FanHouse Matt Thornton

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.

Before the season started, I was rough on Derrek Lee. I named him the biggest bust on the Cubs for this coming season and included him on the list of "five guys to lose" your fantasy league. I even predicted Mike Fontenot would hit more home runs than Mr. Lee. Obviously, it sounds outlandish now, in hindsight, as Lee clubbed his 35th home run Tuesday night. In the process, he established a new career high in RBI with 109. His OPS is the second-highest it's ever been -- trailing only his insane 2005 season when he did an Albert Pujols impersonation.

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

Prospects' careers don't always progress the way we hoped they would. While players like Rick Porcello and Clayton Kershaw became fantasy-relevant before their 22nd birthdays, Nolan Reimold had to wait until he was 25 to get a legitimate shot. Travis Hafner wasn't a true force until he was 27, etc.. In any case, like the curious one of scorching outfielder Garrett Jones, it's important to keep that perspective in mind.

So what exactly do we know about "The Robber Baron"? (Other than the fact that he's drilled nine homers in his first 17 games with Pittsburgh)

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 who loves to mash the ball. The 2008 White Sox led Major League Baseball in home runs with 235. Even though the team lost Nick Swisher, there are still six hitters in this lineup with 25-plus home run potential; three that could easily amass 30-plus. The infield is all shook up headed into the new season. Only Paul Konerko is back in his position from 2008 at first base. Josh Fields will be given the reigns at third base to see if he can finally live up to his potential. Alexei Ramirez will be shifting from second base to shortstop to fill the spot vacated by Orlando Cabrera. The pitching staff lost Javier Vazquez to Atlanta but still has three credible front-line starters. Gavin Floyd and John Danks exploded onto the scene in '08 and Mark Buehrle is as consistent as they come. The White Sox won their division in 2008 and still have the talent to compete again in 2009.

So, you're in the waning rounds of your fantasy baseball draft and you have two bench spots to fill. You could go the route of a late round starting pitcher and another reserve outfielder, but let's look at some of the names you'll see. You'll be looking at drafting guys like Joe Blanton, Bronson Arroyo, Jeff Francoeur and Michael Cuddyer. These guys are serviceable bench players, but what if you had a better option for those last two picks?

What if I told you that taking two middle relievers would be a better option for your fantasy team? Let's first look at Blanton's 5x5 stats from last season. He had nine wins, 111 strikeouts, a 4.69 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

Now, let's look at a few middle relievers who should also be available in those late rounds. J.P. Howell and Matt Thornton both have average draft positions well above 300. If you were to use your final two selections on them and combine their stats here's what you'd get. You have a pitcher with 11 wins, 169 strikeouts, a 2.41 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 156.2 innings of work.

When drafting in fantasy baseball, I often find rankings are a lot less useful than using the tier system. Simply group guys together with others who will perform similarly, and you won't focus on single players. Being frazzled when that single player is taken immediately before your pick is a good way to ruin your draft.

We're definitely not proponents of drafting closers high, but getting the last member of a tier at good value could work in the right situations.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

Believe it or not, the World Baseball Classic is a little over a week away. The final rosters for each team, including the U.S., were released Tuesday afternoon. There is plenty of American star power of course -- depth is the U.S. team's biggest advantage over every other country in this tournament, at least theoretically -- but this isn't exactly baseball's answer to the Dream Team.

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 White Sox signed two players to contract extensions yesterday before their self-imposed deadline-Carlos Zambrano doubles as the Sox GM apparently-of the end of spring training.

Both Matt Thornton and Pablo Ozuna received a contract extension. Thornton's is for 3-years and $3.25 million, while Pablo Ozuna got a 1-year $1.25 million deal. Thornton came over to the Sox last spring from Seattle as a bust, but quickly turned things around on the south side under pitching coach Don Cooper, and went 5-3 with 2 saves, an ERA of 3.33 and 49 strikeouts in 54 innings as a setup man.

"Within two or three days of the trade over here [from Seattle in March 2006], I felt more comfortable than I did in almost two years in Seattle," Thornton said. "They treat you like family here. They root for each other and pull for each other and you go out and do your job and work hard, and that's what I try to do each day."

Of course, while Sox fans are happy with the news of these extensions, these weren't the two names they wanted to hear had been signed. The Sox didn't make a deal with either Jermaine Dye, Mark Buerhle, or Tadahito Iguchi, and as is team policy, there will be no contract talks until after the season is over.

The negotiation window is now said to be closed. The Sox won't talk with the representatives for potential free agents Buehrle, Dye and Tadahito Iguchi until the 2007 season is over. They will hold exclusive negotiating rights until 15 days after the World Series.

"As of Ozzie's (Guillen) meeting this afternoon, there are no more contract talks," Williams said. "We'll deal with that after the season."

Now, this is not a hard deadline. If any of the three parties approach the White Sox during the season, Ken Williams is willing to listen. The team just doesn't want to deal with any contract negotiations using the media. An example of this occured last season when the Sox offered Buerhle an extension, which he turned down, and it was over a month before word finally leaked out.