Fantasy baseball owners aren’t going to be happy with Ryan Dempster. The starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs is headed to the disabled list as he hurt himself while trying to celebrate a win.

Dempster was trying to jump over the railing in front of the dugout on Sunday when he ended up breaking his big toe on his right foot.

“I was coming out of the dugout,” explained Dempster, “stepping over the top of the railing there, sitting up on the ledge, and caught my left foot on the rail as I was coming over and it spun me around and slammed me into the ground.”

The Cubs expect Dempster to be out as long as four weeks, although he could return after three weeks.

After a great season last year, Dempster hasn’t been as impressive in the 2009 fantasy baseball season. He has a 4.09 ERA to go along with a 5-5 record. Be sure to keep him out of your lineup until the beginning of August.

Ryan Dempster Freak Accident (Image: Zuma Press)

If you have a dynasty fantasy basketball team that features Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, you received some bad news on Monday. Yao, according to various reports, could miss the entire season next year. In fact, there are some that think that Yao’s career could be over.

What do you do if you have Yao in a dynasty league? The best idea is to hold onto him. No one is going to give you a fair deal right now and selling low is usually a losing strategy in fantasy basketball.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a player who had years of trouble with his feet but was able to eventually return to action and has become a durable option as of late. Perhaps Yao can go down that same path and bounce back from his feet trouble. It might be unlikely but there’s definitely still hope.

In a redraft, Yao isn’t draftable unless it sounds as if he’ll return at some point. Keep an eye on the Yao Ming news.

In Sunday’s game against the Florida Marlins, New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia was forced to leave the game in the second inning. He diagnosed with left biceps tightness.

The good news for fantasy baseball owners is that Sabathia says the injury is minor. In fact, reports indicate that he didn’t even want leave the mound.

Said Sabathia: “It wasn’t a sharp pain or anything. It just felt a little tight. It’s something I felt before, between starts or something. It’s nothing major.”

Prior to leaving the game, Sabathia pitched 1.1 innings while giving up three hits and one earned runs. For the season, he is 6-4 with a 3.71 ERA. Prior to the season, the Yankees signed Sabathia to a deal that will pay him more than $161 million over the next seven years.

Without Sabathia on Sunday, the Yankees ended up losing to the Marlins by a final count of 6-5. The Yankees are now 38-31, while the Marlins are 35-36.

One of the most surprising players in the 2009 fantasy baseball season has been Jason Bartlett, the shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays. However, due to an ankle sprain, Bartlett’s magical ride has been out of order since May 24th.

On Wednesday, Bartlett was able to start running. The Rays expect him to start playing in some minor league games within the next couple of days. If all goes as planned, Bartlett should be able to return at some point next week.

On the season, he’s hitting .373 with seven homers, 30 RBI, 32 runs and 14 stolen bases. He also has 11 doubles, two triples, an on-base percentage of .418 and an OPS of 1.014.

Considering that he’s never been much of a hitter, these are shocking numbers out of Bartlett. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep his hot bat once he returns from injury. If you have him in a fantasy baseball league, now might be the time to trade him while his value is high.

Jason Bartlett Injury Update (Image: Zuma Press)

Today, Brian Westbrook will have surgery on his ankle. There are already rumors out there that Westbrook will be out until the regular season. While the Philadelphia Eagles haven’t given specifics of when they expect Westbrook to return, it’s likely that they take things slowly with their starting running back.

In the fantasy football world, this is bad news for Westbrook owners. He has always been a fragile player and he’s now undergoing his second offseason surgery. It’s difficult to imagine that he’ll be able to play all 16 games given the amount of rehab he’ll need just to get on the field for Week 1 of the regular season.

That said, Westbrook is a very enticing fantasy football running back. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the biggest threats — both running the ball and receiving the ball out of the backfield.

Considering his injury woes, the best idea is to take Westbrook but be sure to handcuff his backup. Second round pick LeSean McCoy will likely be the backup and if he is, he’s a must own if you decide to roll the dice with Westbrook in the 2009 fantasy football season.

Miguel Cabrera, the slugging superstar for the Detroit Tigers, injured his hamstring in Thursday’s game against the Boston Red Sox. Cabrera suffered what appeared to be a pulled hamstring when he was running from first base to second base.

Once he reached second base, the training staff came out to see him. They decided to keep Cabrera in the game but after limping home to score on a double, the Tigers decided to remove him from the game.

Going into the game, Cabrera was hitting .354 with ten homers and 38 RBIs. He also had 34 runs and an on-base percentage of .415. Cabrera was a big reason why the Tigers are on top of the AL Central. The 26-year-old has established himself as one of the best hitters in all of baseball.

Replacing Cabrera at first base was Jeff Larish. In fantasy baseball, Larish might be a player to look out if Cabrera is to miss some time. In only 61 at-bats, Larish has four homers to go with an on-base percentage of .382.

Evan Longoria entered Tuesday’s game banged up and suffered another injury. When running out a ground ball in the sixth inning, Longoria felt tightness in his left hamstring. He was subsequently pulled from the contest.

On Wednesday, Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays have decided that the slugger will undergo a precautionary MRI. The good news is that Longoria seems to think that the injury isn’t serious.

“I didn’t feel a pop,” said Longoria. “I didn’t feel a pull. I think if it was something serious, I would be feeling it right now a lot more than I am.”

Fantasy baseball owners hope that Longoria is right. The third baseman, who was the DH on Tuesday due to a sore right arm, is hitting .322 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs. The RBIs are a high in all of baseball.

If Longoria is on your fantasy baseball team, keep a close eye on the Rays’ lineup on Wednesday. It’s probably 50/50 in terms of whether or not he’ll play.

Recently, the Cleveland Indians put Grady Sizemore on the disabled list due to an inflamed elbow. Now Indians doctors are saying that Sizemore could need elbow surgery if rest doesn’t help.

For fantasy baseball owners, this news is obviously not the news you wanted to read. Sizemore was a very highly touted player coming into the season, with many experts picking him to win the American League MVP award. However, this elbow injury has slowed him down for almost the entire season.

On the year, the outfielder is hitting .223 with nine homers and 31 RBI. His on-base percentage of .309 might be his most disappointing stat. Over the last three years, he never had an OBP mark less than .374.

If rest helps, expect Sizemore to be out for about two more weeks. If the rest doesn’t help and he needs surgery on his elbow, he’ll probably be able to return in about two months.

Jameer Nelson has watch the Orlando Magic make it all the way to the 2009 NBA Finals without him. Now there are rumors circulating that Nelson can return from his shoulder surgery in time to play in the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jameer Nelson - Could he return against the Lakers (Image: Zuma Press)

If you are hooping it up in playoff fantasy basketball, Jameer Nelson’s injury update could have a lot of impact. Named to the All-Star team, Nelson was having an amazing season prior to his shoulder injury. He was averaging 16.7 points, 5.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds, while shooting 50.3% from the floor and 45.3% from beyond the three-point arc.

However, even if he is able to return, it’s all but certain that he’d come off the bench. Rafer Alston hasn’t been amazing but he’s been good enough to retain the job for the rest of the way.

Nelson’s return would most likely result in replacing Anthony Johnson in the rotation. He would also cut into Alston’s minutes if he plays well.

For fantasy purposes, take a wait and see approach with Nelson. If he returns and then looks decent on the court, that’s when you start considering him for your fantasy basketball team. Prior to that point, he’s more of a tease than a sure thing.

Andrew Bogut, the Australian born starting center for the Milwaukee Bucks, has been cleared to begin workouts. He was able to get clearance from team doctors after the back injury that shortened his 2008-09 NBA season healed.

Bogut was only able to play 36 games this season due to the back injury. He averaged 11.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. While those are good numbers, it’s safe to say the Bucks were hoping for more when they made Bogut the number one overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft.

In the fantasy basketball world, Bogut is an above average center. He helps out in a lot of categories, with rebounds and field goal percentage likely being his two strongest points. However, his low free throw percentage and the fact that he had more turnovers than assists last year hurt his value.

For next season, there’s still hope that he could take a step forward in his progression. He’s still only 24 and bigmen usually don’t begin to blossom until their mid-20s. That said, a 7-footer with back trouble usually isn’t a pleasant combination.

Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks (Image: Zuma Press)