FanHouse Brandon Webb

The champagne is barely dry in the Yankees clubhouse, but the business of 2010 is already well under way. Three trades are in the books, a number of players have already filed for free agency and Bobby Abreu has a new deal with the Angels.

In that vein, three clubs made decisions on contract options Friday as they held on to star players for next year. The Phillies and Diamondbacks both picked up the options they held on ace pitchers Cliff Lee and Brandon Webb, respectively, while the White Sox bought out right fielder Jermaine Dye.

Chicago's World Series MVP in 2005, Dye, who will turn 36 in January, was due to make $12 million in 2010. He'll instead receive $950,000 from the White Sox and hit the open market.

One of the big stories of the early offseason in 2009 is going to be Brandon Webb's 2010 option. The Diamondbacks hold a team option on their ailing ace worth $8.5 million and they're understandably a little hesitant to pay such a steep price for a pitcher coming off of a shoulder injury, even if that pitcher is Brandon Webb.

In that vein, the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday that the D'backs are planning on approaching Webb about restructuring his contract. Of course, in the same story it was reported that Webb has absolutely no interest in any sort of contract restructuring of his deal. That means the D'backs have until shortly after the World Series to figure out what they're going to do with their ace.

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Bobby Abreu's influence has its limitations.

Vladimir Guerrero is still going to swing at everything.

But besides his fine season -- 89 runs scored, 96 RBI, .823 OPS -- Abreu seems to have passed on his patience at the plate to the rest of his Angels teammates.

"He's got the younger players understanding patience isn't a bad thing," Chone Figgins told FanHouse. "It's not about not being aggressive, but being patient, getting a pitch to hit. There's nothing wrong with being 1-1 and hitting, or 1-2, or 2-2.

"It's not something simple to do, but I think we did a good job of it in spring training and have tried to bring it into the season and have so far done a good job."

NEW YORK -- Brandon Webb underwent a debridement of his right shoulder Monday, which was the best-case scenario.

Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said Webb would not throw for 3-4 months. But agent Jonathan Maurer said via text message that Webb will start throwing in October.

Webb, Arizona's ace, has not pitched since throwing four innings on Opening Day. the surgery was performed by Keith Meister, the Rangers' team physician.

"They didn't have to repair anything," Hinch said. "It sounds like it was good news for us."

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

Jon Garland has a 6-10 record on the season with a 4.26 ERA and I'm about to tell you that he's been the victim of poor run support. Well, that's at least part of the reason for his double digit loss column.

We've heard it before from the Diamondbacks and their pitchers. Dan Haren started the season with three straight losses even though he gave up only four total earned runs in those three games. But Haren is an ace and it was believable when we played the run support card with him. Garland, on the other hand, just doesn't have the track record.

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

You Oughta Know ...
That if the Marlins make a serious playoff push, they might look back at the second day of August as the spark. Florida, which is five games behind the Phillies in the NL East and three back of the Rockies and Giants in the NL wild-card race, was one out away from a second straight loss to wild card rival Chicago.

Then Cubs closer (and former Marlin) Kevin Gregg made two bad pitches.

Dan Uggla took a 3-1 offering from Gregg way out of Landshark Stadium. Cody Ross followed with a home run of his own to turn a 2-1 Florida loss into a 3-2 victory.

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While most of baseball is focusing on Friday's non-waiver trade deadline and/or the news about David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez's failed drug tests, there are other things going on. Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Webb has left the team and is headed to Texas to consult with the Rangers' team physician about the shoulder injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Opening Day.

The right-hander had hoped that he could avoid surgery and return to the mound this season, but that seems less likely with Thursday's announcement. If he does wind up finally having surgery, it could make for a very difficult decision for the Diamondbacks this offseason.

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.

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 Mets not only snapped their five-game losing streak, but they did their part to save the world on Wednesday. After manager Jerry Manuel's team meeting in the wake of Tuesday's loss, the Mets all came to the ballpark on Wednesday on buses, instead of players arriving individually in cabs. Although the team-building experience may have actually done more to save on fuel than to actually bond, the result was a 1-0 victory.

Manuel wasn't going to take credit for his speech firing up the team, especially since pitcher Mike Pelfrey missed it. Pelfrey had left the ballpark early Tuesday night to get some rest.

"I told him, 'If he'd been at the meeting, he would have thrown a no-hitter,' " Manuel joked.

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If you've been following the travails of 2006 National League Cy Young winner Brandon Webb this season, the following news won't come as much of a shock. The Diamondbacks are strongly considering surgery as an option for the ace -- sidelined since Opening Day with a right shoulder injury -- after an MRI and a meeting with the team physician Tuesday, according to a report in the Arizona Republic.

Webb has been on the disabled list since April 7 with what the team has called shoulder bursitis, but he's experienced setback after setback in his attempts to return to the mound, most recently canceling a scheduled bullpen session at the end of last week because of pain in the area.

Now the team is hinting that Webb may have a torn labrum -- arguably the most ominous injury any pitcher can have -- while it waits for a second opinion on his shoulder. The injury that would require a surgical procedure and nine months of rehab, according to Nick Piecoro of the Republic.