Chicago Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley is off to yet another Major League organization, the Seattle Mariners, where another clubhouse can be compromised by his attitude and volatility. The Cubs, after signing him to a three-year, $30-million deal last winter, cut their losses and essentially shipped him to Seattle for a bag of Skittles and a catcher’s mitt, or starting pitcher Carlos Silva and cash.

You understand the risks with Bradley and, for an American League club, they make sense. He is a talented switch hitter and an OPS machine that can make his entire lineup better. Read more »

After the Boston Red Sox evaluated free agent shortstop Marco Scutaro and deemed him worthy of a two-year, $12.5 million contract, fantasy owners should have taken their cue. Scutaro, who rose suddenly to fantasy “usefulness,” is a quality baseball player and a “glue guy” for fantasy and Major League teams alike.

Scutaro wasn’t particularly flashy in fantasy, hitting .282 with 12 HRs, 60 RBIs, 100 runs and 14 stolen bases in 144 games last season, but he did make an impact, despite dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right heel. Read the words of Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein carefully, and you’ll see a real GM trying to do what fantasy GMs couldn’t last season; make sense of Scutaro’s sudden splash. Read more »

The Philadelphia Phillies placed closer Brad Lidge on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right knee Tuesday, according to the team’s official site. Overwhelming reaction to this news, especially from Phillies faithful, has been cheers and celebration, rather than disappointment and frustration.

Lidge has been, quite simply, awful this season. And while there were signs he was righting the ship, there have been more stumbles along the way and a league-leading six blown saves. He’s the polar opposite of the lights-out closer who went a perfect 41-for-41 in save chances as the Phillies won the World Series last season. Read more »

Opening Day is close enough we can taste it by now, and even though we at Imaginary Diamond were “absentee bloggers” through much of spring training, we are here lending our full support as the season gets under way.

With three days until the Dodgers and Giants kick off the season, this is a time for fantasy leaguers to fill out rosters, not sweat what their top producers are doing. Make those final decisions on what to do with the last few roster spots and how to fill out a pitching staff.

Plenty of players who appear to be questionable waiver wire acquisitions now are sure to be difference makers during the season, it’s just a matter of who they are and how early they are discovered. Here are 10 below-the-radar players we think have that potential right out of the gates. Read more »

Add another “Wow” to the growing list of Atlanta Braves prospect Tommy Hanson’s “Wow” accomplishments. As in, “Wow, Hanson struck out seven Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.” Sunday’s performance goes with the previous spring lovefest that went something like, “Wow, Hanson’s teammates and manager are THAT impressed by him?”

Use it however you like - as a verb, noun or superlative - Hanson has “wowed” just about everyone who’s crossed paths with him over the last calendar year. Read more »

Well, after initial reports by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution had outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. signing a one-year deal worth $2 million plus incentives with the Braves, the report was quickly denied by Griffey, who officially signed with the Seattle Mariners Wednesday.

This news coming from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which also reports that a phone call from Willie Mays gave Seattle the edge over Atlanta for good in the Griffey sweepstakes. Read more »

Pitchers and catchers reporting to camp is always an anticipated day, but coming off one of the most depressing offseasons in recent baseball history, Feb. 14 was particularly refreshing. Even if it’s just for a little while, baseball fans can shift their attention back to the field, rather than a struggling economy and three powerful stories on performance-enhancing drugs.

The trials and tribulations of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez won’t be in our rearview mirrors anytime soon, but at least they have competition for news headlines. Manny Ramirez will remain in the spotlight, but the opening of spring camp means that an ending is finally in sight for that story. We can finally start to replace some of the more bizarre and borderline depressing stories with a little bit of optimism. Read more »

Colorado Rockies outfielder Dexter Fowler is a true wild card entering the 2009 season. He has a great shot at Colorado’s starting center field job, and he will seemingly be able to make a smooth transition to the major leagues. But, in addition to uncertainty over where he starts the year — in the majors or minors — Fowler lacks the household name to really captivate fantasy owners.

Fowler will surely go undrafted in a majority of fantasy leagues for those reasons, which makes him a legit sleeper candidate. Nevermind Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and David Price, who are on the radars of every fantasy owner in the country, Fowler is the name to circle on your sleeper list. Read more »

Cleveland Indians prospect Matt LaPorta is on the cusp of a major league career, but his first chance may not come until late 2009 or 2010. The Indians have a glut of outfielders and seem content to give LaPorta a full year of seasoning at Triple-A Columbus before inserting him into their everyday lineup.

LaPorta was the seventh overall pick in the 2007 draft as a slugging first baseman out of the University of Florida. He proceeded to mash in his first minor league season, then got off to an excellent start in ‘08 when he hit .288 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs in 84 games with Milwaukee’s Double-A Huntsville. Read more »

Having gone through a couple of early mock drafts, a few facts — some specific to 2009, others not — have become more clear. Even in the heart of winter, with spring training updates still to come, players are settling into slot positions and trends are beginning to develop.

For starters …

After the top seven players — Hanley Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore and Miguel Cabrera — drafts are wide open. The eighth pick is as good as the 14th, which makes late first-round decisions as hard as ever. Read more »