FanHouse

The injuries seemed like they were maybe, possibly, kind of taking a turn for the better for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then they got the brutal news early Thursday that leadoff hitter and sparkplug of the offense Rafael Furcal will miss another eight weeks after undergoing back surgery.

Manager Joe Torre would not concede that Furcal will be lost for the rest of the season, but neither did he say he's holding his breath awaiting Furcal's return.

"From all the numbers I've heard, he'll probably miss a minimum of eight weeks," said Torre, meaning a return of September at the earliest.

That's probably overly optimistic. Watkins performed a similar procedure in 2002 on Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown, whose disc was badly ruptured. Brown rushed back after two months, but quickly had to shut it down because he was not fully healed. Reliever Eric Gagne underwent a similar operation by Watkins at St. Vincent's Hospital on July 8, 2006. Like Brown, Gagne was also trying to return from elbow woes at the time and did not pitch again that season.

Like I mentioned the other day (link above), I'll believe it when I see it regarding recovery. Eight weeks is still a looooong time anyway and the odds that Furcal will be completely healthy by the beginning of September is possible but as soon as KB and EG's names get tossed around, I get a little skeptical.

And no, the "would not concede" line does not help anything either.

Fantasy Spin: I'm heading to drop him in a 12 team league right now (non-keeper) and grab someone that can help me now. Bear in mind though, that this is a head-to-head league, so not only will I be able to grab him later, but the loss of steals isn't permanent, so to speak. Still, I think he's done.