Scott White

I've never had a blog before. I'm from Georgia. (Not that that means anything, but people like to joke, and I like to accommodate, so there you go -- fuel for the fire.) But now that I've joined up with CBSSports.com, they've given me a blog space and told me to use it, assigning me a topic on which to direct my focus: baseball -- or, more specifically, spring baseball ... as it relates to Fantasy.

Good thing I really like baseball, huh? I mean, they could have told me to blog about werewolves ... or corned beef hash.

So baseball it is, and baseball it shall remain. It might have a distinct stream-of-consciousness feel to it at first, but I hope to establish some sense of order eventually. I like order. Oh, and I also hope to work in a Lost reference whenever I can. I like Lost.

Of course, what does it say about me that the two most important things of my life are Fantasy Baseball and Lost?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand break!

Word out of Tampa -- or, more specifically, the St. Petersburg Times -- has the Rays interested in Barry Bonds. We could argue for days about whether or not the Rays should want him or whether or not they'll actually get him, but regardless, this news has Fantasy implications because, for the first time, I get the feeling Barry might actually play this year. Before, all the talk of steroids and perjury and his suspected involvement in either or both had me under the impression that no team would touch him with a 39 1/2-foot pole. Now, low and behold, someone might actually want this guy.

So knowing he apparently wants to play and some teams might actually want him to play, how should we approach him in Fantasy? I wouldn't go crazy. Even if he officially signs somewhere, you could still probably wait until the latter rounds to draft him. But he deserves to start for someone in your league. He did hit 28 homers last year. And in leagues that count walks, he might ultimately rank in the top 30 outfielders, assuming he stays healthy. So I'll start to think about drafting him now, at least with my last-round pick -- or maybe my second-to-last-round pick if everyone else gets the same idea. I still wouldn't bother with him in NL-only leagues, though. If he's signing, he's signing to DH.

With this news, I also get the impression the Rays must think they have a chance to compete this year, and I wouldn't totally dismiss the idea. I think as things stand now, they could at least compete with the Blue Jays for third in the division.

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Phillies closer Brad Lidge caught his spikes on the pitcher's mound Saturday, joining Yovani Gallardo in the I-hurt-myself-before-spring-games-even-began division, and ended up needing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He might not recover in time for opening day, which certainly doesn't wreck his Fantasy appeal. It does, however, cause me to shy away from him a little on Draft Day. I'm not saying I don't want anything to do with him, but I saw him as nothing more than a No. 2 Fantasy closer to begin with, and now he just had a procedure on his knee. Players don't always bounce back from those so quickly (see Bay, Jason -- 2007). For now, I think I'll slot Joakim Soria ahead of Lidge in my rankings -- yes, I mean the Royals closer. Don't totally sleep on the Royals either. They'll probably finish last, sure, but it'll be a good last, if that makes any sense.

That's all for now.