McFadden could leave owners WAY in the black this year. (USAT)

Owners who invested an exorbitant pick in china doll Darren McFadden last year are still sorely regretting it. Chucking hard inflatable balls at his dome, Mike Rice-style, would be an acceptable form of cathartic release.

When not sidelined for the 10 millionth time with a lower body ailment (last year a high-ankle sprain), the disappointing rusher appeared overly timid, lacked explosiveness and was generally terrible, an ill-fit for Greg Knapp’s zone-blocking scheme. Shockingly 82 of his 216 rushing attempts (37.9 percent) went for one, zero or negative yards. His overall yards per carry average (3.3) was the lowest of his career, by a wide margin. According to Pro Football Focus‘ RB metrics, he was the worst back in the league registering a -19.2 rating, nearly ten ticks below next lowest Chris Johnson.

Barf.

Fantasy-wise McFadden was equally deplorable. His laughable 9.5 points per game average wasn’t even starter worthy in 12-team leagues (No. 29 among RBs). His 42 catches proved he was still effective in the pass game, but he likely burned millions for the final time. In the eyes of most, he will wear a scarlet letter this draft season. Run DM-flee.

However, despite his sorrowful 2012 and oft-injured reputation, McFadden is a discounted RB worth exploring (29.5 ADP, RB18). No, this is not a belated April Fool’s joke. Here are three reasons why owners should strongly debate his services come August:

Jered Weaver, eyes wide shut (USAT)

Starting pitchers are the newborn babies of fantasy baseball. They're cookie cute in the nursery, but the moment we hear the slightest unusual noise, alarms go off. There are two types of pitchers, so the saying goes: those hurt now, and those soon to be hurt.

Today's dark cloud of worry goes out to Jered Weaver. (Don't worry, weatherheads: it never rains in Southern California.) Time for a look around.

Weaver's messy turn at Arlington on Sunday night (5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 2 K) didn't qualify as headline news. We saw a bunch of top-flight pitchers get hit over a 24-hour period, and Weaver has a terrible history in Arlington to begin with. A couple of well-struck but wind-aided homers certainly didn't help the cause.

But how confident can we feel about Weaver going forward? That's where the story gets a little dicey.

Nolan Arenado, making noise at Colorado Springs (Getty Images)

Rockies third base prospect Nolan Arenado had an impressive spring, as most of you know, going 15-for-54 with four doubles, four homers and 12 RBIs. The soon-to-be 22-year-old challenged for a spot in Colorado's opening day lineup, but the organization ultimately chose to ship him temporarily to Triple-A.

The move makes some sense, for all the usual financial/developmental reasons. (Realistically, the difference between Chris Nelson's production and Arenado's, this year, is probably not enough to justify starting the kid's service-time clock.) But fantasy owners need to keep a close eye on Arenado's minor league box scores; he's a potential high-impact add who, when promoted, will do his hitting in a friendly park.

Arenado opened his season with a strong series against Reno, homering in his first two games, reaching base safely in eight of his 14 plate appearances. Over three games thus far, he's scored four runs and driven in four more.

On Friday, he hit a bomb of notable distance. This via the Colorado Springs Gazette:

Kelvin Herrera cleaned up a Greg Holland mess on Sunday...not easily, but he did it (USAT Images)

On Saturday, Royals closer Greg Holland blew a save chance against the Phillies, walking the first three batters he faced, failing to protect a two-run ninth inning lead. After the loss, Holland received a partial vote of confidence from his manager:

“We’re not going to lose (many) games like that,” [Ned] Yost said, “without making an adjustment. But we’re not near that point yet.

“You don’t like losing games like that. And every time you do, everybody wants to pop the closer question."

Not the strongest endorsement you'll ever hear, but technically it still counts as a vote-of-confidence. Barely.

On Sunday, Holland again was called upon to get the final outs in a game his team led by a pair of runs. He retire the first batter he faced, but then allowed consecutive singles to Ryan Howard and Michael Young ... and at that point, Ned Yost had seen enough.

Do you trust Jered Weaver in Arlington? (USAT)

It's been a messy Sunday on the mound, a bad flop for pocket aces. A bushel of big-name hurlers were knocked around, and several save chances were frittered away. Crooked numbers all over the place.

Maybe Jered Weaver and Yu Darvish can make it all better; that's the Sunday night matchup in the stand-alone game. But the assignment isn't easy; Arlington is an offensive park (Weaver's career record is awful here), and the wind often streams out to right field. In any event, it's a good time for us to reconvene, talk a little fake béisbol,.

Of course we'll wander off the map regularly, discuss music, movies, drink and dessert. Anything to comfort our friends from the wreckage of the day. Let the game breathe a little bit, then amble on over. Mark your calendars for 8:30 pm ET.

Make the jump and you'll find the chat applet. Udon for everyone.

Closing isn't your bag, baby (USAT)

The two prominent pitchers in the Milwaukee bullpen have similar backgrounds. They're both working-class, non-celebrated prospects who made good, right-handed Canadians who are relatively easy to root for.

Of course there is one fundamental difference. Jim Henderson can get major-league batters out right now. John Axford apparently cannot.

The Brewers suffered a stomach-punch loss to Arizona on Sunday, a quirky 11-inning affair that ended with Heath Bell on the mound and Kyle Lohse at the plate (damn that modern roster construction). Axford actually worked a smooth 1-2-3 inning when summoned in the tenth, but he fell apart in the following inning (Cliff Pennington double, Eric Hinske homer). All three of Axford's appearances have been a mess this year (partly due to velocity issues), and he's already given up three home runs. Bad times in Brew City.

If you were taking a wait-and-see approach with 20-year-old Marlins rookie Jose Fernandez ... well, you can't wait much longer. Most of us have seen enough.

Fernandez was terrific in his major league debut on Sunday, tossing five strong innings against the Mets. He allowed just three hits, one walk and one run, striking out eight. The kid threw 80 pitches, 53 of them strikes. He reached 97 mph on the radar gun and embarrassed hitters with a ridiculous slurve. (The pitch is so great it has a nickname: "The Defector.") When Fernandez checked out of Sunday's game, his team led 3-1.

All things considered, it was a tremendous outing for the rook. Miami couldn't have asked for more.

It's fair to question whether the Marlins should have started Fernandez's service-time clock so early, but you can't really question the quality of Jose's stuff. It's of the highest quality.

Carlos Marmol, ex-closer (USAT Images)On Saturday night, the Upton brothers treated Carlos Marmol's fastball like a low-hanging piñata, stuffed with runs. Check the tape. BJ hit a game-tying bomb, then Justin delivered the game winner. No-doubters, both.

Thus, to no one's surprise, the Cubs have decided to shuffle the late-inning responsibilities. Effective immediately, Marmol is out as closer, and Kyuji Fujikawa is in.

If you're a fantasy owner in a deep-ish, competitive league, then Fuji is probably long gone, already stashed on someone's roster. But if you're involved in a smaller mixed league — maybe an 8 or 10-teamer — then there's a decent chance he's still sitting out there in the free agent pool. As of this writing, Fujikawa is available in 48 percent of Yahoo! leagues. Go get him wherever you can.

In making the switch, Cubs manager Dale Sveum acknowledged that Fujikawa was signed to close.

"I don't want to have this conversation again in 10 days," said Sveum, per CSN's Patrick Mooney.