Scott White

Cuts are an inevitable part of spring training. Teams come in knowing they have to trim their rosters to 25, and most already have 20 or so of those spots figured out.

But some cuts -- pardon the pun -- sting a bit more than others. Particularly in Fantasy, where you spend an abnormal amount of time studying players' numbers and trends, you grow attached to a handful of fringe players, and when they fall short of making the roster, you can't help but feel a little bit bummed.

So here's three cuts that caught my interest today. Keep in mind that, since these are fringe players, they're in large part irrelevant in standard 10- or 12-team mixed leagues:

OF Steve Pearce, Pirates
I just wrote about this guy the other day. What a shame. After Pearce came in and bopped three homers right away, I thought the Pirates might give him a chance at least to share at-bats with Xavier Nady in right. But he'll have to wait, gaining experience in the minors for now. I still say he ends up becoming a decent provider of home runs in NL-only leagues before season's end, likely following a trade of either Nady or Jason Bay. He ended the spring with a .263 average and four home runs in 38 at-bats.

OF Colby Rasmus, Cardinals
Really, you kind of sensed this one coming -- no matter how unfair it seems. For sure, Rasmus looks like he belongs. The five-tool athlete hit .273 with two home runs and three stolen bases in 33 at-bats. Even more impressively, he walked 12 times, or more than one-fourth of his plate appearances -- that's not a misprint -- to give him an on-base percentage of .467. Ay, chihuahua. So why didn't he get the job? He's 21 and has minor-league options -- it's that simple. Right now, I think the Cardinals like Skip Schumaker for their outfield vacancy and leadoff spot, and I could see him hitting for a decent average and keeping the job all year. But if someone suffers an injury, put in a claim for Rasmus.

SP Greg Smith, Athletics
I normally subscribe to the belief that spring stats mean nothing, but I do like to monitor them for young, under-the-radar pitchers (you need only look at Dave Bush in 2006 or James Shields last year to understand why), and I thought I had picked up on a winner in Smith. One of the prospects acquired in the Dan Haren trade, the 24-year-old lefty allowed only nine hits and three walks in 13 innings, striking out nine and posting an ERA of 1.38 ERA. Of course, the man who looks to have the job over him, Dana Eveland, did pretty well in his own right, striking out 14 in 15 innings with an ERA of 1.20. I'm telling you: It might not contend this season, but I think this Oakland team has the goods stashed away to become competitive awfully fast.

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And now for those of you who play in standard mixed leagues ...

Kerry Wood looks like the clear favorite to nab the job of Cubs closer at this point. Cubs manager Lou Piniella offered this carefully-worded bit of insight after Wood's performance Sunday -- a good one, mind you.

"Woody's making it easier. Not tougher. Easier. But let's wait on that decision. He's been throwing strikes. He's been going after the hitters. His velocity has been good. He's mixing in some nice hard sliders."

Let's dissect this quote. A player makes a manager's decision tougher when he plays so well that he challenges the favorite. A player makes a manager's decision easier when he plays so well that he remains the favorite.

Get it?

Wood is the favorite. I'm guessing he always has been. So even though I endorsed Carlos Marmol from a Fantasy perspective since Day 1, I have to switch over to the Wood camp now. Hey, I don't manage the team. I don't think Wood will have as tight of a hold on the job as Marmol would have had, but if you want to get the Cubs closer on Draft Day, you have to go for Wood.

That's all for now.

I made my way over to the Orioles-Nationals game Sunday, excited about the prospect of seeing a few of my favorite Fantasy sleepers from one of my favorite sleeper teams, the Nationals. I'm still trying to figure out the parking situation and got misdirected two or three times by people wearing orange vests, but we eventually figured it out. Oh, and I got the obligatory "you look about 16" from the senior citizen guarding the press box.

The uphill battle continues.

Anyway, most of my favorite sleepers -- Nick Johnson, Lastings Milledge and the like -- kind of let me down, but the teams treated me to a matchup of deeper sleepers John Patterson and Daniel Cabrera. Cabrera impressed more than Patterson. He didn't walk a batter through five innings and allowed two runs only because the team tried to stretch him to six. He's always had talent and has a 3.46 ERA now this spring, but he also has eight walks in 13 innings. I'm more likely to trust him in Head-to-Head leagues because he has the potential to kill your WHIP if you stick with him too long in Roto.

Then again, after the game, I caught this juicy nugget on the wire ...

"One morning this week, Cabrera and pitching coach Rick Kranitz reviewed videos of a 2005 stretch when Cabre