Did I say yesterday my time allotment to do news recap was going to be short-lived? Yes it was. We took the kids snow tubing in the afternoon, which is more exhausting than you’d think. Anyway, I got through the AL East only. Allow me to continue now with the AL Central.

• Oh my, that was quick. Jake Peavy was just named the fifth starter in the Chicago White Sox rotation, and today he’s been shut down for an as yet undetermined amount of time. He felt discomfort in his rotator cuff on the heels of throwing 83 pitches Saturday against the Oakland Athletics. He most assuredly will not be on the Opening Day roster now, based on this news. His comeback has seen a lot of positives all spring, but this throws a lot more uncertainty into when he’ll return to the Majors and how effective he can be. I’d use a lot of caution spending a draft pick on him.
• Matt Thornton was named the White Sox closer. The team doesn’t want to put too much pressure on Chris Sale. With a good option in Thornton, why would they? It doesn’t sound like this was much of a competition after all. Sale had control issues through the spring.
• Brent Morel is expected to win the starting 3B job over Mark Teahen. How much is he going to play though? That is what I’d like to know. Rick has him at 260 at-bats, but 14 homers and 19 stolen bases. Is it too simplistic to extrapolate the numbers over more AB? Absolutely. Is it a name worth keeping in mind as a late round flier though? I think so.
• Grady Sizemore won’t start the season with the Cleveland Indians. Okay, everyone knows that, but I want to keep my notes straight here. He did bat in a split-squad game this week and is expected to start in center and play three innings on Tuesday. No specific information is given on when he should return to the Majors though. That is still a guessing game.
• Not much to say about the Detroit Tigers, except the competition for second base is between Scott Sizemore, Will Rhymes and Danny Worth. And the bench spots in the outfield are up for grabs.
• Kansas City Royals CF Melky Cabrera has lost weight in the off-season and is in much better shape than he was during a disappointing 2010 campaign with the Atlanta Braves. It is a good bet Cabrera will improve on last year, but whether he becomes fantasy relevant or not is questionable.
• Justin Morneau continues to slowly rehab back to being able to play like his old self. He’s going to play in some minor league games this week. Maybe it is the Canadian in me, but if this guy seriously falls in the draft I’m almost ready to take the plunge. I was sure of myself a couple weeks ago that I wouldn’t draft him this season, but he his participating in games which is a positive sign.
• The new Joe Mauer-Kevin Butler PS3 commercial for The Show is pretty good, but not as good as the “I’ve not even allowed in Mexico” one. Or maybe I’ve just seen the new one too many times watching March Madness on demand.