Randoms

Carl Pavano had a healthy 2 innings for the Indians and found a way not to land himself on the DL. This guy has the stuff still and if he ends up pitching 25-30 games this year you might have a gem on your hands. If you have a late round pick and you are kind of filled with most of your positions why not throw him a bone and see if he can do something with it. If he stinks it up out of the gate, just cut him loose. In my eyes, he's a half sleeper, not a full blown one but he's inching towards one as spring training continues.

Johan Santana has an ailing elbow. As I have always said, do not draft pitchers in early. They are too vulnerable. Make sure to keep an eye out for his health especially if your draft is fastly approaching.

Adrian Beltre will not be allowed to participate in the WBC for his home country of the Dominican Republic. Apparently, the Mariners have denied his chance because they say he is not 100% healthy. This is the walk year for Beltre, who never really lived up to this 5 year $64million contract he signed after his huge 2004 season. I am a firm believer in the walk year affect so I am planning on taking Beltre in the early double digit rounds. Even though he doesn't give the Gotti like numbers of 2004.

Chris Carpenter had a nice outing. With 19 pitches he made 6 outs. If he stays healthy throughout spring training this is a guy I am going to draft as my 4th pitcher in the late teens. He will most likely fall into the late rounds of most drafts because of injuries in the past few years. If he stays healthy he could easily be a complete STEAL!

Francisco Liriano is healthy and throwing the smoke he usually does. If he falls to the early teen rounds grab him but I wouldn't set him into my lineup as pick from the 5-10 rounds. Just not worth it.

Random Notes

Josh Barfield of the Indians was called up and will be the regular starting 2nd baseman. AL-Only league owners should grab this guy because he will give you some decent stats and with AL-only leagues players are hard to come by that are full time players and who give positive returns.

D-Train, Dontrelle Willis, of the Tigers was terrible in his 2nd start starting rotation after returning from the DL. For owners who are hoping for D-Train of 2005 where he went 22-10, well keep dreaming. This pitcher has fallen and seems to be staying on the ground. Only keep him on your team if you want a high ERA and a last place finish in your fantasy teams.

Adrian Beltre of the Mariners is struggling and has dropped his average to .226 after an 0-5 night against the Blue Jays. He currently has 13HR's and is on pace for 20-25 but owners who have him as their 3rd baseman must be disappointed in his terrible average. Do not drop him because he does have value. If you have an extra spot on the bench maybe bench him for now and see if he can get out of the slump he currently sits in.

Beltre

With the fat contract signed and after a few seasons of not living up to expectations, Adrian Beltre of the Mariners is slowly putting together a nice 2008 season. So far Beltre has 3HR's and 2SB's. This is a great sign for Beltre owners who drafted him in the 12-16 rounds. Beltre is even hitting in the 4th spot and with Ichiro ahead of him, it should give him plenty of RBI chances.

Owners, watch out and keep track of Beltre because of his injured hand. So far, everything looks fine but with a 162 game schedule minor injuries might slowly become bigger problems. Beltre is a great addition to spice up and add extra value in a deal to grab a premium hitter or pitcher in the near future. Watch his value shoot high and try to sell at the peak.

CC Sabathia

Ouch, another terrible outing by Indians ace pitcher C.C. Sabathia. The start to this season is nothing owners ever expected in their craziest of dreams. This time around, the heavy bats of the Tigers gave Sabathia another 9 ER's.

Owners shouldn't outright panic but should be worried. This is a contract year for Sabathia and we all know contract years can lead to major swings in stats, look at Adrian Beltre of 2004 and Andruw Jones of 2007. Just hope Sabathia turns things around and becomes a 2004 Beltre because if he continues and struggles like Jones in 2007, owners will have wasted a high draft pick.

My advice is to wait him out. Bench him for his next start and watch what's happening from the sideline. He throws a gem, throw him back into your lineup for his next start. If he throws batting practice and allows another 9ER's, worry about it then. But on the bright side, his velocity is there but he just can't find his location. Just hope injuries aren't causing this terrible start.