FanHouse RyanMadson

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

There I am. Bottom of the 10th inning. Promenade section of Citi Field.

With my hands swollen from furious applause throughout the night and my legs bobbing to stay warm, Fernando Martinez laced a hit to right field. We came alive once more, while the old man sitting next to me grumbled: "Another friggin single? Pelfrey's the only one who drove somethin'."

Sixteen hits and pitcher Mike Pelfrey was the Met with pop.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Philadelphia Phillies.

The City of Brotherly Love's long championship drought came to an end when Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske in Game 5 of the World Series last October. The city exploded in appreciation of a team that's a blueprint for success in the modern game, with homegrown stars studding the lineup and top of the rotation, and a handful of savvy acquisitions, like Lidge, sprinkled around to fill holes.

When drafting in fantasy baseball, I often find rankings are a lot less useful than using the tier system. Simply group guys together with others who will perform similarly, and you won't focus on single players. Being frazzled when that single player is taken immediately before your pick is a good way to ruin your draft.

We're definitely not proponents of drafting closers high, but getting the last member of a tier at good value could work in the right situations.

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 ...
Defending World Series champions. I know, right? Repeating it doesn't make it any less bizarre. But that's what the Phillies are, at least for this year. For fantasy folks, though, they might be a little less than "championship" material. That's meant with all due respect, of course, because the Phillies play in a fantastic hitters' park and they do have a number of elite fantasy options.

An arbitration hearing can be a nasty affair: players are forced to make the case that their employers are stingy tightwads, while teams need to go on the record downplaying a player's accomplishments and reinforcing his shortcomings.

Needless to say, it's a relief for all parties involved when they can avoid the whole mess, especially with players considered part of the long-term solution. The Phillies pulled it off with Cole Hamels a few days ago, and they did it once again today with Ryan Madson.

Cole Hamels got his reward for carrying the Phillies through the playoffs this season. He reached agreement on a three-year, $20.5 million contract extension that will keep him out of arbitration and in the Phillies' rotation until at least 2011. According to the New York Post, he'll make $4.35 million in 2009, $6.65 million in 2010 and $9.5 million in the deal's final year.

The deal erases one arbitration case from the lengthy docket facing the Phillies this offseason. It also takes away the chance that the team could create an acrimonious working relationship with its best pitcher a few months after he was named MVP of both the NLCS and World Series. Those are both big positives, although Hamels' extension bucks the recently established trend of teams buying out free agent years with long-term contracts.

The World Champions -- I write that in every Phillies post just to pander to the Philly Phanatics, is it working? -- have gone about their business this offseason without really altering their payroll. Sure, they signed Raul Ibanez, but that was teamed with the departure of Pat Burrell. Ibanez is going to make less per season than Burrell was making. They also re-upped with Jamie Moyer for two years in a moderate, at most, deal.

With arbitration season beginning today, they are about to take on a significant payroll increase. Players can now file for arbitration, and I'm guessing Cole Hamels -- who only made $400,000 last season -- will be filing. You know Ryan Howard, again, will. All told, the Phillies are likely to have eight players file.

Whether they decide to sign the players before arbitration hearings or not, the World Champs' front office better get that checkbook out, because they are going to pay for these guys. Let's look at each, briefly.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

As you could probably tell from the parade down Broad Street, everything came together for the Phillies in 2008. Cole Hamels made the leap from No. 1 starter to shutdown ace, Brad Lidge didn't blow a save from April to October and the big three in the lineup kept on churning until the Rays were dispatched and Philadelphia rejoiced for the first time in 25 years.

Hamels, Lidge, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley will all be in their familiar roles when next season opens. No matter what the Mets do, that nucleus should make the Phillies the favorites in the NL East, not to mention the two steps beyond that, before next season. That doesn't mean there isn't work to do.

You don't need to look any further than Pat Gillick's retirement and Ruben Amaro's ascension to general manager to see how little time there is to celebrate a title before thinking about next year. The Phillies don't need any wholesale changes, but they can't stand pat either. Like sharks, baseball teams need to keep moving or they'll die where they sit.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

Things move fast in the Internet Age. That's the nature of a 24-hour news cycle or maybe just the short attention span of Americans. Either way, before you know it we're going to be talking about CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira (And Jake Peavy and Manny Ramirez and maybe even Prince Fielder).

So let's take the chance, while we still can, to pay tribute to the 2008 champions. With a cheesesteak in one hand and a Yuengling in the other, here's to you Philadelphia.

- Here's to the Phillies fans, first and foremost. You're not always the easiest folks to understand. You've booed just about everyone including many of your own players. Even among East Coast baseball fans you can seem like a cynical, sour bunch. But your passion and loyalty is undeniable.

In frigid temperatures and pouring rain on Monday night, Citizens Bank Park was packed to the hilt. In more than 100 years of existence, you've been rewarded for your devotion with a title only twice. It hardly seems like enough.

- Here's to Cole Hamels, who at just 24 has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, and just maybe its greatest changeup artist.

Until his magical October run, Hamels wasn't widely recognized by casual fans for his dominance. He wasn't even an All-Star this year. Hope you enjoyed the relative anonymity while it lasted, Cole.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

On the precipice of their first World Series title in 28 years, the Phillies deserve a world of credit for the way they have executed in October. They have played to their strengths all month long, and as it turns out, those strengths are enough to win a title.

They have a dominant ace in Cole Hamels who may very well close the Fall Classic out Monday night. He's 4-0 in October and he gives the opposing pitcher very little room for error. The rest of their rotation has flown under the radar in part because of Hamels' excellence and in part because of a ballpark that inflates ERAs, but it's proven to be very capable, too, behind the southpaw ace.

They have a lights-out bullpen that finishes with Brad Lidge, but also features top-notch flame-thrower Ryan Madson as the bridge to Lidge and a number of useful situational guys like Scott Eyre and Chad Durbin.

And they have a power-laden offense that has much more balance than the Rays -- one that is capable of putting crooked numbers up on the board as it did in Game 4, but also capable of staying in the game even when it struggles with runners in scoring position because of the home run ball.

If Monday is a coronation, it will have been well earned indeed.