MLB

The Nationals learned Friday that the knee injury suffered by Stephen Strasburg will not require surgery to repair. It's instead been diagnosed as a dislocated knee cap. As painful as that sounds, there's no ligament damage and the Nats' phenom will only require rest and some rehab to get the knee back up to full strength, though he'll still miss Saturday's Arizona Fall League championship game.

Considering those that witnessed the injury firsthand saw Strasburg crumple while playing long toss on Thursday and reported hearing a popping sound (often a telltale sign of ligament damage), this is obviously great news for the Nats. I can't even fathom following up a 103-loss season with a serious knee injury to the highest-paid draft pick in baseball history.

Fun fact: Yankees manager Joe Girardi has as many wins in November as Giants coach Tom Coughlin, Jets coach Rex Ryan, Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and Nets coach Lawrence Frank combined. His loss total pales in comparison, however, which is probably why the Knicks invited him to Madison Square Garden to be honored during Sunday's loss game against the Celtics.

They're giving him the (quite possibly made up) Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton "City Spirit" Award, ostensibly because he stopped on his way home from winning the World Series to help the victim of a car accident flag down help from the police. It was a kind act, but it's not hard to imagine Knicks brass is desperate to liven up the grim Garden scene these days.

In the six weeks since the Mets' disastrous season has ended, lots of people have opined on how to fix the Mets. One person who'd like to chip in to the conversation is Jason Marquis. The Mets need to add a starter and, well, what do you know! Marquis is a free agent starter! After adding those two together, the Staten Island native has gone ahead and declared himself a "perfect fit" for the Mets.

Marquis had a nice enough year for the Rockies in 2009, notching 15 wins, a 4.04 ERA, and his first career All-Star nod. He's not a bad pitcher. He'd make a nice enough fit for a contender looking for a back-end starter to eat some innings and not embarrass himself. For a team like the Mets that trotted out Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Tim Redding, and Livan Hernandez after Johan Santana, well, I dunno if I'd call him a "perfect fit."

Since Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum won Cy Young awards this week with modest victory totals, there has been much discussion about how baseball writers are finally moving into the 21st century and looking beyond the win column.

Although I'm all for patting baseball writers on the back -- since I am one, and I did vote for Greinke -- I think in the case of the NL Cy Young, my colleagues may have looked past victories, and still picked the wrong guy to make their point.

Let's start with the ol' FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching. FIP is a stat intended to quantify how well a pitcher performed based solely on the things in his control (strikeouts, walks and homers) without regard to the vagaries of the defense behind him.

---

---

As FanHouse went over in our Footprints in the Snow on the Chicago White Sox earlier on Friday, the Sox aren't expected to be big buyers this offseason after making big moves to land Jake Peavy and Alex Rios last summer. Still, that doesn't mean they won't be making smaller moves to tweak their roster in the coming weeks.

Moves like trying to sign Omar Vizquel to a one-year deal to be a backup infielder as FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting.

Major League Baseball announced the winners of its prestigious awards this week; now, FanHouse is following suit. We voted on winners in five categories (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Draft Day Bargain, Draft Day Bust), the results of which are revealed below. Remember, this awards show deals strictly in fantasy baseball. I'll also throw in a few awards I'm personally doling out for performances that made the 2009 season what it was.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The 2009 season was not one with which the Chicago White Sox were pleased. They followed their 2008 division title with a third-place finish in the AL Central and a record of 79-83. When you consider that the team's general manager Kenny Williams is never shy on making big moves when the team does well, there's no telling what he's going to do after a disappointing season.

So it's pretty safe to assume that the White Sox team that takes the field in 2010 will look a lot different than the one Sox fans saw in 2009, and we're not just talking about Jake Peavy and Alex Rios. What changes will be made on the South Side? Nobody can be sure, but FanHouse has an idea of what Chicago's "other" team might do.

---

---

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

It's a winter of transition for the defending AL Central champion Minnesota Twins. The Twinkies are going back to their roots in every way. No longer will they be playing indoor baseball at the Metrodome as the team will open the new outdoor Target Field in 2010. The team also just unveiled their new old uniforms on Monday as well, as they revert back to their classic look from the early '60s.

Still, the field on which they play and the uniforms they wear won't be the only thing different about them. This winter they'll also be trying to make the moves necessary to ensure that they get back to the playoffs again in 2010. What moves they'll make remain to be seen, but given the club's history, it's somewhat safe to assume they'll be the right ones.

---

---

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Detroit Tigers are in a unique position this offseason. They missed the playoffs in 2009 after blowing their division lead during the final weeks, and then losing a one-game playoff against the Twins in Minneapolis, but they remain one of the most talented teams in the AL Central. The question is how much of that talent will be back in 2010?

Dave Dombrowski and the Tigers are usually one of the more aggressive teams during the offseason in both the free agent market and with trades, and have no problem paying top dollar for players. Still, there's a lot of speculation that things will change this winter as the economy in Detroit is still causing problems. Some are saying that the Tigers are going to be selling off a lot of that talent this winter. So odds are that, either way, the team Tigers fans see on Opening Day in April could look a lot different than the one they saw in the Metrodome last October.

---

---

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

Over the last few years there has been a familiar refrain coming out of the City of Fountains: this is the year that the Kansas City Royals will finally be competitive. Yet it just hasn't happened. In fact, since the team won it's lone World Series back in 1985, they've finished over .500 only six times, and only once since the strike season of 1994.

So if general manager Dayton Moore is going to put together a winning ballclub, it's obvious he has quite a bit of work to do. Still, there is talent on this Royals roster, so Moore might not have to make as many moves this winter as you would think.

---

---