There’s nothing that drives fantasy owners crazier than an indecisive manager. Maybe the guy is just keeping his cards close to his vest and not letting anyone else know what he’s thinking or maybe he just hates fantasy owners, but whatever the case may be, he’s sitting here just days away from Opening Day and he still hasn’t decided who will be starting. If you’re still waiting to draft then these situations should all be worth watching as there isn’t much time left. The managers have their backs to the wall and a decision should be made within the next few days. Here’s what’s still up for grabs…

American League

Chicago White Sox Second Base

No one is quite sure what manager Robin Ventura is waiting on as Micah Johnson continues to tear it up for the Pale Hose day in and day out. He’s hitting well over .400 for the spring and has crazy good speed potential. Carlos Sanchez hasn’t found his groove yet and still has more developing to do while Emilio Bonifacio slides in much better as a super-utility guy capable of spelling the starters all around the field. We expect Johnson to be named the starter very soon.

Los Angeles Angels Second Base

Don’t look now but it looks like manager Mike Scioscia is leaning towards Johnny Giavotella right now. The youngster has improved his defense over the last few seasons in the minors and his bat actually seems to be coming to life. So far through the spring he is batting .327 (16-for-49) with five doubles, two triples, one home run and seven RBI. Now obviously this is the spring and he’s had massive trouble against big-league pitching in the past, but so far, he seems to be holding his own and a clear front-runner. But Josh Rutledge wasn’t signed to sit on the bench, was he? We all know his defense is a mess, but he’s got more experience at the plate in the majors than Giavotella, though you’d never know that by his .192 spring average. And then there’s Grant Green who is probably the best of the bunch, but with his versatility in the field, Scioscia might lean towards using him as a utility man.  If we had to guess, then we’d go with Giavotella to start the year, but hey…this is Scioscia’s world and the rest of us just live in it.

Oakland A’s Left Field/Center Field

With Coco Crisp lost for six-to-eight weeks following elbow surgery to remove a bone spur, the A’s have some hard and fast decisions to make. They’ve got Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry which is surprising because we thought they were the same person. At least the skill set and style of play are similar. But while the two of them could certainly handle the responsibilities in both center and left, the A’s also have youngster Billy Burns as well. Burns plays a similar game to both Gentry and Fuld, but he’s got a better raw skill set and definitely has more speed. We could be looking at a three-man rotation here, but manager Bob Melvin, and fantasy owners, would probably prefer a little more stability.

Tampa Bay Rays Second Base

Technically, this is just a part-time thing as Nick Franklin is supposed to be the starter when healthy. But with him on the DL to open the season, it comes down to Logan Forsythe and Tim Beckham, Jr. for the work at the keystone. Forsythe is the seasoned middle infielder but Beckham is a prospect on the rise. Both are currently humping mediocre-to-poor averages this spring and each one has been the victim of far too many spring strikeouts so this may just come down to defense and service time. We’ll lean Forsythe here but it’s really just too close to call.

National League

Atlanta Braves Second Base

This situation is eerily similar to what’s happening on the south side of Chicago. We’ve got the youngster in Jace Peterson who has strong defensive skills and good, solid defense in one corner and in the other is the veteran utility man who is more than capable of holding down the fort, albeit in very boring fashion for fantasy owners, Alberto Callaspo. Not to mention, instead of the other non-developing rookie, we’ve got the mediocre “veteran” in Philip Gosselin. The expectation is that Peterson wins this job outright and we have no reason to disagree.

Arizona Diamondbacks Third Base/Left Field

This whole spring it’s been all about Yasmani Tomas, his great raw power and his lousy glove. He wasn;t doing well defensively at third base so the Diamondbacks had him pulling outfield duty in left. But the key to remember is that while everyone is trying to figure out where to put Tomas, no one is saying that he’s going to sit. In each discussion, he is playing somewhere. So regardless of where he doe end up, it looks like the Diamondbacks are trying to get him full-time at-bats.  The question is, where does he play the most? Will Jake Lamb have any legit value outside of deep NL-only leagues? Will Ender Inciarte be worth using for his speed? And what the heck happened to David Peralta? The way things seem, it looks like Tomas is the only one with guaranteed at-bats, but manager Chip Hale needs to finalize these positions and fast.

Chicago Cubs Second Base/Third Base

So Javier Baez and Kris Bryant have been sent back to Triple-A. We knew that was coming. But we also know that they’re coming back soon. Well, at least Bryant is. Baez still has some issues to work out so his call-up could actually be delayed. That’s a wait-and-see thing, but Bryant, we’re pretty sure about. So now we’ve got Mike Olt and his super sub-par batting average but high-impact power at third and either Arismendy Alcantara or Tommy LaStella at second base. Similarly to the Oakland outfield, we could end up with a three-man platoon as both Alcantara and LaStella can play both second and third with Olt sitting right-handers. Or is it left-handers? Man this guy stinks against both! While it would be nice for Alcantara to get a legit opportunity to play regularly, we’re all just hoping that Bryant and Baez get called up soon.

Colorado Rockies Catcher/First Base

Another ugly situation that sucks the fantasy value out of players. Manager Walt Weiss has stated that Nick Hundley and Mike McKenry are his catchers while Wilin Rosario is his part-time catcher/part-time first baseman. What the…? We all know that Rosario’s defense behind the plate stinks, but we sure would love to see if he can get his bat back on-track. With both Hundley and McKenry there, how much work will Rosario really get behind the dish and if “not a lot” is the answer, how often will he be at first base? And what happens to the value of Justin Morneau? Fantasy owners need Weiss to come up with a more predictable rotation of players here because this four-man rotation for two positions just isn’t cutting it.

Philadelphia Phillies Right Field

With Ben Rever in left, Odubel Herrera in center and Domonic Brown hurt, right field comes down to Grady Sizemore, Jordan Danks and Jeff Francoeur. Now, the expectation is that Brown will come back in mid-April, he will take over the job, but given what we know about his streakiness ( a nice way to say inconsistency), who’s to say that one of these guys doesn’t hold down the job or, at the least work his way into a platoon. According to a report on the Phillies’ site, with Frenchy batting just .189 this spring, the decision is likely to come down to Sizemore or Danks. But again, nothing has been etched in stone and we’d really love it if manager Ryne Sandberg would make a call one way or the other.

San Diego Padres Third Base

Manager Bud Black is really taking his time deciding between Will Middlebrooks and Yangervis Solarte and while neither is high on the fantasy radar, NL-only folks would love to see a decision being made sooner than later. Both have seen ample playing time this spring. Middlebrooks’ .353 average has a slight edge over Solarte’s .305, but Solarte has fewer strikeouts and better plate discipline. Both seem to be fairly comparable defensively, so when looking for a tiebreaker, it could come down to Solarte’s versatility holding him back. If Black starts Middlebrooks, he can use Solarte all over. If he starts Solarte, there’s really only one place for Middlebrooks to go. We won’t recommend him for fantasy purposes, but in the case of this position battle, we’ll lean towards Middlebrooks.