A panic? Total and utter BS. Vlad isn't even on my team. So Vlad's injury is nothing but good news to me. That said, I'll leave you with some names:
Kevin Brown last year
Edgardo Alfonzo in his prime
Jose Conseco in his prime
Shane Reynolds in his prime
Orlando Cabrera last year
A-Rod's diminished production (by his previous standards) this year, although his decline has been less than most.
etc., etc., etc., etc.,
The fact is that a herniated disc is the kind of injury that will tease you. You hear that the guy could be back in a few weeks, so you hold out a bunch of hope -- i.e. "the hernicated disc trap". So intead of dealing the guy or making appropriate moves to compensate, you hold him and don't figure out until it's to late that this is the WORST INJURY FOR FANTASY OWNERS! Accept it, digest it, and quit trying to argue about it. A player can't play at the same level when his back hurts every time he swings. He will also have a hard time playing on carpet -- when the carpet is probably one of the major reasons the injury occured in the first place. Further, you can't name me a SINGLE player who has not suffered some sort of a decline with this injury -- even a mild one.
So I would label everybody who doesn't take this injury serious GULLABLE. And you are the exact type of person I would pawn Vlady to if I had him. So for all of you fantasy owners with Vlad out there, unless your are in a keeper league, find yourself a Jack-in-a-Box and try to steal a healthy guy like Shawn Green from him -- who hasn't performed thus far. I almost guarantee that you could pull this kind of a trade off. Do it NOW! Vlady will not be Vlady this season. It's just the nature of this injury.
Don't fall into the trap that it will be different for you, either. That would be like dating a bad girl who has already screwed several of your friends over. But not you, right? For you, it's going to be different, eh?
Think again.
