As we get down to the final games, lots of roster moves being made, and noise surrounding some key players as well.
- Ian Kinsler may start the season on the disabled list. This can't be good news for a 2nd-3rd round player in mixed leagues. If you hadn't already, make sure to temper your expectations about Kinsler. He's suffering from an ankle injury, which could hamper his stolen base total all year long potentially.
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Lance Berkman was not hopeful to start the season on the field, and it appears very likely now that he will start on the disabled list. He has been dropping in drafts as it is, and the longer this lingers, the more concern I have.
- Bad luck for Marc Rzepczynski. He took a line drive off his hand yesterday, and will miss up to 6 weeks. I still think he could have some value in a lot of leagues, especially since he's a solid strikeout pitcher. Someone to keep an eye on as the month progresses.
- It's official that Aroldis Chapman will start the season in the minors. But I think he's shown that he's not likely to be there for very long. Which seems extremely out of character to me with Dusty Baker.
- Felix Pie was named the Opening Day starting left fielder for the Orioles, which leaves Nolan Reimold without a full-time job. I think that this has to downgrade Reimold somewhat, as he could end up getting the job back in short order, but for now I don't think he's ownable in standard mixed leagues.
- Some official closer news, courtesy of Tim Dierkes @closernews Twitter feed. Matt Lindstrom will start the season as the closer for the Astros. Also, as had been expected, Jason Frasor will be the closer for the Blue Jays.
- Nico over at Athletics Nation wrote up why he thinks that Jake Fox could be the A's backup catcher, instead of Landon Powell. To me, this seems like it has the potential to be great news, especially in deep leagues. If Fox could get enough time behind the plate to qualify there, he becomes almost immediately ownable in most 2-catcher leagues.