FanHouse JuanRivera

It's time for another Fantasy Baseball Cram Session, this time I joined up with Tom Herrera for my first career cram session. (Fingers crossed). We discussed a handful of guys with huge first halves and which ones were real and which were not. Among the names involved were Mark Reynolds, Adam Lind, Aaron Hill and Juan Rivera.

We also discussed some injury troubles, including ones to very important fantasy contributors like Torii Hunter and Geovany Soto. Is Vladimir Guerrero completely breaking down? What happens to Roy Halladay's fantasy value if he gets traded? Join us for these topics and more in the latest cram session.

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.

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 Angels and Cubs -- two overwhelming favorites to win their division entering 2009 -- finally seem to have their mojo back.

A day after Chicago rallied from four down in the eighth inning to beat the White Sox, they climbed out of a 7-0 fourth-inning hole to beat the Indians, thanks in part to another dramatic home run from Derrek Lee -- a drive that came off of longtime Cub Kerry Wood no less.

Not to be outdone, the Angels' Juan Rivera snapped a 4-all tie in the eighth inning of the Freeway Series opener with a decisive solo home run. The Halos have now reeled off seven straight wins, and, despite all the hard luck (and tragedy) they've had to deal with so far this season, are a 1/2 game behind the division-leading Rangers in the AL West.

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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.

On Sunday the Angels broke some news to Gary Matthews Jr. that most outside observers could see coming. Matthews Jr. was told he's going to be the team's fifth outfielder/DH on the depth chart behind Torii Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, and Juan Rivera. Matthews looked better this spring, coming off of knee surgery, and was hitting .258 with two homers and nine runs driven in, and more importantly, he looked to be at full speed while running the bases.

So he was hoping that his recovery and decent performance would be enough to get him some playing time this season, but it won't be. After he was told the news, Matthews wasn't exactly happy about it and asked the team if he could leave for 24 hours to cool off.

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 about to win about 15 less games this season. Teams in their division have closed the gap on the Angels, who are aging in some spots and not yet developed at others. The biggest factor to consider in fantasy is how many less games their starting pitchers will likely win.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

When the Angels acquired Mark Teixeira last July, it was thought by many to be a bold move by a team not content to simply be 10,000 games ahead of the Rangers in the West and cruising toward the playoffs. Teixeira was supposed to be the player that was going to push them past the Red Sox and on to the World Series.

Whoops.

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Season's Greetings. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

As baseball fans across the country gather to celebrate the holiday season with their loved ones, we here at MLB FanHouse have come up with a present we'd like to give to fans of every team -- even the ones who root for the Yankees, it turns out you folks don't have quite everything just yet.

On a day like Christmas, baseball season can seem an awfully long way off, especially here in the Northeast, where the snow banks are piled four and five feet high. In reality, pitchers and catchers can report to Spring Training in a mere 52 days.

Enjoy the hypothetical gifts for now; it won't be very long before we can all unwrap a very tangible one -- a brand spanking new baseball season.

When the winter meetings draw to a close today, it seems likely that they will do so without Jermaine Dye pulling on a Cincinnati Reds' uniform. Just because that trade fell through doesn't mean the Reds are giving up on finding a right-handed power hitter to bat between Jay Bruce and Joey Votto, though. Today, John Fay is reporting that the Reds have been in contact with Juan Rivera, Rocco Baldelli, and even Pat Burrell to fill that role.

Burrell signing in Cincy is probably a pipe dream right now, as he's certainly not signing anywhere before Mark Teixeira does and once Tex signs, Burrell's value probably goes way up. Baldelli is interesting, but probably ultimately not helpful to a National League team due to his fatigue-causing disorder. Rivera would've been a nice pickup in 2006. He's had a hard time bouncing back from his broken leg and his .286 OBP in 2008 will probably discourage even Dusty Baker.

If Walt Jocketty is still inclined to pick up a right-handed slugger, a trade is probably still his best bet. Still, I'm not sure that whoever he picks up is going to have the effect of catapulting the Reds into contention. They did have Adam Dunn last year, after all, and they only won 74 games. The Reds competing in 2009 will have much more to do with how their young players develop than it will on who they pick up this winter.

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 Angels led the majors with 100 wins, but in hindsight they were something of a paper tiger, quietly bowing out of the playoffs in four games against the Red Sox. What happened? For starters, their lineup was exposed.

This is a team that ranked 10th in the AL in runs scored, and with the exception of Mark Teixeira, who did most of his damage with the Braves, no one on this team topped 100 RBI. The heart of the lineup (Teixeira, Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter) did its job, but the supporting cast simply didn't support. Over the course of a long regular season, this team racked up wins thanks to a outstanding pitching staff, but in a short playoff series, cold bats killed this team's chances.

Arte Moreno is willing to spend big to keep his team in the hunt, but even his pockets have a limit ... right? Is he willing to break the bank to retain his own blue-chip free agents, Teixeira and Francisco Rodriguez, and throw his hat in the CC Sabathia sweepstakes? We'll have to wait and see.