FanHouse JonRauch

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 ...
Still incredibly young Diamondbacks. It seems like when the Backs failed to keep the momentum going after an early season charge, people forgot this was still a very young team. The overwhelming majority of the roster is younger than 30, and most of the offense is younger than 27. This means we have a large group of guys who have the potential to throw up career-year type numbers at the drop of a hat. Be ready ...

Brandon Lyon has been unreliable recently for the Diamondbacks, and that's putting it lightly. Starting with one inning on August 4th, Lyon has compiled an abysmal 16.88 ERA over his past six outings. That's 16 hits allowed, 10 earned runs allowed, and only three strikeouts over the course of five and a third innings. Granted, his only save opportunity in there was also his only perfect inning. Still, though, Lyon doesn't have a solid explanation:

"It's just as simple as not making pitches right now," Lyon said. "Everything that can go wrong is going wrong. I can't explain it. I just have to keep grinding it out and keep going back out there and get one out at a time."

In light of the Dodgers still only trailing the Snakes by three games, you'd like to be able to have confidence with a close ninth-inning lead if you were in Bob Melvin's shoes. Reportedly, he was "vague" when questioned about any possible changes to the back end of the bully. There wouldn't be an ambiguous answer to the closer question if Melvin knew he was sticking with Lyon, which is a sign that he's at least mulling over a change.

They're called the dog days of August for a reason. With the trade deadline in the books, major league teams are, barring a waiver trade, stuck with what they've got on the roster for the duration of the regular season. That means injuries, like the one suffered by Arizona's Orlando Hudson in the photo to the right, will shape the pennant races much more than they have over the last four months.

Five teams in the hunt for a playoff spot got bad injury news in the last 24 hours. Here's a look at who's hurt and how each team will cope with the absence of a key player over the final seven weeks.

- Carl Crawford, LF, Rays: The speedy Tampa Bay outfielder injured a tendon in his right middle finger on a check swing last night and was placed on the 15-day DL. The Rays are unsure how much time he'll miss, but a Seattle trainer told him he could miss six-to-eight weeks. If he's out that long, it could be devastating to their chances of holding off Boston in the AL East.

With the deadline fast approaching, it looks like the deals are going to start coming pretty fast over the next 10 days. Today, the Diamondbacks added Jon Rauch from the Nationals in an effort to stem the ugly slide they've been in since early May. In exchange, they're shipping second base prospect Emilio Bonifacio out to Washington.

Rauch is certainly a nice addition to the D'Backs bullpen. He's quietly been one of the better relievers in the NL with the Nats this year and has done a nice job filling in as their closer since Chad Cordero went down. Any contender would be happy to have him, so this is a plus for the D'Backs. What this move doesn't do, however, is address the team's real problem. That would be their incredibly crappy offense.

On the flip side, Bonifacio is one of those guys that you look at and think, "Well, he's a nice enough prospect, I guess." He's very fast (229 steals in the minors) and he's supposedly got a good glove at second base. Still, he's got the kind of bat that seems like it probably won't play terribly well in the majors (high average resulting in a high OBP and almost no power).

So the Diamondbacks got help where they didn't need it and the Nationals didn't get a whole lot in return for a good reliever. What spurred this trade on again?

Obviously the fantasy season is past the halfway point, but you gotta work with me here. There aren't any games that count for the next few days, so it's the perfect time to formulate these teams. Unlike the actual All-Star game, there are different parameters for judging who makes the fantasy All-Star team. Value matters. For example, Hanley Ramirez is obviously the best fantasy player in baseball. He was a high first round pick in every draft, though, so he's not really exceeding expectations.

There's a reason you make the fantasy All-Star team this way ... owners don't win leagues by drafting Hanley Ramirez first overall. You do, however, win your league by loading up on value picks like Josh Hamilton and Geovany Soto ... while you lose your league by taking some of the big names I'm going to list on the "bad" team.

I've named each team after their backstop. Why? I felt like it.

Let's have fun.

TEAM GEO (these are the fantasy All-Stars)

C - Geovany Soto -- You can convince me that you thought Geo was a top ten catcher and that he'd hit 20 home runs coming into the season. You can't convince me that you had him top three and on pace for almost 30.

Chad Cordero hasn't pitched in a game since mid April, but when he was orginally placed on the disabled list the hope was that he'd be back sometime in June.

That obviously didn't happen, and following an examination yesterday, Cordero shouldn't plan on returning anytime before 2009. Doctors discovered a torn labrum in his right shoulder yesterday, an injury the Nationals now think Cordero probably had the entire time. He'll undergo surgery soon and his rehab will extend into next season.

The last-place Nationals need all the help they can get, but honestly, Jon Rauch has been more than adequate as a replacement closer. Rauch has saved 16 of 21 games while posting an excellent 2.55 ERA (0.92 WHIP) and 8.29 K/9 -- Cordero hasn't posted numbers over a full season that strong since 2005.

In fact, considering Cordero is arbitration-eligible this winter and set to be a free agent in 2010, I wouldn't be entirely surpised if the team actually cut ties with him this winter, not when they have a cheaper, healthier and (most importantly) better option in Rauch.

In a move that's been coming for some time, the Washington Nationals announced that Chad Cordero is headed to the disabled list. He's got a tear in the muscle below his right shoulder which probably explains why he was unable to dial up his fastball since coming off the DL earlier this month. It also explains why he left last night's game with the Braves after just 13 pitches.

While the early word is that Cordero doesn't need surgery, two trips to the disabled list with shoulder woes in short order have to concern the team. Not only is Cordero their closer and top reliever but he's a pretty good trade chip for the Nats to try and chip in later this season as they continue building their team for the future. Injury concerns will make that more difficult, thus costing the team both of Cordero's potential benefits this season.

Jon Rauch should serve as the team's closer in Cordero's stead. He's done an excellent job as a set-up man over the past two seasons and has five saves already this year so if the rest of the bullpen does their part, the Nats won't see a tremendous drop-off in the role. Even if they do, it won't do anything to solve the biggest problem in our nation's capital. No cheap joke about Congress here, I'm talking about their anemic offensive output.

The plane barely pulled up before hitting the water last night, as the Nationals ended their nine game tailspin by squeaking one out against the Braves; Mark Teixeira and Chipper Jones tried to make things spicy, but Jon Rauch (after a questionable Chad Cordero "save attempt") slammed the door on the A-T-L. After the game, the Washington Post reports (via Mister Irrelevant) that Jim Bowden was absurdly enthusiastic and maybe a little sarcastic with his praise of the win to manager Manny Acta in the clubhouse.

Long after the Washington Nationals mercifully ended a nine-game losing streak yesterday evening ... General Manager Jim Bowden burst through the door to the coaches' locker room just off the home clubhouse at Nationals Park.

'Manny!' he screamed to his manager, one Manny Acta. 'One in a row, baby! On a streak! The lead's down to three and a half.'

Ha. Ha. Ha. That's what my equally sarcastic reaction would be -- I'm assuming I can't punch and/or slap my boss, here -- if Bowden stormed into my locker room and shouted that. Dude, Jimbo, we just came off a nine game skid.

People can only be so enthusiastic about a new ballpark, m'kay? Bowden's a good guy and he's done a fairly nice job rebuilding a team that didn't really want to do anything monetarily until they got in the new park (you really should have traded Soriano though, Jimmy). Plus, he hired and has retained Manny Acta, who still remains pretty freaking underrated in the managerial world. Still, though, that's fairly unnecessary.

Bonus Fantasy Spin: In case you missed it in the first paragraph, Chad Cordero almost blew another save. With Acta's back completely up against the wall -- nine game losing streak about to go to ten, men all over the bases, bullpen melting down, etc. -- he turned to Rauch, who bailed him the eff out. That's something to think about before you go making wavier claims for "The Chief"; I'd probably hold onto Rauch for now too. Wouldn't be surprised to see him take over the closer's role, much less for Cordero to be still hurt.

Minor League Spotlight is the MLB FanHouse's look into baseball's minor leagues. But you probably figured that out already.

This post is about something that will have no impact on the Twins this season, but when I saw it I just had to mention it. I was just doing my normal morning rounds of reading when I came across this little tidbit about a Twins minor leaguer.

The Twins are sending 7-foot-1 Loek Van Mil, who is the tallest player in professional baseball and who finished 2-2 for rookie league Elizabethton this season, to their Florida Instructional League club with Dave Bromberg, who finished 9-0 with 81 strikeouts in 58 innings at Elizabethton.

Seven foot one. How does a seven-footer end up playing baseball? Can his jumpshot really be that bad?

Apparently Van Mil has been playing baseball since he was 8 years old, and probably only 6' tall, and living in the Netherlands. The Twins spent three years scouting the 21-year old before signing him to a minor league deal back in July of 2006.

I have no idea if he'll ever make it to the big leagues, but if he does, he'll obviously be the tallest pitcher to ever appear in a Major League game. A full two inches taller than Washington's Jon Rauch who currently holds the mark at 6'11.

Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.

Why does this need to happen? At 42-56, the present seems bleak. So Jim Bowden, needs to sell Washington Nationals fans a future with a new ballpark on the horizon (because a new ballpark is nice and all, but without a solid talent base, even cherry trees in the outfield lose their novelty eventually), especially after getting nothing for Alfonso Soriano except the compensatory draft picks. The easiest way to acquire that future is to use their chips in the bullpen, including closer Chad Cordero (19 saves and a 2.63 ERA), set up man Jon Rauch (his five wins are second on the club, and his 44 K's are third on the Nats), and lefty Ray King (one run and three hits given up in his last ten appearances).

Who's Interested? With relievers at a premium, the question should be: "Who isn't interested?" The Tigers, previously linked to Eric Gagne, are interested in Cordero along with the Mets, Red Sox, and the Rockies, who are dealing with Brian Fuentes' recent injury. The Rockies and Mets are also interested in Rauch, along with the Indians. The buzz on King has been minimal so far, but whatever low to mid level prospect that Bowden can get for him would be beneficial. The Dodgers could jump in on any of these guys if Takashi Saito's injury is serious.

Who's coming back? With Cordero under club control until 2009, and at only 25 years old, he could bring back a king's ransom. Bowden reportedly has his eye on Tigers top pitching prospect Jair Jurrjens, who could be expendable with Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, and Andrew Miller already anchoring the staff, and Rick Porcello on the horizon.

Fantasy Impact? If you picked up Chad Cordero as your third or fourth reliever as a way to get some cheap saves, you may be in trouble if he goes to a team with an established closer such as the Tigers (Todd Jones) or Mets (Billy Wagner). A fantasy owner's best choice (if not dream scenario) probably involves the Rockies, a halfway decent team who may need a closer long term with Fuentes out.