The addition of Jon Garland again leaves the Diamondbacks rotation rich with Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Garland and Doug Davis comprising a very strong front four. That should keep Arizona in the race all year, and young guns like Stephen Drew, Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds should keep developing. The Diamondbacks blew their big April last year and fizzled down the stretch, so they'll have memories of being in first place for 153 days and then watching the playoffs on TV to deal with. I like the additions of Garland, second baseman Felipe Lopez and lefty reliever Scott Schoeneweis -- though I liked the D-backs better with a healthy Orlando Hudson at second base. The NL West is wide open and the Diamondbacks are in position to make another strong run.
No team will find the sun and palm trees as beautiful a sight as Atlanta, because no team is as relieved to get this winter into its rear-view mirror. The Braves had the most miserable offseason of anybody. They failed to consummate the Jake Peavy trade talks. They were out-bid on A.J. Burnett by the Yankees. They were victim of a bait-and-switch from shortstop Rafael Furcal. John Smoltz left. The Braves need to change the conversation from what went wrong to what can go right this spring. Derek Lowe was an underrated signing, and the Javier Vazquez trade could work out better than folks think. Going into the spring, the Braves still look a few steps behind the Mets and Phillies.
Spring motto: 101st season since last winning a World Series. Wait, no, don't bring that one up to manager Lou Piniella or the fellas in the clubhouse. They faced their 100-year drought head-on last year and melted away in the playoffs. Following back-to-back NL Central titles, the only thing left for the Cubs is a World Series win -- that, or, say, maybe winning a game and avoiding a sweep in the playoffs. But hope springs eternal each February at Cubs' camp in Mesa, Ariz., more than anywhere else, and manager Lou Piniella will sink his teeth into another challenge. The addition of Milton Bradley will be interesting at the very least, and could become the acquisition of the year if he hits and stays healthy.
The transformation has begun in earnest, from lumbering big swingers to an emphasis on speed and defense. Great idea -- but outfielder Wily Taveras as the poster boy? Uh-oh, it could soon be nine consecutive losing seasons for the Reds. At least the long-running debate over what to do with Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn is a thing of the past -- they're long gone. The Reds are in their worst period since the 1940s, if you judge by, say, consecutive losing seasons. The only way manager Dusty Baker is going to lead a breakthrough is if Aaron Harang returns to form, Bronson Arroyo steps up, Edinson Volquez is for real and rookie Joey Votto helps save the day. Catcher Ramon Hernandez is a quiet but solid addition.
Two seasons after the Rockies played in their first World Series, they're looking to light a fire under the team following a disappointing follow-up in '08. They're doing so in the classic way, by declining to extend manager Clint Hurdle's contract beyond this season. General manager Dan O'Dowd added a couple of former big league managers to the coaching staff as well in Jim Tracy (Dodgers) and Don Baylor (Rockies). Translation: The goodwill won by the '07 World Series appearance is as gone as Matt Holliday (Athletics) and closer Brian Fuentes (Angels). Colorado has had only one winning season in eight years, and if the swoon continues, look for big changes.
Again working below the radar with few expectations in a division that produced the World Series winners last year, the Marlins, you should remember, did win 84 games in 2008 despite the fact that defense appeared to be optional for most of their players. Makes you think, gee, if Fredi Gonzalez's crew ever catches the ball regularly, they could be something. A little defense would go a long way with the bats of second baseman Dan Uggla, shortstop Hanley Ramirez and third baseman Jorge Cantu (94 homers combined last year). Look for Ramirez to eventually be moved, perhaps to the outfield. The Marlins always are a work in progress.
Coming off of a nice finish last season before hurricane winds chased them to "neutral site" Milwaukee in September for a key series against the Cubs, Houston remains a sleeper in the NL Central. This is a team that could stay in the race all season ... or a team whose biggest headlines could involve shortstop Miguel Tejada pleading guilty to lying to Congress. How Miggy -- whose power has mysteriously diminished as he's aged -- handles that will be key. It will be fun watching catcher J.R. Towles develop behind the plate as the Brad Ausmus era officially ends. What I want to know is, which year is starter Wandy Rodriguez going to live up to his billing?
Even with Manny Ramirez -- and the expectation here is that he and the Dodgers complete the longest, slowest dance in the history of slow dances -- the Dodgers are not flawless. They're good, and they have a chance to be very good, and they will enter the season as true NL West contenders. Good for them, re-signing third baseman Casey Blake and shortstop Rafael Furcal. But the rotation is minus Derek Lowe and Brad Penny, and while Penny was hurt and didn't seem to want to pitch last year, the staff is nowhere near as good as when it had a healthy Lowe and Penny. Chad Billingsley faces a make-or-break year after his October meltdown. Clayton Kershaw has a world of potential but hasn't done it yet. Hiroki Kuroda has difficulty throwing strikes at times. After Randy Wolf, the No. 5 starter is wide open. The Dodgers could be very good ... or, they could be the furthest thing from new book material for manager Joe Torre.
Milwaukee suffered some cruel twists this winter after the Brewers appeared in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. The club made a commendable effort to keep CC Sabathia, but the Yankees slapped them back down to size. Then Ben Sheets declined their offer of arbitration, and not only did they lose another key starter, but with surgery impending, they're not even going to get a decent compensatory draft pick for him. Odds are far better that closer Trevor Hoffman will aid the cause than last year's burnout, Eric Gagne. One big key to spring camp is to keep Yovanni Gallardo healthy. With Sabathia and Sheets gone, he is one of the keys to a club that still has a solid lineup of position players.
With new closer Francisco Rodriguez and Closer 1A J.J. Putz, expectations remain Empire State Building-high for the most disappointing team in the majors in each of the past two seasons. Credit general manager Omar Minaya for aggressively addressing the major bullpen problems, exacerbated when Billy Wagner went down last year and also was lost for all of 2009. The Mets still have areas that could sabotage them, such as the rotation behind ace Johan Santana (Mike Pelfrey and John Maine are steady, Oliver Perez remains enigmatic and the No. 5 slot is a prayer with Freddy Garcia) and left field (Daniel Murphy? Fernando Tatis? Really?). Second baseman Luis Castillo isn't any younger, either.
When you can brag about opening spring camp as defending world champions for only the second time in 100-plus years, you're living large. Even larger than Ryan Howard's brand-new three-year, $54 million deal. That's notable because, with that out of the way, the Phillies and Howard avoid what would have been one more major distraction in camp. All key players from the World Series win are back aside from Pat Burrell, who was replaced with Raul Ibanez. However, the Phillies begin camp with the odds stacked highly against them: No team has repeated as World Series winner since the 1998-2000 Yankees. Last NL team to do it? The Reds -- in 1975-1976.
Pirates were in the headlines all winter -- headlines such as, "Pirates release Estonian hostages." Leading one to believe that if real pirates -- whose heyday was, when, the 1800s? -- can make a comeback, the Pittsburgh Pirates should be able to do the same one of these days, too. Not this year, though. These Pirates will report to camp almost doomed to what will be a major-league record 17th consecutive losing season. New pitching coach Joe Kerrigan will try to fix the wreck of last year's National League worst 5.08 staff ERA. He should be exhausted by the sheer volume by spring's end -- the Pirates enter the spring with just three spots spoken for on their pitching staff. Hello, starter Paul Maholm, closer Matt Capps and set-up man John Grabow. When outfielder Craig Monroe is the big offseason addition for a team that lost 95 games last season, optimism isn't exactly high. Then again, it's better than Derek Bell.
Aside from ace Jake Peavy, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, outfielder Brian Giles and pitcher Chris Young, there is nobody on this team that you'd want to watch every single day. And with Peavy and Young being starters, as for an everyday lineup, you've got Gonzalez, a declining Giles and, um ... anybody want to go to the movies? Those watching at home will need extra batteries for their remotes, because there will be a lot of flipping going on. The good news is that owner John Moores is selling the team. The bad news is that he didn't do it before the weeds took control of the garden. If Peavy is traded, there might be nobody in Petco Park by midsummer.
The long slog toward rebuilding post-Barry Bonds? Somebody hit the fast-forward button. This Giants team is one slugger away from being back in contention in the NL West -- Manny Ramirez, anybody? -- thanks to Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and a solid rotation. Not sure I would have handed $18 million to shortstop Edgar Renteria -- in fact, I know I wouldn't have -- but his resume shows he plays better in the NL than the AL. If some of the youngsters continue to develop -- first baseman Travis Ishikawa, third baseman Pablo Sandoval, outfielder Fred Lewis and infielder Emmanuel Burriss -- the Giants will go places. Biggest shortage is a bopper -- they hit the fewest homers in the majors last year, and I don't know where they get any more this year.
Strange things continue happening in Tony La Russa's World. The latest was the oddly late release of second baseman Adam Kennedy in early February, following the manager's weird outfield alignment late last season (playing infielders out of position there), the Scott Rolen staredown of two years ago ... does the manager have enough drive and enough players to make one more glory run? I wouldn't question La Russa's drive, but I'm not sure he has the horses -- especially if Chris Carpenter doesn't come through this spring healthy. And Albert Pujols is coming off of elbow surgery. I look for new shortstop Khalil Greene to have a strong bounce-back year, and second base will be a key. Too bad the Cardinals are at their budget limit -- second baseman Orlando Hudson would have been a perfect fit.
Most notable about the Nationals is they remain a collection of misfits, from Lastings Milledge to Elijah Dukes to Austin Kearns. General manager Jim Bowden has taken the approach of "Give us your tired, hungry and poor", and never was it more evident than last year, when the Nats were compiling the majors' worst record. This is an organization still suffering badly for baseball's mishandling of the Montreal Expos. The farm system was fallow by the time the franchise moved to Washington, and Bowden and president Stan Kasten have worked overtime to rebuild it. Patience is still the buzzword at their training camp on the moon, or wherever the heck they are in the Florida hinterlands.
