From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.Boston Red Sox
The shortstop battle between Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo is heating up. Lowrie has six hits in sixteen at-bats with two doubles and a triple while Lugo has eight hits in fifteen at-bats with two doubles.
Lugo has made changes the Sox hope will help him recapture the power he showed before his arrival in Boston. He added muscle this offseason and, this spring, he slightly altered his batting stance.There aren't enough positions on the field for both of these guys to play full-time and the DH spot is going to be occupied by David Ortiz. That can only mean one thing; a who's hotter at the moment platoon. No fantasy owner wants to hear that. This is one of those situations where what's best for the Major League team isn't so good for your fantasy team.
Hitting coach Dave Magadan has been telling Francona he expects to see more power from Lugo this season.
Baltimore Orioles
I've been very negative about the fantasy value of Matt Wieters in 2009. It's not that I don't think he's going to be a fine Major League ball player, it's just that I feel he's being drafted way too early in mock drafts. His average draft position is 124.62 at last check on Mock Draft Central. That's an 11th round pick for a rookie catcher who has never seen a Major League pitch and most likely will start the season in Triple-A. It's just too high. However, Wieters is batting .471 in 17 at-bats this spring with three doubles and one home run and even broke up a no-hitter in the 9th inning this weekend. He's doing every thing he can to avoid being sent to Triple-A. It's starting to become hard to argue with his Major League readiness.
New York Yankees
There are myriad story lines in Yankees camp, but none bigger than Alex Rodriguez opting for surgery and missing up to one-third of the season. His fantasy value is plummeting faster than the career of Britney Spears. He can no longer be taken in the first round of mixed-league fantasy drafts. He's more like a late third or even fourth round selection as third basemen like David Wright, Evan Longoria and Aramis Ramirez should be taken before A-Rod.
Tampa Bay Rays
A couple of the key cogs in the Rays pitching staff are getting ready to make their first appearances of the spring. Scott Kazmir is getting his first action on the mound today as are Joe Nelson and Dan Wheeler. David Price is set to go tomorrow and anxious to get into the fifth starter mix, even if the Rays still are thinking hard about his development in Triple-A. Finally, Troy Percival had a great batting practice session and his first spring appearance is slated for March 12. The next week will be huge in determining the makeup of the Rays staff.
Toronto Blue Jays
The departure of A.J. Burnett and the season-ending surgery of Shawn Marcum means that the Blue Jays rotation is a wide open battle field this spring. David Purcey, Casey Janssen, Scott Richmond, Matt Clement and Mike Maroth are all competing for the final three spots in the rotation. Purcey just pitched three shut-out innings with three strikeouts and two walks. Richmond also hasn't been scored on throwing two scoreless innings with a strikeout no walks. The Blue Jays pitchers are going to be facing a bunch of hefty American League East lineups throughout the year. Anything after Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch might best be left for waiver wire spot starts.
