FanHouse RossOhlendorf

Futilitywatch '09 is a our semi-regular update on the Pittsburgh Pirates and their march toward their record 17th consecutive losing season.

At some point in the next two or three weeks, the Pittsburgh Pirates will lose their 82nd game. There's no real debate at this point with their 53-72 record. Still, over the past nine games, the Pirates have reeled off seven wins and last night, they wrapped up a series win over the defending world champion Phillies with an eighth inning home run by Garrett Jones, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win. On the heels of Andrew McCutchen's walk-off homer on Tuesday, it was certainly a good week for the Pirates and their two rookie of the year candidates.

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.

It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.

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)

As we head into the third week of the fantasy baseball season we have 34 starting pitchers throwing twice. When setting your lineups, remember that tomorrow is Patriot's Day in Boston, so first pitch is at 11:05 AM Eastern Time.

Must Start
Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - Tuesday vs TEX (B. McCarthy) and Sunday at CWS (J. Contreras)
Derek Lowe, Braves - Monday at WAS (J. Zimmermann)and Saturday at CIN (B. Arroyo)
C.C. Sabathia, Yankees - Tuesday vs OAK (B. Anderson) and Sunday at BOS (J. Beckett)
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers - Tuesday at HOU (R. Ortiz) and Sunday at COL (J. Marquis)

The first few days of the season are a great time for fantasy owners. We can enjoy a hot start for our team -- which obviously means a championship is on the way -- or we're stuck scouring the waiver wire for guys who have already shown they are going to be a stud all season long. Then, we remember Chris Shelton. In 2006, Shelton had 9 home runs and 17 RBI with a .471 average through 13 games. Thus, he is our namesake for Stud or Shelton.

Today, we'll check out a bevy of unheralded and/or maligned starting pitchers who have shown their true studly colors in their first start. Or have they? The lightning round of judgment follows the jump (because we heart lightning rounds).

---

---

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For the better part of the last decade, the Pittsburgh Pirates aimlessly wandered through the wilderness of baseball with Kevin McClatchy and Dave Littlefield at the helm. Finally, they lost their jobs and Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington took over. For more than a year, the new front office has been working on digging out of the hole dug by Littlefield during his reign of terror. There's only one real problem: The hole dug by Littlefield was so deep that it's going to take more than a year to dig out of it.

From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.

Chicago Cubs
Sean Marshall is the favorite to win the job as the Cubs 5th starter in the rotation, but he's going to have to fight off a slew of others including Chad Gaudin, Ken Kadokura and Jeff Samardzija. Marshall went a long way towards proving he's the right choice on Tuesday as he threw three perfect innings. In five spring innings he's given up one run, four hits, struck out two and walked none. With the addition of Milton Bradley, Kosuke Fukudome only has one option in the outfield; center field. He'll be competing with Reed Johnson for that job. Johnson is the only one in camp as Fukudome is participating in the World Baseball Classic.

When Xavier Nady came out of the Pirates/Padres game in the first inning tonight, whispers started from the broadcast booth. "I don't think he's hurt..." Damaso Marte appeared in the Pirates dugout shortly afterwards, hugging players with a smile on his face. Then word leaked out that a deal was in place, pending physicals. Less than an hour later, most of the details have found their way to the internet and as per Will Carroll it looks like Nady and Marte are going to be Yankees for a quartet of prospects; Jose Tabata, Phil Coke, George Kontos and Ross Ohlendorf (who's not a prospect).

The Yankees are certainly improving themselves for a run at the Rays and Red Sox with this deal. Nady's in the middle of a career year, hammering along with a .330/.383/.538 line and 10 outfield assists. Marte is one of the best lefty-specialists in the league and he's been good against righties the past two seasons as well, doing a nice job filling in for Matt Capps at closer this year. Both players will be immediately useful for the Yankees in their pennant run.

For the Pirates, the deal hinges on Tabata. His minor league numbers aren't great, but he's in AA as a 19-year old and most prospect guys love him. He might be a superstar but between his wrist injury and potential headcase issues, he also might not be much of anything at all.

UPDATE: The last two pitchers in the trade have been changed from Coke and Kontos to Dan McCutchen and Jason Karstens.

Will someone please tell me why teams refuse to bring in their closers when the game is tied??? WHYYYYYY?!

I'm very upset right now. Furious, even.

After beating the Yanks 6-4 last night, the Indians pulled it off again today and topped the Yanks 4-3. This one irritated me even more than the last, my friends (and foes, I suppose...), and not just because it was the second night in a row such a pathetic display had been forced upon my eyes. No, there is much more vexing me tonight, namely the waste of a lovely effort on the part of the lineup to tie up the game (forget about the fact that they left 23 batters on base; that's fodder for another tirade) that could very possibly been parlayed into an extra-innings win had Girardi not opted to have Ross Ohlendorf pitch the bottom of the night instead of Mo. I understand that he is the closer and henceforth is supposed to come in only in save situations, but COME ON NOW. Once OhlenDORK (hardy har har) loaded the bases with one out in a tie game, why would you leave him in there? Certainly the team wouldhave had a better shot at forcing a tenth inning if Mo had taken the ball, no?

Worst of all, I can't even blame Farnsworthless this time. He pitched a perfect eighth.

Should Teams Ever Use Their Closers in Non-Save Situations
	YES! Please Stop the Madness!
	NO! You Idiot!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

When we say that Miguel Cabrera is available, we're not just making things up: no sir, the Yankees and Marlins are having legitimate conversations about the young third baseman. From Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News:

Brian Cashman met with the Marlins at about 6 p.m. last night at the GM meetings. No offers were made, but a source with knowledge of the situation said the Marlins made it clear that the Yankees would have to include either Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain or Ian Kennedy in any trade for Cabrera, something the Yankees are not willing to do.
...
"The Marlins have evidently let it be known that he's available, so we're looking into it," Hank Steinbrenner said. "But everything is really very preliminary."

If the Yankees won't deal Huge, Joba or Kennedy, who is available? According to this report, some combination of Alan Horne, Humberto Sanchez, Ross Ohlendorf and Jose Tabata will likely be offered. None of those guys have the name value of New York's top three pitching prospects but are still highly regarded in their own right.

Getting Cabrera would obviously not fill a hole for New York at third base, it'd reunite Joe Girardi with his star player from their lone year together in Florida. That may or may not have any bearing on whether the Yankees actually pull the trigger, but you have to figure Girardi's glowing reports ("I had him and I know what he did for me. He's a great player and a smart player.") would only make a deal more likely.

Previously on FanHouse:
Make Your Bid for Miguel Cabrera Now!
Who Will Be the Next Yankees Third Baseman?