Hm...

I don't like the word "indefinitely". It's an uncertain word which, unfortunately, allows me to exercise my pessimism to the fullest. So, I go about preparing for the worst in regards to Barry Bonds' 2nd knee surgery, which is going to keep him out...yes, indefinitely. The thing is, how do you prepare for the worst in regards to this? The worst has already happened, and will continue to happen if the man misses more than a month of real baseball games.

It obviously means Pedro Feliz gets more time in the outfield, but whether that's left field or right remains to be seen. I'm thinking Father Alou will move Son Alou back to left field, where I imagine he'd be more comfortable, leaving Feliz in right field -- at least Pedro Happy has a right field-worthy arm, though he hasn't played enough games out there to see if he can use it effectively. We may find out very soon.

It also lines up Jason Ellison for a roster spot, possibly along with Tony Torcato, who's left-handed-ness ought to merit him great consideration. Michael Tucker now stands as the only left-handed bat in the outfield if we exclude Torcato, leaving Father Alou with less options later in games. I would think that Feliz and Tucker would platoon in right, with Son Alou moving into left, and Dustan Mohr chuckling just a little, wherever he is.

Ellison, by the way, is among the top five defensive center fielders, according to PECOTA's projected Fielding Runs over at Baseball Prospectus. That would be interesting, except that he won't be playing a whole lot of centerfield, and it isn't proven that Ellison can hit major league pitching. Calvin Murray, v2.0, in other words. If age seems to be catching up with Marquis Grissom, however, here's to hoping Felipe gives Ellison a shot to at least save the team some runs defensively here and there, and perhaps see if something can "click" offensively. Hey, at least some of those AAA numbers from Fresno ought to mean something, right?