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.Arizona Diamondbacks
Chad Tracy missed a good chunk of the 2008 season due to knee surgery, which held him to only 273 at-bats. Tracy says he's been healthy since mid-way through the off-season and manager Bob Melvin expects big things from him in 2009 saying he can see it as Tracy drives the ball.
When I see him drive the ball to left-center field, for me, his legs are under him," Melvin said. "Those are the ones he was having a little trouble getting out there and extending on, probably trying to pull a little too much. And when he did he hit the ball the opposite way, it (was) not with the force he had before. Now it looks like to me he's hitting it hard the either way.Tracy's average draft position right now is a very low 387.75. If he can return to 2005 form where he hit 27 home runs and batted .308 or anywhere close to that, he'll be a steal.
Colorado Rockies
The big name departures of Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes have caused upheaval among the Rockies roster and injuries to many of the projected starting lineup haven't made things easier. Todd Helton, Jeff Baker and Ian Stewart are just now getting healthy enough to get into spring games. Stewart, who's expected to back up Garrett Atkins at third base and compete for a job in left field, smacked the ball hard in his return to games and is being asked to be more aggressive at the plate. Matt Murton and Seth Smith are the two left field competitors hitting the ball the best right now in camp, but don't forget about Carlos Gonzalez who is working on plate discipline this spring.
Los Angeles Dodgers
There has been no bigger story in baseball than Manny Ramirez, who finally signed with the Dodgers last week. Ramirez makes the Dodgers the team to beat in the National League West, but from a fantasy standpoint it kills the value of Juan Pierre. Pierre is now relegated to a fourth outfield spot and will have to work really hard to take at-bats away from the stacked outfield in Los Angeles. Pierre should be avoided in mixed-leagues and only taken late in NL-only leagues unless he's traded or an injury occurs ahead of him on the Dodgers depth chart.
San Diego Padres
Kevin Kouzmanoff followed up his career high mark in home runs in 2008 with shoulder surgery in November. The 27-year-old clean-up hitter returned to duty last week making two accurate throws and blasting a home run to show that he's ready to go. The best hitting prospect in the Padres minor league system, Kyle Blanks, is making good use of his extra time at first base while Adrian Gonzalez is off playing in the World Baseball Classic. His nine hits lead the Padres this spring and his three doubles and one home run give a small taste of what kind of power this kid has. He's blocked for the time being at first base so don't be too quick to draft Blanks, but keep him on your radar in deep mixed-leagues with minor league systems or dynasty leagues.
San Francisco Padres
Other than newcomer Edgar Renteria at shortstop, the remaining infield spots are up in the air for the Giants. The early play of Travis Ishikawa and Pablo Sandoval is good enough to think that first base and third base are locked up by those two guys. Ishikawa has ten hits (two home runs and two doubles) in 29 at-bats and looks to be the teams first baseman. Sandoval also has two home runs among his nine hits in 22 at-bats and is being moved to third base for the 2009 season; a place where he spent time in 2008 as well as at first base and catcher. This biggest position battle in camp is between Eugenio Velez, Manny Burris and Kevin Frandsen for the second base job. Burris has the most hits and most playing time thus far, but this competition is far from over.
