From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
Every Hot Stove season, each team reshapes its roster in an attempt to better themselves. After each transaction, whether a free agent acquisition, trade or something else, writers and bloggers everywhere provide knee-jerk reactions on each particular move. Though the majority of the analysis is educated, it's still just conjecture. Today, we'll take the long view and look back at some of the maneuvering this past offseason and see how it played out on the field.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
I had no idea I had these kinds of powers. Just one day after I made Johnny Cueto one of the headliners for All-Star Game snubs, he took the ball against the Philadelphia Phillies. The result was an absolute massacre, the likes of which we rarely -- if ever -- see from a starting pitcher. This outing so was horrifying it scared the hell out of Ugly.
The line? 49 pitches, 5 hits, 3 walks, 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 9 earned runs ... all with just two recorded outs. Two.
As you might have heard, defense is the new big thing. It's not a revolutionary idea to suggest that having good defense can help you win baseball games, but the improvement the Rays made from 2007 to 2008 was quite a wake-up call around the majors. They had essentially the same pitchers, and they actually scored fewer runs, but they won 31 more games with good defense.
Which brings us to the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners were a train-wreck of a team last year, despite what we all thought was supposed to be pretty good pitching. Now, the Mariners are riding high in the AL West, with the best ERA in the league. Most of their pitchers are the same (granted, Erik Bedard has been healthy).
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 who finished above the hype-machine Tigers last season. In fact, finishing only 12 games below .500 in a division that was expected to be very strong had to have exceeded expectations in the first year of Trey Hillman's managerial stint. After all, it was the first year since '03 the Royals didn't finish in last. They still have holes, but they also have a good group of young, talented players.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Kansas City Royals.
The 2008 season was a lot like every other season for the Kansas City Royals lately, with one major exception. They didn't finish in last place of the AL Central. No, that honor went to the Detroit Tigers instead. Still, while fourth place isn't really anything to get excited about in any baseball city other than Pittsburgh, in Kansas City it has bred hope for better things in 2009.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.
The Mariners went into 2008 as playoff contenders in the eyes of some, and a sub-.500 team that wasn't going to be able to score enough runs to compete in the minds of others. The latter camp was closer in its expectation, but nobody could have foreseen just how far Seattle would fall.
The offense was bad, as expected, finishing 13th in the AL in runs, OBP, and SLG. The more surprising issue was that the pitching, a unit which looked to be solid at the outset of the year, fell apart as well. Offseason acquisition Erik Bedard and previously dominant closer J.J. Putz both battled injuries, and weren't particularly impressive when they did pitch. They also got some abysmal performances from the back end of the rotation, with Carlos Silva, Ryan Feierabend and Miguel Batista combining for a 6.55 ERA in 308 innings.
It's worth noting that all the blame for the run prevention issues shouldn't fall solely to the pitchers, as the Mariners were 13th in the AL in defensive efficiency.
While Monday was already a great day of change in Seattle with the deserved firing of general manager Bill Bavasi, it wasn't the only thing that changed with the Mariners yesterday. For the first time since August 19th, 2006, Ichiro Suzuki started a game in right field.
Right field was where Ichiro spent his first five years in Seattle, and after the team sent Wladimir Balentien back down to Tacoma in favor of Jeff Clement, there was an opening in right and John McLaren says he'd been thinking about making the move for a month or so. Still, this may not be the last move that Ichiro makes this season, as McLaren also said he's toying with the idea of dropping him out of the lead-off spot in the Mariners lineup.
McLaren said he's also spoken to Ichiro about a move out of the leadoff spot in hopes of jump-starting an offense that ranks last in the American League in runs scored and second-to-last in team batting average.
Such a move does not appear imminent, however, because McLaren said there is currently no other obvious candidate to hit leadoff.
"Ichiro is on board with anything we want to do to help the club, and I think most of these guys are from the same school in that clubhouse," McLaren said.
Seriously. Back in the days of Griffey, Edgar, A-Rod and Buhner, Buhner was my favorite. I loved the other guys, sure, but, man Buhner, I really miss the craziness he and Jr. would display in the outfield during pitching warmups, etc.
I'm still a HUGE Buhner fan. But, man, does the dude have issues. How can you not love a guy that does this to "Bill"?
Willie Bloomquist is tearing the Cactus League up for the Seattle Mariners. He's batting .452 with a .500OBP, both of which put him near the top of the Cactus League, and he's also leading the Mariners with 12 runs, 19 hits, and seven stolen bases.
Its his seventh stolen base though that caught my attention. One of the coolest plays in baseball, for me anyway, has always been when somebody steals home. Bloomquist did that on Sunday.
Granted, it wasn't a straight steal, but it still counts. As Brewers catcher Damian Miller threw to second to nail Tony Torcato, Bloomquist took off for the plate. By the time the relay throw came back to Miller, Bloomquist had already slid safely across the plate.
"I've done it before, when it's like that," Bloomquist said of the delayed steal of home. "But never straight, like with a pitcher in the windup, doing it Jackie Robinson style. I haven't done it like that."
Bloomquist is one of the more versatile players in baseball today and he played six different positions for the Mariners last season. The thing that's always kept him out of the everyday lineup though has been his bat, but he made an adjustment to his swing this winter, and so far it's been paying off pretty well for him. If he keeps playing the way he has been this spring, it's going to be hard for Mike Hargrove to keep him out of the lineup.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
As you might have heard, defense is the new big thing. It's not a revolutionary idea to suggest that having good defense can help you win baseball games, but the improvement the Rays made from 2007 to 2008 was quite a wake-up call around the majors. They had essentially the same pitchers, and they actually scored fewer runs, but they won 31 more games with good defense.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
While Monday was already a great day of change in Seattle with the 
Willie Bloomquist is tearing the Cactus League up for the Seattle Mariners. He's batting .452 with a .500OBP, both of which put him near the top of the Cactus League, and he's also leading the Mariners with 12 runs, 19 hits, and seven stolen bases.
