Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
After hanging in contention until early August, the Astros bottomed out with a 23-36 finish in the season's final two months. That culminated in Cecil Cooper's firing and Brad Mills' hiring. The squad Mills inherits is full of both veteran players and holes that will make it hard for him to returnthe team to where owner Drayton McLane thinks it belongs -- the top of the NL Central.
That's because the Astros are currently caught in Ed Wade Purgatory. He can do just enough to keep his veteran squad in pseudo-contention, but probably not quite enough to get them into a real playoff race. That won't stop him from trying, though.
Four of the nine Gold Glove winners in the National League were recognized for the first time when Rawlings announced the 2009 awards Wednesday afternoon.
Two members of the NL champion Phillies -- center fielder Shane Victorino and shortstop Jimmy Rollins -- were recognized for their defensive excellence. Victorino was a Gold Glover for the second straight year, while Rollins won it for a third consecutive time.
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.
On Sunday, Ichiro Suzuki became the second fastest player to ever reach the 2,000 hit milestone as he doubled in the first inning and later scored.
It took Suzuki 1,402 games to reach 2,000 hits. The fastest was Al Simmons who did it in 1,390 games. Suzuki needs five more hits to reach 200 for the season, which would break the record he shares with Willie Keeler at nine consecutive seasons with 200.
As milestone talk goes, Ichiro is playing second fiddle to what's about to happen in New York.
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.
John Lackey threw eight innings on Sunday, striking out six and not surrendering an earned run. It was his 100th career victory. He should have been the man of the hour, right?
That would have been the case had Kendry Morales not jacked his 30th home run of the season and stolen the show. At least among fantasy circles, anyway.
Morales had twelve career home runs entering the 2009 season and big shoes to fill as the Angels handed him the keys to the kingdom at first base as Mark Teixeira left for the Yankees. He's handled the task admirably batting .311 and is fast approaching the 100-RBI mark. He's also leading the league in RBI since the all-star break with 45.
Kansas City Royals pitcher Zach Greinke started the season and could virtually do no wrong. He won his first six starts and by the end of May he was 8-1 through 11 starts with a tiny 1.10 ERA. That's exactly when you should have traded him, at the highest point of his yearly value. I only say this with the benefit of hindsight. It's easy to look back and decide which moves should have been made.
Since the beginning of June, Greinke has made 14 starts and has a record of 3-7. His ERA has ballooned to 2.44. His earned run average is still great, he's top-five in the league, but he's losing half of his starts. How's that happening with such a great ERA?
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Ryan Ludwick scuffled early this season, which was a sign to many about how much of a fluke his huge 2008 season was. Through June 29, Ludwick was hitting just .227 with a .718 OPS. Last season, he hit .299 with a .966 OPS in his career year, with a whopping 37 home runs and 113 RBI. Many thought it was an outlier, but he had never gotten a chance to play everyday in the majors until then.
In July, he's heating up and showing that he is no fluke.
Over the course of 162 games, longer if you count Spring Training and throw in a World Baseball Classic, players tend to get nicked up, bruised, broken and anxious. When the injury bug hits players on your fantasy roster you have to react quickly.
It's time to take a look at some recent injury news, talk about how it can effect your fantasy team, and find ways to fix the problem.
Ervin Santana, Angels - Santana wasn't progressing as well as he could have been with the comeback from his strained right forearm. He missed the first month of the season due to the injury and upon his arrival back went 1-3 with a 7.47 ERA in five starts. The Angels are bringing up Sean O'Sullivan, who threw seven solid innings last week in his major league debut, but he may be too green to add to your roster. Since you were hoping for a low ERA and big-time strikeout numbers when you drafted Santana, look at Ubaldo Jimenez who has a 3.73 ERA and 76 strikeouts. Jimenez is only owned in 56% of fantasy leagues.
Categorically Speaking is designed specifically for Rotisserie GM's. The information is great for all fantasy baseball formats, but for those of you who could use some help bolstering a specific roto category, this is for you. We're going to pay close attention to players who might be readily available on your waiver wire or who you might target in non-blockbuster trade talks.
Carl Crawford has a ten stolen base lead on the rest of the major league pack. If you have him on your fantasy baseball roster, you're probably in good shape in the steals category. But, what if you need some help? Here are some options.
Michael Bourn, Astros - Bourn is only owned in 41% of fantasy leagues, but his 15 stolen bases have him tied for fourth place among all hitters. Most of you avoided Bourn on draft day (and by the looks of it, still are) because of his craptastic .229 batting average last season. Bypassing Bourn at this point is a bad idea. He's sporting a .288 batting average and has cemented his place at the top of the Astros batting order.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That David Ortiz pulled within one homer of Yovanni Gallardo on the MLB leaderboard. Yes, Big Papi finally hit a home run. It took him 149 at-bats to get his first homer of the season, while 318 other players had hit at least one -- including two by Gallardo, a Brewers pitcher -- but Ortiz got on the board with a fifth-inning homer, helping the Sox to a victory over Toronto.
Ortiz had been slumping so badly that manager Terry Francona benched him for the whole series last weekend in Seattle. Ortiz joked after hitting the homer on Wednesday that he was so desperate he was "about to hit right-handed."
I'd say the photo collection above accurately sums up David Ortiz's season so far. It hit rock bottom on Thursday as the Red Sox slugger (?) went 0-for-7 with three strikeouts, and left ... wait for it ... 12 men on base (Update: Ortiz was benched Friday night against the Mariners). On the Big Papi scale, this is a slump of appalling proportions. He's homer-less in his last 144 at-bats, one shy of his career-worst drought between 1998 and 2000. Is it time for fantasy owners to cut their losses with Ortiz?
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
Four of the nine Gold Glove winners in the National League were recognized for the first time when Rawlings announced the 2009 awards Wednesday afternoon.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Kansas City Royals pitcher 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Over the course of 162 games, longer if you count Spring Training and throw in a World Baseball Classic, players tend to get nicked up, bruised, broken and anxious. When the injury bug hits players on your fantasy roster you have to react quickly.
Starting Five
