Fantasy baseball players everywhere may be relieved at the removal of a perennial source of uncertainty, but there are few things sadder in sports than a young athlete wrecked by injuries before he has had even a chance to establish what he could have done in the big leagues if he was healthy. So it is with the news that the oft-injured Angels 3B Dallas McPherson will have back surgery that probably puts him out for the 2007 season. Which also probably means an end to Chone Figgins' wanderings, as Figgins should get planted at 3B. Whether Figgins hits enough to justify that job will depend almost entirely on whether he can get his OBP up to close to .350. That should be a next-best solution to Matt Welch's concern that Figgins' versatility was blocking the path for too many of the Halos' young players.

Of course, OBP may yet be a chronic problem for these Angels, with Garret Anderson and Shea Hillenbrand penciled in at the LF/DH slots.