Every year we see older players start to decline, and other players who should be in their prime have a drop off in production. So as we head into opening week of the 2009 season, what players can will produce less then we?re accustomed to expecting? First, I have to start with Carlos Delgado. After having the least productive year of his career in 2007, 2008 looked as if it would be even worse, as he was batting .229 with just 11 home runs heading into June 27th, (his 2 homer, 9 RBI day against the Yankees). Over his next 84 games Delgado went on to make a run at the NL MVP award, batting .308 with 27 homers and 80 RBIs. After watching him play like a washed up slugger in 2007 and the first half of 2008, there is no way that I think he can repeat his production from last year. He is playing for a contract so I don?t think he will completely fall back to the platoon player he was the first half of 08, but expect him to struggle to bat .265 with 25 homers and 85 RBIs in 2009. At 36-years-old, fresh off a league leading .364 batting average, and a three-year contract extension, expect Chipper Jones? best years to be well behind him. Chipper has had a lot of injury problems the last 5 years, but has always managed to play enough games to be very productive. I see him failing to play 100 games for the first time in his career, however, when he does play he?ll be productive, but end up batting around .300 with 15 homers and 60 RBIs. I was going to pick Jorge Posada as my declining catcher, but after how injury-ridden he was last year that?s too easy, so I chose Bengie Molina. He?s one of the more underrated players in the league, being that he has been one of the most consistent offensive catchers over the last six years, when offensive production by a catcher seems to be few and far between. He?s going to turn 35-years-old this summer and he is coming off the best year of his career, batting .292 with 16 homers and 95 RBIs. He is definitely at the age where catchers start to see a big drop off and I don?t expect anything different from Bengie. I am a big fan of Matt Holliday, but leaving the very hitter friendly Coors Field for the more pitcher friendly McAfee Coliseum will cause a drop-off in production. Holliday, being in a contract year, will certainly be out to prove that he was not a product of Coors Field the way so many other players have been. Holliday put up monster numbers in 2007, and very good numbers last year despite 100 less at-bats due to injury. I hope I am wrong on this one, but I see Holliday?s numbers slipping to a .290 batting average with 24 homers and 85 RBIs. After a slight decline last year, along with recently finding out he is actually a year older then we thought, I expect Vladimir Guerrero to start looking like an aging player. He has certainly lost a step, probably two, over the last couple of years, and now I think he might fall below the .300 mark for the first time in his career. We might just start to see him swing and miss on a ball low and way outside, whereas he used to magically drive it into the gap for an extra base hit. Last year's Cy Young winner is only 30-years-old, but there is absolutely no way he will ever win another Cy Young award in his career. Cliff Lee was an excellent story last year, after being sent to the minors in 2007 because he couldn?t have even gotten Luis Castillo out. He bounced back to his 2005 form, but don?t expect him to repeat anything near the production he had last year. His 22-3 record with a 2.54 ERA will drop back down to earth for Lee, who will go 12-10 with an ERA around 3.90. Another starter who had a great year last year is Ryan Dempster. He will turn 32 next month, so it is realistic to expect him to have at least a few good years ahead of him, but I don?t see him repeating his 17-6, 2.96 ERA campaign of last year. He pitched more than 100 innings for the first time since 2003, and more than 200 innings for the first time since 2001. With an increase in workload like that, he will have trouble staying healthy this year. Expect him to go 12-7, pitching less than 200 innings, an ERA jump of at least half a run, while battling minor injury problems throughout the year. Relievers are the toughest position to predict because their numbers fluctuate like the stock market. Brad Lidge had a ridiculous year going 42-for-42 in save opportunities in 2008, after struggling since allowing that home run to Pujols in the 2005 NLCS. There?s no way he will repeat that Mariano-esque dominance, but I still expect him to be a top closer in 2009. One closer who I definitely see declining this year is Bobby Jenks. He has been one of the top closers in the league the last three years, however his strikeout total has gone from 80 in 2006, to 56 in 2007, and down to just 38 last year. To me that?s a red flag and I would look for him to have a big drop off in production this year, possibly even falling out of the closer role in Chicago.