Carl Crawford (US Presswire)

This is not the most surprising news, but we need to toss it out there: Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford isn't expected to make his regular season debut until late April, or, more likely, May. Crawford is still recovering from January wrist surgery and hasn't swung a bat since suffering a setback in March. Boston clearly doesn't intend to rush this recovery.

Details right here, via the Boston Herald...

"The only thing I know about that is that you don't want to put the kid, anybody rehabbing, under the pressure of a deadline," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "It can never be the calendar or the schedule that says when a guy is healthy. It can't be. It's just not fair."

[...]

"Are we going to ask him to have 50 at-bats somewhere? Probably."

This news shouldn't matter much to Yahoo!'s Scott Pianowski, who just gave Crawford an official list price of $14, but unofficially prices him at no-[expletive]-way-not-on-my-roster. (Truth: Scott has spent a significant amount of time this off-season attempting to negotiate a Crawford deal on behalf of the Red Sox, reaching out to fans of other teams. Pretty sure we agreed in principle to a Crawford-for-Alfonso Soriano swap. Just need to get Ben and Jed on board, then phone that thing in to the league office).

The D'Backs are ready to storm the season. Are you? (US Presswire)

For the past two months you've steadfastly prepared for the fantasy baseball season sifting through volumes of stats, reading endless rants on busted bullpens while configuring and re-configuring your draft day cheat sheet. Confident and ready to win the first leg of the marathon, you can't wait to tap the keg this weekend.

The height of the fantasy baseball draft season is finally upon us.

On tonight's mustard-doused show, Brad Evans and Brandon Funston provided the latest news and notes from around the diamond to ensure you're ready to dominate. Spins on Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Michael Pineda and the ever-changing Reds closer situation were discussed. Additionally the Freaks talked spring surprises, including Eric Hosmer's monster March and what it means for his draft value.

Always versatile, the boys will also attack the gridiron, addressed the latest regarding Adrian Peterson's recovery, KC's two-back shuffle and how Brandon Jacobs' impacts Frank Gore's 2012 worth.

Finally in

WIth his slider biting once again, Liriano is looking lethal. (US Presswire)

Every year in the deep recesses of drafts, an overlooked leviathan, or three, emerges from the darkness to carry owners to the Promised Land. Last year, Michael Morse, Ian Kennedy and Michael Pineda fit the definition. This season isn't lacking in similar candidates. Below are eight true Rip Van Winkles that could catapult your fantasy baseball team to great heights in 2012:

Francisco Liriano, Min, SP
Y! ADP (12-team round): 243.8
Y! AAV ($260 budget): $1.7
For owners who paid an exorbitant price a season ago, Fransucko awarded them with a giant, smelly pile of insufferable numbers. His five-plus ERA and blue whale-sized WHIP cost many Liriano loyalists plenty of roto points.  Appropriately, his stock plummeted. However, the southpaw appears to have rediscovered his mojo this spring. Over the past few weeks, Twins management has toyed with his mechanics and emphasized efficiency in order to work its once prized ace later into games. So far, so damn good. Healthy again and brimming with confidence, Liriano's slider looks restored, again mystifying batters  like it did when he whiffed 201 two years ago. Through 22 Grapefruit innings, he's struck out 26 while walking a mere four. If he can carry over that success into the regular season, he's a shoo-in for Comeback Player of the Year, and a mighty fine SP3 diamond-in-the-rough in mixers. Adios Mr. Hyde.
Fearless Forecast: 181.1 IP, 13 W, 3.87 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 198 K

Justin Morneau, with his fantasy stalker (US Presswire-Roto Arcade)

It's a scene that's played out in at least two industry auctions so far, AL LABR and AL Tout Wars: Chris Liss tosses a $7 opening bid for Justin Morneau, and ... nothing. Crickets. Uncomfortable laughter. No bidding.

Nobody in the room has been willing to risk $8 on a guy who hit .345 in  a partial season in 2010, and who won an MVP in 2006. Morneau has three 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons on his resume, but...

"Going once...going twice...sold. Chris Liss, $7."

And that's that. First bid is the final bid.

Glorified G (US Presswire)

You're going to want some outfielders this year, so let's load up the sticker gun and price them up. (I was the worst grocery clerk of all time, at 15. They should have made me a bagger and cut their losses.)

The usual Shuffle Up disclaimers apply. I construct these lists from scratch; I'm not trying to justify last week's draft pick or something I wrote two weeks ago. It's an ever-evolving process. Assume a 5x5 scoring system, because only the blindest of the blind still play 4x4 (runs scored don't count? Oh, you Pagans). Don't obsess over the dollar amount; what matters is how the players relate to one another. Commodities at the same price are considered even. The aim is to get everyone who should be owned in a standard (or slightly deeper) mixed league.

I reserve the right to tweak this list as the night goes along, and I'll be adding comments for all tiers shortly. Your respectful disagreement is most welcome and appreciated; just make sure you're respecting the room as you do it. Further the conversation, gamer. Show us the sharp angle that we're missing. If I really like your analysis, you might find yourself in the FOP auction next week (yes, it's happening; details to come Friday).

Now, let's go grazing in the green grass.

Hedo Turkoglu (Getty)The Magic were down by 31 at the end of the third quarter on Wednesday, so they didn't play their starters extensively, but there haven't been many reasons to roster Jason Richardson or Hedo Turkoglu in standard leagues for some time now. Since returning from his upper respiratory ailment in late February, J-Rich has averaged 9.5 points on 37-percent shooting and 1.4 threes in just 23 minutes, while also dealing with ankle issues. Hedo's streak of poor production is quite extensive - in 36 games since he first dealt with back spasms in mid-January, his averages have included 9 points on 36-percent shooting, 68-percent foul shooting, 1.4 threes, 3.9 boards, 4.4 assists, 2.7 turnovers, and 0.8 steals. There is no value in the fact that they are familiar names, and that's a point that applies across the board - we're only looking for production, and it's been a while since J-Rich (71% owned) or Hedo (77%) warranted their relatively lofty ownership numbers.

• The Hornets beat the Warriors 102-87 on Wednesday without the services of Chris Kaman (illness), Trevor Ariza (ankle), and Gustavo Ayon (birth of child). Carl Landry started at power forward and had yet another solid game (33 minutes, 20 points, 8 boards, 1 block), while Jason Smith returned from his two-game suspension to start at center (26 minutes, 12 points, 6-7 FG, 6 boards, 1 block). Both Kaman and Ariza have been considered day-to-day all week, with the specifics being scarce between game-time updates. Yes, that means we're headed for the same story on Thursday .. As for Eric Gordon, Monty Williams said the following on Wednesday: "I wouldn't be surprised to come out here one day this week and say Eric is playing tonight."

Stephen Curry (Getty)The second opinion of Stephen Curry's ankle returned a recommendation of two more weeks of rest and rehabilitation, after which he'll be re-evaluated. This officially ends his season for default h2h purposes, so act accordingly. If Curry is declared "100 percent healthy" in two weeks and does happen to return, he's looking at the possibility of participating in eight or nine games before the end of the NBA regular season .. Elsewhere for the Warriors, Nate Robinson (hamstring) is headed for another game-time decision on Wednesday.

• The second opinion of Amar'e Stoudemire's back confirmed that he won't need surgery on his bulging disc, and he's expected to miss two to four weeks while he rehabilitates. This ends his season in default h2h leagues, and it's doubtful that he affects fantasy fortunes otherwise - the longer Amar'e is held out, the more likely it is that he won't suffer any setbacks when he does return. A best-case here seems to be a few games at the end of the regular season to help prepare him for a possible first-round playoff series .. Other Knicks updates for Wednesday: Carmelo Anthony (groin) will play, Jeremy Lin (knee) is out, and J.R. Smith (illness) is questionable.

For What It's Werth (US Presswire)

How many leagues am I in this year? The answer I'll give you is "too many." I'm in hometown leagues, industry leagues, mono leagues and mixed leagues, some drafts and some auctions, money leagues and pride leagues. Tell me the format, tell me when the draft is, and I'll show up.

Invariably, I'll wind up with a few common-thread players every year, the portfolio that will, for better or for worse, have a lot to do with my success on the fake sandlots this year. You won't find a lot of first and second-round players on this list; it's very difficult to wind up with the same big-ticket items when the majority of your leagues are assembled through the old-fashioned serpentine draft (that's a rant for another day). There aren't that many slots that can legitimately land Miguel Cabrera. But the middle-round and late-round names start sounding the same, and with good reason.

This is what's in my wallet for 2012. Make me proud, men.

Jayson Werth: This path to profit is so easy, amigos. Werth's 2011 season was a disappointment, sure, but it wasn't a complete waste of time. He still whacked 20 homers, he still stole 19 bases in 22 attempts. His slash numbers also rebounded in the second half, not to elite levels, but to acceptable ones (.255/.345/.426). Go back and eyeball the player Werth was in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He didn't forget how to play baseball overnight. The park switch didn't help him, but it doesn't fully explain last year's dip. The horrible contract? So what? You don't have to pay him. Sometimes I think players with bad contracts get unfairly punished in fantasy baseball, for reasons I can't comprehend.

Call him a last year's bum, call him a proven player off a down year, call him a bounce-back candidate. All those terms and tags basically mean the same thing. Just be sure to call Werth's name in the middle rounds; he's a steal as your third or fourth outfielder, and that's the deal that's out there waiting for you in most mixers. His current ADP is 120. Last year it was 51.