FanHouse SethSmith

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

MINNEAPOLIS -- Johan Santana had never seen the Metrodome before the Twins took him from Single-A in the Rule 5 draft.

"When I first got there," Santana told FanHouse, "my first impression was, 'How can you play baseball in a place like this?'

"I came from Single-A and from Venezuela, and we don't have any of that stuff. ... I couldn't figure it out. How could this thing [the roof] be up in the air? And then it feels like you're in a bubble. And then you play baseball."

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

Ervin Santana went 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 214 strikeouts last season. The promising 26-year-old has yet to rekindle the success in 2009, though, due mostly to arm injuries. Still, we know the potential he possesses, which is why there's no reason to give up on him halfway through the season. Any sign of a turnaround is sure to give fantasy baseball owners hope.

Thursday night, we got a glimmer. Santana dominated the A's. He worked 8 innings and struck out 4, while only allowing 3 hits, 1 earned run and 2 walks -- garnering the win in the process.

Typically, this would be where I insert some super-awesome quote written by Oliver Stone, just in order to make up for my totally lame title.. One problem: I couldn't find anything that was "family friendly" enough to slot into this post. Instead, how about we break down five different platoon situations that are emerging/have emerged in the early fantasy baseball season. If you've got a particular situation you want examined, hit us on the hip here.

Taylor Teagarden vs. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Thus far, Teagarden has gotten one start and managed the same number of hits in five at-bats. He's walked once and struck out once, and well, it's pretty obviously Salty's gig ... or is it???

From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Chad Tracy missed a good chunk of the 2008 season due to knee surgery, which held him to only 273 at-bats. Tracy says he's been healthy since mid-way through the off-season and manager Bob Melvin expects big things from him in 2009 saying he can see it as Tracy drives the ball.

When I see him drive the ball to left-center field, for me, his legs are under him," Melvin said. "Those are the ones he was having a little trouble getting out there and extending on, probably trying to pull a little too much. And when he did he hit the ball the opposite way, it (was) not with the force he had before. Now it looks like to me he's hitting it hard the either way.

Tracy's average draft position right now is a very low 387.75. If he can return to 2005 form where he hit 27 home runs and batted .308 or anywhere close to that, he'll be a steal.

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.

That's right, MLB Power Rankings. You do know that that means, right? It means we're only a few short weeks/months (depends on you how you want to look at it, you pessimistic jerk) from starting the 2009 baseball season. Spring is nearly here, everyone has a bounce in their step and there's not an illegal, injectable steroid in sight!

So without further ado, let's get down to business and rank every single Major League Baseball team right freaking now. Because baseball can't wait any longer to get going.

Now that the World Series is finally upon us, you'll no doubt find yourself getting a little too familiar with the 25 players on each remaining team. No, this isn't another guide to World Series hyperbole; I'm not as creative or witty as my man Pat Lackey. But I did share with you some information about Matt Holliday earlier in the season, and I would like to take the time to expand upon that story.

Back in high school, Matt Holliday broke several of Troy Aikman's state passing records as a quarterback. Holliday was a hot recruit, and had even signed a letter of intent to play at Oklahoma State. National powerhouses like Notre Dame, Florida State, Florida, and Tennessee were courting the MVP candidate. Had Holliday chosen to play ball at Tennessee, he could've followed in the footsteps of first baseman Todd Helton.

As has been made well-known for quite some time, Todd Helton played quarterback at Tennessee in college, where he backed up Peyton Manning. To put an interesting twist on that story, right fielder Seth Smith, who was a September callup for the Rockies, played quarterback at Ole Miss, where he backed up Eli Manning. As if that's not enough, Smith's coach at Ole Miss was David Cutcliffe, who served as Helton's quarterbacks coach. Now, if the Rockies could just find some receivers and lineman, they'd be set.

Oh, and did I mention? They're all pretty good at that whole baseball thing, too.