is much worse because he's a bulky DH declining swiftly; additionally, he's not a pitcher with the potential to be labeled "inconsistent" or "a slow starter."
Like, say, you know, CC Sabathia. Or Cole Hamels. Or Dontrelle Willis. Okay, scratch that last one -- he's just kind of insane kooky. But the point is this: Tuesday night was a suddenly wonderful bit of relief, because we got to see some big pitching names come through with nice outings.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
NEW YORK -- Blasphemy, you'll say, but think about it. What are you going to remember about Tuesday night's Yankees-Red Sox game? 
NEW YORK – 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
