Injuries To Avoid for Draft

[Chicago]

It seems that every year I always end up picking up a player that's out for half or whole year with an injury in the draft. Because I'm too lazy to check myself, and instead will waste those precious minutes I could spend researching writing this message, anyone know of big injuries to avoid for the preseason draft this year?

[Arlo]

Let's see...

Tom Gordon is out for at least three months after tearing a muscle in his shoulder.

Jeff Kent fractured his wrist washing his truck and will probably miss most of April.

JD Drew has been having problems with his ankle. Normally nothing to worry about, but with Drew, you never know.

Ryan Anderson will once again miss the year with a possible tear in his left shoulder (not sure if that's the final diagnosis). Poor kid seems cursed.

Kris Benson is still out.

Bill Mueller underwent knee surgery.

Jason Schmidt has some sort of groin problem that will probably cause him to miss the beginning of the season. I still like him for this year, but he'll probably miss a couple weeks.

John Franco is likely to be out until May.

Former super-prospect Alex Escobar is out for the season.

Scott Elarton had shoulder surgery, but you wouldn't want him anyway.

Robb Nen suffered an as-yet undetermined foot injury. Probably no big deal, but worth keeping an eye on.

And Rick Ankiel added tendinitis to the list of reasons to be very careful when drafting him.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head - hope this helps!

[cwebb]

you have to keep an eye on all those guys out there who always seem to miss at least part of a season.

Larry Walker could be the man if he could stay healthy for a whole season.
Barry Larkin is a solid SS, but you better have an equally solid backup at hand.
This list could be expanded alot, but you've made your experiences with injured players and "you never know"... Someone already ruined one of your fantasy seasons? Don't draft him again if you're not sure he's going to stay healthy or you'll hate him if he repeats it!

[rauluga]

Leiter has a strained groin that hopefully won't nag him into the season. But it concerns me considering he's been around awhile.

[Arlo]

Oh yes - Breaking news: Shawn Wooten, who was recently featured in our Sleepers column, will miss half the season following surgery on his thumb.