Braden ready to test shoulder: The San Francisco Chronicle reports A's SP Dallas Braden will throw off a mound Monday for the first time since undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in May. The Bay Area News Group reports pitching coach Curt Young doesn't expect Braden to be ready by the start of the season and mid-April is a more realistic goal. (Updated 01/29/2012)
Injury Report
Shoulder - Questionable for start of spring training (Updated - 1/29/12)
Fantasy Analysis
Braden was limited to three starts in 2011 because of his shoulder injury. If Braden is healthy, then a rotation spot awaits him. But one thing we have learned through the years is that to expect the unexpected with pitchers returning from major shoulder problems. Braden was hardly a dominating pitcher before his injury, so consider him more of an AL-only Fantasy SP on Draft Day. Let him prove healthy and productive before scooping him up in mixed formats. (Updated 01/29/2012).
After a career campaign in 2010, Dallas Braden only made three starts a year ago as a shoulder injury cost him much of the season. He went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA before he was sidelined with the injury, and subsequently underwent surgery to repair a torn capsule in his left shoulder. He has shown in his young career that he will not walk many batters and posts enough strikeouts to make him appealing. The 28-year-old is expected to be ready for the start of the 2012 season but as owners know, shoulder injuries are sometimes tricky to come back from. But Braden showed by going 19-23 with a 3.66 ERA in 52 starts from 2009-2010 that he definitely has a place in Fantasy so don't sleep on him on Draft Day. He has the potential to be a sleeper in larger formats but target Braden more so in deeper mixed leagues and AL-only formats heading into the season. (Updated 2/1/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
= probable start