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.
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.
The second half of the season is in full swing and lo and behold if capitalism hasn't reared it's ugly head once again. Billy Beane was spun off Matt Holliday (as expected of course) and the eleventy billion dollar payroll machine that is the New York Yankees are in first place in the AL East. (Of course, that can't explain why the Mets are horrible but that's a whole other thing.)
Will the Yankees' surge be enough to propel them into the critically important No. 1 slot of the FanHouse MLB Power Rankings? Find out after the jump.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
Yes, the Dodgers' solar system revolves around Manny Ramirez. He's their star on the field and their main attraction.
But they wouldn't have Ramirez, nor many of the players who carried the team in his absence, were it not for a farm system that has been remarkably productive.
"It's nice that management kept us all here," ace Chad Billingsley told FanHouse. "There's some teams that maybe just start trading guys away. And believing in us, that's a huge thing."
In the 2002-03 drafts, Los Angeles took Russell Martin, James Loney, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp and Billingsley. Those five players made their big league debuts within an 11-month span, from July 2005 to June 2006.
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.
Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.
There are some pretty good two-start pitchers going in week seven of the fantasy baseball season. Chad Billingsley and Dan Haren lead the list of "Must Start" pitchers, while I'm not sure which option would be riskier between Dontrelle Willis and Tim Redding this week.
There are 47 two-start pitchers in all and you'll need to lock your lineup by 1:07 PM ET on Monday as that's first pitch between the White Sox and Blue Jays.
Must Start Dan Haren , Diamondbacks - Monday at FLA (R. Nolasco) and Saturday at OAK (J. Outman) Derek Lowe , Braves - Monday vs COL (J. Marquis) and Saturday vs TOR (S. Richmond) Jair Jurrjens , Braves - Tuesday vs COL (J. Hammel) and Sunday vs TOR (B. Tallet)
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, theRoto Rushis your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Every year in fantasy baseball there are a number of players whose hype exceeds reasonable expectations, because so many freaking people have them tagged as a "breakout." Peter Gammons may have been the first to tag Adam Jones with such a label, but it caught on quickly, and he was a popular fantasy draft selection. (Note that this also applies to my homie Chris Davis, who I think might hit 40 taters, but who was wickedly overvalued coming into drafts. More on this in a second.)
And the man that wants no part of being called "Pacman" -- for obvious reasons -- is suddenly flat-out destroying opposing pitching. Jones was always considered a "five-tool" prospect, with power and speed potential, not to mention just being a great baseball player.
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 unthinkable happened to the Dodgers in Thursday.
Having Manny Ramirez suspended? No, that's not unthinkable.
Losing at home to the Nationals? Unthinkable.
The Dodgers went into the game 13-0 at home this year and 21-8 overall, the best record in the majors. The Nationals had the worst record in baseball, 7-18, and had lost their past 10 games at Dodger Stadium.
The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.
The White Sox are in the same place they ended 2008, tied atop a heap of clubs in the AL Central that all have designs on contention in 2009. John Danks' gem Thursday night against the Rays hurtled Chicago into a deadlock with the Tigers and Royals at 5-4.
Just 24, the left-hander is 1-0 on the season with a 0.75 ERA and has 13 strikeouts in 12 innings this season.
The Central division seems almost impossible to figure out at this stage, and indeed it could take until August or even September for the wheat to separate from the chaff.
But if the White Sox end up as the former once again, Danks and the rest of their steady rotation will be a huge reason why.
I always love good redemption stories and the surprises they bring for fantasy owners. But through just one week of the season, looks can be deceiving ... or hints of something entirely palpable. The dilemma with rotisserie league outcasts like Bedard and Hafner is you're dealing with this nagging birdie in the back of your mind telling you this can't be real.
On Tuesday I wrote about the White Sox approaching Mark Buehrle and asking him to make some changes to his offseason workout regimen. More to the point, they'd like him to actually have an offseason workout regimen. With Buehrle approaching 30, the team thinks it would be wise if he spent more time over the winter getting himself in shape to help prepare for the grind of a 162-game season.
Buehrle thinks that's all fine and dandy, but when asked about it he was quick to point out that he's never missed a start due to an injury during his career, and that he thinks his offseason routine is just fine. So he doesn't really see any reason to change anything.
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.
MLB Power Rankings
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in 
There are some pretty good two-start pitchers going in week seven of the fantasy baseball season. 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the
Starting Five
The 
On Tuesday I wrote about the White Sox approaching 
