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.
The Nationals bottomed out in 2009. Their season began with the ouster of general manager Jim Bowden in the beginning of March after he was implicated in a bonus-skimming scandal in the Dominican Republic that drew the attention of the FBI. And it ended with 103 losses, giving them 205 losses in the last two seasons.
In between, they fired manager Manny Acta and watched attendance fall by more than 6,000 fans a night in the second year of Nationals Park.
So no, it's not all sunshine and roses on the banks of the Anacostia River, but, then, it's not all doom and gloom either. After all, the Nats managed to lock up phenom Stephen Strasburg in August, and with a stable front office and a permanent manager now in place, they can get to the task of building around him.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When you select Carlos Pena in fantasy baseball, you know you aren't getting batting average help. Still, his career-low .223 mark this year was well below expectations, and up until August 5, the power numbers weren't nearly high enough to console disappointed Pena owners.
Well, that has all changed. Since that date, Pena has slugged 11 home runs and driven home 22. His average has been respectable (.286) and his OPS is ridiculous (1.307). On the season, Pena now has a six home run lead on the rest of the AL with 37. He's also third in RBI (91).
Let's start with his 7.2 innings of work on the mound. Wolf gave up three earned runs and five hits. But he struck out an amazing ten batters while walking none. And this isn't the first good outing for Wolf in a while. In fact, quite the opposite.
If you take out the four earned run game on August 6th against Atlanta, you have to go all the way back to June 24th to find another day where Wolf didn't provide the Dodgers with a quality start. Nine of his last ten outings have been quality starts and he's sporting a 3.13 ERA over that time. He only has four wins to show for it, but that sounds like a run support issue and not a dig on Wolf.
Categorically Speaking is designed specifically for Rotisserie GMs. The information is great for all fantasy baseball formats, but for those of you who could use some help bolstering a specific roto category, this is for you. We're going to pay close attention to players who might be readily available on your waiver wire or who you might target in non-blockbuster trade talks.
It's not too late to find a few home run hitters from the waiver wire. This is the time of the year when players make their final pushes for playoff runs and youngsters get called up to show what they're worth.
Here are three such hitters who have been tearing it up as of late.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Jon Garland has a 6-10 record on the season with a 4.26 ERA and I'm about to tell you that he's been the victim of poor run support. Well, that's at least part of the reason for his double digit loss column.
We've heard it before from the Diamondbacks and their pitchers. Dan Haren started the season with three straight losses even though he gave up only four total earned runs in those three games. But Haren is an ace and it was believable when we played the run support card with him. Garland, on the other hand, just doesn't have the track record.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham accomplished a feat that had been done just twice in National League history before yesterday, smacking two grand slams in the same game. Check this out -- the first National Leaguer to do this was Tony Cloninger, a pitcher, and the second was Fernando Tatis, who you may remember hit both his grand salamis in the same inning. By comparison, Willingham's slams look mundane. Ten American League players have also hit two grand slams in the same game, with the trick last being accomplished in 2003 by Bill Mueller.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Alfonso Soriano and Fernando Tatis each hit game-winning grand slams, but they've got nothing on Josh Willingham. The Nationals' outfielder hit two grand slams -- in consecutive innings, no less -- to almost single-handedly beat the Brewers.
Willingham became just the 13th player to hit two grand slams in one game, the first since Bill Mueller did it for Boston in 2003. With eight RBI, Willingham tied the franchise record set by Tim Wallach with the Expos in 1990.
WASHINGTON -- No matter what you think of Manny Acta as a manager – and the thinking here is that like most other managers in baseball, he can be very successful with the right talent – it's clear that the Washington Nationals desperately need a fresh start.
Certainly it can't be his resumé. Riggleman was Acta's bench coach, so he doesn't represent fresh blood, in fact he was directly complicit in getting the Nationals to this point, to this 26-61 record. Before that, he was an interim manager in Seattle in 2008 and had two managerial stints in the '90s, first with the Padres, second with Cubs. Even counting partial seasons, he's only been a winner once (with Chicago in 1998).
So why? Roughly the same reason any other team fires its manager in the middle of the season – to shake things up.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Heading into 2009, here's what we thought we knew about Rich Harden: Absolutely lights out stuff, but can't be counted on to stay healthy consistently. In 2008, he went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 148 innings. Those are elite numbers on a per-start basis. The problem, of course, is that he only made 25 starts. In 2007, he had a 2.45 ERA, but only pitched 25 2/3 innings.
Until Monday night, 2009 had been quite surprising from the 27-year-old right-hander.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Max Scherzer, the 24-year-old fireballer for the Diamondbacks, has worlds of talent. He also takes a step back every time you think he's finally hitting his groove. This past week, he was a two-start pitcher in the fantasy baseball world. His first start was pure gold (that's gold, Jerry!). He threw 7 shutout innings and struck out 10 before getting chased in the eighth inning -- after allowing a few earned runs. He followed that up with an absolute catastrophe on Sunday. The light-hitting Braves touched him up for 10 hits and 8 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings.
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.
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 
Starting Five
WASHINGTON -- No matter what you think of 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
