FanHouse SkipSchumaker

Earlier Wednesday in the power rankings I speculated -- off the cuff -- that Cleveland would start trading veterans. Well, it appears they will, because Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting the Indians have officially placed Mark DeRosa on the proverbial trading block.

The versatile DeRosa can play adequate defense anywhere on the diamond except shortstop, center field and the battery, which could make him an attractive trade piece for teams with a variety of different needs. One in particular everyone is hearing is the New York Mets.

After a nearly seamless start to the season, the St. Louis Cardinals are all-of-a-sudden reeling. Tuesday night, they lost 7-1 to the hapless Pirates, but that likely wasn't the worst occurrence. A single game in a season of 162 isn't a really huge deal, after all. Losing your power-hitting protection for Albert Pujols, however, is.

Ryan Ludwick gave chase to a ball off the bat of Nyjer Morgan early in the game and came up lame with a strained right hamstring. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Tony LaRussa anticipates the Cardinals will have to put Ludwick on the disabled list -- where he'd join fellow starting outfielder Rick Ankiel.

We haven't even completed two full weeks of the Major League Baseball season yet, but the (arguably) best rivalry in the National League is already giving us a taste of what an exciting race the NL Central could be this year. With all due respect to the Reds, Astros, Brewers and Pirates, and with all due disclaimers about how long the baseball season is, it seems blatantly obvious the two best teams in the division are the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

For the past three days, the two teams have put on an entertaining show for anyone fortunate enough to be watching. Each game went down the wire, with both teams showing a flair for the dramatic.

From 1999 to 2001, the Boston Red Sox turned 380 double plays -- fewest in the American League and nearly 200 fewer than the Kansas City Royals.

Think Pedro Martinez, Bret Saberhagen and Derek Lowe would have liked a few more DPs turned behind them?

We bring this up because the St. Louis Cardinals appear ready to go with Skip Schumaker as their second baseman.

Schumaker, 29, is a career outfielder, except for six games at third base in 2004. But after dumping Adam Kennedy in the offseason and passing on Orlando Hudson and Mark Grudzielanek, the Cards decided to move Schumaker to second (even though their best infield instructor, third base coach Jose Oquendo, missed time in camp to manage Puerto Rico in the WBC).

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the St. Louis Cardinals.

The pride and joy of Gateway City, the Cardinals certainly have a stacked resume of success both historically and recently. In Tony La Russa's 13 seasons, the Cardinals have reached the playoffs seven times -- which, in turn has yielded two trips to the World Series and one championship. In that span, they have only finished below .500 three times, while winning at least 93 games five times.

When the Cardinals released Adam Kennedy earlier this year, it seemed weird. Without any other second baseman on the team, it was hard to see what their plan was. Shortly after, it became clear that the Cards' were planning on simply pulling Skip Schumaker from their outfield surplus and plugging him into second base.

Depending on how you feel about Tony La Russa, you likely either characterized this move as "unconventional" or "mildly insane." Whatever your original opinion, it seems like the current opinion on the move is trending away from the first and towards the second. Schumaker's made four errors in ten games. The way the experiment written up in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today, it seems like it's pretty clearly been a disaster. Well, a disaster for everyone not named, "Tony La Russa -- Super Baseball Genius, Ph.D"

I have a stock answer for the question I get each and every year; "When do you want to hold the draft?". Here it is, and I think everybody should repeat after me. The fantasy draft should be as close to Opening Day as possible. Let me say that again, the fantasy draft should be as close to Opening Day as possible.

Don't agree with me? Why don't you ask anyone out there who has already had their fantasy draft and took Alex Rodriguez in the first round. I bet they would agree with me.

There are many reasons to wait as long as possible to hold your fantasy baseball draft...

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.

Chicago Cubs
Sean Marshall is the favorite to win the job as the Cubs 5th starter in the rotation, but he's going to have to fight off a slew of others including Chad Gaudin, Ken Kadokura and Jeff Samardzija. Marshall went a long way towards proving he's the right choice on Tuesday as he threw three perfect innings. In five spring innings he's given up one run, four hits, struck out two and walked none. With the addition of Milton Bradley, Kosuke Fukudome only has one option in the outfield; center field. He'll be competing with Reed Johnson for that job. Johnson is the only one in camp as Fukudome is participating in the World Baseball Classic.

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 ...
Home of the best hitter in baseball. Yes, I'm proclaiming that Albert Pujols is the modern-day (and real-life) Roy Hobbs. Last year, people counted him as a huge injury-risk and he went out and won the NL MVP. I think we should have all learned by now that this man should never be drafted outside the top five overall picks.