Of Medlen, Tommy John and Santana

Braves RHP Kris Medlen's progression has been easy to project.
The first news over the weekend was that he had a strained forearm. The next word, that he had ligament damage in his elbow. Next, he visited Dr. James Andrews. Now he might seek a second opinion.
Here's how this is going to end: Tommy John surgery. Mark my words.
Give the Braves credit, and give RHP Ervin Santana a couple of million extra dollars, for Atlanta's fast action. The Braves swooped in and signed the free agent away from other key suitors, the Blue Jays and Orioles, for $14 million.
Santana is the greatest beneficiary among the late-signing free agents. Don't you think OF Nelson Cruz today is wishing Jason Heyward had been injured, so the former Ranger would have received more than the $8 million Baltimore is paying him for 2014?
For openers: It's no surprise that LHP David Price will be the Rays' Opening Day starter.
I hope to be back with more baseball later today. I'm also recording tonight's Giants-Rangers game in case I don't watch it live.
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Hockey. I'm in a rut at 65 points. Still in third place, but the teams above me currently are pulling away and the fourth-place team keeps gaining half a point or a point here and there. The worst was when the team in fourth moved ahead of me in penalty minutes. It's just a 3-minute gap now, but I might have to sign someone like Antoine Roussel to get a couple of extra fights in there.
No. 4 is also three goalie wins and 1 1/2 points ahead of me. I outsmarted myself on a Tuesday matchup by not starting newly acquired Tim Thomas. I didn't think, especially coming off the trauma of Monday night's Rich Peverley collapse, that the Stars could win at St. Louis. They and Thomas did win, allowing just two goals in the overtime game.
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Basketball. After losing for the first time since Week 3, 4-3-1 to the second-place team overall, I've fallen behind 5-3 again this week.
I would like to get 100 wins for our regular season, which ends Sunday. I'd need four wins this week to do that. But more than that, I'd prefer not to lose each of the last two weeks going into the playoffs.
It appears that I'll have four players active Thursday, to just two for my opponent. That could help me make up deficits of one 3-pointer and one steal. I wouldn't be in such dire straits if I hadn't neglected to update my lineup Monday -- leaving three active players, including Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire's big game. Looking back, I think I updated my hockey lineup that day and assumed that I'd also made my basketball changes. Let's not do that again.