FanHouse Justin Smoak

Piecing together parts and sellers at the trade deadline can sometimes be easy. We know the Blue Jays are willing to explore trade options for Roy Halladay. We also know the Texas Rangers need pitching and that they have a farm system that's brimming with talent. So if we do the math here, it's not surprising to hear that the Rangers have inquired about Halladay.

According to the story, the Blue Jays are demanding Justin Smoak, maybe the best hitting prospect in the minor leagues right now, and two "good young starting pitchers" to go with him. Presumably, at least one of those two pitchers is either Neftali Feliz or Derek Holland. That's an awfully steep asking price that I'm not sure Rangers' GM Jon Daniels would be willing to pay, which is likely why the Rangers are still classified as "dark horses."

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.

Well, I'll tell you one thing: baseball ain't boring, folks. At least if you're in the middle class anyway; the upper crust is (somewhat) starting to establish itself across MLB's ranks and the bottom portion of the league is certainly holding steady. But in the middle, well, goodness. We have a lot of would-be title contenders. How's your semi-crappy team faring in the all-important MLB FanHouse Power Rankings this week? Find out after the jump.

These Kids Are Alright is FanHouse's look at minor league prospects who could have a fantasy impact in the near future.

The upside of Justin Smoak is quite large. Unfortunately, so is the potential for the bad puns with his last name when he does arrive in the bigs and start to play well. Let's see, there will probably be derivations of "Where there's Smoak, there's (insert something instead of 'fire')," "Smoakin' Hot" and "Justin Smoaks Home Run in Rangers Win." Sigh. You know it's coming.

Regardless, none of that journalistic laziness/lameness should deter us from keeping an eye on Smoak in fantasy baseball. The 22-year-old Smoak is a 6-foot-3 switch-hitter. He has a tad bit less power than the recently demoted Chris Davis, but he's also a much better overall hitter -- something the Rangers would welcome after Davis' 114 strikeouts and paltry .256 on-base percentage.

"Taterjack" is a term I like to employ for a "home run." I find it to be awesome. Nearly as awesome as I found Chris Davis, the power-swinging, Texas Rangers first basemen ... before the season. But news hit the proverbial fan yesterday that Davis had been demoted and that he would no longer be on the Rangers' big league team.

This is highly problematic for fantasy owners who wasted used a high pick (and, invariably, it was high) on Davis: because he doesn't seem likely to get a lot more opportunity in the Rangers lineup. This is true for a number of reasons. First, he stinks. Second, Justin Smoak is the minors and probably ahead of Davis on the "track to the bigs" now. Additionally, Hank Blalock is playing first base. And, finally, the Rangers need pitching.

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

At least we know Alex Rodriguez will have plenty of help from Yankee Stadium as he makes his way back from hip surgery.

Just ask Johnny Damon, who's suddenly turned into one of the hottest power hitters in baseball after hitting only 17 home runs all of last year. Damon has already knocked seven out this season, including three this month. The Rays joined in on the ball-smashing fun Thursday, launching six homers as a team. So is a trip to Yankee Stadium the same as visiting Arlington now?

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 West.

Texas Rangers (11) Justin Smoak, 1B, South Carolina: After trading Mark Teixeira to the Braves last season, the Rangers were left with an opening in the power-hitting first baseman that can hit from both sides of the plate department, and it looks like they filled the position with Justin Smoak. This kid can really Smoak (I know...boooo) the ball all over the field, and was projected in a lot of mock drafts as being a top ten, possibly top five, pick. Instead he went 11th to the Rangers, and though Rangers fans will probably compare him more to Teixeira, or even Chipper Jones, since he's a switch-hitter he's more of an Adrian Gonzalez type. Whether that means the Rangers will trade him to the Padres and he'll be their only position player worth a damn in a few years, I don't know.

Oakland Athletics (12) Jemile Weeks, 2B, Miami (Fla.): Brewers fans are already familiar with Jemile's older brother, Rickie, and now Oakland fans will get a chance to meet the second member of the Weeks family to get drafted. A lot of people who know more about this stuff than I do are saying that this pick was a bit of a stretch by the Athletics, since Weeks can only play one position, and will have to make a change in his approach at the plate to succeed in the Majors. That said, the kid has wheels, and he's a better defender than his brother. Plus, Billy Beane has had a lot of success in this draft thing, so if he thinks the kid is good enough, I'll just have to take his word for it.