Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
At $149,373,987, the New York Mets had the National League's highest payroll in 2009. Their fourth place finish in the NL East, 23 games back in the standings, might suggest that the cash Omar Minaya dished out wasn't money well spent. A closer look reveals a team harassed all season by injuries and a group of hitters that could never find a long-term answer to produce runs.
In the outfield, Carlos Beltran had a potential All-Star season broken up, playing in only 81 games due to a knee injury. In fact, only Jeff Francoeur amassed more than 500 at-bats among Mets outfielders, and he was a mid-season import from the Atlanta Braves.
The infield wasn't spared either as mainstays Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes had their seasons cut extremely short due to injuries. Even staff ace Johan Santana ended his season early with elbow issues.
The good news is that most of these players are expected to be healthy and ready to go for spring training.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Braves are all but done in the NL wild-card race, not that there was anything they could do about it. Atlanta, which had surged into contention over the last few weeks, ran into the Marlins' Ricky Nolasco Wednesday night.
Nolasco struck out 16, a Marlins record, including a stretch where he fanned nine in a row, one shy of the major league record of 10 straight held by Tom Seaver.
It's now official. The New York Mets announced Tuesday that Johan Santana will need surgery on his left elbow and miss the rest of the season. According to the team's release, Santana saw medical director Dr. David Altchek and it's been decided he'll need arthroscopic surgery to clean out some bone chips in his left elbow.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Nearly a month ago, we ran out a roundtable on Jimmy Rollins, advising you to trade for the underperforming shortstop. Well, his struggles seem like a distant memory now. Rollins is not only back, he's one of the hottest middle infielders in fantasy baseball. Oh, and he's also one funny dude (great Dick's commercial if you've never seen it).
Just how hot is J-Roll? Let's go to the statistical tape ...
Gorzelanny, a once promising lefty, had fallen so far out of favor in Pittsburgh that he spent most of the season in the minors. He hadn't started for the Pirates since last year. The Cubs got him last week, and on Tuesday night he made his debut for his new team. Gorzelanny gave up three hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings.
Of course, it was only against the Reds. Cincinnati, losers of 14 of its past 15, is perhaps the only team going worse than the Pirates these days.
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.
In this week's Fantasy Baseball Cram Session Tom Herrera and I spent some time talking about pitchers on most waiver wires. Jordan Zimmerman and Kevin Correia are two of the better options that we mention. We also spent some time on the Pain Train talking injuries to players like Jake Peavy, Jose Reyes and Grady Sizemore. And finally in Fantasy Felony we give a few of our picks to help you out in baseball's second half.
While he wasn't exactly off to a hot start, Jose Reyes is an extremely important cog to the New York Mets. He's been on the shelf with a torn hamstring tendon since May 20. The Mets initially played well without him, but have since fallen on tough times. They defeated Tampa Bay Friday night, but have still lost six of their last nine games.
It's true that Reyes' absence isn't the only thing ailing the Mets, but he's such a dynamic player he helps every aspect of the team. With that in mind, the Mets can be cautiously optimistic with the news that Reyes has begun to complete some baseball tasks -- albeit on a limited basis.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
As Joey Votto heads out to a rehab assignment, the Reds are anxiously awaiting the return of their best hitter. Votto hasn't started a game since May 27 -- when the Reds stood at 26-20. Since then, they've gone 8-11. As a team, the Reds are hitting .244 and rank 11th in the National League in runs scored. Votto is hitting .357 with eight home runs and 33 RBI in only 38 games. Translation: The Reds really, really need him. They aren't the only team in baseball that will be missing a star player in the upcoming weeks. After the jump, we'll list the Top 10 most important injuries in baseball moving forward in 2009.
WASHINGTON -- Forget their neighbors in the Bronx, there is no better soap opera in the major leagues right now than the New York Mets.
The Mets' latest chapter of intrigue (or sorrow, if you're feeling especially gloomy) has nothing to do with a rickety bullpen or a crushing September collapse. Instead, it revolves around a vicious injury bug that has already bitten first baseman Carlos Delgado and whose latest victims include shortstop Jose Reyes and setup man J.J. Putz.
"You always build a team with depth in mind, and now that's going to be a challenge for us," New York manager Jerry Manuel said.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
In this week's Fantasy Baseball Cram Session 
While he wasn't exactly off to a hot start, 
WASHINGTON -- Forget their neighbors in the Bronx, there is no better soap opera in the major leagues right now than the 
