FanHouse JoseGuillen

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

You Oughta Know ...
The White Sox, Rays and Marlins aren't irrelevant yet.

All three teams faced near must-win games Wednesday, and all came through -- late.

Chicago, which would have fallen eight games out in the AL Central and 4 1/2 behind second-place Minnesota, rallied against Twins closer Joe Nathan with four runs in the ninth for a 4-2 victory.

"Hopefully we start playing better and have a little more fun, at least have a little more fun," [Sox manager Ozzie] Guillen said. "You think we're out [of post-season contention]. People think we're out, just go out there and enjoy it. Hopefully things turn around."

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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 I am. Bottom of the 10th inning. Promenade section of Citi Field.

With my hands swollen from furious applause throughout the night and my legs bobbing to stay warm, Fernando Martinez laced a hit to right field. We came alive once more, while the old man sitting next to me grumbled: "Another friggin single? Pelfrey's the only one who drove somethin'."

Sixteen hits and pitcher Mike Pelfrey was the Met with pop.

When you lose a star like Manny Ramirez in fantasy leagues, there is no "quick fix." You're either going to make a trade to fill the glaring hole, or you play mad scientist with waiver-wire options to tide your team over. I've always been a fan of the latter before resorting to the block. Luckily, there are seven players available who are capable of giving your team the needed power in mixed leagues. Not Manny-type power, obviously, but enough to mitigate the damage for a few months. And if that's not up your alley, we've got some trade targets, too.

Let's take a peek inside the barrel of pop ...

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 finished above the hype-machine Tigers last season. In fact, finishing only 12 games below .500 in a division that was expected to be very strong had to have exceeded expectations in the first year of Trey Hillman's managerial stint. After all, it was the first year since '03 the Royals didn't finish in last. They still have holes, but they also have a good group of young, talented players.

Next Big Thing is MLB FanHouse's look at emerging teams, trends and stars in 2009.

One of the most surprising free-agent signings in the winter before the 2008 season was Jose Guillen. The Royals laid out $36 million over three years for the outfielder, a big sum for a team operating on a small budget.

There wasn't much in Guillen's history to justify such a large outlay of cash and he didn't change any minds with a poor 2008 season that helped the Royals to another second division finish. It was a move that didn't make sense when it happened and looks no better upon further review.

Ah, the annual rites of spring. The snow starts melting, trees start finding themselves populated by leaves and singing birds, and Mark Teahen gets ready for a position change. I tell you, you can set your watch to it. In 2007 Teahen moved from third base to right field to make room for Alex Gordon before moving from right field to left field last season to accomodate Jose Guillen. Of course, now that the Royals have Coco Crisp in centerfield that probably means David DeJesus is going to start seeing more time in left field.

So if Teahen wants to keep getting at bats this season, that means he's probably going to have to change positions again, and he's planning on doing just that. Get ready to become acquainted with Mark Teahen, second baseman.

Dayton Moore's busy offseason continued on Wednesday as he made another trade, acquiring outfielder Coco Crisp from the Red Sox in exchange for reliever Ramon Ramirez.

Crisp had been on the trading block for awhile, ever since the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury in the Boston outfield. He's a career .280 hitter, who draws a decent amount of walks, doesn't have much power, and is a threat to run, with 20 or more stolen bases in each of the last three seasons. He had a brilliant year defensively in 2007, but was just in the years before and after; overall, it looks like he's a slightly above average center fielder.

Crisp goes from one crowded outfield to another, as the Royals already have Mark Teahen, David DeJesus, and Jose Guillen. This move, which comes three weeks after Kansas City picked up Mike Jacobs from the Marlins, suggests that Moore has yet another transaction in mind, and that Teahen, or even DeJesus, could be traded to free up an outfield spot.

The Red Sox dealt from a strength -- they still have an excellent starting outfield of Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, and J.D. Drew -- and received an asset you can really never have enough of, in a quality bullpen arm. The 28-year old Ramirez has an excellent season in 2008, with a 2.84 ERA in 71.2 innings. Some of that success won't continue though, as he allowed just two home runs despite allowing an average number of fly balls.

He was very good in other areas, notching 70 strikeouts, a rate of 8.8 per nine innings. Ramirez joins an increasingly strong Boston bullpen; Jonathan Papelbon is one of the best closers in baseball, and they now have four above average relievers to bridge the gap to him, with Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, and Justin Masterson.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

After finishing 12th in the AL in runs, OBP, and SLG last year, the Royals have already begun to try to upgrade their offense, acquiring Mike Jacobs from the Marlins for Leo Nunez last week. Jacobs, who hit 32 homers last season, will add power, but that's about all he brings to the table. He walked just 36 times last season, so he'll fit right in with the Royals, who finished dead last in the American League in BB.

It was also a somewhat odd move since they have multiple 1B/DH types already, including Ryan Shealy, Kila Ka'aihue, and Billy Butler. But GM Dayton Moore may plan to move one or more of those guys in trades later this winter.

Who may leave?
2B Mark Grudzielanek (free agent)

What do they need?
Kansas City's strengths are the top of their rotation, with Gil Meche and Zach Greinke, and the back of their bullpen, with stud closer Joakim Soria. Brian Bannister isn't as bad as he was last year (5.76 ERA), but he isn't as good as his '07 performance (3.87 ERA) would indicate either. Bannister and Kyle Davies aren't bad back-of-the-rotation options, but the Royals could use a guy to slot in ahead of them. Their bullpen was decent last year, and when you're still a couple years away from contention like Kansas City is, you don't really want to be throwing money at free agent relievers.

A couple of days ago I told you about a possible deal in the works between the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians. In the proposed trade, the Indians would get Mark Teahen and the Royals would get back one of three outfielders from the Tribe. The deal hasn't gone through yet, though there's been no words that talks have broken off, so it could just be that the Royals are busy working on other deals.

Like the one that just sent Leo Nunez to the Marlins for first baseman Mike Jacobs.

The Royals acquired power-hitting first baseman Mike Jacobs from the Florida Marlins on Thursday for right-handed reliever Leo Nunez.

Jacobs, who turned 28 on Thursday, should answer the Royals' need for a proven power hitter. He had career highs of 32 home runs and 93 RBIs for the Marlins last season.

The reason the Marlins were so willing to part ways with Jacobs is because he's eligible for arbitration this winter, and that means he's going to cost somewhere between $2 and $3 million to keep around. That's not exactly the Marlins style. Plus they do have Gaby Sanchez who they may feel is ready to take over.

As for the Royals, while they get a power bat, I'm not sure this is the best move for the team. Yes, Jacobs will add some thump to the lineup -- Jose Guillen led the team with 20 home runs last season -- but that's about it. Plus there's the fact that Kauffman Stadium isn't as homer friendly as Mike's old park. Oh, and did I mention that even though Mike had 32 bombs last season, he still only hit .247 with a lovely .299 OBP. Considering that the Royals were near the bottom of the AL last season in OBP (.320), you would think they'd be looking for someone who draws walks as well.

Nothing escapes YouTube! That's Jose Guillen getting into it with the fans at a Royals game earlier this week (via Hot Clicks). I read about the "incident" earlier this week and wondered just how bad it was. The audio in this video isn't that great, but I didn't hear any profanity or anybody talking about Guillen's family, which is what he told reporters after the game. No, it was just a lot of people booing Guillen, with some laughter mixed in the more upset he got.

Mind you, this happened at Kauffman Stadium, so these were ostensibly Royals fans. There was a lot of booing coming from that section, it's not like it was coming from just one heckler.

All in all, it sounds like the fans and the players are getting a little sick of each other, especially after hearing Miguel Olivo's response when asked about his future plans. From Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star:

"It's only, what, (29) more games?" he said. "I'm going to do my best during that and that's it." [...] He and the team hold mutual options for next year, and Olivo said there's no way he'll return. "Hell no," he said.

Being 21 games under .500 will do that to you, I guess.