BOSTON -- Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford had surgery on his left wrist Tuesday and could miss opening day. General manager Ben Cherington said Crawford is expected to resume hitting at some point in spring training and be ready early in the season. "Carl will be our everyday leftfielder for the bulk of the 2012 season," Cherington said. "Were not ruling out opening day, but were not going to put a timeline on it. Carl will be ready exactly when hes ready. Theres no one who works harder than Carl. "Were confident hell be back and playing soon. We just dont know when." Cherington said Crawford experienced some discomfort last season, but the problem flared up recently when Crawford began more intense hitting workouts. The surgery, which Cherington called "relatively routine," was performed in Arizona on Tuesday by Dr. Donald Sheridan, who also operated on Crawfords right hand in 2008. "We are confident he will recover from it and go into the 2012 season with a fresh mind and confidence that his wrist is feeling good," Cherington said, adding Darnell McDonald and Mike Aviles are expected to fill in until Crawford is available. "We feel like we have some options even if Carls not ready on opening day." Crawford had career lows with a .255 average and 18 stolen bases in 2011, the first season of his seven-year, US$142-million contract with the Red Sox. "We think this time of the years a lot better than the end of spring training," Cherington said. "Hes got a chance to do a lot of work and recover and be active for us for the majority of the season. Carls a really tough guy, and this is something thats bothered him periodically in the past, including in 2011." Cherington also said the team was likely to have another conversation with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who is third on the franchises all-time win list with 186, six behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens. Cherington said he wanted to treat both Wakefield, the longest-tenured member of the team, and catcher Jason Varitek with respect while also being honest with them about their chances to make the roster. Cherington said right-hander Vicente Padilla is being considered as a starter but could move to the bullpen if the team needs him more there. Cheap New Jersey Devils Jerseys . Joffrey Lupuls status is now the biggest question mark surrounding the club as the Maple Leafs continue the push for their first playoff berth since 2004. cheap jerseys . Williams was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round in the 2006 NFL Draft. He remained with the Bears until 2010 when he was traded to the Carolina Panthers. http://www.cheap-nhljerseys.us.com/ . The Blue Jays (70-89) will need a sweep of the Twins (66-93) to stave off 90 losses for the first time since 2004, when Toronto went 67-94. Aaron Laffey will get the ball for Toronto. wholesale jerseys . -- Jim Furyk was 10 shots worse and right where he wanted to be Saturday in the BMW Championship. jerseys from china . Valanciunas averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.07 blocks and 27.1 minutes in 15 games in March. He shot .620 from the field and ranked first among Eastern Conference rookies in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage.Running back is the glamour position in fantasy football, making surefire starting backs very valuable commodities. Those that have been established as consistent and productive backs tend to dominate the early rounds of fantasy drafts and, unless your league has scoring that values other attributes more, the yardage and touchdowns of premier runners is tough to beat. Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson may be the best of the bunch, both of whom are good for 1500 yards from scrimmage (sometimes substantially more) and double-digit touchdowns every season. Last years breakout star, Arian Foster may find it difficult to duplicate a season in which he gained a whopping 2,200 yards from scrimmage with 22 touchdowns, but even with some regression this year, he has to be considered among the earliest selections. Versatile backs Ray Rice, LeSean McCoy and Maurice Jones-Drew enhance their value with their ability to gain yards in the passing game as well. McCoy might not be leaned on quite as heavily this season, with Ronnie Brown joining the Eagles, but McCoy is still a bona fide starter on what is expected to be a contending team, so circumstances are right for another productive campaign. Michael Turner has been up and down in three years with Atlanta, but even his down season resulted in 871 yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games. Like Turner, Rashard Mendenhall is another power back who can put up 1000-plus yards and double-digit touchdowns A dynamic back like Jamaal Charles could have a sensational season, but his ceiling appears to be limited somewhat by the Chiefs insistence on giving veteran Thomas Jones a significant portion of the carries. If only Charles could get 300 touches, hed be among the very best. Coming back from injury, Ryan Grant might be a bit of a sleeper, considering the Packers didnt have much of a ground game without him last year, but Grant has two 1,200-yard rushing seasons under his belt and could be considereda reasonable candidate to reach that level again. A couple of former Arkansas Razorbacks, Peyton Hillis and Darren McFadden, were breakout performers last season. Hillis was perhaps more of a surprise, while McFadden finally looked like he was reaching the level that was expected of him when he was selected fourth overall in the 2008 draft. A third Razorback runner drafted in 2008 like Hillis and McFadden, Felix Jones could be ready for a breakout season now that Marion Barber III is in Chicago. Jones hasnt ever been a workhorse back, but more opportunities could pave the way for his most productive year. If Barber doesnt take too many touches away from Matt Forte, then hes a solid performer, while Steven Jackson and Frank Gore are proven, productive starters, even if the heavily-utilized Gore tennds to get dinged with injuries.dddddddddddd On a per-game basis, Gore ranks at an elite level. Beyond that group of 16 relatively strong options at the position, there is more value and more risk. LeGarrette Blount, Jahvid Best and Ryan Mathews are young runners that could continue to improve and put up bigger numbers, but they dont have the track record of those ranked higher. Some of the more challenging situations, like the one Charles faces in Kansas City, exist with teams that tend to run in tandems. The Giants (Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs), Jets (Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson), Panthers (DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart), Bills (Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller) and Colts (Joseph Addai and Donald Brown) have capable rushing attacks, but the individual value of the players involved is lowered because they share the ball in the backfield. New Orleans presents an interesting case, too, with rookie Mark Ingram a potential game-breaker, yet the Saints are going to have Pierre Thomas (and, potentially, Chris Ivory) clamouring for carries, which makes it difficult to set a terribly high value for any one of them. Is BenJarvus Green-Ellis up to match last years strong showing? How much of a role will Danny Woodhead have in the Patriots plans? Every year, it seems that there are runners that will emerge from the shadows to become primetime performers. Who could emerge similarly this year? Maybe the split in Arizona will allow Beanie Wells to thrive for the Cardinals, while a new opportunity might benefit Tim Hightower in Washington. What about Reggie Bush? Will he be enough of a focal point in the Dolphins offence to warrant fantasy consideration. Maybe hes not a viable number two, but could be a pretty good No. 3 option. If Bush doesnt get a lot of touches for the Dolphins, it could be because rookie Daniel Thomas presents a better every-down alternative. Digging deeper, Tashard Choice might be able to handle a prominent role in Dallas if Felix Jones isnt durable enough to handle primary back responsibilities, and hard-running Raider Michael Bush has been a favourite of mine when Darren McFadden has been hurt. Whats important to realize about runners is that there will always be a couple previously unheralded backs that emerge as significant fantasy contributors. Foster, Hillis, Green-Ellis and Blount were in that class a year ago, so be prepared because when one running back goes down, another will be there to take his place. Check out my running back projections for this season here. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '