With Longoria, Crawford, Pena, Zobrist and potentially Upton, the Rays will be able to hit with anyone and they have enough arms, particularly in the bullpen to be in the conversation with anyone, even if it is the Yankees and Red Sox. Read more »
With Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, the Giants have the kind of front end pitching to be dangerous in the playoffs. But they will need a big improvement from everyone in their lineup not named Pablo Sandoval in order to get there. Read more »
Unquestionably, the Cubs have enough talent to reach the postseason for the third time in four years, but they'll need more offensive production to support Derrek Lee. Read more »
JP Riccardi and Roy Halladay are out. Alex Anthopoulos is in and though the Jays absolutely won't be in the playoffs, their rebuilding efforts may be shorter than expected. Read more »
Arizona's excellent young core has gone from 'darlings on the verge' to 'loaded with question marks' in a span of about 550 days. The 2010 season can become their return. Read more »
If the MLB were a superstar-driven league the way the NBA is, the Marlins would be in excellent shape to compete with the presence of Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco. Read more »
The Rangers should be competitive again and also better offensively with a healthy Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero, but their pitching staff is probably one season away. Read more »
There are a lot of fragile pieces that need to stay healthy, but the Braves truly are loaded with a great balance of talent to give Bobby Cox a legitimate run in his final season. Read more »
Many people expect the Phillies to have elevated themselves to death, taxes, playoffs status, but the Braves and Marlins have enough talent to actually give them at least a small run for their money. Read more »
The Tigers could be a dangerous postseason club due to pitchers like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and even Jeremy Bonderman, but getting there will still be difficult. Read more »
JP Riccardi and Roy Halladay are out. Alex Anthopoulos is in and though the Jays absolutely won't be in the playoffs, their rebuilding efforts may be shorter than expected. Read more »
Nomar batted like a fidgety four-year-old boy, impatient for every pitch, rarely waiting for the right ball to swing at. It wasn?t a Moneyball approach that?s so popular today. It was a backwards approach to hitting like the name Ramon. Read more »
The Tigers could be a dangerous postseason club due to pitchers like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and even Jeremy Bonderman, but getting there will still be difficult. Read more »
The Red Sox would be the clear favorites in any other division, but the playoffs are probably only a 75% likely scenario because of the Yankees and Rays. Read more »
The Twins had an impressive offseason, acquiring J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson to add to the M&M Boys and the rest of that lineup. The only thing standing between Target Field and postseason baseball in its first season is the Minnesota pitching staff. Read more »
The Mets had a completely disappointing 2009 to open Citi Field, filled with injuries. Their offseason created more questions than it solved and competing in the NL East in 2010 looks like a long-shot. Read more »
The Red Sox would be the clear favorites in any other division, but the playoffs are probably only a 75% likely scenario because of the Yankees and Rays. Read more »
The Mets had a completely disappointing 2009 to open Citi Field, filled with injuries. Their offseason created more questions than it solved and competing in the NL East in 2010 looks like a long-shot. Read more »
With a fair amount of symmetry, the Giants and Tim Lincecum have agreed to a $23 million deal over two years. Even with this deal and Barry Zito's $18.5 million for 2010, the San Francisco rotation will make on average $7 million apiece. Read more »