SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants are often maligned for putting too much emphasis on the back of the baseball card, counting on players to repeat the past.
For relying on players like 34-year-old Edgar Renteria, who has two sore shoulders and an elbow that needs surgery in the offseason. Renteria is clearly past his prime.
That said, Renteria will always be a part of a very select club. Renteria is one of just five players to have a walk-off hit to win Game 7 of the World Series. He did it with the 1997 Marlins. A dozen years later, Renteria is still a guy his teammates like to see at the plate in a clutch situation.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... The AL Central could be tight all the way through September. Going into Tuesday's games, three teams were tied for first at two games over .500, and all three -- the White Sox, the Tigers and the Royals -- lost. So now four teams are within a 1/2 game, and last-place Cleveland, with four wins in its past six games, is 2 1/2 out.
That could come as news to some in Cleveland. Attendance Tuesday night at Progressive Field was 11,408 -- hurt by a simultaneous Cavaliers playoff game.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
In news that probably means a lot more to fantasy baseball players than real baseball fans -- with all due respect to the Pirates and their true fans -- Ryan Doumit is going to miss the next 8-10 weeks. He'll be undergoing wrist surgery and have some pins inserted. As fantasy owners, we must march on and look at how to replace the production of a very solid offensive catcher.
SAN FRANCISCO -- As the Angels try to move forward following the shocking death of Nick Adenhart, words of inspiration are coming their way from players who have been down this road before.
"You just have to stick together and do what the kid would want you to do," said Giants shortstop Edgar Renteria, who was on the Cardinals when Darryl Kile died in 2002. "He'd want you to play. Every time you play, go out to play for him."
Meanwhile, Giants hitting coach Carney Lansford recalled the experience of being with the California Angels when Lyman Bostock was murdered in 1978.
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.
Yet another Type A free agent has finally signed a contract with a team for 2009 after spending weeks negotiating. Dodgers fans, I'm sorry to report that it's not Manny Ramirez. He's still spending his time being insulted by the fact that the Dodgers only want to give him $25 million this year.
Instead it's shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who has finally agreed to a deal with the Oakland Athletics, signing a contract for one year and $4 million on Monday afternoon.
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 desperately needing a bat in the middle of the order. It's too bad money is so tight right now, because the Giants could certainly use a certain eccentric slugger in the middle of their order. They still aren't altogether out of the running for Manny Ramirez, but I believe he's staying put in Los Angeles. Too bad they wasted all that money on Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.
It's time to dust off the old value machine and get cracking for the impending fantasy baseball season. Here at Fantasy FanHouse, we plan on providing a quality -- and free, of course -- draft kit for fantasy baseball, and you can expect a drastic uptick in coverage before pitchers and catchers report next month. By the time the season rolls around, we'll be covering fantasy baseball with the same fervor, tenacity, and accuracy as we did in football season.
What we'll do today to get the ball rolling is run through the major players who have changed teams and examine if their value -- compared to last season -- has dropped or risen. We'll be using those cool red and green arrows.
CC Sabathia, Yankees Just hear me out, please. The reason his value has taken an ever-so-slight hit is because it can't get any higher. He'll be facing tougher lineups in the American League East than he did down the stretch in the NL Central as well. He's probably going to be the top pitcher off the board in any draft, and I won't argue with the pick. I'm just saying that his move to the Bronx has not increased his value.
It's no secret that the Giants need offensive help. They've finished 15th in the National League in scoring two years running. It's also become abundantly clear that they're gearing up for a run at the NL West crown in 2009, having signed Randy Johnson, Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry this offseason.
The Giants, the NL West's most active team this winter, are quietly making an aggressive play for free agent Manny Ramirez, according to a major-league source.
Acquiring Ramirez would come with a number of headaches -- from simply having the mercurial slugger on their roster to likely having to trade one of their incumbent outfielders (Randy Winn, Aaron Rowand, Dave Roberts). But all in all, he'd probably be worth it for a team that isn't all that far from seriously contending. They play in a soft division where 85 wins could easily equal a playoff berth.
That's especially true when you consider three factors: (1) the market for Ramirez is severely depressed because of the number of all-hit, no-field corner bats on the market, (2) signing him would simultaneously improve the Giants' offense and weaken the rival Dodgers and (3) it would save GM Brian Sabean from having to engineer a complex trade for a bat that would cost him one of his top young pitchers like Jonathan Sanchez.
Sign Manny? Sure, why not? It's not like folks in San Francisco aren't used to having a sometimes-surly, Hall of Fame slugger prowling around in left field after all.
Lost in the radical makeover under way in the Bronx this winter is the similarly stark turnover taking place in San Francisco. No, the Giants haven't spent 10 times the Opening Day payroll of the Tampa Bay Rays on a handful of players, but they have added shortstop Edgar Renteria, pitcher Randy Johnson and relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry.
With Johnson, reigning Cy Young Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, they've got the starting rotation to win the NL West, but probably not the offensive firepower just yet.
In fact, the signing of Johnson might serve another purpose besides bolstering an already strong rotation, it might allow GM Brian Sabean to deal some of his pitching depth -- namely Jonathan Sanchez -- to give San Francisco's lineup more punch.
Having resisted offers of corner infielders for Jonathan Sanchez, general manager Brian Sabean hinted that he might at least listen to trade proposals involving the left-hander, now that Johnson's aboard. "We're going to have to be open-minded," Sabean said, although he repeated that he wouldn't obtain a player who's eligible for free agency after 2009.
There's hardly a more valuable commodity in baseball than cost-controlled starting pitching, but the Giants have that in spades, especially if you factor in high-upside prospects Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants are often maligned for putting too much emphasis on the back of the baseball card, counting on players to repeat the past.
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
SAN FRANCISCO -- As the Angels try to move forward following the shocking death of 
From now until the regular season begins, 
Yet another Type A free agent has finally signed a contract with a team for 2009 after spending weeks negotiating. Dodgers fans, I'm sorry to report that it's not 
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
It's time to dust off the old value machine and get cracking for the impending fantasy baseball season. Here at Fantasy FanHouse, we plan on providing a quality -- and free, of course -- draft kit for fantasy baseball, and you can expect a drastic uptick in coverage before pitchers and catchers report next month. By the time the season rolls around, we'll be covering fantasy baseball with the same fervor, tenacity, and accuracy as we did in football season. 
Just hear me out, please. The reason his value has taken an ever-so-slight hit is because it can't get any higher. He'll be facing tougher lineups in the American League East than he did down the stretch in the NL Central as well. He's probably going to be the top pitcher off the board in any draft, and I won't argue with the pick. I'm just saying that his move to the Bronx has not increased his value.
It's no secret that the Giants need offensive help. They've finished 15th in the National League in scoring two years running. It's also become abundantly clear that they're gearing up for a run at the NL West crown in 2009, having signed 
Lost in the radical makeover under way in the Bronx this winter is the similarly stark turnover taking place in San Francisco. No, the Giants haven't spent 10 times the Opening Day payroll of the Tampa Bay Rays on a handful of players, but they have added shortstop 
