Fantasy Flings: National League East

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.

Atlanta Braves
The problem with signing 36-year-old free agents is that they tend to get hurt a bit more than younger players. New Braves left fielder Garrett Anderson tweaked his right calf in warm-ups and will miss two to three weeks; maybe more. Matt Diaz in left field is not good for the Braves and it sure as heck isn't any kind of answer for your fantasy team. There is good news in camp, however, Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless inning today giving up only one hit and striking out one in his bid to return from right elbow surgery. Derek Lowe was next to untouchable pitching four perfect innings today striking out six and walking none.




Florida Marlins
Don't look now but Jeremy Hermida is turning into a hitter. He's always been a very popular breakout candidate, but never really been able to put things together for a full season. Last year he hit 17 home runs but only batted .249. So far this spring, I want to tell you that he's hitting .316 with two doubles and two home runs and leading the Marlins in total bases. But I don't want you to focus on those numbers. What I want you to take note of is the fact that he's walking more than he's striking out; at a five to three clip. Going into 2009, Hermida is no longer the clean-up hitter; he'll bat sixth. But he could still contribute on a big scale if he keeps these spring trends going in the regular season. His ADP is 186.86 (16th round) and that's about his draft ceiling. I'd probably wait a bit longer to grab him and then laugh all the way to the bank if he comes through for your fantasy team this year.

New York Mets
Johan Santana is going to make his first spring start on Thursday. That's all I'm going to say about him as this story is closing in on "When's Manny going to sign" overkill status. It's unclear, at this point, what his regular season time table is. Pedro Martinez is interested in pitching for the Mets this season. He wants to be the fifth starter on this team and he'd better hope that his three shutout innings tonight against the Netherlands, in the World Baseball Classic, were good enough to get him invited to camp because his Dominican team just got bounced from the tournament.

Philadelphia Phillies
Pedro Feliz took part in sliding drills and could be ready to see his first spring action tomorrow against the Braves. The question from a fantasy standpoint is, "Why"? I took a bite from the forbidden fruit last year and drafted Feliz after Mike Schmidt claimed that he could see Feliz driving in 100 runs and hitting 30 home runs. Let me take the high road here and just say that the Hall of Famer was wrong, and so was I for drafting Feliz. Minor leaguer Jason Donald hit 14 home runs in Double-A Reading last season and batted .307. He's also eight for 25 this spring and hitting the ball very hard. Since Feliz isn't rosterable for any mixed-league fantasy team, why not let Donald have a crack? Can he do much worse?

Washington Nationals
Arguably, the weakest spot on this Nationals team is the bullpen. You could probably broaden that statement and just say the pitching staff in general, but let's focus on the pen. Joel Hanrahan is penciled in as the Nats closer, but save opportunities could come few and far between for a not-so-great team playing in a stacked division. A rumor floating around lately could add some help to the Nationals pen. The Mets sent Duaner Sanchez packing and the Nationals may be in the market. He picked up five wins in the Mets bullpen last season with an ERA of 4.32. If the Nationals did sign him, he'd get plenty of opportunities in middle relief to help your fantasy team pad it's stats with cheap wins. This is a waiver wire kind of deal though. Do not go out and draft Sanchez.