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SPRING TRAINING NOTEBOOK-WEEK #2

Injury concerns have changed the fantasy landscape this week. Keep an eye on several players as you prepare for your drafts.

I guess I remain concerned about the lack of improvement in Chase Utley's knee. While I don't think the Phillies are in panic mode as yet, I do think I would proceed with caution regarding Utley-especially in an auction. If healthy, he could have an outstanding year. If he's dealing with pain all year all bets change.

Domonic Brown is out for a while. He was really struggling so far at the plate and the Phillies were making no guarantees that he would make the big league club coming out of spring training. Now his development is put on hold for a while.


Francisco Cervelli's injury could open the door for Yankee catcher Jesus Montero. However, the Yankees haven't made any declaration regarding their catching plans for the time Cervelli is out. Speculation has Cervelli missing at least 4 weeks. I still want Montero on my teams.

Kendry Morales still hasn't played in a spring training game. Manager Mike Scioscia has indicated that Morales should probably play by mid-March. I still wonder if he'll be ready for the start of the season? If not, Mark Trumbo looms as a possible 1B fill in for the Angels.

Indians 3B Jason Donald was hit in the hand at spring training today. Results of his XRays have not been announced.

I saw Dodgers SS prospect Dee Gordon during the week. He made it home to first in 3.9 seconds. Ichiro ran 3.7 in his prime. Gordon made an error by throwing a ball away and he didn't look confident in the field. He tried to bunt in one of his plate appearances and the ball went foul at the last moment. I think the Dodgers are going to really move Gordon along as their SS of the future.

The Dodgers certainly don't flash much power. And now we hear that 1B James Loney has some injury issues. I did like the bat of Jerry Sands when I saw Sands play this week. He's a big, strong 1B/OF with some power. He might get more looks from the Dodgers and he's a name to remember.

The Indians are reportedly close to signing oft-injured Nick Johnson to a minor league contract. Didn't Russell Branyan haunt Matt LaPorta just last season? Could the same thing happen again if Johnson gets healthy?

The Indians really like Travis Buck as an outfield option since Trevor Crowe is injured and Grady Sizemore might not be able to start the season on time. Buck can play all the outfield positions, but the Indians are also looking at Chad Huffman and Ezequiel Carrera as options for the outfield. All three have been getting playing time and all 3 have been impressive. I'll keep you posted.

Jake Peavy is returning from surgery for a detached latissimus muscle. Many thought Peavy wouldn't pitch until mid-spring training. However, he pitched well in his Friday start this week going 2 scoreless innings. He might be worth looking at very carefully the remainder of the spring.

I was impressed with Dayan Viciedo. He looked thin compared to last year. He also looked comfortable in the outfield. It's interesting to watch 3B with the White Sox. Brent Morel and Mark Teahen are competing for the job. Teahen looked awful today, making a couple of errors on plays that were fairly easy. Morel has the defense. Teahen has the better bat. Viciedo may be better than both.

Omar Vizquel looks like he's a young pup. It's amazing. The crowd gave him a great ovation in Goodyear. He answered with a couple of hits.

I had a chance to talk with Ian Kinsler at a Rangers game this week. He looks outstanding. Fit and ready to go. He said he's working on his balance at the plate and in improving his pitch recognition. That means more walks and potentially more runs scored and more steals. I look for Kinsler to have a great year when he's hitting back at the top of the order. His confidence has returned.

Aaron Heilman has looked very good in a couple of starts for the DBacks. The odds are against him making the rotation, but he's giving it everything he's got. He'll be fighting for a job against Zach Duke and Armando Galarraga.

Warning; Justin Upton has indicated that he won't be running just to steal bases. He will try to steal when the run means something for the club. He indicated that he's too big to just run anytime he wants. It takes too much out of him and he could be inviting injury.

How in the world can teams play a shift against Travis Hafner? I saw it more than once this week. Hafner has trouble hitting to his pull side. It pains me to watch Hafner hit and see how slow his bat has become. If he could bunt down the third base line he could walk to first.

The Rangers Nelson Cruz has a cannon for an arm from right field. And wow am I impressed with the defense played by Dexter Fowler in CF. He's gotten even better at running routes than he used to be. And frankly, he was pretty good. The Rockies can send Fowler out to center and he'll run everything down within the area code. Now if only he can hit as well.

Don't worry about Tulo's heel injury. It doesn't seem to be serious.

Chris Davis handled himself very well at 3B for the Rangers. It could be an option for the club if Adrian Beltre is a slow healer. One thing we know- the club really doesn't want Michael Young playing third.

The little dust up between Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Silva was really sad to watch. Ramirez kind of swiped at a ball at third and Silva certainly didn't like it. Forget the fact that Silva got rocked, he was angry at the defense. I think it could be a long year with the Cubs. I didn't see much energy or life in the game I saw this week.

I saw Jurickson Profar play SS for the Rangers. He's only 18 and he has a long way to go. But this guy looks like a player. Speed and good bat control with ability on defense. I like what I see. He's years away, but I thought I'd mention him as someone to keep an eye on.

Neftali Feliz didn't come anywhere near hitting the high 90's in the game I saw him start. And he didn't throw many breaking balls at all. But it was only his first start and he looked at ease on the mound. The club still wants Feliz to be stretched out as a starter.

There was a fire at the Indians camp this week. It seems that a clothes dryer the team brought with them from Winter Haven caught on fire. Nobody was hurt but the dryer is now on the disabled list.

Tickets to sit on the berm at Giants games go for $25. Ice cream is holding at $7 for one scoop.

Hope you catch my column this week on RotoWire. I wrote about the KC Royals prospects. Next week I will profile Mark Trumbo in my article, a guy who I think will be important for the Angels.

Have you tried Snyder's Pretzel Nuggets? If you have, you'll know I love having an outlet store a half mile from Goodyear Ballpark.

OK-back at you in this space next week. Keep your eye on the injuries. I haven't even mentioned them all here.