FanHouse ScottPodsednik

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the game in Seattle did end last night. Someone even scored a run.

Ken Griffey Jr. singled home Adrian Beltre in the bottom of the 14th to give the Mariners a 1-0 victory over the White Sox.

It was the longest 1-0 game since July 20, 2004, when Oakland beat Toronto in 14 innings. (Alex Rios played in both games, going 1-for-6 each time.)

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

Vladimir Guerrero's had a rough 2009, with injury issues and his dwindling power (his .466 slugging percentage would easily be his career low if the season ended today) causing concern the 34-year-old was full-on in the middle of a career decline.

With two cracks of the bat Monday night, "Vlad the Impaler" reminded us that he's been swinging a hot stick of late. In fact, he's been the old Vlad for quite some time. He just needed to shake the Earth a little bit to ensure everyone took notice.

Each year the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox play six times. Six. Out of 162 total games. Those games aren't any more relevant than six games between the Twins and Cubs or Brewers and White Sox. Of course, there are millions of misguided fans who believe there's a rivalry between the two teams, a notion that is only perpetuated when our President talks about how the White Sox play "real baseball." FanHouse's resident Cubs fan (Matt Snyder) and resident White Sox fan (Tom Fornelli) got together to discuss the aura surrounding what shouldn't be a rivalry.

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

Who knew there was a hulking slugger waiting to bust out of Joe Mauer? After hitting his eighth jack in just 72 at-bats and driving in six RBI, the Twins catcher is putting all concerns to rest. Heck, he hit nine total home runs in 536 at-bats last season. So the "ailing" back is just fine, thank you very much, but is the power sustainable?

According to ESPN.com, the agent for Scott Podsednik said the White Sox will call up Podsednik before Friday's game (Chicago is off today). Outfielder Jerry Owens, who was 1-for-12 this season, was spotted packing his bags after Wednesday's game, so it seems like he will be designated for assignment.

Even though the White Sox are getting just a .284 slugging percentage (no homers) and .608 OPS from center field, installing Podsednik at the position could be a mistake.

"He's gone backwards, man," said a scout who recently watched Podsednik at Triple-A Charlotte. "He doesn't look good at all. I'd keep Jerry Owens over this Podsendnik. He's a below average center fielder right now."

The White Sox have brought back the player who manned left field for their 2005 world champion squad, according to a published report. Scott Podsednik, the 33-year-old speedster was with the White Sox from 2005 to 2007, and played for the Colorado Rockies last season. He went unsigned in the offseason, but now he has a job.

After losing Dewayne Wise, their current center fielder, to a separated shoulder, the White Sox have brought "Pods" back to the Windy City in the form of a minor-league contract. The other options for the White Sox in center at this point are Brian Anderson and Jerry Owens.

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 ...
Humidor! Seriously, didn't you hear that Colorado now stores their baseballs in a humidor and Coors Field is no longer a hitter's park? If someone in your league really believes that, just let them. You'll know the truth -- which is that Coors Field bore witness to the third most runs scored and third most home runs in baseball last year. In 2007? Third in runs, fifth in home runs. You can't just negate thin air with a cigar-housing device. It's a hitter's park, and it's consistently one of the most hitter-friendly.

I'm guessing a lot of you are like me in that as soon as you hear the name Brad Lidge, you immediately think about Albert Pujols hitting a ball about 750 feet off of him in the 2005 NLCS. Of course, I also think about the walk-off that Scott Podsednik hit off of him in game two of the World Series about a week after that as well. The Pujols one sticks out more though because it's not often that we get to see a man's spirit crushed on national television.

After that home run, Brad just wasn't the same for the Astros, he'd been ruined. So when the Astros sent him to Philadelphia this offseason, I thought it would be a nice change for Brad. I had no idea the change in scenery would affect him as much as it has though. A 2-0 record with a 0.77 ERA and 19 saves in 19 chances, yeah, the Phillies will take that. In fact, they'll take three more years of it.

Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge has signed a three-year, 37.5 million-dollar, contract extension.

Lidge is 2-and-0 with 47 strikeouts in 35 innings and set a club record by converting his first 19 save opportunities this season. He didn't allow an earned run through his first 17 appearances (17 innings), which was the second-longest by a Phillies pitcher to start his career with the team.

Lidge would have been a free agent at the end of the year, but considering how things have been working for him in the City of Brotherly Love, you kind of figured a deal would be worked out sooner rather than later.

There's been some talk from White Sox players and members of the organization this spring that the 2008 season is setting up a lot like the 2005 season that ended in a World Series title. Obviously, these thoughts can be attributed to a lot of time out in the hot Arizona sun the last few weeks. Still, the team believes it, and they were hoping that outfielder Jerry Owens would be able to fill the role that Scott Podsednik played in that 2005 season and tear up the basepaths.

Unfortunately for the White Sox, Jerry Owens has chosen to emulate Podsednik's last two seasons on the south side of Chicago.

After the game against Colorado on Tuesday, the Sox announced that Owens -- the projected starting center fielder and leadoff hitter -- has a small tear in his right adductor and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to last Sunday.

A team spokesman said Owens needs seven to 10 days of rest, then can return to the lineup. Both Brian Anderson and Carlos Quentin likely have made the roster, rather than one or the other.

Adductor injuries are the exact same thing that sidelined Podsednik over the last two seasons, and now that he's gone, they've decided to attack Jerry Owens instead. The Sox are hoping that Owens will be in the lineup by April 7th, but if Owens' injuries are the same as Podsednik's the team is already aware that adductor injuries have a tendency to be the nagging type.

For the most part the Sox have had a healthy spring, but this first big blow could turn out to be a huge one.

The White Sox continued their makeover on Tuesday: the same day that Orlando Cabrera was officially announced, the team revealed that Scott Podsednik was designated for assignment. It's not a huge surprise -- Pods turned in his second mediocre season in a row last year -- but it's still notable given that many fans still connect him with his 2005 postseason success. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Podsednik, 31, hit .243 with two home runs, 11 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 30 runs scored in 62 games in '07. He also helped make the adductor a household-known body part, given how frequently he injured the muscle in the groin area.

When Podsednik was healthy, he was a spark atop the Sox lineup. He will be best remembered for his pair of home runs during the 2005 playoffs, including a game-ending shot in Game 2 of the World Series.

Calling Podsednik "a spark atop the Sox lineup" is a complete misnomer -- he posted a pathetic .299 OBP last year, which is more "fizzle" and less "spark" in my book. Yet, because he's speedy on the basepaths, he's been mislabeled as a "quality leadoff man" for much of his career. Not only does he usually struggle to get on base, he rarely hits for any power -- he's combined for all of five home runs over the last three years, during which time he's missed almost one out of three games. I'm pretty certain that someone out there will give him a chance -- just cross your fingers that it's not your favorite team.