Hoffman's slow return

Trevor Hoffman will not be available on Saturday, the first day he's eligible to come off the disabled list. His oblique strain is causing the Brewers to bring him along slowly, allowing Carlos Villanueva a chance to close games to start the year.

"Will he be ready on the 11th? Probably not," manager Ken Macha said Sunday before the Brewers worked out at AT&T Park. "Let's wait until he gets on the mound and then we'll start looking at what the possibilities are."

Macha said Hoffman would throw off a flat surface at a longer distance during a workout Monday.

"If he comes through that, Roger said they may be able to give you a plan for what's going to happen," he said, referring to trainer Roger Caplinger. "It's going to be awhile."

In Hoffman's absence, Macha plans to give right-hander Carlos Villanueva first crack at closing games. Villanueva has not previously filled that role in the majors.

Fantasy Impact: Villanueva is a decent saves option for week one of the sesaon. When Hoffman returns, however, the job is his. Milwaukee owns a bullpen filled with pitchers with a handful of saves each, so if Villanueva falters you can pounce on another arm.

Anderson to start opener for Detroit

The Tigers will have three new faces in the lineup when they open the season in Toronto. Newly acquired Josh Anderson gets the nod in left field, bringing instant electricity to the base paths. His start, however, should not be considered a revelation that he'll become the day-to-day left fielder.

Tonight, leftfielder Carlos Guillen will be the DH. Guillen has had leg problems in past seasons, and manager Jim Leyland doesn't want to overtax his legs on Toronto's artificial turf.

But Leyland also wants the speedy Anderson in the game. Speed can become precious in a low-scoring game, which is what right-handed starters Roy Halladay and Justin Verlander could produce tonight. Leyland picked the speed of Anderson for tonight's lineup over the power of Marcus Thames and Jeff Larish.

"Turf, speed, defense," Leyland said of putting Anderson in left. "He might chop one (off the turf for a hit). He might score a run."

It could be the kind of game, said Leyland, where the difference can be "beating out a force play or going first-to-third." That's Anderson's game.

"Marcus or Larish might hit a homer off Halladay, but that's kind of unlikely," Leyland said.

Fantasy Imapct: A start on opening day doesn't mean much for Anderson's fantasy impact as of right now. He's a part time player, but with so many part-time types on the Tigers, he's bound to see his at bats limited. Streaky production like his does not play well in fantasy, unless you can get away with only using Anderson for steals.

Snowed Out

Chicagoans woke up to snow on the ground Monday morning. Therefore, no baseball between the White Sox and Royals on opening day. They'll play the opener Tuesday.

Rangers Frankly infatuated with Frank Frank

The Texas Rangers love 29-year-old closer Frank Francisco, whom they believe has lights-out stuff that's capable of dominating MLB hitters. He was once a fastball-only type whose repertoire is evolving.

Francisco, however, is no longer a one-dimensional pitcher. He spent much of last season working hard to make his splitter and curveball major league quality.

Now he's done it.

He can throw either pitch for a strike, which means hitters can't wait for his 96 mph fastball. He can get a called third strike with his splitter. Or throw the curveball early to get ahead in the count before finishing batters with the fastball.

"He throws so hard that he doesn't need to throw many breaking balls," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "It's just a change-of-pace pitch for him."

Fantasy Impact: It's Francisco's job to lose, but Texas has pitchers with more experience in the role than him. Francisco is entrenched to start the year, but if he falters, the hook can come quicker than in other organizations.

Minute Maid anniversary

It's the 10th anniversary of Minute Maid Park in Houston. Hard to believe the ballpark's only been around for a decade. The Astros' park seems to have been there for 15 years.

Braves to honor Maddux

The Braves will retire Greg Maddux's No. 31 jersey on July 17th in a ceremony at Turner Field.

Platoons in Arizona?

Chad Tracy will start in place of Mark Reynolds at third base, and Eric Byrnes will get the nod over Justin Upton for the Diamondbacks in their opener against Colorado. Bob Melvin says it's a move to get the D'Backs best lineup on the field on a game-by-game basis.

"The only message we're sending is we're trying to run the best lineup out there on a particular day," he said. "They know that. We've addressed it. There's no hidden messages for anybody. It's about winning, and everybody's on board with that."

Melvin wanted Clark in the lineup because he is a switch-hitter, and Colorado Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook has never handled left-handed hitters as well as right-handers.

Tracy also has played better than Reynolds defensively in spring training, a factor that could come into play more with Brandon Webb, an extreme ground-ball pitcher, on the mound.

As for right field, Byrnes is 7 for 23 (.304) and Upton 1 for 9 (.111) in their careers vs. Cook. Byrnes also looked much better than Upton at the plate in spring training.

Fantasy Impcact: OK, but that sounds like a potential platoon situation at both positions. Arizona has four outfielders capable of starting with Connor Jackson, Chris Young, Upton and Byrnes. They've also got Tracy capable of playing both first and third. If this keeps up, Reynolds and Upton's fatnasy value falters from starters to part-time players. Tracy's value improves as a potential full-timer at two positions. The article does explain that Reynolds and Upton are expected to be in the lineup on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Scherzer starts season on DL

Max Scherzer's stint on the disabled list to start the season doesn't sound like a major concern.

"Basically he needs to strengthen his shoulder," D-backs director of player development A.J. Hinch said. "We're going to give him a break. It's kind of a good time to give him a break and a blow and the ability to do that."

But this isn't the first time his shoulder has slowed his progress. In 2008, Scherzer missed time in the summer, hitting the DL with shoulder fatigue.

In 2007, Scherzer's shoulder, which first caused some concern at Missouri, led, in part, to decreased draft value.

Scherzer fell to the Diamondbacks at No. 11 because he battled shoulder tendinitis in his final season at Missouri ... and because of the specter of a prolonged negotiation with agent Scott Boras

.Fantasy Impact: That's at least three shoulder reports in four seasons. Scherzer was good enough to be one of the top 3 picks the year he was drafted, so if he gets into form he's deadly. But that's what they say about Rich Harden, another shoulder struggler who continues to miss chunks of time with his bad wing. Scherzer is starting to sound like an injury-prone ace. Get him in later rounds, but don't over pay, and don't expect anything more than a No. 3 or 4 fantasy starter. He'll likely throw less than 150 innings in the D'backs No.5 slot in the rotation.

Who is Ricky Romero?

Toronto's makeshift starting rotation includes up-and-comer Ricky Romero, who's generally an unknown in fantasy circles. At one time, however, Romero was a high-end prospect.

But subsequent inconsistency and arm trouble plagued him through 2006 and 2007, and his comeback in 2008 was slower than the club might have hoped for. He struggled to a 4.96 ERA in 21 starts at Double-A New Hampshire, but when he moved up to Triple-A Syracuse, he had a 3.38 ERA in seven starts down the stretch, giving cause for optimism.

It looks as though his former struggles were very apparent in Blue Jays camp and nearly cost Romero a shot to even make the roster, let alone the rotation.

After an early spring outing that saw him walk six batters in less than two innings, the club prepared to send him to minor-league camp. But pitching coach Brad Arnsberg intervened and adjusted Romero's technique, and Romero pitched well enough in three subsequent starts to break camp with the big club.

"You don't take anything for granted and you try and just stay as humble as possible when you're out there," Romero said.

Fantasy Impact: No reason not to monitor Romero in deeper leagues, or you could even give him a flier if you like resurrection projects. We'll take a pass until he puts it together over a handful of starts.

Soria gets sorted

Royals closer Joakim Soria made good in his last spring training outing, firing a perfect ninth inning in a 5-4 win over Texas. That's a lot better than his last two appearances when he gave up 5 runs in 1 2/3 innings. The Royals attributed his problems to illness, lack of normalcy due to pitching in the World Baseball Classic and a minor groin issue.

Fantasy Impact: Soria is one of the handful of elite closers in the game. His numbers are off the charts, and if the Royals approach a .500 record in 2009, he'll draw comparisons to Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan and Brad Lidge.

Wilson works for SF

Pitching for the first time in 10 days after a finger infection, Giants closer Brian Wilson tossed a shutout inning on Friday night. Wilson took Saturday off. He's expected to pitch Sunday in the Giants final tune up, making him available for opening day on Monday.

Settling into New Yankee and Citi

The new New York stadiums are on display with game action for the first time tonight with the Yankees hosting the Cubs and the Mets facing off against the Red Sox. First impression? Citi Field looks better on TV. The Mets park has a lighter backdrop behind home plate and feels more inviting. Also, the sight lines seem better at Citi Field with the home plate camera on a more traditional angle looking out at the field. New Yankee Stadium's home plate camera is extremely low, leaving the screen in view seemingly any time the ball is in play, including on home run balls.

It's weird to see such dark walls at Yankee Stadium. I miss the lighter blue padding, which gave the old park a more homey feel.

Sheff and the Mets

The Mets sign Gary Sheffield and plan to use him as an outfielder. That means Sheffield will certainly take playing time away from Daniel Murphy, Ryan Church and Fernando Tatis.

"He's more than welcome," Church said. "He's a great player and he's just another piece for us.

"I can't control what they do," the right fielder added in regards to potential at-bats he'd surrender to Sheffield, who played exclusively at DH last year in Detroit. "I just have to always be ready to play every day."

Murphy, who Manuel penciled in as the starting left fielder coming out of spring training, added: "We're here to win a World Series. If the organization and Omar (Minaya) think he's going to help, let's go get him."

Both Manuel and Minaya indicated that Sheffield is more likely to play right field than left and said the righty slugger can balance the Mets' lineup, which has been dominated by lefthanded hitters in recent seasons.

Sheffield brings 499 career home runs to the Mets. He'll get every chance to prove he can still hack it at the MLB level. It's a good move for New York, which has a rather unimpressive outfield situation for a contender.

Fantasy Impact: For Sheffield owners, this is about as good as it could get. Your injury-prone bopper will get a bunch of at bats, and he'll be part of an above average lineup. For Daniel Murphy and Ryan Church owners, this drops both players into a full-time platoon.

Who is Walter Silva?

He's a Padres rookie starter who on April 8th will make his debut as a 31-year-old rookie out of the Mexican League. I went digging to see if there's any kind of scouting report on Silva, and the best I can do at this time is some info the Padres offered to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

A converted outfielder, Silva has pitched professionally in Mexico since 2002. Last summer, he was 7-8 with a 4.21 ERA in 21 starts for Monterrey. But over the past three seasons, Silva was 24-18 with a 3.89 ERA in 56 starts. And last winter, Silva was 5-4 for Mazatlan with a 3.23 ERA and was 1-1 in two Caribbean starts with a 2.25 ERA.

Black scouted Silva during the Caribbean Series in Mexicali.

“I liked his arm action and delivery. It looks like he has the ability to move the ball. I like his slider.”

Fantasy Impact: Silva's stats underwhelm, especially considering they come from the Mexican League. Can he provide the Padres much of anything? The good news is he's pitching in a pitcher's park, last I checked. Petco is the best place to break into MLB as a pitcher. He also keeps the ball down, which improves his chances to have a decent ERA. He won't win much as a Padre, but the intangibles are OK. I'd burn a flier on him if you need a risk-reward type at this time.

Ichiro disabled

Ichiro hit the disabled list today due to a bleeding ulcer. His medical situation sounds like it's in check now, but the ulcer coupled with general fatigue have landed him on the 15-day disabled list.

The move was retroactive to March 31, meaning Suzuki won't be eligible to come off the disabled list until April 15.

"He said he's tired. He's got some fatigue," manager Don Wakamatsu said Thursday morning in Arizona.

Suzuki didn't arrive at Mariners spring training until March 26, after leading Japan to a second consecutive WBC title. The high pressure of playing in the WBC combined with the expectations from his home country made the championship hugely satisfying.

"The expectation from the people of Japan was uncomparable this time. So to become champions in that situation is something that has a lot of meaning for me and what kind of emotions and expectations the Japanese players played upon is something you guys here can't imagine," Suzuki said through a translator when he arrived in Arizona. "That's how much was riding on this. Although three years ago was very fulfilling ... it's uncomparable how much more fulfilling it was this time."

Fantasy Impact: Ichiro will be back. Ulcers are generally minor in nature, and Ichiro is scheduled to come off the DL by April 15th. If you need a speedy alternative, the Yankees Brett Gardner, the Marlins Cameron Maybin and the Marlins Emilio Bonifacio are all burners with a chance to steal you some bases while Ichiro is out.

Penny money in latest tune-up

Battling back from shoulder fatigue in 2008, Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny threw five innings on Thursday -- topping out in the mid-90s on the gun. He appears ready for his first start of the regular season.

Beset by ominous signs concerning his health at the outset of spring training, Penny completed a full recovery yesterday. He passed the final test in the Red Sox' last game in Florida, the five hits and three runs he surrendered to the Minnesota Twins less important than the 94- and 95-mile-per-hour heaters his right shoulder consistently unleashed. Barring a change in the rotation owing to weather, Penny will make his regular-season Red Sox debut April 12, the first day Boston will need a fifth starter.

"I felt like I could throw my 80th pitch as hard as I threw my first," he said. "No pain. Velocity was there. I think today was probably the best overall stuff I've had this spring."

Which means it was the best stuff he's had since virtually as long as he can remember. Penny started on Opening Day last season, an honor bestowed to only 30 men. He pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings for the Dodgers, but he never felt right last year, not even in his first start. "I probably topped out at 89 Opening Day," Penny said.

Fantasy Impact: I'm a huge fan of Penny when he's healthy, and so are the Red Sox. Winning the 5th starting spot in the Boston rotation means Penny edges out Clay Buchholz, who had thrown as well as anyone for Boston this spring. Buchholz will take his 2.52 spring ERA back to Triple-A.

Shaping up with infomercials

How do big leaguers get themselves in shape for baseball? Infomercial products. That's Matt Diaz's approach, anyway.

Yankees: ticket masters

The Yankees do have a spending conscience! Or at least Hal Steinbrenner does. He says some New Yankee Stadium tickets are overpriced.

“I think if anybody in any business had known where this economy was going to go, they would have done things differently,” Steinbrenner said Thursday. “Look, there’s no doubt small amounts of our tickets might be overpriced.

“You know, we’re continuing to look into that. But the bottom line is, the vast majority of them, it seems like they’re right on because we’ve sold 35,000 full season equivalents, and a lot of the tickets have, you know, sold quite well. And, well, despite what’s out there all the time … there’s thousands and thousands of very affordable seating. And, you know, the public is excited, as excited as we are, I think.”

Well, of course, just small amounts of tickets. You have to pay for Tex and CC somehow.

Reynolds' rap

The Arizona Diamondbacks will give Mark Reynolds every opportunity to hold down third base full-time in 2009, including holding off on defensive replacements late in games.

"We'll see where it goes," Melvin said, "but he still has the ability to be a very good defensive player. We've seen it. We saw it when he first came up. Confidence-wise, he's gone into periods where he's made quite a few errors, and he'll go into periods where he won't.

"It all has to do with confidence. It's the same thing with Justin (Upton). It just comes with experience, where you get more confident, you get more resilient, tougher so that when you make an error you don't let it snowball and that's what both those guys need to do."

Reynolds' seven errors this spring lead the Diamondbacks and his 15 strikeouts ranked second on the club.

Fantasy Impact: Reynolds struck out 204 times last year in 539 at bats, a new Major League record. If he gets some extra at bats in the games he's routinely been replaced, he could set a new record for himself. In points leagues the strikeouts will outweight the possibility of Reynolds ripping a few more homers with the extra at bats. In 5x5 leagues he earns a touch more value.

Diabetes in the Mariners' bullpen

By now, most people know that Mariners pitcher Bradon Morrow switched from starter to reliever to help him better manage his diabetes. Well, it turns out that Morrow's condition helped fellow reliever Mark Lowe realize he, too, was suffering from diabetes.

The Mariners may soon become baseball experts in the disease that affects about one in 12 Americans. Fellow reliever Mark Lowe was diagnosed as well.

After attempting last season to manage his blood sugar with diet and oral meds, Lowe was re-diagnosed as a Type I (juvenile onset) diabetic instead of a Type II (adult onset) and recently began insulin shots.

"I know it did affect me last year," Lowe, who began his major league career with a franchise-record 17 2/3 scoreless innings over 13 games, told the News Tribune. "I would come in some days and be dragging. Some days in the middle of the day I would hit a wall. Some days it was so high that my vision was blurry."

With proper training and medical monitoring, there is little reason to think that Lowe and Morrow won't continue to be productive relief pitchers, although Armstrong mentioned that diabetics "can be a little slower to come back from some injuries and inflammation, which is why (Morrow) is suited to pitch in shorter stints than longer ones where the chance of injury is a little greater."

Lowe is likely to set up Morrow this season in Seattle. Morrow's move to the bullpen denies the Mariners myriad closer candidates of actually landing the job. He's a bonafide star in the making in that role.