• Andy LaRoche had surgery on his right thumb and is expected to be out for 8 to 10 weeks. The third baseman injured the thumb when a pickoff throw ricocheted of a runner and hit him in the hand. Not great news for a Dodgers infield that is already down a starter (Jeff Kent, although his injury is considered minor) and struggling to find healthy replacements.

• Clayton Kershaw got a few pointers from legendary lefty Sandy Koufax.

• Nate Schierholtz hit a two-out, two-run homer in the 7th to pull the Giants ahead of the A’s on Friday. Although Schierholtz has made excellent progress in San Francisco organization, Rick Eymer of MLB.com writes that the 24-year-old might find himself the low man on the outfield totem pole. Barring a trade of some kind that frees up a spot, the Giants are likely to use Schierholtz last minor league option and have him start the year at Triple-A Fresno.

• In other Giants news, four players were sent down to Minor League camp: Clay Timpner (who hit .301 at Triple-A Fresno last season), outfielder John Bowker, and pitchers Osiris Matos and Kevin Pichardo.

• The competition is heating up for the fifth spot in the Oakland A’s rotation. Greg Smith, acquired from the Diamondbacks in the Dan Haren trade, has had a great spring, including Tuesday’s four inning outing: 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and no earned runs. Also in the running are Dana Eveland (also acquired in the Haren deal), Lenny DiNardo, Gio Gonzalez (acquired from the White Sox in the Nick Swisher trade), and Kirk Sarloos. Further complicating the starting pitching situation for the A’s is the injured Chad Gaudin, who is likely start the season on the DL. Thus, there would be two vacancies in the rotation, at least for a while.

So, you’re diligently preparing for your fantasy draft and searching desperately for this year’s Ryan Braun - the rookie fantasy sleeper stud that takes everyone by surprise and catapults your squad to a championship. Unfortunately, all you can find are experts’ “Top 100 Prospect” lists, which include prospects that are still a year or two away, or so-called “Sleeper” lists consisting of 2nd and 3rd year players that everyone in your league has already heard of (and are already planning to draft before you). What if - hypothetically - someone had organized a constantly updated list of rookie fantasy sleepers, tiered by starting status, ranked by predicted fantasy impact, and linked to recent news on each rookie, that you could have running in the background of your draft as a quick reference?

• Look no further than the MLBProspectNews.com 2008 Rookie Fantasy Sleepers page, located under the MLBPN Features section of our navigation bar.

Horrible news for the Dodgers and fantasy sleeper seekers today:  3B Andy LaRoche will miss at least 2 months with a torn ligament in his right thumb, according to ESPN.  In a strange series of events, first Nomar Garciaparra went down in the 4th inning after being hit by a pitch.  LaRoche entered the game for Nomar as a pinch runner, and only a half-inning later injured his thumb on a pick off attempt to third.  Apparently the ball deflected off of the runner rushing back to the bag, and hit LaRoche on his throwing hand.  LaRoche will have surgery on his finger in the next day or two, and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.  Clearly this means Nomar will be starting the season at 3B, and LaRoche will now be in a position where he’ll have to steal the job when he gets back.  LaRoche’s draft day value just took a huge plunge.

• Great day for the Dodgers’ prospects today.  In a heated competition for 3B with Nomar, Andy LaRoche stepped things up today.  He hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning.  He finished 2-4 on the day, and is now batting .385 this spring.
• In the same game, top prospect Clayton Kershaw saw his first action with mixed results.   He allowed a HR to Luis Jimenez and loaded the bases on two cheap hits and a HBP.  But he then buckled down and proceeded to strike out the side.  No surprise with the stuff he has.  He probably won’t be up this year, but when he does look out.  Future ace on any staff.
• Rookie import Hideki Kuroda pitched two scoreless innings today as well.  He has impressed everyone in the Dodger camp with his pitching and especially his toughness, according to this great piece on Kuroda by Ken Rosenthal.
• David Price’s scheduled start was canceled today, but it wasn’t because of his shoulder.  It was because of bad weather.  We’ll definitely have to watch his start on Saturday to see how he responds to the shoulder that was bothering him.
• Royals RHP Luke Hochevar pitched another 2 scoreless innings today.  He gave up 1 H and struck out 2.  He has yet to give up a run this spring, and should definitely be on your radar as a fantasy sleeper in 2008.
• Astros backstop prospect J.R. Towles went a long way today towards putting a nail in the coffin on the starting job.  He hit a bomb, two doubles, and had 4 RBI on the day.  Definitely a sleeper at the shallow C position in fantasy drafts this year.

There is reference in this Sporting News article of a comment by Joe Torre that Nomar Garciaparra has the inside track on the 3B job for the Dodgers because of his veteran status. This amid news that the Dodgers are considering trading for Brandon Inge. None of this bodes well for Andy LaRoche, who had hoped to get a shot at starting for the major league team. I, for one, can’t figure out why the Dodgers don’t just let their stud prospects play. When (not if) LaRoche eventually wins this job, he will definitely be a prospect to watch as a fantasy sleeper.

And in this MLB.com article, Bill Whitehead writes that Andy LaRoche is benefiting from his relationship with Garciaparra, his direct competition.

Brandon Funston of Yahoo Sports put together his list of the top 10 rookies to make a fantasy impact this year. We’ve summarized the basic information for you. He says he didn’t include Kosuke Fukudome even though he’s technically a rookie, and if he had Fukudome would be in his top 3.

• 1. Jacoby Ellsbury, Bos, OF
  If CoCo Crisp is out of the picture and Ellsbury bats lead off, could have 40 SBs and 100+ runs
• 2. Clay Buchholz, Bos, SP
  Will get babied by BoSox for 125-150 IP, 10 wins, and a k/ip
• 3. Joba Chamberlain, NYY, RP
  Will be starting in the bullpen, limited to 140 IP or less, probably will make the rotation at some point
• 4. Evan Longoria, TB, 3rd Base
  Funston predicts .280/20/75/75/0, if he starts
• 5. Geovany Soto, ChC, Catcher
  Probably won’t be a top 100 fantasy player, but could have good value if drafted late
• 6. Joey Votto, Cin, 1st Base
  Stuck behind 38 year old Scott Hatteberg but could get 20 HR and 10-15 steals with 450 ABs
• 7. Andy LaRoche, LAD, 3B
  It’s between him and Nomar Garciaparra for the starting 3B role, has 20-25 hr power if he gets the job
• 8. Jay Bruce, Cin, OF
  Norris Hopper/Ryan Freel will limit his chances of starting in the majors, but with the talent he has he should be up before the All-Star break
• 9. Colby Rasmus, StL, OF
  Could be a 20/20 guy if he surpasses one of the current outfielders: Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, or Ryan Ludwick
• 10. Ian Kennedy, NYY, SP
  Has held hitters to under .190 in 168 minor league innings. With the Yankees bat support he could reach double digit wins.