By Douglas Benton With the final week of the regular season upon us, it is of course time to look ahead to 2008. With only eight teams heading to the playoffs, that means 24 other teams have work to do to get their in 2008. Here is how your respective teams are shaping up for 2008. 1. Boston Red Sox The Red Sox have a good infrastructure plus great young pitching depth in Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka. 2. Detroit Tigers They still have the best young pitching in baseball and with manager Jim Leyland coming back, expect the Tigers to be strong again in 2008. 3. Los Angeles Angels The Angels have started playing some kids this year and their pitching is as good as ever. However, the health of Vladimir Guerrero is the biggest question mark for next year. 4. Cleveland Indians Cleveland finally put it together this year by winning the division and with C.C Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, the Indians have a great one-two punch. 5. Arizona Diamondbacks Their amount of young talent is almost unfair and next year, they will be more seasoned. However, they don?t appear to have any pitching answers after Brandon Webb. 6. Chicago Cubs A slow start kind of diluted their overall record, but this team has a lot of talent that will also be returning to Wrigley Field. 7. San Diego Padres They still have Jake Peavy and Chris Young, but the Padres have to add offense this winter to be a league championship contender. 8. New York Yankees With the Yankees, there will always be talent. That said, they have big decisions to make this off-season in Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera. 9. Milwaukee Brewers Like the Diamondbacks, these young players were able to get some seasoning this year. However, it all centers on the health of Ben Sheets, who is Cy Young good if he can stay healthy. 10. Philadelphia Phillies The Phillies have the offense and in the second half they have started to figure it out under manager Charlie Manuel. Their off-season goal has to be shoring up their bullpen. 11. Atlanta Braves They have two dominant starters and a good middle of the order in Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira. However, the expected loss of Andruw Jones will have a bigger effect than most people think, especially on defense. 12. New York Mets The offense is better than ever as young outfielder Lastings Milledge appears to have figured it out. They do need to get younger and deeper in the rotation though. 13. Los Angeles Dodgers The Dodgers have brought in talent and called up talent, but it just hasn?t added up. The health or lack there of for Jason Schmidt could determine Grady Little?s job security after 2008. 14. Cincinnati Reds I like the direction of this franchise that they have shown after the break and they have more pitching than people think with Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang and Homer Bailey. Watch out for the Reds in 2007. 15. Seattle Mariners This team should come back pretty much intact, but questions with the manager and general manager push them down. The right moves could make them a contender in the AL West next year. 16. Colorado Rockies The Rockies are young and they lack pitching to be a contender, but the continuity in this organization now is better than ever. 17. Minnesota Twins Losing general manager Terry Ryan is a big deal, as is the troubles they will have in keeping Johan Santana. 18. Toronto Blue Jays The Blue Jays were expected to make that leap this season, but it hasn?t happened. The team has a solid base with Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, but they need Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett healthy all season to be effective. 19. Washington Nationals They will be moving into a new stadium next year and their improvement under first-year manager Manny Acta should be signs of a bright future in Washington D.C. 20. Oakland A?s General manager Billy Beane is the reason why this team has a chance in 2008. However, his once deep pitching stock is full of question marks after Dan Haren. 21. San Francisco Giants They should be higher because of their young and talented pitching, but they are going to struggle to put a line-up together everyday in 2008. 22. Kansas City Royals General manager Dayton Moore is a rising star who has young talent at his disposal. The right choice at manager to replace Buddy Bell will be the difference between taking a step forward or taking two steps back. 23. Houston Astros When you have Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee on the roster to go with rising star Hunter Pence, you should be in good shape. However, questions still remain over the manager and new general manager Ed Wade. 24. Texas Rangers The Rangers have improved throughout this season, but they will continue to be in the 20?s in team rankings until they add some bona fide starting pitching. 25. St. Louis Cardinals They are this low because of the rumors that manager Tony LaRussa and/or general manager Walt Jocketty are on the out. This team has talent, but it is filled with turmoil heading into the winter. 26. Florida Marlins This young team took a big step back this season and now the pitching looks to be worse for the wear. This franchise is dying in South Florida. 27. Pittsburgh Pirates They have some talent in guys like Jason Bay and Tom Gorzelanny, but they have too much turmoil in ownership right now to be successful. 28. Tampa Bay Devil Rays Tampa Bay needs to develop pitching to go with their position players in Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton. Their division though will slow the rebuilding project. 29. Baltimore Orioles I would have liked to seen them go after a big name manager, but this franchise seems content to just be average. 30. Chicago White Sox This team is a mess, both mentally and physically, and while I like Ozzie Guillen, maybe this team needed a new voice. Who?s in the best shape heading into ?08? Email your thoughts to [email protected]