Spring Training Thoughts: David Wright, Zack Greinke and Others

Thursday was a bad day if you are a Zack Greinke owner. He was supposed to throw a bullpen session on either Thursday or Friday, but the Dodgers decided to postpone that till next week. Not a good sign for a starter that the Dodgers, and many fantasy owners including me, were counting on to be healthy this year. Greinke has some inflammation around his right elbow. I was listening to Buster Olney's podcast on Thursday, and he and Jayson Stark were discussing that Greinke may have bone spurs in the elbow. Right now, it doesn't appear that he will be ready for Opening Day, so he could drop down my rankings should we learn more next week.

David Wright was scratched from the USA-Dominican Republic WBC game on Thursday night with soreness in his rib cage area. He was checked out by team doctors in New York and will rest for the next 3-5 days. Those of you drafting this weekend should draft him assuming he will be healthy all year. At this point, all we know is he has some minor rib cage discomfort and the team is playing it safe with him.

It appears that Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus will be traded at some point in the next 4-9 months, as the team announced that they will look to trade him if they cannot sign him to a long term contract. This looks just like positioning by the team to let their fans know they aren't going to pay him the dollars that Scott Boras is seeking for him in a long term deal. I look for him to be traded this season, where the team can maximize his trade value, as GM Jon Daniels is a smart man. The team has already offered him several long term deals, which were rejected by Team Boras.

The Nationals have a dilemma on their hands as to what to do with top hitting prospect Anthony Rendon. Rendon will start the season in the minors, but he has shown this spring that he is close to being major league ready as he is hitting .375-.412-.875 with 4 HRs, 4 doubles and 11 RBI this spring. It doesn't appear the team will move him to second base, so where to put him? I imagine they will let him play out the year in AA/AAA, and figure out if there is a market for first baseman Adam LaRoche next offseason.

Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford played in his first spring training game on Thursday, going 3-6 with a stolen base. It is a good sign for Crawford, who had a mild setback earlier this offseason as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. He will be the Dodgers leadoff hitter and starting left fielder once he is deemed ready. I see him starting the season on the DL, but he should be ready by the first or second week of the season.

The Padres are having a bad spring training, as Rymer Liriano will miss the season due to Tommy John surgery, and now Casey Kelly is facing the same decision. Kelly had a shot at making the Padres starting rotation out of spring training, but has experienced elbow discomfort. He could miss the whole season if he elects to have TJS, but is a solid $1 or late round pick in keeper leagues.

We keep hearing that Dodgers outfield prospect Yasiel Puig will start the season in the minors, but he is doing his best to change the mind of manager Don Mattingly. Puig is hitting .459-.447-.703 with 2 HRs, 3 doubles, 8 RBI but a terrible 10-0 strikeout to walk rate in 37 at bats.