Around the Majors: D-Train on DL with anxiety disorder.

Dontrelle Willis, a former 22-game winner, was placed on the DL due to an anxiety disorder.

Willis said the diagnosis came after follow-up blood tests showed something of concern. Doctors told him that the condition is treatable and that they'll start him on a regimen.

"I'm not crazy", Willis said "though my teammates might think that I'm crazy." He went 0-2 with a 9.38 ERA in eight appearances with the Tigers last season following his blockbuster trade to the Tigers the previous off season. Despite making adjustments to his delivery, the southpaw continued to struggle this spring. Willis allowed 15 runs (12 earned), 17 hits and seven walks in 8 2/3 Grapefruit League innings. " No word on if the Tigers will provide any help for the anxiety that Willis gave to his fantasy owners last year. Elsewhere around the majors:

• Angels ace John Lackey received a cortisone shot aimed at reducing the inflammation in his strained forearm.
• The Washington Nationals addressed their logjam in the OF by placing Willy Mo Pena on waivers.
• The Blue Jays are very concerned with B.J. Ryan's loss of velocity despite seemingly being 100 percent healthy. His velocity has varied between 83-86 m.p.h., way down from last year. If you own Ryan, you need to look at the possible replacements should he need to stay behind to build up his velocity. My choice would be Scott Downs.
• Bill Madden of the Daily News wrote today about the fast rising Yankee SS prospect who may push Derek Jeter to CF as soon as next season.
• Brett Gardner has officially won the Yankees center field job.
• Hopefully if you spent a high pick on the Cub's Carlos Marmol, you were smart enough to draft Kevin Gregg many rounds later. If you didn't you probably don't want to hear about how Pinella just named Gregg the new closer.
• The Dodgers Chad Billingsley had no set backs today and is on track for his first start on April 8th.
• Brewers' closer Trevor Hoffman played catch today for the first time since March 20th, but still seems destined to start the season on the DL. Carlos Villaneuva would likely step in a the closer were Hoffman to miss any time. I drafted Villanueva in the end-game of my NFBC draft for just this situation.
  

Around the Majors:Tejada gets slap on the wrist

Miguel Tejada received a year of probation and 100 hours of community service, in addition to a $5,000 fine for lying to Congress about performance-enhancing drugs. Tejada briefly addressed the court, "I apologize to the Congress, to the court, to all the fans of baseball and especially the kids," Tejada said quietly. The sentence was tied to Rafael Palmeiro, who implicated Tejada as a way to explain away his positive test for steroids in 2005. Palmeiro said that Tejada had given him a B-12 shot, which is believed by some to be a steroid masker. Other news from around the Majors:

• The Atlanta Braves sent top prospects Tommy Hanson and Jason Heyward to their Minor league camp on Thursday.
• Emilio Bonafacio seems like a lock to be on the Florida Marlins Opening Day roster. He may have even played himself into a regular job at 3B if Gaby Sanchez isn't ready at 1B. Jorge Cantu would seemingly slide across the diamond opening up starts for Bonafacio at the hot corner.
• Angels C Mike Napoli will test his surgically repaired shoulder for the first time this spring on Friday. If you drafted him early this year (like I did), you will be waiting anxiously for the reports out of Angels camp. Napoli provides tremendous power upside from the C position, but health has always been an issue. He need to take the next step in his rehab to increase his chances of making the team out of ST, where his power bat would at the very least give him some DH at bats right away.
• Angels SP John Lackey is experiencing some forearm tightness. While he says it is nothing to worry about, it has to be noted that he missed the first 6 weeks of the season last year with a forearm injury.
• The Detroit Tigers are starting to face the economic reality that has engulfed the entire city. There have already been internal discussion on what to do with Dontrelle Willis and the $22 million that he is owed for 2009 and 2010.
• The entire city of Milwaukee, not to mention countless fantasy leaguers are concerned about Ryan Braun's injury status. After seeing him struggle down the stretch with a similar injury last year, we understand.
• Cincy's Johnny Cueto looks ready to improve upon last year's mini-breakout. He simply dominated the Red Sox yesterday as he faced the minimum 18 batters in his six innings of work. He struck out 5 in all and was so efficient with his pitches that after his outing he was sent to the bullpen to throw 20 more pitches just to get his work in.
• The Denver Post's Patrick Saunders says Todd Helton's power was the biggest surprise of Rockies camp for him.
• CC Sabathia was not only named as the Opening Day starter for the Yankees, but it was also announced that he will pitch in the Yankees home opener on April 16 as the Yankees open their new ballpark.
  

Spring Training Report: St. Louis Blues

The question of who will open the season as the St. Louis Cardinals closer just got a lot murkier (if that's possible) with the announcement that front-runner Chris Perez will be shut down with shoulder discomfort. Tony LaRussa has not named a closer as of yet and it is not that far-fetched to see him employing a closer-by-committee approach. The other names in the mix for saves include Jason Motte, Ryan Franklin, Josh Kinney and Kyle McClellan with Motte seemingly in the lead at this point. Elsewhere around major league camps:

• Joe Torre says that Hideki Kuroda will be the Dodgers Opening Day starter. He will be followed in the rotation by Randy Wolf, Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw. Torre has yet to name his No. 5 starter.
  
• Time to scratch SP Shawn Hill off your cheat sheets. The Washington Nationals released the promising but chronically injured pitcher yesterday. Someone else will probably sign him and give him a look, but the chances of him having any value this season are very slim.
• Marlon Byrd's big spring means that Andruw Jones' chances of making the Texas Rangers out of camp are slipping away.
• Hideki Matsui will be restricted to DH duties until June. This could be a problem for the Yankees and manager Joe Girardi. Jorge Posada is coming back from shoulder surgery and won't be able to catch everyday. LF Johnny Damon also seemed slated for DH duty at least once a week to help keep his legs fresh. So it looks that Matsui will be sitting at least once a week and with that his overall numbers will take a hit. Adjust your values accordingly.
• Carlos Villanueva. That is a name you are likely to hear called out late in a lot of drafts after today. Closer Trevor Hoffman strained a rib cage muscle over the weekend and might miss the beginning of the season. In case you forgot, Hoffman is 41 years old. Villaneuva struggled as a starter last year but flourished once moved to the pen. Before Hoffman was signed manager Ken Macha mentioned that Villeneuva was first in line for closer duties, so likely he is the Brewers Plan B.
• No real surprise, but the Jose Reyes will bat third experiment has likely been scrapped.
• Not that you were likely looking to draft the Pirates 4th or 5th starter this year, but it is still worth noting that Tom Gorzelanny has been demoted and former Yankee Ross Ohlendorf has firmly grabbed the 4th spot.

"My [butt] feels good and that's that."

That's how Erik Bedard summed up his successful return to the mound today for the Mariners. It was his first appearance since being scratched due to a sore butt. Bedard has a 1.59 ERA on the spring in 5.2 innings pitched, so it's time to move him back onto your radar as a big value play later in drafts. It should be noted that this is a contract year for Bedard and if he proves he is healthy the M's will surely deal him by mid season. Lots of other stuff happening in camps as teams continue to prepare for the season and we prepare for our drafts:

• If you were thinking of drafting Jason Schmidt as an end-game pick, you might want to think again. Manager Joe Torre said he was out of the running for the 5th Starter's job. It bears mentioning that Jeff Weaver got shelled and will be used exclusively in relief.
• Cole Hamels is going to have his elbow examined, which is never something you like to hear at this point in camp. He very well may be fine, but if I was drafting this week I would be very leery of spending the high pick or big bucks it will take to draft him.
• By now you know about Ervin Santana's elbow sprain which will likely delay the beginning of his season. He reportedly started his throwing program today, which while encouraging still can't get me to stop thinking about Francisco Liriano. Like Liriano, Santana relies on his Slider to be effective, throwing it 33% of the time last season. My worry is that when he returns, will he shy away from the slider?? Will he compensate by changing his arm slot and lose control? History tells me that the answers are Yes and Yes, at least in his first few starts.
• I guess the fact that the Mariners signed Chad Cordero means we have to at least add him to the closer mess/mix in Seattle.
• Khalil Greene is having a great camp, hitting .447 as he settles into the St. Louis lineup. I temper your excitement by pointing out that another SS, Angel Berroa is tearing it up this spring at a .429 clip.
• Baltimore's Adam Jones stole his 7th base of the spring yesterday. He stated earlier in ST that he wanted to steal more bases this year, and if he can deliver on that promise he will be a nice find later in drafts (ADP 184)
• Jordan Zimmerman had another nice day pitching 4 scoreless frames and striking out 6. For the spring, Zimmermann, 22, hasn't been scored upon in 12 1/3 innings and has struck out 16 batters.