It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. The Closer Report will give you that info. And if that wasn't good enough, we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
As you'll see, Heath Bell has taken over the top spot on this edition of The Closer Report. A few big-name, top-of-the-charts closers from years past have fallen off quite a bit. How weird is it to see Brad Lidge near the bottom of the closer rankings and Joe Nathan stuck in the middle?
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Matt Garza is one of those talented pitchers that novice owners probably lost patience with quickly. And if they did, they were watching Thursday's spectacular performance kicking themselves. Garza, who had struggled with his command through his first four starts, took a perfect game bid into the seventh inning against the Red Sox and finished with a line worthy of adulation: 7 2/3 innings, 10 strikeouts, 1 hit, 1 walk, no runs. Has he turned the corner that quickly?
They're only one game into the season, but Royals manager Trey Hillman is already feeling the heat that comes along with raised expectations. As I'm sure you've heard about or read about already, Hillman decided to leave Kyle Farnsworth in to face Jim Thome during the eighth inning of Tuesday's season opener with two runners on and a 2-1 lead, even though he had Juan Cruz and lefty Ron Mahay warming up in the bullpen.
Well, long story short, four pitches later Thome was launching a fastball into the left-center field bleachers and giving the White Sox a 4-2 lead and an Opening Day victory. As you'd expect, a lot of Royals fans and media were wondering what the heck Hillman was thinking, and I'm not even sure he knows.
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.
Heading into the offseason, there's no way Juan Cruz thought he'd miss a few weeks of Spring Training while still looking for a job. After all, the setup man with a powerful arm had a stellar 2008 campaign. He had a 2.61 ERA and struck out 71 batters in 51 2/3 innings. One issue likely steering teams away was that he was good enough to qualify as a Type A free agent.
Well, on Saturday, Cruz finally found work, and he found it with the small-market Kansas City Royals. He signed a two-year deal with a club option for a third year -- all told, he could make $9.5 million in three years.
We're nearly at the end of the long, slow offseason and there are still several appealing free agents who haven't signed contracts for the 2009 season. Players like Orlando Cabrera and Orlando Hudson, and even a few not named Orlando, are languishing on the market, in part, because teams will lose draft picks to sign them.
Major League Baseball might be willing to do something about that, according to LaVelle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He writes that Major League Baseball may be willing to make it easier for players to sign with their old teams and then get traded, circumventing the draft pick compensation, which might help the Twins land Juan Cruz.
* There's been plenty of talk about Mark McGwire lately, what with the Hall of Fame vote last week, and his long lost (estranged?) brother seems ready to cash in on it. From Deadspin comes the news that Jay McGwire has been shopping a tell-all book that will detail, among other things, how he got Mark hooked on steroids and how he "crashed and found God." Don't worry it probably won't be on our Amazon pre-order list either.
All in all, 24 players were offered arbitration by last night's midnight deadline, including 15 Type A free agents and nine Type B. Players are classified using a rating system created by Elias Sports Bureau to determine the level of compensation a team receives if a player refuses arbitration and signs elsewhere.
If any of those players refuse arbitration to sign elsewhere, their new teams will have to cough up two draft picks as compensation. That said, most of them are so talented that the prospect of losing a draft pick or two won't intimidate interested suitors. In other words, if you're favorite team is committed to signing Manny, losing a measly draft pick or two won't stop it. But for older players who only have one or two productive seasons left (Oliver, Varitek: I'm looking at you), losing draft picks is something worth thinking twice about.
There isn't a team in baseball that couldn't use help in the bullpen. Fortunately for teams in need of relief help, this year's free-agent class is particularly deep in that area with record-setting closers Francisco Rodriguez and Trevor Hoffman on the market in addition to proven names like Brian Fuentes and Brandon Lyon and quality sleepers like Juan Cruz.
Despite that depth, it may take several weeks for the market to sort itself out. There are two dominoes central to the relief market -- the Mets, the richest club in need of a bullpen upgrade, and Rodriguez, the top closer available -- and neither seems to be in a rush.
K-Rod's agent has already come out and said that his client will not sign until after the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, which wrap up two weeks from today. That's a move likely designed to heat up the market for Rodriguez, which has cooled considerably because of the surprising depth mentioned above. The record-holder for saves in a season is eyeing a record contract for a closer. He may get that, but with names like Hoffman and Fuentes also out there, it seems unlikely that he'll get the $75 million-plus deal he was looking for at the start of the offseason.
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 Diamondbacks made one of the biggest splashes of the 2007 Hot Stove season, landing ace Dan Haren in a trade with the A's. In the end, though, their offense, which is stocked with youngsters, didn't improve even close to enough for them to repeat as NL West champs.
The good news is that Haren and NL Cy Young runner-up Brandon Webb will be back in 2009, along with a cast of talented hitters who have their best years ahead of them. Furthermore, the NL West is wide open with the reigning champion Dodgers headed for a winter of major turnover.
Of course, Arizona has a few notable holes to fill before Spring Training, but it is the closest thing to a favorite the West has at this point. The D'backs simply have to make a few tweaks to return to the top of the division and the postseason.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
They're only one game into the season, but Royals manager 
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
Heading into the offseason, there's no way 
We're nearly at the end of the long, slow offseason and there are still several appealing free agents who haven't signed contracts for the 2009 season. Players like 
All in all, 
There isn't a team in baseball that couldn't use help in the bullpen. Fortunately for teams in need of relief help, this year's free-agent class is particularly deep in that area with record-setting closers 
Footprints in the Snow
