FanHouse PlacidoPolanco

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

After a terrible first week, Texas first baseman Chris Davis was one of the hot topics of concern in fantasy baseball circles. My colleague Matt Snyder recently tried to put those fears to rest in Slump or Suck, and right on cue, Davis went ahead and smashed them with his bat.

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...
Most disappointing team of 2008. This goes for real and for fantasy. Nearly the entire team was a massive bust last year -- I said nearly, because the man in the picture to the right was immune in fantasy -- as the team finished in last place. They've made some changes, and the players coming back need to just play better.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

With 64 games to go, the ledger is even for the Detroit Tigers. They leave Baltimore at 49-49 -- no small feat considering they were nine games below .500 at the end of May. Still, Jim Leyland's club has a long way to go to live up to the lofty preseason expectations placed upon them.

The Tigers trail the Twins by six games and the White Sox by 6 1/2 in the AL Central, and with the way the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees are playing, the wild card probably isn't an option. Resurrections aren't unheard of in the three-division era. Just look at the Phillies last year or the 2005 Astros, who were 36-41 on July 1, but ended up qualifying for the playoffs.

But those teams had horses and they had a bit of magic too (or mojo or just good fortune, whatever you want to call it). The Phillies had an irrepressible offense led by Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and won 13 of their final 17 games. The Astros had a formidable three-headed monster in Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte and they won games 8-6, 12-8 and 7-6 down the stretch when they weren't stifling opposing teams with their pitching.

Unfortunately for Leyland, it doesn't look like this edition of the Tigers has the horses or the spark to mount a comeback.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Los Angeles Angels (12-9) at Boston Red Sox (15-7)- 7:05 PM ET
I swear these teams have met like 100 years in a row in the playoffs (OK, it's like twice, or three times, I can't remember), which makes this regular season match up all the more interesting. Well, that and most of the other games tonight are crap.

Tonight's game is interesting because of the pitching matchup between Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Garland. Dice-K's cruising so far at 4-0 with 28 strikeouts in 28 and 2/3 innings and a 3.14 ERA. It makes me wish I told more people about my pre-season premonition that he was going to break out and challenge for the Cy Young this year, but what can I say, I don't like it when people laugh at me. Garland was the Angels big off-season acquisition and with all eyes turned towards him in hopes that he could step up in the absence of Kelvim Escobar and John Lackey, he's been pretty bad, turning in a 4.81 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. The Angels will need him to step it up if they want to avoid the ignominy of losing the division to a team that traded away it's best hitter and pitcher in the off-season.

Well, you all know the old saying: When it rains, it pours. Man is it pouring in Detroit right now. It's pouring so much that one man has even built an ark and is loading animals on it as we speak. Not only are the Tigers incapable of winning a game, (or hitting the baseball, or tying their shoes, or standing upright...) but they're also blowing record streaks.

Remember last season when Placido Polanco set the record for consecutive games by a second baseman without an error? Well, that streak came to an end at 186 games on Tuesday afternoon in Boston.

Polanco received this error when third baseman Miguel Cabrera couldn't pull off a catch-and-tag in one motion on sliding Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez had boomed a Kenny Rogers pitch to the deepest part of Fenway Park, the triangle in deep right-center. Polanco took center fielder Brandon Inge's strong relay and fired a one-hopper to third as Ramirez bid for a triple. Cabrera tried to backhand the ball and tag Ramirez all in one motion.

Given the description of the play, I didn't see it, I'm not sure Polanco really deserved the error. The throw got to Cabrera, and it sounds like he was able to catch it, but messed it up when he tried to catch the ball and tag Ramirez out on the play. If an error even deserved to be called, and I don't think it should have, then Cabrera should have been tagged with it.

Too bad this game wasn't in Detroit, because Polanco probably would have gotten the benefit of the hometown scorekeeper. Though if the game had been in Detroit, there's an off chance that Polanco and his teammates wouldn't have made it out of Comerica with their lives. So maybe in the end, this error was the best thing that could have happened to Placido.

Now that the season is over, and the Hot Stove League has begun, that means it's awards season in baseball. Today baseball got the party started by naming the Gold Glove winners in both the American and National Leagues.

Some of the names on the list won't surprise you, but there are more than a few new faces on this year's list.

American League
C - Ivan Rodriguez
1B - Kevin Youkilis
2B - Placido Polanco
3B - Adrian Beltre
SS - Orlando Cabrera
OF - Grady Sizemore
OF - Torii Hunter
OF - Ichiro Suzuki
P - Johan Santana

National League
C - Russell Martin
1B - Derrek Lee
2B - Orlando Hudson
3B - David Wright
SS - Jimmy Rollins
OF - Carlos Beltran
OF - Andruw Jones
OF - Jeff Francouer
OF - Aaron Rowand
P - Greg Maddux

Apparently in the National League they've instituted a rule that allows for four outfielders on the field at one time. Maybe it's an attempt to make up for the lack of a designated hitter.

As with all lists like these though, there are plenty of arguments for others to be included. I encourage you all to debate it vigorously in the comments section.

Placido Polanco's errorless streak, dead not even 24 hours ago, has resurrected like those zombies from the Thriller video, thanks to what some may say was home cookin' by the official scorer (since the scoring change came after the game, you could say that it was home cookin' with a crock pot). You may recall that Polanco was originally charged with an error on a throw to first that barely took inexperienced first baseman Marcus Thames off the bag. But then came the ever-present philosophical question: Can a throw pull one off a bag, if one is never on the bag to begin with?

Polanco originally was charged with an error, but after consulting with the umpires, official scorer Ron Kleinfelter changed the call and charged the error to first baseman Marcus Thames instead. Why the change?

It actually was quite simple. The error originally went to Polanco because his throw was wide and may have pulled Thames off the base. When first-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt told Kleinfelter that Thames' wasn't on the base in the first place, the call had to be changed.

"It was not a good throw," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "But the throw should have been handled (without going off the bag)."

As for Thames, he said his problem wasn't with Kleinfelter's call, but rather with Wendelstedt's. "I thought I was on the base," Thames said. "He said I wasn't. Poli told me not to worry about it."

And now, Marcus definitely isn't going to worry about it, because the streak is back from the dead. Yet I ask you, would such care had been taken with this call if there wasn't an errorless streak on the line? Probably not. But that's the care one receives when they haven't made an error in 147 games. Thanks to Hunter Wendelstedt, that's 148 games ... and counting.

Previously on FanHouse:
Placido Polanco is Human (Temporarily)

Sure, you probably didn't think the Tigers would get their game in against the Yankees with the rain it was raining during the early evening. But sadly, for Placido Polanco, the game started after a four hour and one minute rain delay.

Sadly, I say, because Polanco's errorless streak of 147 games, a record for major league second basemen, ended in the first inning against New York. It happened on a Melky Cabrera chopper that Polanco fielded cleanly. But with Johnny Damon on first he tried to run him back towards first base and then throw on the run ... and his throw pulled Marcus Thames ever so slightly off the base, and all hands were safe.

One could wonder if the error would have happened if Sean Casey, a natural first baseman was in the game. But with Casey not hitting, Thames ... who only started playing first this season ... was at first tonight. And one could also wonder why this game even needed to be played tonight after a ridiculous four hour delay with the Yankees in town three more days.

But nevertheless, for Polanco to go almost a full season's worth of games without making an error at a middle infield position is simply incredible. Placido Polanco deserves your cheers and your ovations.

(It's just too bad it had to end on a play like that. Chucking a ball ten rows deep into the stands? Now there's a way to end a streak ... in a blazing ball of fire.)

Placido Polanco, he of alternately pronounced first name, has had himself quite the defensive stand at second base for the Detroit Tigers. After last night's game against the Okland Athletics, Polanco completed his 144th straight errorless game, setting the all-time mark for second baseman in the process.

He's like an old shoe -- not the prettiest, but real comfortable," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Luis Castillo held the previous mark for second basemen with 143 errorless games from May 30, 2006, to June 5, 2007, while playing for the Minnesota Twins. The major league record for consecutive errorless games by any infielder is 193, set by Steve Garvey.

Whether Polanco has just gotten flat out lucky during the streak -- although I don't think luck really works into the equation here, it's usually skill and concentration that wins out in the end for a fielder -- 144 straight games without an error no matter what position you play is still rather tremendous.

I salute you, Mr. Polanco.

Yeah, sure, I understand that "this time it counts," meaning the All-Star game is treated as something that matters. Still, I don't care if an NL park is hosting the game; I want to see hitters hit and pitchers pitch. I don't even want to see a pitcher's name in the batting order, regardless of whether or not wood and pine tar actually touches their hands. It's just a stupid practice that needs to be scrapped.

PostmanE already pointed out some of the shortcomings of the All-Star game, noting that the home run derby has become the true focal point of fan excitement. Making the DH mandatory should be added to the list of All-Star game changes. Why should managers be concerned with constantly pinch-hitting for the pitcher, or pulling off double-switches? Everyone in the park and every fan watching on TV is tuning in to see the best hitters in baseball face the best pitchers in baseball. So why even leave it in question that a pitcher will be in the lineup?

Seriously, do I want to see Dan Haren's name in the AL lineup batting 9th, or Gary Sheffield Justin Morneau batting sixth, and Placido Polanco hitting last? It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know the fans want to see Albert Pujols or Matt Holliday in the middle of the NL lineup rather than Jake Peavy at the bottom. This is just another example of how MLB needs to take a clue in improving the All-Star game. Pitchers in the lineup? What a joke.

Previously at FanHouse:
Drop the Charade: The Home Run Derby Is Better Than the All-Star Game