John Bale - Bale pitched poorly yesterday down in a AAA game, but as bad as Jorge de la Rosa continues to be (four runs on nine baserunners in four innings, also yesterday) he may still get a rotation slot. As I mentioned a few weeks back, it stuns me that a guy that has been relatively successful like Bale has gotten so few shots as a left-handed pitcher. I still like him as a deep sleeper in larger mixed leagues, although I wouldn't go so far as to open up with him in my rotation.
Brandon Inge - Depending on your league's eligbility requirements, Brandon Inge could become a fairly valuable guy over the next few weeks. Inge is no great shakes with the bat....average is probably about the best he can aspire to, but he is currently backing up at almost every position on the field. If he actually gets in to the lineup as a catcher for the first time since 2004, he could be one of the extremely rare C/IF/OF eligible bats, which obviously enhances his value quite a bit. The injuries to Granderson and Wilson, along with continued back stiffness from Edgar Renteria, make this as likely an outcome as not, so you should move Inge up just a touch on your boards.
Scott Baker - Best to keep Scott Baker reserved until you hear differently. Between a strained lat muscle and the flu, Baker has lost 10-12 pounds and is nowhere near game strength, so he is likely to start the season either on the DL or in the minor league camp. That leaves a real ugly rotation in all likelihood....perhaps the worst in baseball if Francisco Liriano is deemed not ready to start the season with the big club as well. We should know more on both parties over the weekend.
Carlos Gomez - Three weeks later and we're at the same place: Gomez still probably isn't ready for the bigs, he still has a ton of speed, and he is going to be the starting CF for Minnesota. Your need for SB's should determine whether or not you have a place for Gomez, as he isn't likely to perform very well in HR or RBI, perhaps adequately in R and AVG, and he should be solid in SB. OBP and SLG? Forget it if you utilize the more appropriate stats.....he'll likely kill you.
Cliff Lee - Lee beat out Sowers and Laffey for the fifth starting spot, but I just can't get too excited about a guy whose peripherals have gone backwards for two years in a row, and not by a small margin either. He allowed more than 1 1/2 homers per nine last year, and his BB/9 also climbed up over 3.0. I don't see anything that suggests that will turn itself back around going forward.
Luke Hochevar - Hochevar is going to get at least a bit more time in the minors (he only threw 190 innings down there before being called up), as the Royals sent him down to AAA to start the season. As combustible as guys like Kyle Davies and Jorge De la Rosa are, I have confidence that Hochevar will be back at some point this year (and probably soon), but his high HR rates in the minors are bothersome.....you'd be hard pressed to find a guy allowing over a homer per nine in the minors sustain any success in the bigs. I'll be curious to see how he fares in AAA for the first few starts, as his one season of experience in pro ball might not be enough to draw too many conclusions just yet. Either way, he is not worth much more than a minor league spot in deeper mixed leagues at present.
Javier Valentin - With David Ross out at least the first week of the year, Javy Valentin gets at least a temporary bump up in value as the dreaded job share goes away for the time being. Valentin's best years were wasted as a reserve, but at age 32 he can still be productive during his decline phase. He isn't a bad second catcher in NL-only formats, and if Ross is out a touch longer he may even be a worthwhile choice in mixed leagues for the duration of Ross' absence.
Tom Gordon - With Brad Lidge sidelined for at least the first week of the year, 40 year old Flash Gordon will return to the closer's role for the Phils. He isn't likely to stay there very long, but any chance of getting saves is going to move you up the draft list.
Jorge Cantu - Cantu's production has taken a nosedive the past two seasons, but guys that win jobs have to get a little play here, and it looks like Cantu is doing just that for the Marlins. His best tool is power, and with all of his offense likely to take a hit from the move down state he is more of a flier than anything else, but a flier that gets a lot of PT puts up counting stats, so he has a small amount of value. Plus, anyone that has put up 70 XBH in a season and is still under the age of 27 has some upside, as well.
Fred Lewis - Here's another sleeper pick for the larger formats. Lewis is probably already the second best offensive player on the Giants (behind Rowand, and not by much), and he can play all three OF positions reasonably well. Naturally, he's likely to open the season as the fourth outfielder. Events like yesterday's mammoth HR (possibly a 450 ft. blast to dead CF)can't hurt his cause though, and he has an interesting power/speed combination that is decidedly un-Giant like, which is probably why they can't figure out what to do with it. If he starts gathering playing time, he has the upside to be worth a reserve slot.
John Patterson - This will fall into the seriously deep sleeper category, but John Patterson was picked up by the Rangers yesterday. Patterson was blossoming into one of the better pitchers in the NL back in 2005 and early 2006, but has been sidelined for all but 31 innings since then with nerve damage in his forearm. He isn't expected to be ready for game action for at least six weeks, and he very well may be done physically, but with all of the pitching problems that the Rangers perpetually have, he could be a decent upside play later this year.
Jayson Nix - Nix was named the Rockies' starting 2B yesterday, and although the "take any Rockie hitter getting AB's" strategy has fallen by the wayside a bit the past few seasons, Nix is still worth a bet in larger leagues just due to the roughly average power/speed combo that he offers (slightly below average power, slightly above speed).
Carlos Gonzalez - Even though Gonzalez didn't make the trip to the Far East, he still has a legitimate shot at the A's starting CF job this season. Ryan Sweeney actually started the opener this morning, relegating Chris Denorfia to reserve status, but Gonzalez is the only one of the three to perform up to offensive par this spring, and he has significantly more power than the other two candidates. His plate discipline hasn't been a positive in the minors, however, so once the park effects are taken into consideration you may end up with a major leaguer that can accumulate decent counting stats but falls short of adequacy in the rate categories. At age 22 there is still room for growth, so all in all I would say he is a decent AL-only flier for this season (expect perhaps something along the lines of 260/300/410 if he gets consistent playing time), and a solid keeper league prospect for the longer haul.
Evan Longoria - Longoria was sent back to AAA yesterday despite performing about as well as could be expected this spring, which is likely a decision based on monetary issues more than anything else. I would think it likely that Longoria will not spend more than 4-6 weeks down in the minors, and he is still likely to make an impact later this season, so although you should move him down your board for the time being, he certainly should be still be on a roster except in the thinnest of formats.
Scott Rolen - Following up on Drew's news, it appears that Rolen's injury, although not serious, will cause him to miss roughly a month of time. Marco Scutaro will continue doing what he has done for the A's for the better part of the decade: filling in for injured infielders. He isn't worth a pickup despite the increase in playing time.
J.D. Drew - J.D. Drew was scratched this morning with some back spasms, putting him back in RSN's bad graces early on this year, but it doesn't appear to be anything serious. Those immensely long transoceanic plane flights can really mess up a guy with a balky back, but he should be fine within a few days after returning to the states.
