FanHouse Rickie Weeks

The Brewers' biggest need with the trade deadline less than two weeks away is starting pitching, but that isn't stopping them from upgrading in other areas. Milwaukee traded for second baseman Felipe Lopez Sunday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, filling a void in the middle of their infield that has existed since Rickie Weeks went down for the season with a muscle tear in his left wrist.

The Brewers sent two minor leaguers -- outfielder Cole Gillespie and relief pitcher Roque Mercedes -- to the Diamondbacks in return for Lopez. Gillespie was ranked the organization's ninth best prospect by Baseball America coming into the season, but he's having a mostly forgettable season at Triple-A Nashville.

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.

It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.

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.

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.

While it's entirely possible the Blue Jays do hit a snag, isn't it about time columnists across the internet stopped doing Can the Blue Jays Really Keep This Up? pieces by now? I've seen at least 10 in the past three weeks. There are almost as many The Rangers Are For Real posts. The discrepancy in the media's faith in those two is likely due to the divisions in which the teams reside, but seven weeks isn't a small sample. At some point, you have to start giving credit where it's due.

The 26-year-old Rickie Weeks looked to be finally fulfilling the promise of his lofty draft spot (second pick overall in the 2003 draft). He was hitting .272 with 9 home runs, 24 RBI, 2 stolen bases and 28 runs. Now, what appeared to be his breakout campaign has been summarily dismantled on one swing. Weeks tore up his wrist on a swing Sunday and his season is over.

There's no rest for the weary in fantasy baseball, though. Weeks owners must lick their wounds and find a way to recover. A recovery should be possible, considering how little owners probably had to spend on Weeks in their auctions or drafts. The three options are as follows (make sure to check out number three).

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Bad news coming out of Milwaukee this evening, as the Brewers have recently learned that they're going to lose second baseman Rickie Weeks for the remainder of the 2009 season. Weeks tore the tendon sheath in his left wrist on Sunday and the injury will require surgery that will keep Weeks out at least four months. It's the same injury weeks suffered in his right wrist in 2006 that ended that season and caused him trouble into 2007.

It's almost unspeakable bad luck for Weeks, as he was off to a great start in 2009 and seemed to finally be fully healthy and ready to live up to the expectations that the Brewers placed on him years ago. Through 37 games, Weeks was hitting .272/.340/.517 with nine homers (his career high is 16) and even made Snyder's early All-Star ballot last week. He's still only 26, but to suffer another injury like this is devastating.

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

With a starting rotation containing Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Matt Harrison, Scott Feldman and Brandon McCarthy, it's pretty safe to say many mixed leagues went through draft or auction day without mentioning a single starting Rangers pitcher -- unless it was in jest.

The joke is on us, because the Rangers starting rotation is pretty damn legit right now. After Sunday, the Rangers now sport the fifth-best starter's ERA (4.25) in the American League.

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

Remember when Rickie Weeks was a hot new prospect whose quick bat drew comparisons to Gary Sheffield? Yeah, turns out that was four years ago.

Following season after season of frustration for hopeful fantasy owners, Weeks is finally coming through. The speed isn't there, but he's homered in three straight games to give him nine total in only 140 at-bats. By comparison, he only hit 14 in 475 at-bats last year. So has our man-crush of yesteryear suddenly transformed into the new Dan Uggla, or is this impressive power display just another tease?

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

I think we can all agree that it's far too early to start voting upon who the best 2009 players are when it's only the middle of May. That being said, there are certainly some shining stars at this point who deserve some props. Plus, Major League Baseball recently released their All-Star ballots for our voting pleasure -- we vote on who will start the All-Star Game. If that's not important, I don't know what is. Let's take a gander.

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.

Let me put this simply: you want no part of being No. 1 in the FanHouse MLB Power Rankings. It just brings discord, losing and possibly suspensions to your baseball team. Such was the case with the white-hot Dodgers and Manny Ramirez, who now have to deal with a 50 game-ban of their star slugger. Who's doomed this week? Let's just say that no one would be too shocked if they weren't there again next Wednesday.