Another ailing Santana

Ervin Santana will open the year on the disabled list thanks to discomfort in his throwing elbow. The Angels right hander enjoyed a breakout 2008 season, but now faces uncertainty in 2009.

An MRI scan traced discomfort in his pitching elbow to a sprained medial collateral ligament, the team said on its website (http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/).

"We'll slow him down, let the stuff in his elbow calm down, and go from there," manager Mike Scioscia said.

"We don't anticipate that it's the sort of setback that will cost him an appreciable part of the season."

The 26-year-old Santana, a native of the Dominican Republic, was 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA in 2008 for the Angels, who won the American League West with a 100-62 record.

Santana slotted nicely behind John Lackey for a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. This is certainly another blow to Los Angeles, which lost Mark Teixeira and failed to sign CC Sabathia in the offseason. Had Bobby Abreu not decided on a late signing this might have been a complete loss of an offseason.

Fantasy Impact: Santana slips into that gray area of potential keeper. He doesn't have a complete body of work, but his one good season is borderline greatness. Now that he's hurt, protecting him in only the deepest of keeper rosters makes sense.