FanHouse Juan Uribe

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants offense has been lifted lately by their slightly rotund, free-swinging, always-smiling infielder. A guy who is known by his teammates for his ability to inject life in the clubhouse and get big hits on the field.

No, not him.

It's Juan Uribe, of course.

What, you didn't even know Uribe was still in the majors? You wondered what ever happened to the guy after his 15 minutes of fame with the White Sox?

Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

While the majority of the American workforce got a day off on Labor Day, some major league hitters were getting their power stroke on in a big way. With only 11 games on the docket, four players left the yard twice in one game: Derrek Lee, Billy Butler, Mark Teixeira and Juan Uribe. The fantasy fallout isn't huge, save for one; Lee's having a resurgence, Butler a breakout campaign and Teixeira an MVP-caliber season. Uribe, though ... that's news.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Chicago White Sox.

The expectations for the Chicago White Sox weren't very high in 2008. The team was coming off of a dismal 72-90 performance in 2007, following up two consecutive 90-win seasons and they'd lost perhaps their most consistent starter in Jon Garland in a trade for Orlando Cabrera. They also acquired Nick Swisher from the Oakland Athletics, hoping he would be the glue that held the team together.

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.

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Team desperately needing a bat in the middle of the order. It's too bad money is so tight right now, because the Giants could certainly use a certain eccentric slugger in the middle of their order. They still aren't altogether out of the running for Manny Ramirez, but I believe he's staying put in Los Angeles. Too bad they wasted all that money on Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.

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.

The White Sox enter this offseason at once pleased with the way 2008 ended and also wondering what might have been. And sure, you can say that for any team that makes the playoffs and falls short of the ulimate prize, but it's particularly so for the Pale Hose, who lost their best hitter by a country mile, Carlos Quentin, for the season in early September.

Would things have gone differently had Quentin been in Chicago's lineup for the ALDS? We'll never know. What we do know is that the South Siders aren't about to rest on their laurels after winning the AL Central.

No one will ever accuse general manager Kenny Williams of being timid or cautious as he attempts to reshape his roster -- that's why many consider him one of the better executives in the game -- and he's already begun to do just that this winter.

Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Tom Fornelli and Eamonn Brennan discuss the ALDS between the Rays and White Sox.

Eamonn and I took a look at this series and broke it down into six key areas: Starting rotation, Bullpen, Defense, Lineup, Bench, and Manager. Then for good measure we throw in our five-star lock of the week predictions, because we're psychic mediums in our spare time.

All of the debating goodness after the jump.

The Chicago White Sox have a bit of a post game tradition. No matter the case, when a player is doing an interview on the sidelines after a victory, Toby Hall is going to get him with a shaving cream pie to the face. Toby's gotten them all this season, even team captain Paul Konerko (which Paulie didn't appreciate too much judging by the look on his face afterward).

Still, when you do something over and over again, eventually your teammates are going to figure it out. Sure, it took nearly five months to do so, but Jermaine Dye knew what was coming as he talked to a local reporter after Chicago's 13-5 win over Seattle on Monday night. So when Toby tried to sabotage JD's interview, Dye was ready for it and blocked the attack. Unfortunately, he may have hurt Hall in the process.

Backup catcher Toby Hall said his right shoulder was fine after teammate Jermaine Dye blocked his attempt at placing a shaving cream pie in his face during a post-game interview following the Sox's 13-5 win over Seattle.

Hall had his right shoulder wrapped in ice but assured reporters he didn't not re-injure his shoulder, which he separated in spring training of 2007.

This is the first celebration related injury the White Sox have suffered since Juan Uribe had to miss a few games after receiving an super-atomic wedgie (waistband over head) from Jose Contreras back in 2006.

While the Twins and Tigers are busy throwing fastballs at each other's heads this week, the White Sox are taking advantage of it by beating up on the lowly Cleveland Indians, and adding some cushion to their division lead in the AL Central. Still, even though the Sox have won six in a row, have the best ERA in baseball, and have crushed an American League-best 113 home runs, the team still has holes.

Considering that they're relying on two young pitchers without proven track records over an entire season in Gavin Floyd and John Danks, there's some speculation that Kenny Williams could be in the market for another starting pitcher. There's also the fact that the offense is too reliant on those home runs they hit, and could use some more speed on the basepaths.

None of this bothers Ozzie Guillen though, as he's perfectly content with taking his chances with his current roster.

"You have to crawl before you start running," Guillen said Tuesday while being careful not to declare the Sox a playoff-bound team. "This ballclub [can] compete and be in the playoffs, be alive in the pennant race. And if we get to the playoffs, I don't mind taking this ballclub to the World Series."

While the biggest reason the White Sox have been able to maintain their lead in the AL Central this season has been their pitching staff, the fact that the team has been able to stay healthy has played a large role as well. While teams like the Tigers and Indians have seemingly been forced to put somebody new on the disabled list every few days, the White Sox haven't needed to use it too often this season. When they have had to, it hasn't been anybody all that vital to the team (sorry, Juan Uribe, but you know it's true).

That could change on Tuesday, though, as there's a very distinct possibility that Paul Konerko is going to miss some time after straining his ribs during batting practice on Sunday.

"When you've got the problem with the rib cage, I hope for the best, but I'm not too optimistic about it because I know how the thing can be," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We're going to make a decision [Tuesday] to see what we'll do.

"Most of the time [the DL] happens because that's a real sensitive area and one you use the most playing baseball."

Konerko has been struggling this season, hitting .215/.322/.368 but he's been battling a thumb injury in his right hand, and slow starts are nothing new for him. He was starting to hit the ball a lot better in the last few weeks, and now it looks as though this rib injury will derail him for at least another few weeks.

It's not exactly the best timing for the Sox, as they've lost five of their last six games, and can see a Detroit Tigers team that's won six in a row creeping ever closer in their rear view mirror.

Now that the exciting action of MLB's amateur draft has completed it's first round, it's time to take a look at our country's next millionaires. Here's a quick glance at the first round selections by the teams of the AL Central.

Kansas City Royals (3) Eric Hosmer, 1B, American Heritage (Fla) H.S.: Picking this early in the draft is nothing new for the Royals, as they've had a top six pick in six of the last seven drafts. They've spent a lot of those picks on position players, as they've only chosen one pitcher (Luke Hochevar) with their first pick in the last four years. Well, considering that the Royals currently have the lowest scoring offense in baseball, and have hit the least amount of home runs, it's no shock that they went after a player with a lot of power in his bat. It's been said the left-handed hitting Hosmer has more raw power than any other player taken in the first round, and he can use that power to go to the opposite field just as easily as pulling the ball. Some wonder if he'll be a first baseman in the Majors, though, as he does have a very strong throwing arm, and may eventually be moved to the outfield.

Chicago White Sox (8) Gordon Beckham, SS, Georgia: After all the trades Kenny Williams has made the last few seasons, the White Sox farm system has been left pretty bare, especially in the middle infield. That's why the Sox had to be ecstatic when Beckham fell to them at the 8th spot. Beckham can play both shortstop and second, though he'll probably stay at short, and he can swing the bat as well. He hit .307/.505/.781 for the Bulldogs this season, and according to ESPN's Keith Law, he'll be the best prospect in the White Sox organization the second he signs his contract. Considering that Orlando Cabrera doesn't plan on sticking around in Chicago after this season, and the team is never happy with Juan Uribe, it may not be very long before White Sox fans see Beckham at U.S. Cellular Field.