FantasyLand

If anyone is out there

The Tigers have made a position switch, effective immediately. Carlos Guillen is now the team's third baseman. Miguel Cabrera will play at first.

Attention keeper leagues

This is Clayton Kershaw. He should be pitching for the LA Dodgers very soon. And this is why.

Playing it safe?

So who's the bigger risk: Hanley Ramirez or Jose Reyes? There's no such thing as a sure thing in any draft, but it always helps to avoid those who aren't even close. Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus breaks down a few such cases. And if you can read a traffic light, you'll get the point. George Costanza couldn't explain risk management any better.

Returning favors

Injuries play a huge part throughout the NBA fantasy season. There are several players who tested fantasy owners’ patience with injuries and recently have returned or are expected to return in the coming weeks. What to expect from the return of these players and how it will affect their teams:

Gilbert Arenas
When Arenas went out in mid-November to have another knee surgery, prospects were looking grim. It’s funny what kind of motivation an impending contract can do to a man. Arenas is planning to opt out of the final year of his current contract to become an unrestricted free agent this off-season and  plans to return to action March 2. When he comes back, DeShawn Stevenson immediately becomes expendable, and you should plan to drop him then or before. Backup point guard Antonio Daniels also will take a big hit in value and will likely only warrant ownership in larger leagues. Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison should continue to be rock-solid despite Arenas’ return.

Elton Brand
It remains uncertain when Brand will return from the Achilles’ tendon injury that has caused him to miss the whole season, but it’s starting to sound more and more like he will be back. Brand also can opt out of the last year of his contract, so if he can come back and play at the level he did last season, he could be playing himself into a max contract this off-season. If he does return, it should be in early March. Chris Kaman has had a huge spike in production with Brand out all year and his rebounding numbers should come back to earth a little. He still should produce well, so it isn’t like you’ll want to cut him loose; just expect a dip. Also, some of Corey Maggette’s scoring could drop, but it should make him a more efficient player. Al Thornton would likely become expendable, but point guards Sam Cassell and Brevin Knight could see their assists numbers make a nice jump.

T.J. Ford
Ford had another scary incident involving his spine Dec. 11 when Al Horford knocked him to the ground on a fast break. He returned to action Monday after missing 23 games, and it’s uncertain what his role will be. Jose Calderon played like an All-Star in his   absence and has created quite a quandary for the Raptors. Calderon’s numbers on the season now easily trump Ford’s, so it is very possible that Calderon could remain the starter. Still, you can expect a small to moderate dip in Calderon’s numbers, but they still will be higher than they were before Ford was injured.   Anthony Parker could see a small dip in production, but Ford’s return will mostly impact Calderon.

-Scooter Hendon

Adds, drops and trends

Grab him

Mark Blount, Heat center
With Shaq out of town, Blount probably will be starting the rest of the season. He isn’t amazing, but should give you a consistent 12-14 points and 5-7 rebounds per game.

Drop him

Beno Udrih, Kings guard
Udrih was a great addition to fantasy squads when Sacramento was desperate for healthy players. Those days are over, and Udrih has returned to parttime duty. Let him go.

Fast breaking

Memphis Grizzlies’ youngsters
With Pau Gasol having moved to Los Angeles, it leaves a lot of open minutes to go with added scoring and rebounding opportunities. Juan Carlos Navarro, Hakim Warrick and Darko Milicic deserve consideration to be picked up, and if Mike Miller is also traded, some of these guys could be great stretch-run contributions to your team.

Slowing down

Phoenix Suns
Not to say the Suns will immediately grind to a halt, but if you have Shaq, keep in mind that this style of play probably means more injuries and even less scoring from him. The absence of Shawn Marion should cut Amare Stoudemire’s fantasy production slightly.

-Scooter Hendon

Final playoff league standings

1. MC's Hammer: 230
2. Playing in (Mc)Coy: 192
3. Hendonburg Disaster: 181
4. Schrock and Awe: 152

Super Bowl standings

The standings and players remaining entering the Super Bowl of our fantasy playoff league.

1. MC's Hammer (204 pts., Tom Brady and Laurence Maroney)
2. Hendonburg Disaster (168 pts., Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth)
3. Playing It (Mc)Coy (161 pts., Randy Moss, Brandon Jacobs, Plaxico Burress, Kevin Faulk and Stephen Gostkowski)
4. Schrock and Awe (152 pts., Did not wish to taint his team with any Patriots or Giants)

Ins and outs of Gasol to the Lakers

Earlier this afternoon, it was announced that the Grizzlies would move Pau Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, the draft rights to Marc Gasol and a filler contract for Aaron McKie. How this effects the fantasy world:

Grizzlies

Kwame Brown: If he's still available in your league, go pick him up. He has a lot of talent, but usually little hustle and no motivation. He is entering the home stretch of a contract year, which means he should start hustling for once. Plus, he will likely continue to get consistent playing time for the rest of the season, not just until Andrew Bynum returns.

Juan Carlos Navarro: As I wrote before, when he's getting consistent minutes, he produces. With Damon Stoudamire out of the picture and a big scoring threat for the Grizzlies (Gasol) out of the picture, Navarro could have a chance to shine as he has done through stretches of this season. If you have an extra roster spot and he's available, he'd probably be wise to grab right now.

Darko Milicic: He was an inconsistent fringe fantasy player before, and that likely won't change now. Still, Brown is a true-blue center, so it's possible Darko could start getting more minutes at power forward if the Grizzlies want to go big.

Mike Miller: He's been fantastic this year, and that won't change. While his assist numbers and shooting percentage may dip slightly, his rebounding and scoring numbers should go up. If you have him, consider yourself lucky.

Lakers

Pau Gasol: He might not put up numbers as lofty as you've expected when he was with Memphis, but he'll probably become more efficient. When Andrew Bynum comes back, you can probably expect a decrease in rebounds, but an increase in assists, blocks and shooting percentage.

Lamar Odom: Odom's position in all this might be the most interesting. His skill set says that he'd be more suited to the small forward position, but he is too big and not quick enough to defend many of the league's small forwards. His playing time probably won't go down too much, but he could find himself out of games late when Bynum and Gasol are in. Either way, expect his rebounding numbers to dip even more when Bynum returns and expect his assists to go up. When owners drafted him this year, they were likely expecting him to average between 4 and 5 a game instead of the 2.9 he has so far. You might be able to expect 4 or 5 if Bynum comes back before the fantasy season ends.

Ronny Turiaf: His value has been contingent on Bynum being out in the first place, and when he comes back, he'll become almost worthless fantasy-wise. However, for the next month or so, he'll probably maintain his current pace and can be depended upon as a potential big-block, decent-rebound guy despite the presence of Gasol.

-Scooter Hendon

Baseball prospects watch

For those keeper and dynasty league owners with an eye always on the future, minorleaguebaseball.com compiled its top 50 prospects list with the help of 20 members of the scouting community -- complete with estimated time of arrival to the majors. You probably already know some of the names. It'd be wise to become familiar with the rest, too.

-- Scott McCoy

Pujols' stock falling

It's almost baseball season. We've been taking part in some very early mock drafts and we'll start posting a few of them up shortly, but I felt compelled go ahead and mention a trend.

One thing has become clear: Word is out on Albert Pujols. He's regularly been going in the bottom half of first rounds.

Buried at the end of this story comes revelations that Pujols is having what could be serious elbow problems. In the above photo Pujols is extending his left arm. He apparently can't do the same with his right. Not good.

Pujols had problems with the elbow last season and his numbers were down (his slugging percentage declined more than 100 points from 2006). It's hard to imagine him returning to the 40-50 home run player he once was if he's still playing in pain. It's entirely possible that by the time leagues start holding their drafts, Pujols won't even be worth a first-rounder.

-- Scott McCoy