FanHouse Ryan Sweeney

For a number of major league teams Mondays and Thursdays are travel days. Every Wednesday and Sunday, Fantasy Fill-Ins finds guys who should be widely available on the waiver wire and can step in for the day, helping you gain ground or hold off the pack.

Monday is a big travel day as only ten teams are seeing action. It's time to dig deep to find fantasy baseball fill-in hitters as there isn't much time left to catch the front-runner in your league.

Erick Aybar, Angels - Over the last week Aybar is hitting .333. But, it's his career mark versus Andy Pettitte that makes Aybar a good fill-in on Monday. Against Pettitte, Aybar is 6-for-13 (.462) and is only owned in 24% of fantasy leagues.

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

Heading into 2009, here's what we thought we knew about Rich Harden: Absolutely lights out stuff, but can't be counted on to stay healthy consistently. In 2008, he went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 148 innings. Those are elite numbers on a per-start basis. The problem, of course, is that he only made 25 starts. In 2007, he had a 2.45 ERA, but only pitched 25 2/3 innings.

Until Monday night, 2009 had been quite surprising from the 27-year-old right-hander.

Dan Haren has been awful this spring. Adam Jones is raking, as is Chris Shelton. Michael Bourn has been a completely worthless hitter. Of the above players, two have stat-lines that matter, and two have ones that don't.

You see, judging spring training stat-lines in fantasy baseball can be helpful, but you don't want to get too caught up in it. After all, the games are meaningless. Most established veterans are just going through the motions in attempt to get their body ready for the real season. For them, the stat-lines are meaningless. Thus, I don't care that Haren has sucked thus far. I'd still draft him with confidence.

Let's take a deeper look at a when they matter, when they don't, and why.

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 average team in the league. It's weird, because there don't seem to be many real weaknesses on team -- but can you really find a bunch of strengths? I hate the term "very average," but this team is pretty close to the mean across the board. As you scroll through ADP charts, you'll find the A's aren't often towards the top of the lists, but they are definitely there. As I said, average.

Well what do you know, Kenny Williams finally made a move this offseason that pleased me. I'm so confused!

The White Sox traded for Nick Swisher on Thursday afternoon.

"Nick is a quality switch hitter who consistently gets on base, hits for power and drives in runs," Sox GM Ken Williams said in a statement. "He gives Ozzie Guillen offensive flexibility with his ability to hit in a number of spots up and down the batting order, and his athleticism allows him to play any outfield position or first base.

"Nick brings to the ballpark a mix of hard-nosed play, energy and a commitment to winning, and he brings it each and every day. He's a great addition to our team and clubhouse."

Going to Oakland are a trio of White Sox prospects: outfielder Ryan Sweeney, and pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Fautino De Los Santos.

Swisher is a good addition for the White Sox, because even though he does strike out quite a bit, he also drew 100 walks last season. Something the White Sox definitely need.

There's some speculation that Swisher will be used in the outfield, possibly even in centerfield, but I think this trade signifies something entirely different. I envision Swisher playing first base for the White Sox next season. That's because I believe this trade may be a precursor to another move Kenny Williams is going to try to make with the last valuable trade chip the White Sox have: Paul Konerko.

Just about every team that isn't the Chicago White Sox hates A.J. Pierzynski. When the Sox are on the road, Pierzynski is greeted with boos everywhere he goes. He's probably the second most booed player in baseball behind Barry Bonds.

"Everywhere we go A.J. is booed," said Ozzie Guillen. "We'd have to play on his mother's patio to get people to cheer for him."

The thing is, the majority of fans from around the country have no reason to boo him. They just do because it seems like the cool thing to do. This odd social phenomenon does not apply to fans of the Los Angeles Angels. They have reasons for hating Pierzynski so.

After all, it was A.J. who stole first base in Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS that allowed the Sox to win that game and send them on to a World Series championship.

On Sunday, A.J. made sure Angels fans will continue to boo him, and he did it on his day off.

Gustavo Molina started Sunday afternoon's game for the White Sox and brought with him his .000 batting average. Well, the Angels had a 3-0 lead going into the 8th inning, but after Bartolo Colon got himself in trouble he was replaced by Scot Shields. The Sox made it 3-1 before it was Molina's turn at bat.