=== Dr's Prognosis Dept. ===

Gutierrez gets a total re-set, with SSI, as to where his career arc is going.  Maybe he will become a franchise player, for all I know.  How do I know what he can do when feeling good?

He has to get healthy, first, of course.

............

Can he get healthy? 

Okay, his systemic poisoning caused his lousy 2010.  The big question becomes:  will that be solved in 2011?

Not with a prescription, no way no how.  Not in my opinion, and remember, I ain't even a chemistry grad, much less an M.D. ....

..............

My friend got on top of his Crohn's with exactly one (1) approach:  he stopped eating everything that is hard to digest.

You'd be surprised what those things are ... he can't eat an apple, for example, because the skin is almost impossible for him to digest.   He can't eat sunflower seeds, because they congeal in the small intestine...

We sound like we're going off on a subject best left to the doctors, but my friend over the last 10 years has become a bona fide expert on the subject.  Has your local family doctor experimented on his own intestines for the last 10 years, and gotten the feedback daily on his theories?

If Guti can figure out -- and quickly -- what it is that is slow for him to digest, then he'll be fine.

.

=== Silver Lining, Dept. ===

The good news is this:  on days wherein the digestion is going properly, the patient is right as rain.  100% fine.

On a Friday night in Anaheim in which Gutierrez' system feels good, well.... he's as strong and fast as ever.  Might even feel extra sharp, because of the rest...

The temptation will be for Gutierrez to feel good for three days and then endulge the high-fiber meal again...

Can Gutierrez have a big 2011?  Guess here is, that's as easy a question to answer, as answering how well he can identify, and stick to, his diet.

...........

From a competitive standpoint, though, it's exciting to hear.  Gutierrez had a clear holdback in 2010 and that holdback might disappear in 2011.   In rotisserie, if Gutierrez starts well and you hear cheerful noises from the M's camp that his diet is working great ... yep, that makes you fully justified in trading for him in May.

It sounds funny, but this is the kind of thing you sometimes hear at the end of a surprise year.  Hey, our #3 offensive player got healthy and had an UP year.

.

My $0.02,

Dr D