The Florida Marlins started the season with two potential aces on their pitching staff—Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson.

Unfortunately, they will end the season with no aces on their roster.

Many words may be used to characterize the ups and downs of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2010 season, but from the standpoint of the fans, the best fitting description would be nothing short of "disappointing."

Normally, most teams who don't achieve the goals and ambitions that were set in spring training have the entire offseason to rebuild and regain focus, but in the case of the Dodgers, there are numerous off-field situations that seemingly need resolving before the team can move forward.

The Washington Nationals have 19 games remaining in the 2010 season.  If they win three of them, they will avoid losing 100 games for the third straight season.  It's little solace for Nats fans that harbored illusions of a wild-card berth when the team got off to a 20-15 start.

Boy, this season went by fast.

Seems like just yesterday that the Mariners were gearing up to take the league by storm with lights-out pitching and defense, and the Padres were preparing to field offers for Adrian Gonzalez. Those were the days.

As fantasy leagues wind down and head into playoff mode, most owners generally have similar goals in mind at this juncture.

Some owners are right smack in the middle of a battle for playoff position while others are looking forward to next season and the opportunity to start over. What you can expect to find in this week’s edition is a smattering of young players trying to impress their club and hopefully cement a spot on next year’s big league team.

By the grace of God, the Reds won the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, instead of losing it 2-1.

Out of 16 pitchers on the roster, is Coco Cordero the only one who can be entrusted to close a game?

 If so, we should just hand the Central Division trophy over to the Cardinals right now.

Let’s take a look at who had a big day and who didn’t yesterday:

Three Hot:

No, the bad news is that the Pittsburgh Pirates didn't exactly win the recent series against the division-leading Cincinnati Reds. The good news is that the two lost games were "ties" (at the end of nine innings).

Paul Maholm, Charlie Morton and Brian Burres all had quality starts going into the seventh inning and received no decisions. Late-inning surges won the final game outright, and gave the visitors chances in the other two encounters.

Defense wins championships. Well maybe not in baseball. Still, as the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, the 2009 Seattle Mariners, and the 2010 San Diego Padres have shown us, a good defense goes a long way in today's game.

Defense is the unappreciated side of the game. You don't see players winning MVP awards for their defensive play. Fielding wizards like Carl Crawford often fly under the radar, their offensive game attracting much more attention than their rare defensive skills.

It’s time to look at the potential two-start options for the upcoming fantasy week.  If I have someone rated as a three, four or five-star option, they are someone I would definitely use.  A two-star option is someone who is borderline, but I’d strongly lean against it unless I have no other options.  The one-star options are an absolutely not scenario.

So, with that said, let’s take a look at the players available to you this week:

Five-Star Options: