FanHouse PudgeRodriguez

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.

So, quick apology on my part: the Power Rankings were supposed to go live Wednesday, but things happened, I'm a jerkstore, excuses, etc., and here we are. It's not Wednesday! So please note that the records reflect Wednesday -- not Thursday, not Friday, not Saturday. Don't freak out in the comments and call me names. Please. I can't take that in my fragile emotional state right now. I might turn into Raul Ibanez, at which point I would yell at you and then strain my groin. And that wouldn't be good for anyone.

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."

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MLB Power Rankings: Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.

Baseball is here. Only for three days so far, but that's enough for knee-jerk reactions and our collective excitement, certainly. Are the Yankees in trouble? Will Ken Griffey, Jr. lead the Mariners back to glory? Are the Orioles for real? Are the Braves bound for the playoffs again? Will the Marlins manage to save baseball and win the National League East? What happens when Jim Thome and Kyle Farnsworth meet in a hadron collider?

Find out the answers to these questions -- and more! -- after the jump.

Ivan Rodriguez was the final, and some say most important, piece of the puzzle for the 2003 World Series champion Marlins. So it's no surprise that a certain longing for the good old days remains in Florida. The Marlins interest in "Pudge II" has been on again, off again for about a year now. If the price is right, a Rodriguez return could be on again. But they're only prepared to offer about a million dollars guaranteed to the man who was a central figure in a championship.

Oh how the mighty have fallen, or at least how the mighty have gotten old.

Left on Base is MLB FanHouse's link dump.

* The 45-man rosters for the World Baseball Classic were announced yesterday, which is interesting but not altogether meaningful -- the 28-man rosters that teams will actually play with won't be announced until Feb. 24. In the meantime, Baseball America scours the WBC for prospects.

* Curt Schilling does the math to "prove" the Red Sox should bring back Jason Varitek.