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Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.

It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.

The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

This coming weekend, Major League Baseball will reveal its 2009 All-Star teams. So what better opportunity than this to run through a list of this season's "Anti-All-Stars." Anti-All-Stars is far too bland a name, though, so we decided to name the team in honor of Andruw Jones. After all, he was the poster child for guys not earning the lucrative contracts bestowed on them last season. We'll sort through each position and find the player who is least helping his team in comparison to expectations -- whether monetary or from management.

It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.

Here's an interesting statistic. Somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of the closers who are listed as the the team's official closer will not be in that role by the end of the season. It's the case every year. Whether a closer loses his job due to injury or just plain can't get the job done, you're going to learn that you can find saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. You just have to know where to look.

The tragic death of 22-year-old starter Nick Adenhart is definitely going to be the low point of the Los Angeles Angels' season -- at least let's hope they don't have to deal with another death -- but much less significant problems are continuing to plague the defending AL West Champions. Specifically, they can't escape the injury bug.

While John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar try to fight their way back to the mound, Vladimir Guerrero has joined them on the disabled list and Dustin Moseley left Friday night's start after just three innings with an apparent elbow injury -- an elbow which was surgically repaired in 2007.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Manager Mike Scioscia had a "normal" session with the media this morning, with little talk of the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart. Instead it was back to the more mundane topics of closers and injured starting pitchers.

Unfortunately, the Angels' big three injured pitchers -- John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar -- are still weeks away from returning.

"We're still looking at May for those guys," Scioscia said. "If we can get them to a plateau, then we can move forward. We've been encouraged by the last couple days."

Escobar, who is still building up his arm strength after last year's shoulder surgery, has pitched in three exhibition games. He had a setback after pitching last Friday in San Diego, but now he's getting ready to get out again in a minor league rehab assignment within the next week. Scioscia said the Angels will not have him skip his rehab assignment and go directly into the rotation to fill the void left by Adenhart.

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...
Team about to win about 15 less games this season. Teams in their division have closed the gap on the Angels, who are aging in some spots and not yet developed at others. The biggest factor to consider in fantasy is how many less games their starting pitchers will likely win.

So, you're in the waning rounds of your fantasy baseball draft and you have two bench spots to fill. You could go the route of a late round starting pitcher and another reserve outfielder, but let's look at some of the names you'll see. You'll be looking at drafting guys like Joe Blanton, Bronson Arroyo, Jeff Francoeur and Michael Cuddyer. These guys are serviceable bench players, but what if you had a better option for those last two picks?

What if I told you that taking two middle relievers would be a better option for your fantasy team? Let's first look at Blanton's 5x5 stats from last season. He had nine wins, 111 strikeouts, a 4.69 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

Now, let's look at a few middle relievers who should also be available in those late rounds. J.P. Howell and Matt Thornton both have average draft positions well above 300. If you were to use your final two selections on them and combine their stats here's what you'd get. You have a pitcher with 11 wins, 169 strikeouts, a 2.41 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 156.2 innings of work.

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.

When the offseason opened, Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes were the best free-agent closers on the market. K-Rod left Anaheim for Flushing and $37 million in Met money, so the Angels just dropped down to No. 2 on the list and signed Fuentes.

It's a two-year deal with a club option for a third for Fuentes. He posted 30 saves, his third time notching at least that many, to go with a 2.73 ERA in Colorado last season and converted his final 17 opportunities of the season. Fuentes stands 6-foot-4 and throws left-handed, which means the ninth inning will have a very different look than it did when Rodriguez was setting the single-season saves record.

The financial details haven't been released, but this is a bit of a head-scratcher for the Halos. Fuentes is a fine pitcher, but they have more pressing needs in the lineup now that Mark Teixeira has also left town for the bright lights of the Big Apple. Scot Shields or Jose Arrendondo could have filled the closer role for less money than Fuentes. If the desire for a brand-name closer exists and Fuentes' money winds up approaching $12 million per, why not just re-sign K-Rod?

That said, the bullpen in Anaheim is looking sound as a pound. The question now is if the lineup and rotation can hand them enough leads to make it worthwhile.

UPDATE: Buster Olney reports it is a two-year, $17.5 million deal with a $9 million option. At those prices Fuentes is a true bargain and the deal looks much better for the Angels.

Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Here Andrew Johnson and Matt Watson discuss the ALDS between the Angels and Red Sox.

Andrew Johnson: Between the Brewers and Rays, the 2008 postseason has a pretty fresh feel. Not so much in this series. For the third time in five years the Angels will face the Red Sox in the first round. The last two meetings haven't gone well for Los Angeles -- both were sweeps in Boston's favor.

I don't anticipate a Red Sox sweep this time around, but it's hard for me to see the outcome being any different for the Halos. But why you ask? The Angels have 100 wins and the best record in baseball you say. They went 8-1 against Boston this season you add.

None of these facts faze me. Why? The Red Sox are simply a better baseball team. Their run differential of plus-151 is a staggering 83 runs better than the Angels. And it's all the more impressive considering Boston played 54 games -- roughly one-third of its schedule -- against the Blue Jays, Rays and Yankees. All three clubs won at least 86 games.