Kirk Hinrich (Getty)The Hawks moved to 7-3 in Kirk Hinrich's 10 starts with a win over the Cavs on Sunday and Larry Drew understandably likes the three-guard look for the team. Hinrich over Marvin Williams in the starting five has coincided with a rise in the Hawks' offensive efficiency, and the numbers are climbing for the team's notables. Joe Johnson has been on fire at small forward, averaging 25.7 points on 54-percent shooting, 3.3 threes, 4.7 assists, and 1.7 steals in 38 minutes over his past six games. The health of Johnson's knee is a primary concern, but his production since returning provides some optimism that two weeks of downtime around the All-Star break were just what his tendinitis needed. The truest test of his stamina will come when the Hawks play seven games over the final nine days of March [schedule]. Josh Smith has been an absolute monster in March (23.4 points, 48% FG, 1.3 threes, 9.3 boards, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.5 blocks) and we're all familiar with his history of strong finishes. Replacing Williams' spot-up game with Hinrich's more varied skills has only helped Smith's upward trend.

Jeff Teague's offensive game remains inconsistent, although his steals totals have remained strong. Drew's hope is that adding Hinrich's distributing skills to the starting unit will free up Teague's score-first mentality and help lift his entire game, but that has yet to be fully realized. Frustration with Teague's play is completely understandable, but a bit more patience is advised if you are considering a drop in h2h leagues, given that the Hawks are one of three teams with nine games over the next two weeks (5-4) and the minutes will certainly remain plentiful while both Willie Green and Jannero Pargo are sidelined by injuries. Yes, there is still hope for Teague to finish this campaign on a high note. Hinrich himself has done enough with heavy minutes over the past five games to warrant deep-league attention (39 minutes, 11.4 points, 51% FG, 1.6 threes, 3.2 assists), particularly with Drew thinking the lineup change can and should stick.

Peyton buyers better hope he doesn't throw soft balls in Denver (AP)

After days of poking, prodding and posturing, Peyton Manning, the most coveted free agent to hit the market possibly ever, finally reached a decision. This year he plans to play for the Denver Broncos.

Sorry Arizona, Tennessee and San Francisco. Niners fans, your consolation prize: Collin Kaepernick. Surely your group of talented, yet egotistical wide receivers, will relish seeing passes from an inexperienced unknown.

Thanks for playing.

Denver isn't the most attractive destination for Manning. Dreams of the four-time MVP teaming up with Larry Fitzgerald, Kenny Britt or Randy Moss were more fantastic. However, in terms of vertical weapons, the cupboard is far from bare. Demariyus Thomas, with Tebow missing him roughly half the time, was an elite receiver down the homestretch last year. Over the final five weeks of the regular season he ranked No. 11 among WRs in standard league per game average netting 12.6 points per contest. Don't be surprised if Baby Brandon Marshall finishes as a

Chase Utley (US Presswire)

It's not like we haven't had this fire drill before, so you can't claim to be totally blindsided by the latest Chase Utley news. But still, it's no fun to report.

On Monday, the Phillies announced that Utley had left camp to visit a knee specialist, seeking treatment for his chronic tendinitis. This from CSNPhilly:

"Chase's rehab process has come to a bit of a plateau," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said in a statement.  "He has made some strides but not enough to take the field.  He is headed out of town for a few days to be evaluated by a specialist that has helped athletes overcome his issue.  We anticipate that this trip will allow him to build on what he has already done with [athletic trainer] Scott Sheridan in order to get over the hump."

Utley hasn't yet made an appearance in a spring game and he seems likely to open the season on the disabled list for a second straight season. You'll recall that he didn't make his 2011 debut until May 23, due to the basically same issue with the same knee.

Joakim Soria (Getty Images)

Entering the weekend, Kansas City closer Joakim Soria had allowed seven hits and four earned runs over 3.0 spring innings. Exiting the weekend, the numbers are a bit worse — 10 hits, seven runs, 3.1 innings — and the 27-year-old is dealing with pain in his pitching elbow. Not good.

Soria was lifted from an ugly 16-pitch appearance on Sunday, then offered these postgame comments to reporters:

"Oh, yeah, I'm worried," he admitted. "Since I've had my Tommy John surgery (in 2003), I've never had anything like that. I don't feel it's that bad because before the Tommy John surgery, all of my strength went away. This time, it hasn't."

[...]

"I threw a curveball to Choo (on the next-to-last pitch)," Soria said, "and I felt it real bad. The next pitch, I threw a fastball, and it was real bad."

So his current level of pain falls somewhere in the range between "real bad" and "immediate need for reconstructive surgery." It's tough to put an optimistic spin on this situation as we wait for additional details.

No longer in pass-happy 'Nawlins, Meachem's stock is actually on the rise. (US Presswire)

Over the past few days, a number of highly sought after signees inked exorbitant deals. Suffice it to say, in a league fixated on the pass, it's good being a wide receiver ($32.5 million to Laurent Robinson? Really Jacksonville? Really?). However, wideouts aren't the only ones that benefited greatly. From a fantasy perspective, here are six of the biggest winners so far in the mad free agency dash.

Robert Meachem, WR
Former Team: New Orleans
New Team: San Diego

Fantasy Spin: For most, leaving arguably the NFL's most prolific passing attack for anyone would be a rather substantial downgrade, but the former Saint's virtual value actually improves. In 'Nawlins, Meachem was merely a number on Drew Brees' constantly spinning roulette wheel. He was deployed almost exclusively as a streak receiver, averaging under four targets per game per year since 2009. But, assuming Malcom Floyd moves on, it appears the fleet-footed vet is destined to receive a significant uptick in targets. Norv Turner has confidence Meachem can become "a complete receiver." At this point, he deserves an upper-tiered WR3 label in 12-team leagues. If he emerges as the main man in the post-Jackson era, which seems likely, it's conceivable he finishes inside the top-20 at his position. Remember, Philip Rivers has averaged above 33 attempts per game in consecutive seasons. And Dr. Scholls would have a hard time fixing Antonio Gates' constantly throbbing feet.

Monday marks the start of Week 20 of the default h2h fantasy basketball season, the final regular season matchup before the playoffs begin. You may need one last push to get in, or perhaps you already have a spot secured and are more interested in some advanced planning. The notable widely-available players below are discussed with their short- and long-term prospects in mind, given both possibilities.

Alonzo Gee (Getty)Alonzo Gee, CLE, GF (33% owned)
Gee quickly transitioned from a player with deep-league potential to a true difference maker once he took over at small forward for the Cavs, moving ahead of the ever-disappointing Omri Casspi. Numbers over his past six starts include 15.3 points on 48-percent shooting, 1.2 threes, 5.7 boards, 2.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks in 33 minutes, and it's not a mistake that he's the 29th-ranked player over the past 14 days. Gee could end up as the add for the stretch run, given those combined threes-steals-blocks and the Cavs' league-best schedule (4-4-4-5).

Nate Robinson, GSW, G (32% owned)
Robinson is a universal add with news that Stephen Curry's season is very likely over. We're still waiting for official confirmation, but there are no good reasons for Curry to play from an organizational perspective. At the very least, Nate Rob is going to be phenomenal in the short-term - the Warriors are one of only two teams with five games in Week 20 (ATL being the other) and he's averaged 17.3 points on 49-percent shooting, 1.3 threes, 6 assists, 1 turnover, an d2.8 steals in 35 minutes over the past four games. The Warriors' schedule is excellent for the long-term, as well, with four games in each default playoff week, so this is a no-risk add with all kinds of reward potential.

Klay Thompson, GSW, GF (36% owned)
Part of the Warriors' motivation for trading Monta Ellis (and Stephen Jackson) was their confidence in Thompson, who has made 44 percent of his threes on the season and logged 1.3 assists for every turnover as a 22-year-old rookie. The schedule loves the Warriors over the next four weeks (5-4-4-4) and Thompson will see as many minutes as he can handle the rest of the way. His averages over the past four games has been mostly good (39 minutes, 19 points, 2 threes, 100% FT, 3.8 assists, 1 steal), but be wary of the likelihood that he'll be a substantial drag on your field goal percentage (17 FGA, 40%).

Carmelo Anthony, Mike Woodson (Getty)Tuesday's 121-79 thrashing of the Trail Blazers didn't give us too much insight into Mike Woodson's version of the Knicks, given that they were up 26 at halftime and their five starters averaged just 24 minutes. Jeremy Lin's post-D'Antoni demise has been widely forecasted over the past 48 hours, as he's already seen his numbers dip over the past nine games (33 minutes, 14.4 points, 38% FG, 0.7 threes, 7.3 assists, 4.2 turnovers, 2.3 steals) as the Knicks dealt with lots of good teams and lots of road games. Woodson gave Lin an emphatic vote of confidence as his starting point guard on Friday, and switching to Baron Davis certainly doesn't make sense right now, if only from a public relations standpoint. But we do know from the Hawks' "Iso Joe" days that the offense is now back in the hands of Carmelo Anthony and, to a lesser extent, Amar'e Stoudemire. For this reason, Melo and Amar'e's fantasy owners can breathe a big sigh of relief as we set our sights on the stretch run. Tyson Chandler's fantasy impact, - driven by a high shooting percentage, boards and blocks - won't change much, but from there everything is up in the air. The extent of the reduction of Lin's role has yet to be seen, but it's pretty easy to see him headed to fringes of standard-league relevance in any case. As for the mash-up of notables that make up the rest of the Knicks' rotation (Landry Fields, Steve Novak, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith), Woodson's deliberate, half-court heavy approach on offense isn't going to do any of them favors, so blanket downgrades are in order.

Provided he stays healthy, Bailey could be in store for a career year says Evans. (US Presswire)

Andrew Bailey and Ryan Madson are two old faces in new places. Very similar in style and substance, the closers are separated by just eight picks in Yahoo! drafts. Many would consider the difference between the two negligible. However, Y! fanalysts Brad Evans and Andy Behrens disagree.

Evans leads off: Speaking candidly, comparing Bailey to Madson is a splitting hairs exercise. The similarities between the pair are endless. Both are injury concerns. Both are pitching for new teams. Both are cemented ninth-inning options for division contenders. Both are roughly going in Round 11 in 12-team mixers …

However, of the red-clad closers, Bailey is the appropriate choice.

The transition from pitcher friendly Oakland to a slugger AL East team is, admittedly, a noteworthy knock, but the SAWKS' potent offense and solid starting staff should present many door-slamming opportunities for the reliever. And don't expect his ERA to rise dramatically. Bailey misses many bats (Career 9.10 K/9) and rarely surrenders the long-ball (Career 5.4 HR/FB%). If he can stave off the injury imp, he's a near lock for numbers around 3.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 5 W, 60 K, 35 S. In other words, he's an upper-tiered RP2 in mixers. And that could be a conservative estimate. Keep in mind Jonathan Papelbon saved at least 35 games in five of six years as Boston's stopper. It's within the realm of possibility Bailey's saves total matches the number on his jersey.

Madson, too, is an excellent option, but his recent elbow soreness is a concern. For two nearly identical closers, it's silly to invest in the enhanced risk.

For my buck, Bailey provides the most bang.