Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
Depending on your perspective, the rebuilding plan general manager Billy Beane started after the 2007 season has either worked well or has stalled out. The A's have filled up their organization with young prospects, and they had the makings of a very good young pitching staff last year. However, they still managed to win only 75 games -- the exact same total as the year before -- because their everyday lineup is still in flux.
The only position player who has established himself as the long-term answer at his position is catcher Kurt Suzuki. Otherwise, players like Ryan Sweeney, Cliff Pennington and Rajai Davis have played just well enough to have jobs going into spring training, but not well enough to be considered established.
The good news is the A's gave their young pitchers plenty of opportunity to learn in 2009. They started a pitcher 25 or younger in 147 of their games, most in the majors, and just about all of them showed flashes (or more) of brilliance.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
On Sunday, Ichiro Suzuki became the second fastest player to ever reach the 2,000 hit milestone as he doubled in the first inning and later scored.
It took Suzuki 1,402 games to reach 2,000 hits. The fastest was Al Simmons who did it in 1,390 games. Suzuki needs five more hits to reach 200 for the season, which would break the record he shares with Willie Keeler at nine consecutive seasons with 200.
As milestone talk goes, Ichiro is playing second fiddle to what's about to happen in New York.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
A few weeks ago we discussed the possibility of the Padres promoting 21-year-old phenom Mat Latos. Well, he now has four major league starts under his belt, and, needless to say, he's doing just fine. After a solid outing Monday night, Latos is 3-1 with a 2.66 ERA and a sparkling 0.89 WHIP. He's struck out 16 while only walking 6 in 23 2/3 innings. He's also pitching in one of the best pitcher's parks in baseball.
So, he should be owned in all fantasy leagues, right?
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.
Well, I'll tell you one thing: baseball ain't boring, folks. At least if you're in the middle class anyway; the upper crust is (somewhat) starting to establish itself across MLB's ranks and the bottom portion of the league is certainly holding steady. But in the middle, well, goodness. We have a lot of would-be title contenders. How's your semi-crappy team faring in the all-important MLB FanHouse Power Rankings this week? Find out after the jump.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When Paul Konerko finished 2008 with a dismal .240 average and only 22 HRs, most fantasy players were quick to write off the 33-year-old Chicago first baseman as finished. A deeper look into the stats revealed two consecutive seasons with poor BABIPs (batting average on balls in play), alerting the shrewd among us that Konerko might have just been the victim of an unlucky two-year streak. Sure enough, his BABIP is back to its normal level in 2009, and it was kind enough to bring along Konerko's batting average.
Scott Hairston has been one of the Padres' best offensive players this season. Thus, naturally, the Padres have decided to trade him for some prospects. Via Twitter, the Padres announced Sunday night that they traded Hairston to the Oakland Athletics. In return, the Padres received minor league pitchers Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano in additon to a player to be named later. Hairston is expected to join the A's Monday in Boston.
Hairston, 29, is in the midst of easily the best offensive season in his career. Through 55 games played, he's hitting .299 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI. His 2009 OPS is about 100 points higher than his career mark.
After an improbable stretch where the San Diego Padres won eight of nine games, they were sitting with a 9-3 record. Since then, they have fallen to 12-15, a bad stretch which included a six-game losing streak. The team has many issues, obviously, but the offense is not doing the job at all. They rank 11th in the NL in runs scored, 15th in batting average and 14th in on-base percentage.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When you drafted Ryan Theriot as your shortstop or middle infielder, you were doing so for average, runs and steals. You were planning on getting no power from him, and rightfully so. Entering 2009 he had only 7 career home runs in over 1,400 major league at-bats. He only hit 5 home runs in 2,048 career minor league at-bats. At 29 years old, why would he all of a sudden develop power?
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
The Washington Nationals will be looking for a new closer as Joel Hanrahan has been fired. He was given the opportunity to close out five games and blew saves in three of those. His ERA is an unhealthy 8.64. The team will look to use a closer by committee approach for a while, waiting to see if injured Joe Beimel can return and flourish.
Tuesday, one day after Hanrahan surrendered a game-losing grand slam, Manager Manny Acta said that his team would now finish games -- or at least try to finish them -- with a committee of relief pitchers that includes Julián Tavárez and Kip Wells, both signed in March to non-guaranteed minor league deals. Once Joe Beimel (left hip flexor) returns from the disabled list in the first week of May, he could either join the mix or claim the job for himself.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
New York Mets (30-31) at San Diego Padres (27-37) - 4:05 PM ET
The Padres did something over the last four games that nobody in the majors had ever done before. They won four straight games by the score of 2-1. Even for a team that can't score, that's an amazing stat considering the Padres have lost more of these games than they've won, and more amazing that not one of those games went 25 innings. Scott Hairston has been a big help over the last couple ... making a huge diving catch with the bases loaded on Friday, and hitting the walk-off home run on Saturday.
The Mets meanwhile have to live with the sting of losing three straight to a team that was 13 games under .500 coming into this series. How long before the turk starts knocking on Willie Randolph's door again?
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
After an improbable stretch where the San Diego Padres won eight of nine games, they were sitting with a 9-3 record. Since then, they have fallen to 12-15, a bad stretch which included a six-game losing streak. The team has many issues, obviously, but the offense is not doing the job at all. They rank 11th in the NL in runs scored, 15th in batting average and 14th in on-base percentage. 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
