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Time To Drop Justin Williams

Kings’ winger Justin Williams will be out up to four weeks with a dislocated right shoulder.

Analysis: This news means Justin Williams will be out for the remainder of the regular season and thus needs to be dropped from your fantasy team immediately. Williams is the Kings best winger and was having the second best season of his career with 57 points in just 73 games. Obviously in keeper leagues he’s fine to roll with next year but losing nearly a point per game player who is a plus 14 on the year with over 200 shots on goal hurts and hurts bad. There aren’t too many right wingers widely available in most leagues but there are a few solid options. St. Louis right winger Matt D’Agostini has four goals and five assists in his last six games and is a plus seven in that stretch. D’Agostini is your clear choice for plus/minus and for assists. Nashville’s Martin Erat has five goals and six assists with 28 shots on goal in his last nine games. If you’re in the market for some penalty minutes then Edmonton’s Ryan Jones just may fit the bill. Jones has amassed 13 penalty minutes in his last six games with a very respectable 15 shots on goal in that span. The loss of Justin Williams hurts but there are some right wingers playing very well on the market.

Bartolo Colon a Virtual Shoe-In For Yankees Rotation

After coming into camp as a longshot on a Minor League deal, the former Cy Young Award winner has dominated this spring.

Analysis: Last night’s outing against the Rays most likely sealed the deal in the competition for the Yankees fifth starter job, a position that has come down to a dogfight with fellow veteran Freddy Garcia. It appears that young Ivan Nova has the fourth spot locked up, so the two are battling it out for the last job available. Retiring 18 of the 20 batters faced yesterday, Colon looked outstanding while racking up five strikeouts over six innings. Many of his 64 pitches thrown, 52 for strikes, were clocked in the 91-93 MPH range with a bevy of impressive changeups and cutters mixed in. Nobody is expecting Colon to return to his All-Star form, but so far his command and overall stuff has caused the Yankees brass to reminisce on the past. A 2.40 ERA to go along with 17 strikeouts and only 1 walk over 15 innings will do that.

Projection: Colon’s performance over the past two weeks has been surprising to most, including myself. You cannot argue with the results, however, and he has earned a coveted spot in the Yankees rotation. Garcia’s recent struggles have only cemented this projection even further. Although both could essentially wind up on the Opening Day roster, Garcia’s spot would be as a long man at best. Barring an injury between now and then, bet on Bartolo Colon starting every fifth day for the Yankees. The chances of him staying healthy for the entire season are somewhat slim, though, so he isn’t worth picking up too early. As a late round sleeper, however, Colon could prove to be a very valuable acquisition for your Fantasy squad during the early months of 2011.

Rajon Rondo is Not Playing Up to His Potential

Rajon Rondo started the year off hot, putting up ridiculous assist numbers, but he’s struggled a lot recently and kills you in a lot of fantasy categories.

Analysis: Rondo was so terrific early in the season that any of his misgivings were completely offset by how good he was at everything else. Now with Rondo playing poorly, and not even putting up the assist or steal numbers we’ve grown accustomed to, his weaknesses are just that much more glaring. On the season Rondo is shooting 49% from the field, which is great for a point guard, but in his last 10 games Rondo has only shot 36% from the field. When you combine that with his notoriously bad FT% you have a player that is absolutely killing your percentage categories. Rondo is averaging a little over 8 assists a game, which is a respectable number for most guards, but not Rondo. I believe that given his talent, and the talent on his roster their is no reason for him not to average over 12 assists a game. He’s averaging close to that with 11.5 assists per game on the season. Rondo’s small points totals are also down in this recent stretch, going from 13 a game on the season to 7 a game in his last 10.

Projection: Rondo is not helping your fantasy team right now. Consider benching him until he gets back in the groove. It seems like losing Perkins had more of an effect on Rondo than anyone could have anticipated. If Rondo isn’t dishing out crazy assist numbers and stealing balls left, right, and center, than he is a lousy fantasy option.

Alex Ovechkin Out With Undisclosed Injury

Alex Ovechkin is out seven to ten days with an undisclosed injury.

Analysis: Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has stated Ovechkin has been playing with this injury for months. While I do not believe the injury to be serious at all, it’s probably just cumulative fatigue and soreness associated with the grueling schedule and physicality of the NHL. The Caps goal is the Stanley Cup and it has been since day one and it can be evidenced by the defensive nature of Washington’s play much to the detriment of Ovechkin’s numbers this year. This is an extremely wise decision on Washington’s part but it really has to sting your fantasy squad. Seven to ten days puts Ovechkin out for four to five out of the Caps remaining nine games. Also, be aware of the possibility that he could sit until some time in early April when he is completely fresh as the Caps last game is April 9th at Florida.

Projection: You cannot drop Ovechkin, that’s fairly obvious. But you can drop a bench player in you’re in need of a left winger. If Andy McDonald of the Blues is available in your league he is a must pick up.  If he isn’t available, Vinny Prospal of the Rangers is still playing extremely well.

The Very Overrated Austin Jackson

We all know how inflated Austin  Jackson’s batting average was last year but his lack of plate discipline should really concern you.

Analysis: Austin Jackson’s league leading .396 BABIP was the only reason he flirted with hitting .300 last year. In reality, Jackson is a .280-.285 hitter when considering the facts. Jackson’s BABIP will take at least a ten point hit in 2011, .396 is just unsustainable. Jackson’s 27.5% strikeout rate is cause for concern as well and looks like it’s here to stay. His Double A and Triple A K-rates averaged about 23% and he was hitting for more power. Coming in to last year there were some scouts talking about his power potential and how a 10-12 home run year was realistic. His home run total last year was 4 and his ISO was .107, to put that into perspective that’s Orlando Husdon and Starlin Castro’s ISO range. The most telling stat has to be Jackson’s .28 BB/K line which was sixth worst in MLB last year. It’s fine to have a leadoff hitter without power but one that strikes out like a power hitter and cannot draw a walk is very concerning, especially to stolen base and run totals.

Projection: Jackson is good for what he did last year minus a few batting average points and some runs. However, guys like Jose Tabata, Cameron Maybin and Dexter Fowler ALL have the potential to put up similar numbers and you can get them many rounds later in your fantasy draft.