I know, I know. Your fantasy football team crapped out again, and now you just want to stare with relief at a blank fantasy baseball roster page for the next two months. The only problem is you can't because none of the major fantasy baseball providers are open for business yet. No worries; it's coming sooner than you think.

How soon? Well, last year CBS Sportsline was first out of the gate on January 26. (We'll see if they offer their $50 referral bonus again this year.) Yahoo went live on February 6, and ESPN followed on February 14. Of course, those won't be the exact dates fantasy baseball launches at those sites this year, but they likely won't be too far off. One thing's for certain, you won't know the launches are coming until a day or two before (if you even know then). The sites like to keep their start dates quiet because they don't want each other to know when they're planning to go live. Yes, they're that competitive with each other.

We've got a brand new site. How about a brand new Bits to go along with it?

-- So K-Rod's shoes will be filled by Brian Fuentes, and I've both read and heard exclamations of indifference to that news, as if folks don't expect Fuentes to be any good there or even keep the closer's job. You know what, though? I like Fuentes. Now, sure, I'm a bit biased because he saved my ass in my 14-team money league last year when Matt Capps went down. But check out his '08 numbers. He struggled a bit in May and June but was pretty lights out in the second half. Over his 10 appearances in the month of July, he gave up no earned runs, had a WHIP of 0.20 and a BAA of .032. He walked one guy and struck out 19. Sure, it's more fun than meaningful to look at just one month's worth of stats, but as I said, his numbers on the season were just peachy. Besides, who else does the Anaheim-infected L.A. baseball club (as opposed to the Andruw Jones-infected L.A. baseball club) have to close? Scot Shields? Eh ...

-- Like ever other big-name free agent, Mark Teixeira will be cashing checks with the Yankees logo on 'em this season. According to Mock Draft Central's ADP report, covering 300+ drafts held over the first four days of the new year, Tex is being drafted, on average, 14th overall. I bet he goes higher than that in every league I play in this year. 'Specially the ones that count OBP instead of AVG. Before Tex signed, I kept telling people, "Yeah, yeah, the Yankees improved their pitching staff tremendously ... but what about that hodgepodge lineup?" With Teixeira, it doesn't look so hodgepodgey anymore.

-- People are getting super-psyched about Matt Wieters, and my first reaction is to say, "Calm down. He'll be a rookie. We don't know we he'll do. Let's not go crazy." But, then again, I'm the guy who drafted Geovany Soto way too early (or so I was told) in not one but two leagues last season. How'd that work out for me? Oh, I only won one of those leagues and finished as runner-up in the other. Soto wasn't the only reason why, of course, but it sure was nice to watch the less-studious managers in those leagues take V-Mart and Russell Martin and Joe Mauer early, while I swooped in and grabbed a guy that not all of the managers had even heard of a few rounds later. Hmm, maybe Wieters can be that guy for me again this year. The problem is that a lot of the managers I compete against, even the casual players, are Pittsburgh Pirates fans. And all Pirates fans know who Matt Wieters is 'cause Pittsburgh is one of the teams that famously passed him by in the '07 draft.

-- My 14-team money league is not a keeper league, but where you finish at the end of one season determines what draft pick you have the next season. (The manager who wins gets first choice of draft position the following year. The manager who finished second gets second choice. Etc., etc.) Anyway, I finished in second in '08, and the guy who finishes second usually picks second. But I'm already planning to make the bold move of dropping down to fourth. Honestly, between A-Rod, Wright, Hanley and Reyes ... I don't care. (I'd rather have the slightly earlier second-round pick.) And, chances are, I'll end up with Reyes for the third straight year. And then I can start a "I love Jose Reyes" thread at our new forum, which is the whole reason we created this new and shiny Fantasy Hurler in the first place. Just so we can have a forum where I can start an "I love Jose Reyes" thread. Yes, I get a little too attached to my players sometimes.

Welcome, welcome, one and all, to the brand new Fantasy Hurler.

Two years after I decide to create a blog where I could bitch and moan about how shitty my fantasy baseball players were performing, we’re relaunching with a new look, new features … but the same mission statement (that would be the previously alluded to bitching and moaning).

The biggest change is that Fantasy Hurler is now part of the Bloguin Network, which gives us the resources to not only reach more readers but also offer those readers a wider array of content. You may have already noticed we have a forum now. Sweet, huh? All you need to do is register to start posting. Got a question about our site, your upcoming fantasy draft or which pricey free agent we think the Yankees will overpay next? Drop by the forum and ask away!

And if forums aren’t your thing, you can still post comments under individual Hurler articles without having to register, just like you used to in the good ol’ days. That’s what’s great about the new site: We’re adding some stuff and prettying it all up, without taking away the things that you all liked about the original Hurler.

A few notes: If you previously had us bookmarked, or were reading the site through an RSS reader, you’re going to have to make some changes. Our site is now located in entirety at www.fantasyhurler.com. The old Blogger address won’t be updated anymore (though those posts will remain there, a memorial to fantasy seasons past). Meanwhile, the new RSS feed is linked to under the Syndication tab on our front page.

So that’s basically it. Hope you guys dig the new site. If not, feel free to complain about it. (Did I mention we have a forum now? The perfect place to suggest ways we can continue to improve!) Also, special thanks to Derek Hanson of Bloguin for all the hard work he put into getting the new site up and running. Everyone involved with Hurler appreciates it.

Now, I believe we’ve got a new baseball season rapidly approaching …