McCann can't see so good

Brian McCann, suffering with blurry vision in one eye even after Lasik surgery, will see a specialist regarding the issue.

“Either my eyesight’s changed, or I have a dry spot in my eye,” said McCann, mired in a 1-for-20 slump that has dropped his average to .200. “I tried wearing contacts for a week, and it didn’t work. Now I’ve got some antibiotic drops, and hopefully that will clear it up.”

If his vision has changed, he probably would have another Lasik procedure. That could require him to miss games and possibly go on the 15-day disabled list. He saw an eye doctor in Atlanta last week, but tests were inconclusive.

Fantasy Impact: McCann clobbered a couple of home runs in the opening series, but since then he's been pedestrian as a fantasy player. Put him on the pine until this issue clears up.

Mauer return set for May 1

The Twins put Joe Mauer on a rehab schedule for playing games, but it sounds like it will be at least a couple of weeks in the minors barring setbacks before the team's backstop can return to the majors.

The Twins want Mauer to get about 50 at-bats and 10 games, with at least half of those as the catcher.

Manager Ron Gardenhire said Sunday the final part of the plan is to put Mauer behind the plate for consecutive games to test his strength and stamina before activating him from the disabled list.

If Mauer stays on schedule, he's on track to rejoin the Twins for their May 1 game at home against the Kansas City Royals.

Fantasy Impact: Another two weeks shouldn't kill fantasy owners. Mauer is no messiah in fantasy baseball, however, as his batting average is his greatest plus. Mauer is more of a good complementary type who won't hurt you than he is a fantasy star.

Guerrero DL stint good for Wood?

As expected, Vlad Guerrero hit the disabled list Friday with a torn pectoral muscle and will miss at least a month. Speculation has Brandon Wood the likely call-up. His power bat might fit nicely in the middle-end of the Angels lineup.

Fantasy Impact: Guerrero's not a factor for at least a month or beyond. DL him asap. Wood looks like the obvious call-up candidate with his power abilities. He strikes out a ton, however, so in leagues that penalize whiffs, you might have second thoughts.

Sheffield's 500th

Gary Sheffield hit his 500th home run Friday night in a 5-4 Mets win over San Diego. Sheffield pinch hit in the seventh inning, his fifth at bat and first hit of the season. He's the 25th major leaguer to hit 25 home runs.

Fantasy Impact: Mets Manager Jerry Manuel says he wants Sheffield in shape to play the outfield, and that time needs to come sooner rather than later for fantasy owners. For now, Sheffield is nothing more than a one at bat wonder each and every day.

Webb's successful game of catch

After the most anticipated game of catch in the world Friday, April 17th, Brandon Webb said his arm is feeling better.

They threw for about 10 minutes, with manager Bob Melvin and pitching coach Bryan Price watching, but Webb said he needed almost no time to realize how much better he was feeling.

"I was a little apprehensive letting it go right off the bat, but as soon as I started throwing I was like, 'This feels totally different from what it did (before),' " he said.

Fantasy Impact: This is obviously one small step for Webb in the recovery process. He's going to have to clear a couple more hurdles before he even considers pitching in a game again.

Kudos to Kubel on cycle

Jason Kubel's grand slam capped off a cycle against the Angels and a spectacular night for the Twins outfielder. Kubel goes 4-5 with five RBI and two runs in a 10-8 Twins win at the Metrodome.

Fantasy Impact: Kubel is considered part of a platoon in the Twins outfield with Delmon Young, and he's earning quite a few of the at bats. He's good for maybe 450 this season, but if he continues to break out, Kubel will become a full-fledged starter.

Benching Bonifacio

After he struck out seven times in 10 at bats, the Florida Marlins kept Emilio Bonifacio out of the starting lineup Friday night. They're trying to get the youngster to change his approach at the plate. Namely, chasing high fastballs.

Fantasy Impact: Certainly Bonifacio's amazing breakout to start the season was going to cool considerably at some point this season, but to see him go from such a peak to such a valley smacks of a youthful player still becoming accustomed to an every day role as a big leaguer. He'll continue to produce and sputter in waves this season. You'll have to hope for more periods of production than otherwise.

Downs or Frasor after Ryan?

Athlon Sports releases its latest on closer roles up for grabs, expecting Manny Corpas to eventually take over for Huston Street and Jason Frasor potentially winning the Blue Jays job from B.J. Ryan.

For more on closers, see 2009 MLB closers.

Fantasy Impact: There's really no information available on Frasor wresting the job from Ryan or even winning it over setup man Scott Downs, whom Cito Gaston himself considered Ryan's biggest challenger at the end of the spring. The only reason Frasor earned a save this season was he bailed out Ryan in a game against the Indians when Downs had already been used.

Frasor has started using a split-finger pitch this season with solid results. So, while it is possible that Frasor has the stuff to close games, it isn't necessarily likely that he will be the first reliever off the bench when Ryan falters. We'll consider Downs the favorite to see opportunities while Frasor is possibly choice 1A.

The left-handed Maddux?

There's something special about White Sox starter John Danks. Danks threw six innings of two-hit baseball in Tampa Thursday night, striking out eight while giving up a single run. He earned his first win of 2009, a 3-2 nail-biter over the Rays.

At the age of 24, Danks is growing into a legitimate MLB pitcher. He won't wow anyone with his stuff, which is more than adequate but still not overwhelming. His numbers, however, jump off the page in Greg Maddux-like fashion. Take a look at the pitchers' first two seasons in the majors. The comparison is eerie.

2007 JD -- 6-13 ERA: 5.50 IP: 139.0 H: 160 HR: 28 BB: 54 K: 109 WHIP: 1.540
1987 GM -- 6-14 ERA: 5.61 IP: 155.2 H: 181 HR: 17 BB: 74 K: 101 WHIP: 1.638

2008 JD -- 12-9 ERA: 3.32 IP: 195.0 H: 182 HR: 15 BB: 57 K: 159 WHIP: 1.226
1988 GM -- 18-8 ERA: 3.18 IP: 249.0 H: 230 HR: 13 BB: 81 K: 140 WHIP: 1.249

Their rookie seasons are near-mirror images of each other. Danks gave up more home runs while Maddux kept the ball in the yard but gave up more base runners. Year two shows some separation in the numbers as Maddux began his winning ways and threw more innings, but it's not that far off. Danks limited base runners in Maddux-like fashion, and he continued to use his above-average pitches to strike out more batters.

It's hard to draw the conclusion that Danks will continue his meteoric rise as one of the top young arms in baseball based on this comparison to Maddux. The Hall of Famer eventually produced off-the-charts stats, like 20 BB and a 0.946 WHIP in 1997. He did win 355 games for a reason: he averaged 16 wins over his 23 seasons.

Danks is behind a year age-wise, and he's eight wins behind Maddux through two full seasons in the big leagues. He's got the numbers to expect great things ahead, and while a Greg Maddux comparison is not fair to almost any pitcher, the first two years are comparable for John Danks. Maddux entered the big leagues as a young 20-year-old with considerable upside, but his first season in Chicago left some with tempered expectations. Danks is the same type of high-end prospect who met with limited success when he first cracked the surface. Since then, he's been brilliant.

Valverde hurt?

LaTroy Hawkins worked the ninth inning of the Astros' 6-3 victory at Pittsburgh. Both Rotoworld.com and The Sporting News worry that Valverde may have some sort of arm problem. He only threw 16 pitches the night before in a non-save situation.

Fantasy Impact: If Valverde is hurt, Hawkins hasn't had a whole lot of success as a closer.

Who's your Padres?

Break up San Diego, the Padres can't be beaten. Despite a ho-hum pitching performance from Jake Peavy, San Diego knocked around Mets starter John Maine for six runs on seven hits in just five innings. Heath Bell earned his fifth save in five chances and still hasn't allowed a run. 6-5 is the final.

Second-year slow-starter Chase Headley powered the Padres with four hits in four at bats and three RBI. San Diego is 7-3.

Fantasy Impact: Peavy's WHIP of 2.000 in this one was very disappointing, and he only lasted five innings. Peavy still earns his second win. He's fairly solid in his role as a fantasy ace.

Headley brought his average back up to .256. He's a high-end prospect, and if he can overcome the spacious alleys of Petco Park, he might be able to have a breakout season in 2009.

Martis leads Nats to first win

Washington is finally a winner. Behind a solid outing from rookie starter Shairon Martis, the Nationals pounded out eight runs on 13 hits to beat Joe Blanton and the Phillies, 8-2. Washington improves to 1-7 while dropping the Phils to 4-4.

Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Elijah Dukes and Alberto Gonzalez all went deep for the Nats, and the bullpen tossed 2 2/3 innings of no-hit ball.

Fantasy Impact: Martis' name was bantered about in fantasy circles this preseason. He put together fairly good numbers in the minors, but walks have been his biggest problem. He only walked two on this night, and if he can keep the ball in the zone, Martis might be a modest sleeper candidate pitching for a bad team.

Halladay outduels Liriano

Francisco Liriano pitched well for the first time this season, but the Twins lefty still lost to the Blue Jays' Roy Halladay, 9-2. While Liriano was busy pitching six strong innings, giving up one run with six strikeouts, Hallady was besting him in nearly every category. Halladay worked seven innings and struck out eight. He picks up his third win. Liriano suffers his third loss.

Toronto, which sent eight batters to the plate hitting better than .300, is now a surprising 8-3. They beat up on the Twins bullpen.

Fantasy Impact: Liriano's effort is a serious relief for owners wondering when he'd lower his lofty ERA. It's down to 5.09 now, which is at least entering respectability.

Halladay is an ace who many allowed to slide in fantasy drafts due to his unlikeliness to win with the Blue Jays. He's 3-0 and can make it halfway to ten before the end of the month.

Cards bats, not Wainwright, beat Cubs

Despite the loss of Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals continue to make one of the best starts in the majors. With a 7-4 win over the Cubs, St. Louis improves to 8-3 on the year.

They got it done with hitting on Thursday with Chris Duncan, Khalil Greene and Brian Barden all going deep. Then again, the Cardinals were facing Cubs fifth starter Sean Marshall while the Cubs dealt with St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright.

Fantay Impact: Wainwright actually didn't pitch very well, giving up four runs in six innings while still earning a win. He's giving up a lot of base runners but keeping them from scoring. He'll need to right that ship if he wants to maintain a 3.31 ERA.

Duncan is hitting .389, and Tony La Russa's faith in him against lefties like Marshall is paying off. He picked up three hits today in four at bats.

Guerrero to visit Yocum

Injuries continue to mount in the second full week of the season. Vlad Guerrero, struggling with a bothersome pectoral muscle, is leaving the Angels to take a visit to Dr. Lewis Yocum.

“I want to get back to playing right field,” he said in the clubhouse through an interpreter. “The way I am swinging the bat has nothing to do with this. … I just haven’t gotten into the swing of things.”

He said he first felt discomfort during an exhibition against the Dodgers four days before opening day.

“It progressed to the point that I can’t play the field, and I want to take care of it,” he said.

Asked if the Angels would be OK using Guerrero indefinitely as a DH only, Scioscia said, “We’re going to have to be.

“Obviously (it’s about) what Vlad brings to our team, and the lion’s share of what he brings is hitting right in the middle of the lineup and swinging the bat,” the manager said. “And if we can get that, it goes a long way to building an offense.

“We’ll take it one step at a time. If it’s something where he’s limited to that role, we obviously have enough (outfield) depth to work around that.”

Fantasy Impact: Typically a visit to Dr. Yocum means something serious, but that's with shoulder problems. A strained pec, which Vladdy says doesn't affect his swing, doesn't sound like as big a problem. Then again, Guerrero is leaving the team to make this visit, signaling a potential escalating problem. If the injury doesn't bother his swing, and he can DH all season long, why does he need to take time off to see Yocum?

We're expecting Guerrero to miss some significant time -- maybe as much as a 15-day disabled list stint. Maybe more.

Alex Gordon disabled

Alex Gordon returned from his right hip problem only to suffer further trouble with the injury. He's going on the disabled list with a cartilage tear, and the injury requires surgery. There's no word on his eventual return.

***Update -- 8:39 p.m. CST -- Gordon tore the hip labrum, and he's visiting the same Vail, Colorado doctor who performed surgery on Alex Rodriguez.

Fantasy Impact: Mike Aviles and Mark Teahen played some third with Gordon on the shelf. We'll assume Teahen takes over full-time until Gordon can return. With surgery you have to expect he'll miss at least a couple of months. That's territory for a potential release in fantasy play as Gordon hasn't produced at all this season.

Ross is boss for a day

Cody Ross finally found his power stroke in Atlanta. Ross poked his first home run of the 2009 season, going 3-3 with 4 RBI to push Florida past Atlanta. He's hitting .207 this season after batting .260 with 22 home runs in 2008.

Fantasy Impact: Ross is a full-time starter, but he's a lower-end option in fantasy play. His batting average isn't impressive, he doesn't run and he hits near the bottom of the Florida order. That means his run and RBI totals won't compare to middle-of-the order types at his position. Ross strikes out about a quarter of the time, and he produced a paltry .313 OBP in 2008. He's a stopgap option if one of your slugging starters goes down.

Aramis back, but is the back bad?

Aramis Ramirez returned to the Cubs lineup after back stiffness kept him out of a pair of games against Colorado. During his first at bat, Cubs announcer Len Kasper said Ramirez's back problems actually lingered throughout the spring.

Fantasy Impact: It's not the best news when one of the top five players at a position is dealing with a potentially chronic ailment. If Ramirez continues to miss starts here and there, he becomes an injury-risk starter whose value decreases. We still forecast Ramirez right behind A-Rod, David Wright, Evan Longoria and Miguel Cabrera (who still has eligibility this season) at third. Chipper Jones and Garrett Atkins are his primary competitors as potential top-five players at the hot corner.

Ballpark factor in fantasy baseball

Eric Walker takes a look at the difficulty of analyzing ballpark data and how statistics struggle to help make definite conclusions on the nature of a baseball stadium.

I appreciate Walker's analysis that analysis is inherently flawed. I've always believed that the players playing in the ballpark affect the statistics the park produces more than the stadium itself. Petco Park, for example, cannot escape the fact that the Padres will play in all 81 games she houses in a given year. To compare how Padre players perform at home vs. on the road is not necessarily going to give you good control data to make any conclusions, either. Some players play better on the road than at home in general. Some players play better at night than in day games. Some players randomly produce differently in different places from year to year.

Hoffman throws off mound; closer by committee in Milwaukee?

Trevor Hoffman threw off a mound on Wednesday, experiencing no issues with the oblique injury that sidelined him late in spring training.

"It's good to be back on the slope," Hoffman said. "I didn't throw as many strikes as I would have liked, but I think the key was to come out of it pain-free."

Hoffman will throw off a mound again Saturday in New York. The next step after that is to be determined, according to manager Ken Macha, but Hoffman indicated that he could join the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in Memphis as early as Tuesday to begin a Minor League rehabilitation assignment.

That means Hoffman is at least 10 days away from returning to the big leagues.

Fantasy Impact: The Brewers don't have a great option at closer after Hoffman. They need him back. Manager Ken Macha suggested that a few Brewers relievers might get chances to close games alongside de facto closer Carlos Villanueva, who has struggled in the role. Macha mentioned Todd Coffey, Seth McClung and Mark DiFelice as pitchers throwing better than Villanueva right now.

Perez to push for closer role in STL

The St. Louis Cardinals have the most interesting bullpen in baseball. With the call-up of Chris Perez, St. Louis has three options for saves. Perez will battle Jason Motte and Ryan Franklin for the closer role while Kyle McClellan likely slides into the rotation in place of the injured Chris Carpenter.

Fantasy Impact: Get. Perez. Now. He's only 23, but he can bring the heat. Perez is the sexiest option between the three. Hold your breath and hope he can string together a few solid outings to inherit the role full-time. You'll be glad you took a chance on the future relief star.

Another pothole for Street

Huston Street entered a non-save situation against the Cubs in the ninth inning and turned the game into a save situation for Jason Grilli. Street offered up a home run to Derrek Lee and two more base runners before Grilli entered to close it out. Manager Clint Hurdle said he made the move to "put the game away." Not exactly a ringing endorsement for his closer.

"I'll be fine," Street said. "They're not all going to fall in. The truth is, when we win and I have a bad outing, I don't really care. I do care because my team needs me to start having good outings, but I'm going to have good outings."

Fantasy Impact: Opponents are hitting .533 against Street. Manny Corpas, available to pitch in the ninth, was not Hurdle's choice. The Rockies have issues at the back end of the bullpen that need to be sorted out. Street is the de facto closer until his problems push Corpas, or perhaps Grilli, into the fold.

Seattle resurrections

Ichiro made his return to the Great Northwest Wednesday night after a bleeding ulcer had sidelined Japan's World Baseball Classic hero. He didn't disappoint in his first game back, going 2-5 with a grand slam and a stolen base as the Mariners whip the Angels, 11-3.

Ken Griffey Jr. also homered, lifting No. 613 of his career, his 400th as a Mariner.

Picking up his second win in the game was starter Jarrod Washburn, who looks like he's found something in that new sinker. Washburn cruised until giving up a two-run homer to Torii Hunter in the fourth, and that was it. He's 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA.

Fantasy Impact: Ichiro returns to his place as one of the premier average/speed threats in all of baseball. He's a starter in every fantasy baseball format.

Washburn is a sleeper for a rebound season. He hasn't made much of a fantasy impact since 2005, and even that year he only finished 8-8. With a new pitch and a 2-0 start on a 7-2 Mariners team you should ride the wave while it lasts.

Rasmus starts, Ludwick swats

Don't look now, but Colby Rasmus is playing every day for the St. Louis Cardinals. Rasmus started for fourth straight game, hit a run-scoring double and scored two runs. The Cardinals cruise past Arizona, 12-7, with Ryan Ludwick swatting his third home run.

Fantasy Impact: A 2008 All-Star, Ludwick is the only Redbird outfielder with an everyday job. Rasmus started in center field in place of Rick Ankiel. In a crowded Cardinals outfield that could see Rasmus, Ankiel and Chris Duncan platoon for one another all season, Rasmus likely does not command enough fantasy value to start at this time. He's even available on a number of waiver wires, which is surprising given his pedigree as a 22-year-old with major upside. Take a flier soon, or you might be disappointed this one got away.

Can't hit Hampton

Astros starter Mike Hampton looked strong in a 4-1 win at Pittsburgh. Hampton allowed just four hits over six innings and struck out eight. He's 1-1 on the year.

Fantasy Impact: Tough to give advice on Hampton. Flip a coin -- heads, you pick him up off the waiver wire; tails, you don't. He's really an unknown at this point of his career having thrown 147 1/3 innings since 2005. He's 37 this year, and he hasn't put together a great season of pitching since 1999. That's ten years ago. Still, if your staff is hurting for a wild card, call us crazy, but Hampton might fill a void. The Astros are hoping so.

Kinsler cycle

Ian Kinsler's hot start just went supernova. The Rangers' second baseman goes 6-6 and hits for the cycle in a 19-6 pasting of Baltimore. Kinsler is now hitting .474 with three homers.

Fantasy Impact: There are those who consider Kinsler to be the best second sacker in all of baseball. We'll take Chase Utley for his consistency and power numbers, although Kinsler and Brandon Phillips play close seconds (no pun intended). If you think Utley was an injury risk at the start of the year due to his recovery from hip surgery, consider that Kinsler has never played more than 130 games in a single season.

The arrival of Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw may have made his major league debut in 2008, but tonight the young Dodger pitcher looked like a major league ace for the first time in his career. With 13 strikeouts in seven innings of work, Kershaw dominated the Giants with his fastball. The left-hander looked unhitable -- and he was, save for a solo homer by Bengie Molina in the second.

Fantasy Impact: Kershaw left with a 2-1 lead and watched Aaron Rowand ruin his win with a 3-run homer in the eighth off of Hong-Chih Kuo. Such is life in the big leagues. Kershaw's ERA dropped to 1.50. His days of inconsistencies are probably not fully in the rear-view mirror just yet, but you can expect sparkling performances such as this to be sprinkled in just as often.

Strong-armed Armando

Tigers second-year pitcher Armando Galarraga continues his progression as a major leaguer. Galarraga's fine 2008, in which he recorded 13 wins and a 3.73 ERA, looks to be eclipsed if you believe in his hot start is for real.

Galarraga has allowed just one run in two starts and has struck out 12 batters in 13 1/3 innings. Today he worked 6 1/3 shutout innings to beat the White Sox, 9-0.

Fantasy Impact: Don't confuse Galarraga with a fantasy ace just yet. He walks three batters per nine innings, which is pretty good but not ideal, and he served up 28 home runs in less than 180 innings in 2008. He does limit hits, and if those strikeout numbers stay up he's a possible number two or three in your rotation for the year. Not too shabby, considering you probably drafted him as your number four.

Foxy stretch at Wrigley

Michael J. Fox sang the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley today. He looks pretty good and sounded equally strong singing from the booth.

Bad start

The Baseball Analysts take a look at Pythagorean win-loss and decide the Washington Nationals aren't necessarily an awful 0-7. They're more like a really bad 2-5.

Don't miss Swish

Nick Swisher's next assignment with the Yankees won't be at pitcher. He's likely the Yankees' starter in right field now that Xavier Nady's elbow issue could be season-ending.

Fantasy Impact: Nady's value obviously plummets with the news he could miss all of '09. Swisher is intriguing, to say the least. He's a streaky hitter who's belted 35 homers in a single major league season, but he's also a .246 career hitter who rolled out a .219/.332/.410 line in 2009. If he's on the waiver wire, nab him as a fourth outfielder. A good Yankee lineup around Swisher, coupled with a short porch in right at New Yankee Stadium could provide for some fantasy help.

Carpenter disabled

The Cardinals place Chris Carpenter on the disabled list after straining his ribcage in Arizona Wednesday night. He's out at least a month.

Fantasy Impact: Always the danger with Carpenter, injuries seem to be getting the better of him these days. This is his ninth trip to the disabled list. If you drafted him, you new injury risk was a concern. This qualifies as a bad injury, but not quite a devastating one. Here's hoping you took him late, when you already rounded out your staff. Carpenter will remain an injury-risk sleeper for the second half of the season.

Hard-luck Harden

Rich Harden is one of those guys who can't seem to fully harness his incredible gift of throwing a baseball. The Cubs starter lasted just three innings against Colorado on Wednesday, needing 92 pitches to record nine outs. He struck out eight Rockies batters but walked four. Harden gave up four runs, bringing his ERA up to 5.00. He left with a 4-0 Rockies lead.

Fantasy Impact: In his last 10 starts, Harden pitched out of the fifth inning just five times. He's no better than a five or six inning guy, but he's one of the best in baseball in terms of stuff. This leaves fantasy owners in a quandry. Do you treat Harden as an ace who can win big with the Cubs, or do you consider Harden an also-ran who will blow you away numbers-wise ever third or fourth start? The obvious answer is somewhere in between. Harden makes for a dynamic third starter, and upside is there now that he's on a consistently winning team. He will miss a few starts, however, and he's more likely to have success going deep into games against teams with free swingers.

Contreras can't get through six

Hot and cold Jose Contreras looked like he was putting together one of his good starts in Detroit. Through four innings in Detroit Contreras allowed just three base runners, one of them on his own fielding error. The Tigers got two in the fourth of a Placido Polanco double. Miguel Cabrera homered in the sixth, and after Contreras exited three batters later, Clayton Richard allowed another two runs, one of them charged to Contreras.

Contreras' line: 5.1 IP, 5H 5R, 4ER, 2 BB, 4K

Fantasy Impact: Those aren't terrible numbers, and Richard didn't help matters much. But Contreras doesn't help fantasy owners, either. Not right now, anyway. He's bound to find his good stuff at some point this season, but the veteran owns a 6.97 ERA through two starts. He's best left on the waiver wire at this time.

Matsuzaka disabled

Daisuke Matsuzaka hit the disabled list with "arm fatigue." File this one under W-B-C. He gave up five runs in one inning last night, growing his ERA to 12.79.

Fantasy Impact: Daisuke will miss a few starts going on the DL. If he "feels fine," hopefully this is only a minor setback.

Who's leading off?

The Chicago White Sox go with Brent Lillibridge as the leadoff man again following the minor injury to Chris Getz. Getz will be back at the top of the order again on Thursday when the Sox take on Tampa Bay.

That might last forever, however, with Scott Podsednik signed to a minor league deal after an injury to Dewayne Wise. The White Sox leadoff spot could eventually become Podsednik's.

Fantasy Impact: Podsednik batted just .253 in 2008 with the Rockies. He's a low-end option in fantasy play, and he's not even with the team at this time. Lillibridge remains a backup to Getz, who deserves a look at second base in deeper leagues.

Fans boycott MLB over steroids

A group of New Jersey fans is attempting to get steroids out of baseball by proposing an MLB boycott. You can check out their initiative here: www.baseballfansgiveback.com

Cubs' Bradley strains groin

Milton Bradley is expected to miss Monday's Cubs home opener after straining his groin Sunday in Milwaukee.

Fantasy Impact: If Bradley misses time, Kosuke Fukudome moves to right field while Reed Johnson and Joey Gathright patrol center. Johnson makes more of a fantasy impact than Gathright except for the steals category.

Diamondbacks bullpen roles change

Juan Gutierrez moves ahead of Jon Rauch as the Arizona Diamondbacks seventh inning setup man.

"Like we've done in the past, if someone is struggling a little bit we'll try to back them off and get them in some less prominent outings," Melvin said.

Gutierrez had looked sharp in his first appearance, retiring all four batters he faced on Tuesday, but he allowed three runs in an inning on Saturday.

Fantasy Impact: Gutierrez will be third in line for saves behid Chad Qualls and Tony Pena. That's not a big deal, although it confirms that Rauch is no longer in competition with Qualls or even Pena. He does not factor in as a saves candidate at this point.

Ellbury flawless again in center

Jacoby Ellsbury set the Boston Red Sox record for consecutive games without and error on Sunday with his 179th error-less game. Now, if the leadoff man could only get on base...

Gordon sidelined again Sunday

Royals third baseman Alex Gordon, substituted Saturday due to a sore hip, sat out Sunday for Mark Teahen. The Royals are calling the injury "day to day."

Come on, Lincecum

Tim Lincecum's struggles continued for a second start. The 2008 National League Cy Young winner struggled with three walks and ten hits allowed in a 6-1 drubbing by San Diego.

“Right now there’s a little more negatives on my side than usual,” Lincecum said. “I’ve just got to go down and take a look at what’s going on and figure something out.”

Chase Headley homered for the second straight day and Luis Rodriguez had two sacrifice flies for San Diego, which finished with 13 hits.

Lincecum had been dominant in his previous eight starts against the Padres, going 3-1 with a microscopic 0.95 ERA.

“He hasn’t gotten into his good groove yet,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “His fastball command is not sharp and that’s what is hurting him. As good as he is, he really needs to do that.”

You have to wonder if Lincecum's illness this spring, coupled with mediocre spring stuff, is contributing to his slow start. The Giants' ace saw Padres right hander Chris Young work seven strong innings with seven strikeouts for his second win.

Slugging Soriano

Alfonso Soriano bashed his National-League-leading fourth home run into the night to leadoff the Cubs 8-5 win over Milwaukee at Miller Park. It's Soriano's second leadoff home run this season. He has just seven RBI, thanks to batting leadoff. MLB home run leader Evan Longoria (5 HR) owns 10 RBI.

Fantasy Impact: Soriano might be an ideal No. 5 hitter. He's got pop, and while his on base percentage lacks, he can steal a base once he gets on. That's an ideal type of player for the role in the National League, where a power guy can knock himself in or get himself from first to second in time for the lower order to bring him home before the pitcher's turn. Soriano desires to bat first, though, so his RBI numbers will continue to take a hit.

Glavine's shoulder situation

Braves fifth starter Tom Glavine experienced some shoulder issues in his final minor league tuneup. Could this open the door for phenom Tommy Hanson to make the Braves rotation?

Hanson struck out ten in 4 1/3 innings in his first Minor League outing.

Pitching late early

So much for early-season pitch counts. Cincinnati's Aaron Harang (108 pitches), Florida's Josh Johnson (113 pitches) and St. Louis' Kyle Lohse (112 pitches) all threw complete games on the season's first Sunday.

The Mariners' Erik Bedard (102 pitches) worked into the ninth before giving way to his bullpen in a 1-0 shutout of Oakland.

Angels they are not

The Red Sox and Angels saw three members of the Angels ejected during two bench-clearing incidents in Sunday's game. Torii Hunter is the only player ejected with fantasy value. Owners will need to compensate for a possible suspension. Angels reliever Just Speier, the other ejected player, has little fantasy value and should not be owned in most pleagues.

Webb disabled

Brandon Webb might have no structural damage in his right shoulder, but he's on the disabled list, anyway. The Diamondbacks' stopper will be out at least another ten days.

Steve Phillips on the Cubs

ESPN's Steve Phillips believes the Cubs closer situation is a battle that will eventually be won by Carlos Marmol. According to Philips, Marmol has the better stuff and is the better pitcher when compared with current Cubs closer Kevin Gregg. Phillips voiced his opinion numerous times on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball as Marmol pitched a perfect eighth and Gregg struggled through the ninth.

Phillips also had a bit of a run-in with Lou Piniella this week and apologized to the Cubs manager for his criticism of Piniella's perceived handling of Kosuke Fukudome.

Cuddyer double error

Minnesota started Michael Cuddyer at first base in an effort to give Justin Morneau the day off. The move came back to haunt the Twins in the fifth inning. On a Chris Getz bouncer to first with two out Cuddyer booted the ball, allowing Paul Konerko to score from third. Then Cuddyer threw the ball away at first, allowing the White Sox runners to move up. Cuddyer is charged with two errors, and the White Sox knotted the game at 1-1.

Gregg still the guy in Chicago

CBSsports.com reports that despite Carlos Marmol's opportunity to save tonight, Kevin Gregg is still the Cubs' closer. Gregg blew his latest save opportunity but will be the man Lou Piniella calls on Sunday if the Cubs have a save chance.

Swisher swats the ball with Teixeira out

Nick Swisher played in place of Mark Teixeira at first base on Saturday while Teixeira tends to a sore left wrist. Swisher put up Teixeira-type numbers with a homer and a triple, recording three RBI in the 6-1 Yankees win. Swisher is hitting .538.

Fantasy Impact: Teixeira's issue doesn't sound serious, so expect him to be back in the lineup soon. Swisher is nothing more than a backup at first and in right field, where Xavier Nady beat him for a starting job. If Swisher stays hot, the Yankees might find ways to get him in the lineup.

Fast start for Bonifacio

Emilio Bonifacio collected three more hits tonight against the Mets in an 8-4 Marlins loss. The speedy leadoff man is hitting .583 through 23 at bats and becomes third-base eligible in most leagues by the middle of next week.

Fantasy Impact: Bonifacio offers a nice alternative to Chone Figgins for a speed option at third base. The Marlins and fantasy owners will have to hope his major production lasts for more than one week.

Sabathia money

CC Sabathia earned every bit of his big-money contract with the Yankees today, rolling into the eighth inning against Kansas City with six strikeouts and no earned runs. The Yankees used his stellar performance for a comfortable 6-1 win.

Sabathia is owed $161-million over the next seven seasons in Yankee pinstripes. He started 35 games for the Indians and Brewers last season, so if he keeps up that pace for the next seven years, Sabathia will earn $657,142.86 each time he climbs the hill.

A tale of two pitching statlines

The oddest statline of the day might go to the strange duel between Roy Oswalt and Adam Wainwright. Oswalt needed 89 pitches to get through six innings, giving up six earned runs. Wainwright labored much more than his counterpart, requiring 102 pitches to get through the fifth. Wainwright, however, gave up no runs and just seven base runners to Oswalt's 11, winning the game comfortably, 11-2.

Fantasy Impact: Both pitchers struck out four batters, but Oswalt just left his stuff over the plate more than Wainwright did. The Cardinals ace fought off batter after batter, eventually earning outs instead of base runners. We expect these two to serve as good number two starters in fantasy play.

Pujols Pounds Houston

A healthy Albert Pujols will earn player of the week honors with this type of production. Pujols smacked a grand slam and a three-run shot against the Astros, good for seven RBI, as the Cardinals cruse, 11-2. Pujols is closing in on double-digit RBI in week one.

More Mora

Melvin Mora powered the Baltimore Orioles past the Tampa Bay Rays with a first-inning grand slam that put the game out of reach from the outset. Baltimore beats Tampa, 6-0.

Fantasy Impact: Mora might be 37 years old, but he's saved his best baseball for the second half of his career. Since turning 30 he's totaled double digits in home runs every year. He's a middle-of-the-road third baseman who can keep you afloat offensively with an average right around .280 and 20 blasts.

Oh, Myers!

The Phillies Brett Myers is well on his way to making home run history in 2009. Myers gave up three home runs against the Colorado Rockies Saturday night, equaling the three blasts he served up to Atlanta on opening night. That's six home runs in two starts, which multiplies out to 90 homers over 30 starts, shattering both Jose Lima's National League record of 48 homers allowed in a single season and Bert Blyleven's Major League single-season record of 50 homers allowed.

Of course Myers is on pace to make at least 32 starts as the Phillies opening day starter, which means he could push 100 homers if he keeps up the pace!

Update: The Phillies win the game, 8-4 as Myers has never lost to Colorado.

Fantasy Impact: Myers is a power pitcher with streaks of both good and bad. He's a decent third option in a fantasy rotation who will provide as much risk as reward.

Doumit dominates Reds

Ryan Doumit lifted a ninth-inning grand slam off of Reds pitcher Mike Lincoln for his first home run of the 2009 season. Doumit goes 3-5 on the afternoon to go along with the run scored and four RBI, lifting his paltry average to .238. The Pirates pounded the Reds, 10-2.

Fantasy Impact: Doumit played in just 116 games in 2008 thanks to breaking his thumb mid-season. He's one of those rare plus-average, plus-power catchers. Consider him a lesser Brian McCann; a backstop capable of climbing into the top five at his position as he warms up.

Ryan ripped by Tribe

Toronto closer B.J. Ryan got the Jason Motte treatment Saturday in Cleveland. Following closer candidate Scott Downs, who worked an 18-pitch, one-hit eight, Ryan imploded. With two outs and the bases cleared, Ryan gave up a single, a pair of walks and a three-RBI double to Mark DeRosa. Jays manager Cito Gaston promptly pulled Downs, and Jason Frasor struck out Victor Martinez to clinch a 5-4 save.

Fantasy Impact: We continue to watch closely as Downs out-pitches Ryan and looks better equipped for the closer role at this time. Frasor got the save chance because Downs was already used in the eighth.

Scott Lewis disabled

Indians starter Scott Lewis landed on the disabled list with soreness in his elbow. Vinnie Chulk takes his place on the roster.

Lewis' last two Cactus League starts weren't good ones. He gave up 15 runs on 21 hits in 6 2/3 innings and told reporters the dry air was affecting his ability to grip the ball. He had one last spring tuneup in a Minor League intrasquad, but that was merely a three-inning warmup. Lewis said the elbow gave him trouble the more he pitched and the more he got up and down between innings.

"It kept getting worse, and I think that's why I haven't been finishing pitches," he said. "I had been over-rotating my changeup and putting extra stress on it. It's just not calming down with treatment. Hopefully it's just tendinitis or something and the shutdown will help."

Fantasy Impact: There's no word on how serious the injury is at this point. Lewis wasn't much of a fantasy option. He was a surprise to make Cleveland's rotation in the first place. Chulk will work out of the bullpen, so we'll wait on Cleveland's consideration for a fifth starter during Lewis' absence.

Love for Crede

Joe Crede's return to Chicago's south side as a member of the Minnesota Twins is a memorable one. In a hilarious moment, Crede walked to the plate with "All Out of Love" spilling out of the U.S. Cellular Field PA system and the White Sox faithful greeting him with a standing ovation. Crede smiled at the plate and then silenced the crowd with a home run to left field off of Jose Contreras. The Twins rolled the White Sox, 12-5.

Fantasy Impact: Crede may never get back to the level of his 30-homer 2006 season, but he's certainly a threat to post 20 homers and knock in 90 runs in a good Twins lineup. Crede's off to a .188 start through four games, and he's only a .257 lifetime hitter. Consider him a sleeper in 2009 who is capable of finishing the year in the top 10 of all third basemen.

Not Motte?

Jason Motte appears in danger of losing his closer job. The Cardinals rookie pitched to three Houston batters in the ninth inning, giving up a pair of singles sandwiched around a fly out. That was enough for Tony La Russa, who pulled Motte for Kyle McClellan. McClellan finished the job with a strikeout of Kaz Matsui followed by a fielder's choice ground out off the bat of Hunter Pence. Cardinals win, 5-3.

Fantasy Impact: Motte's confidence must be sinking. After he surrendered four runs on four hits on opening night, Ryan Franklin became the standby closer for game two and Dennys Reyes picked up a save the next night. Now Motte gets pulled for another youngster who, like Motte, had just one career save before Friday night.

It looks like closer by committee in St. Louis until a hot hand emerges, and a solitary stud is what La Russa would like to see emerge.

Tigers beat up Benson

Kris Benson hadn't pitched in the Majors since late September, 2006, and his five innings in Detroit Friday made the Rangers starter look like he hasn't pitched in years. Benson gave up a 4th inning grand slam to Miguel Cabrera and a solo shot to Jeff Larish to open the 5th. Seven earned runs through five innings is not what the Rangers had in mind when they picked Benson up off the scrap heap in the offseason. Texas trails 8-0 in the 6th.

Fantasy Impact: We're not willing to write off Benson after one outing, but you can leave him on the fantasy waiver wire until he finds some productive consistency. He threw very well in the spring.

Webb of insurance problems

Diamondbacks starter Brandon Webb failed to secure an insurance policy in the offseason because insurance companies were worried about his right arm.

But in using a higher standard when assessing potential risk, multiple agencies had concerns, which created a "red flag" for the Diamondbacks.

Diamondbacks General Manager Josh Byrnes would neither confirm nor deny the report, telling The Arizona Republic Thursday, "When it comes to details pertaining to negotiations, it's not something I want to talk about on or off the record."

"In the short term," Byrnes continued, "we will continue to monitor Brandon's (health) status and I believe he will be back on the mound shortly. We'll keep everyone notified of that, but talking about his contract or any negotiations is not something we want to talk about."

The more we hear about Webb's shoulder problems, the more concern grows. Here's a pitcher who's logged a lot of innings the past several years and couldn't get an insurance policy for his arm. That can't be a good thing.

Fantasy Impact: Webb will miss his next start. We do want to remember that the Diamondbacks ace passed a physical to play this year. We don't believe that's proof that he's OK to pitch at the Major League level. This latest revelation should have fantasy owners worried.

Joe Martinez concussion

Giants reliever Joe Martinez, who took a line drive to the head in last night's 7-1 win over the Brewers, is recovering from a concussion. The Giants say he has no broken bones.

Update: Martinez did, in fact, suffer skull fractures from the impact. Giants manager Bruce Bochy expects his pitcher to be back to baseball before the end of the month.

Upton "great" after Minor League game

Rays center fielder B.J. Upton, recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, successfully completed a Minor League game Thursday night.

"I feel great physically," Upton, 24, said. "I'm just trying to pan some things out with my swing right now."

Upton grounded out in the first inning and hit an infield flyout in the ninth. He also walked twice and was hit by a pitch that grazed his jersey.

Fantasy Impact: Upton returns to the Rays on Monday. He's on schedule with his recovery and is expected to make a major impact this season. Despite his modest power numbers in 2008, many forecasters expect a breakout 2009 after his postseason power binge. The jury is out Upton becoming a major slugger, but he'll continue to be a speed demon on the bases. We'll look for a .28-100-20-80-40 statline at the end of the season, which is very respectable.

Romero over Porcello in the Ricky Rick show

Ricky Romero got rave reviews for his win over fellow former first-round draft pick Rick Porcello. The Blue Jays 2005 sixth overall pick out-dueled his 2007 seventh-round counterpart. Romero worked six innings, giving up two runs. Porcello gave up four in five.

Fantasy Impact: Must we rave about these two like everyone else? The Romero-Porcello match up got a load of hype, which is understandable considering this was the first time first-round picks debuted against one another. In the end, we're slightly underwhelmed. Despite his ability to limit runs, Romero coughed up a 1.500 WHIP while Porcello gave up two runners per inning. Numbers like those will eventually lead to sky-high ERAs. Porcello's already climbed to 7.20 today. These two have talent, but it's not going to be the smoothest road going forward.

Gotta love Votto

Reds second-year first baseman Joey Votto powered his club to an 8-6 win over the Mets on Thursday, belting his second home run and driving in three runs as part of a 3-5 effort on the day. He looks like a potential All-Star out of the gate.

Fantasy Impact: Votto's got the tools to become a perennial .290-100-30-100 Major Leaguer. That's rare air for a 25-year-old, but Votto's solid 2008 has him pointing up with this red-hot start.

Cain able

Giants pitcher Matt Cain finally got some run support, and the Giants starter turned in a strong performance in beating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1. Cain's line for the night: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Fantasy Impact: With Tim Lincecum and Randy Johnson ahead of him in the rotation, Cain can settle in and dominate as an extremely capable third starter. Cain's run-support problem left him last in the league in terms of opportunities to win in 2008 and has cost him considerably in fantasy circles. He's good enough to become a fantasy ace if things line up the right way.

Carpenter carves up Bucs

Chris Carpenter looked like his old dominant self Thursday afternoon in a 2-1 Cardinals win over Pittsburgh. Carpenter carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, striking out seven while yielding just three base runners. He fired 61 strikes in 92 pitches.

Fantasy Impact: A very sturdy first step for Carpenter, whose talent no one doubts. Whether he can hold up after multiple injuries is the concern. Enjoy the fantasy fun while it lasts, but this might also be a statement that the Cardinals' ace is back.

Washburn sinking in

Hello, Jarrod Washburn. The Seattle southpaw, an afterthought in the fantasy baseball world, lifted his left arm to the heavens on Thursday night, and each time that arm came down a sinking fastball floated around and under the bats of miffed Minnesota batters. Washburn's new pitch got him through eight innings of five-hit baseball and earned the Seattle Mariners a 2-0 win.

Fantasy Impact: Sinkerballers pose an intriguing value in fantasy play. Typically guys like Chien-Ming Wang and Aaron Cook keep their teams in the game and maintain low ERAs, but they're not going to strike people out. Washburn never did, and in Seattle he's unlikely to win. That said, a pitcher who can get people out and pitch deep into games as Washburn did Thursday always has a chance. That means this old lefty with a new pitch can pay dividends at the back end of most fantasy staffs.

Wednesday's top pitching performances

Koji Uehara did just well enough to win in his Major League debut, beating the Yankees, 7-5.

Zack Greinke out-pitched Gavin Floyd as the Royals shutout the White Sox, 2-0.

Yovani Gallardo homered and outdueled Randy Johnson for a 4-2 Brewers win.-- Start of StatCounter Code -->

Adenhart killed in hit and run

Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed along with three others in a hit and run accident. The accident occurred overnight, after Adenhart had thrown six scoreless innings in his season debut. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Update: The LA Times has more on the accident.

Carpenter set to start

Chris Carpenter says everything is normal heading into his first start of the 2009 season.

"Normal spring training. Normal routine. Normal preparation," Carpenter said. "Last year, I was coming back from surgery. ... This year, I'm going out there to do everything I can until they have to take the ball away from me. I go into it thinking I'll be OK."

Carpenter has made one start at Busch Stadium since leaving the mound on April 1, 2007, and that was five innings Aug. 5. After two elbow operations and two years loaded with rehab, a setback-free spring training allows Carpenter to enter today's start the same as his peers — ready, not recovering.

There's nothing normal about this start. All eyes and ears will be on Carpenter's performance to see if the Cardinals ace is back in form.

Fantasy Impact: Best case scenario is he returns to the top of the heap of fantasy pitchers. Worst case scenario leaves him back on the scrap heap. We're expecting to see flashes of the old Carpenter as early as today.

Cool expectations for Freese

Despite not starting in each of the Cardinals first two games this season, David Freese is still the top candidate at third for playing time.

Freese, acquired for popular center fielder Jim Edmonds in December 2007, bypassed Double-A and batted .306 with 29 doubles, 26 homers and 91 RBIs last year at Class AAA Memphis. His .967 fielding percentage led all Pacific Coast League third basemen, and his 216 assists ranked second.

Still, Freese is prepared for anything. He knows that with La Russa, the master of many lineups, anything is possible on a daily basis.

"Tony kind of expressed that," Freese said. "Early on, just be ready to play because you don't really know who's going to be out there. Everybody has a possibility of going out there."

Fantasy Impact: It's somewhat disappointing for fantasy owners to learn that Freese will not be getting the job full-time with Troy Glaus out. The Cardinals have a number of options off the bench, including Brian Barden and Joe Thurston. At least for the interim, they'll be cutting into Freese's playing time. Consider Freese a stop-gap at third with the potential to produce some pop if he gets consistent playing time. Right now he's better left on the fantasy bench.

A's get Giese

Dan Giese did a nice job in 20 games with the Yankees last season, posting a 3.53 ERA, but the addition of new Yankees arms made the 31-year-old expendable. The pitching strapped Oakland A's picked him up when the Yankees placed Giese on waivers Wednesday, optioning Giese to Triple-A.

“I wasn’t surprised. I thought someone would pick him up,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before New York faced the Baltimore Orioles. “The job he did for us last year was really, really good. The thing is, he can do a lot of different things for a club. He can start, spot start, long relief, an inning— he’s always going to throw strikes (and) you know what you’re going to get, for the most part, every day. That’s why I felt a club might take a chance on him.”

Giese might get a shot at the Oakland rotation should either Trevor Cahill or Brett Anderson falter in their rookie campaigns. Giese ultimately might end up a swing man, like the role Chad Guadin handled for the A's in recent seasons.

Ichiro itching to play

Ichiro's bleeding ulcer is imroving. He's been cleared to play in extended spring games.

Mauer takes BP

MLB.com reports that Joe Mauer is back to playing some baseball. He's catching bullpen sessions and finally took batting practice for the first time since September. His bad back still does not allow him to run.

Mauer told the newspaper that he still hasn't gotten to the point of running, meaning there remains no timetable for his possible return to the team. While there is nothing specific in terms of him coming back, the club believes their catcher will be back by the end of April.

The only time that Mauer has experienced pain in his inflamed right sacroiliac joint -- where the base of the spine meets the pelvis -- is when he tried to run earlier this spring. The club has said that they are going to wait until all of the inflammation is out of the joint before Mauer attempts to run again.

Fantasy Impact: Is this good news? Anything positive on Mauer is a plus for owners who drafted the batting-title challenger high this year. Mauer is still a ways away from the Majors, however, and a lack of timetable makes us believe he'll miss at least all of April.

The good news is backup Mike Redmond should be able to return as Twins catcher as early as Thursday. His groin pull will not require DL time. Those who picked up Redmond as a replacement backstop should get him back in the lineup.

Morales wins, gets demoted

Rockies starter Franklin Morales tossed six innings of one-run baseball to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-2 but then got shipped back to the Minors. The Rockies wouldn't use their fifth starter for a while in the Majors and want to keep him on schedule that guarantees more starts.

Fantasy Impact: Good fifth starters are tough to come by, because most of them become number fours. If Morales strings together a series of performances like Wednesday, he won't be bouncing back an fourth from Triple-A. Reserve him if you have roster space.

Webb will miss start

AZcentral.com is reporting that Brandon Webb's shoulder is fine, and he should make his next scheduled start on Saturday. MLB.com says otherwise. Actually, Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin himself says Webb is a no-go for the weekend.

"We're going to skip Brandon Webb's next start," Melvin said. "He came in with a little soreness today, and I decided I'm going to take care of this early on. I'm not going to let him go out there and do a bullpen today, as long as there's some stiffness."

Whom to believe? The MLB.com article is more recent, and Melvin sounds definitive. No Webb this weekend.

Fantasy Impact: One missed start is no big deal. More than one is big, and each subsequent missed start is even bigger. Webb went high on most draft boards for his consistency in winning games and striking people out. He can't do either of those on the bench. Place him on the pine and hope for the best.

Bumps and bruises Wednesday

Braves veterans Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson were scratched from Bobby Cox's lineup Wednesday due to minor injuries. Anderson eventually played in Atlanta's 12-11 loss to Philadelphia.

Florida's Jorge Cantu got hit on the hand with a 91-mph fastball but nothing is broken.

Less heat in this Ray

Orioles closer Chris Rays says his velocity is down this season for a reason: he's dialing it back, hoping to become more of a pitcher than a thrower.

"I'm not going out there and putting 100 percent effort into every pitch," Ray said. "As long as I'm putting the ball where I want to, the velocity isn't going to matter as much. It's not a conscious effort. I'm just not going out there grunting on every pitch. I used to just try to wing it. I [stopped doing] it this spring training and it was working, so I'm sticking with it."

Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz said he's fine with Ray's approach.

"He knows his body better than I do," Kranitz said. "It's a process. I don't expect him to come out here throwing the ball 96, 97 miles an hour either. I think that's a good thing for him so he doesn't start overthrowing and missing location."

There's speculation that the Orioles would like Ray to win back his old closer role this season. He did a pretty good job of it as a fire-baller. We'll see if the refined Ray can get it done.

Fantasy Impact: George Sherrill remains the Baltimore closer until otherwise notified. Ray is worth owning for his sleeper potential.

Zimmerman signs with Seattle

The Mariners signed former closer Jeff Zimmerman (36) to a Minor League contract. He's not going to be competing for saves in Seattle any time soon.

It has been more than eight years since the 36-year-old reliever pitched in the big leagues, but Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said a recent tryout in Arizona was impressive and the hurler passed a physical that spanned Monday and Tuesday in Seattle.

Zimmerman will begin workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Wednesday, and he will be on a program that, according to Zduriencik: "Will get him ready to pitch for us this year. I can't tell you the time frame."

Relievers Chad Corder and Tyler Johnson continue their rehab work with Zimmerman in extended spring training.

Fantasy Impact: Zimmerman sounds like middle relief fodder going forward. The article says he's still capable of touching 90 mph, but current closer Brandon Morrow can go there and beyond. Morrow is the present and the future at the end of the Mariners 'pen.

Atlanta bullpen thrasher

The Philadelphia Phillies broke out of some kind of funk on Wednesday, exploding for eight runs against four different Braves relievers in the home half of the eighth to salvage a 12-11 win. Atlanta sent four pitchers to the mound in the inning, and three of them suffered multiple earned runs.

The chronology of the seventh inning collapse:

• O’Flaherty starts the inning for the Braves with a 10-3 lead and gives up a one-out single to Utley, then hits Howard with a slider in his back.

• Moylan replaces O’Flaherty, walks Jayson Werth to load the bases, then yields RBI singles by Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz before a four-pitch walk to Matt Stairs to bring in another run.

• Boyer replaces Moylan with bases still loaded, walks Chris Coste on five pitches to bring in one run, walks Jimmy Rollins on four pitches.

• Jorge Campillo replaces Moylan, bases still loaded, and gives up a Shane Victorino RBI single, then a five-pitch Utley walk that brings in the tying run. Howard’s RBI groundout drives in eighth run, Phillies lead 11-10.

Campillo, the only pitcher to yield less than two runs, gets a blown save. At least he retired more than one batter, something the other three relievers couldn't do combined.

Rodney closes, Tigers bulpen follows suit

This much we know about the Detroit Tigers bullpen: Fernando Rodney is the de facto closer thanks to Brandon Lyon's inability to wrest the job away. After that, there's a lot to be sorted out between Ryan Perry, Juan Rincon and an eventually healthy Joel Zumaya

Those decisions aren't the ones concerning manager Jim Leyland right now. With the relief corps lacking definition at the back end, Leyland wants to get rid of some of the uncertainty.

"We have to get the tail end of our bullpen going," Leyland said, "and we've got to mess with it a little bit until things fall into place."

Asked when he'd like to have his bullpen sorted out, Leyland said, "Now. Now's the time."

Part of the challenge in doing that is the hope that the Tigers have a healthy Joel Zumaya coming back soon. With Zumaya throwing 43 pitches in his most recent extended spring camp outing Tuesday, he's stretching his arm out to the point where a rehab stint at Triple-A Toledo or Double-A Erie likely isn't far off. He's eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday, but barring something spectacular, Zumaya won't be ready to join Detroit then. At this rate, though, he shouldn't be far off.

Both Perry and Rodney pitched Wednesday night for the first time in 2009. In non-save situations Perry struck out one batter in a perfect eighth, while Rodney retired the Blue Jays side in the ninth, preserving a 5-1 Tigers win.

Fantasy Impact: Kudos to owners who guessed right on Rodney winning the war as Tigers closer. He's owned by 75% of Yahoo! players and started by 67%. Rodney's only as safe as his success, however, so be advised that 33 career saves in six seasons to go along with a 1.412 lifetime WHIP spells eventual disaster.

Fish brooms

Update - 2:15 p.m.: The sweep is complete. Marlins win, 6-4.

The Florida Marlins look well on their way to the season's first sweep.

Emilio Bonifacio continues to look like the leadoff man manager Freddie Gonzalez envisioned. In the third, Bonifacio singled, stole second and forced an errant throw leaving him at third base. John Baker singled him home. Then Florida busted it open in the 5th with a three run double from Dan Uggla.

It's 5-2 Florida over Washington in the 6th. Jim Thome said yesterday that championships aren't won in April, but these feisty Marlins look primed to play ball in 2009.

Tigers go to bat for automaker

General Motors might not have the resources to back Major League Baseball teams, but the Detroit Tigers are doing their best to back GM.

This season, fans will see the General Motors name on the fountain along with logos for Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. Underneath GM's name, a sign reads: "The Detroit Tigers support our automakers."

Intersting gesture. The Tigers probably didn't have anyone to fill the ad space around the ballpark anyway. It would be interesting to hear some comments from the the team and GM on this arrangement. Free advertising is likely unprecedented at the ballpark, except for special interests like fundraisers and grassroots benefits.
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Can't catch a break

Update - 1:20 p.m. 4/8/09: Redmond might be headed for the DL. His status will be updated sometime today.

4/7/09: As expected, Twins backup catcher Mike Redmond missed Tuesday night's game with a pulled groin. Third stringer Jose Morales started in a 6-5 come-from-behind walk-off Twins win. Morales struck out in all three of his at bats.

Fantasy Impact: Redmond and Morales are fairly productive for catchers. Redmond owns a career .292 average while Morales hit over .300 his last two seasons in Triple-A. Neither of them, however, has been tested on a full-time basis at the MLB level. Avoid Minnesota catchers until Mauer can return. His unknown status leaves us to believe it will be a while.

White Sox rotation question marks

Jose Contreras gets set to return as the White Sox fourth starter on Friday after rupturing his achilles ankle midway through last season. Bartolo Colon will be the White Sox fifth starter.

Contreras and Colon combined to shut out Arizona at Chase Field on Saturday afternoon, marking the final exhibition contest for the White Sox. Colon fanned six and gave up three hits over five innings, while Contreras started and allowed one hit in four innings.

Saturday's contest had a little bit more of a Major League atmosphere in comparison to Cactus League contests, where the tandem had been roughed up as recently as last Monday against the Angels. But their combined performance gave the White Sox confidence that this tandem would be productive as long as they were healthy.

"They've got to work, but I believe they're going to be healthy all year long," said Guillen, who doesn't plan to skip any starters, even if an off-day gives him the chance.

"Bartolo and Jose's last outing, I think they turned it up a notch. That was very encouraging," White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. "They are still in what would amount to their fourth week of Spring Training, so there are going to be a couple of starts where they are going to have to grow and get their pitch counts up and you may see Ozzie go out there a little earlier than normal. They are going to grow into a major force on this team. They are not the average four or five guys in a rotation."

That's true, most teams have much different-looking back-end-of-the-rotation guys. Often those slots get filled by younger guys trying to break into a rotation. The Sox went the other way, hoping veterans can round out the staff behind Mark Buehrle and two youngsters in Gavid Floyd and John Danks. It's an odd pairing at the back end, and if it works the Sox will look like geniuses.

Fantasy Impact: We're leaving these two on the waiver wire for now, but if one of them gets hot, he's likely gone before you can grab him. If you must indulge, Colon's the bigger injury risk at this point in his career. Pick up Contreras.

Peter who?

An interesting piece from Rick Maese in the Baltimore Sun regarding owner Peter Angelos's role with the team. The Orioles owner seems to be very aloof, to a major fault. Orioles star outfielder Nick Markakis barely has a relationship with the man.

Markakis had never met the Orioles owner before this week. In fact, neither had most players in the clubhouse.

"I'd never even seen a picture of him," reliever George Sherrill said.

The Orioles' exciting Opening Day win over the New York Yankees on Monday was packed with drama and at least a couple of onfield shockers. But there were two things that surprised me most, both revelations from the postgame clubhouse:

1. To players, Angelos has been little more than a signature on a paycheck.

2. They wish he was much more.

This is going to sound like heresy in some corners of the Orioles kingdom, but could it be possible Angelos plays too small a role in his empire?

No one's suggesting we revisit the days when important baseball decisions were made by people who learned the game from the backs of baseball cards. But there has been a push to get Angelos more involved with the players. One game into the season, in fact, it's already a successful movement.

That's beyond weird. This can't help team morale.

Fontenot starting vs. lefties

The Cubs started second baseman Mike Fontenot against Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez despite the presence of switch-hitting second baseman Aaron Miles on the bench.

We'll give him an opportunity here early in the season and see how he does," manager Lou Piniella said. "I like the idea of having some left-handed hitting against left-handed pitching. … I think it makes the pitcher work both sides of the plate. Maybe as the season goes on, we'll have a little more left-handed hitting from time to time against certain left-handers."

Fantasy Impact: This doesn't mean Fontenot will always be the lefty bat in the Cubs order against lefties, but it's a nice vote of confidence from Piniella in his pint-sized second baseman. Fontenot went 0-4 on the night in a 3-2, 10-inning Astros win. Expect him to continue to get the bulk of the time at second base, but against dynamic southpaws, he'll likely sit.

Cubs lose Soto for a few days

The Cubs may be without starting catcher Geovany Soto for a few days. He felt pain in his throwing shoulder while gunning down Kaz Matsui on a steal attempt in the third inning of the Astros 3-2 win over the Cubs Tuesday night.

"I kind of over-exposed my shoulder a little bit," Soto said. "There was a little discomfort in my shoulder. I felt some weakness in it, and I felt I didn't have a shot if somebody else [tried to steal]. I need to keep up my exercises, and we'll see how it is in a couple days."

Soto said he had the same problem in Spring Training and doesn't expect to miss much time.

"You never know," he said when asked how long he'd be sidelined. "I just have to stay on top of my exercises, and I'll be all right in a couple days. As long as I stay in good shape and do my exercises, it won't happen again all year."

Fantasy Impact: Koyie Hill is Soto's backup this year. He beat out Paul Bako for maybe one start each week to spell Soto. That means he's a true backup catcher unexpected to pay dividends in fantasy baseball. Hill did hit 17 homers at Triple-A Iowa last year, which is very impressive considering the accident that nearly ended his baseball career.

Ryan blows save; Downs up for Jays?

Toronto closer B.J. Ryan blew his first save opportunity of the season, coughing up a home run to the Tiger's Brandon Inge in the ninth. Fortunately for Ryan, the Blue Jays rallied for a run in the bottom of the inning to earn their closer a win.

Fantasy Impact: Cue Scott Downs? Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston says Downs is waiting in the wing if Ryan falters. He got that much closer tonight.