The National League West could be the toughest of the six divisions to predict. Is it parity or is it mediocrity? It appears the division is up for grabs in 2009, but with the Dodgers recently re-signing Manny Ramirez, it appears it is the Dodgers division to lose. Last season the Dodgers won just 84 games, but came up with the title, and also a first round playoff sweep of the Chicago Cubs. Los Angeles, Arizona and San Francisco appear to have solid pitching, while the Dodgers and Diamondbacks have the offense that has proved the most. San Francisco looks to have made the best improvements over the off-season, so it should be very interesting out West.

As the Arizona Diamondbacks workout in their home state – Tucson Arizona, they look to figure out what went wrong in the final month, falling just two games short of winning the division. Arizona finished with an 82-80 record in 2008. Despite losing Randy Johnson to the Giants, the addition of Jon Garland to join Brandon Webb and Dan Haren should make the rotation even more lethal. Max Scherzer should get a shot in the rotation this season at #5. Scherzer has been noted to have electric stuff, but his 0-4 2008 season, along with a shoulder injury, left Arizona with some question marks regarding their youngster. Arizona also picked up second basemen Felipe Lopez to replace Orlando Hudson. The Diamondbacks lost Brandon Lyon and Juan Cruz out of the bullpen, but hope to get productive pitching from veterans Tom Gordon and Scott Schoeneweis. Offensively, it looks like a logjam in the outfield with four guys vying for three positions. Eric Byrnes may be the odd man out with guys like Connor Jackson, Chris Young and Justin Upton getting the nod. Byrnes has put up productive numbers in an Arizona uniform, but was hampered in 2008 by injuries, just playing in 52 games. Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew should take care of the offense from the infield positions as guys like Tony Clark and Chad Tracy wait in the wings.

The Colorado Rockies come into the 2009 season losing their top hitter and their best reliever out of the bullpen. As the Rockies start the season in their training facility in Tucson Arizona, they look for ways to improve upon their 74-88 2008 record. Jeff Francis is likely to miss the entire 2009 season, as he will have shoulder surgery. Jason Marquis was signed by Colorado to shore up the back end of the rotation, and Huston Street was added to replace former closer Brian Fuentes. Who is going to replace Matt Holliday’s numbers is still a major concern. The Rockies rotation appears to be relatively deep despite losing Francis. Aaron Cook, and Ubaldo Jimenez will anchor the rotation in a division that sees Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jake Peavy. Jorge De La Rosa will also vie for a position in the rotation. Offensively, youngsters Carols Gonzalez, Seth Smith, and Jeff Baker will look to replace Holliday Smith hit .323 in Colorado Springs last season, and played in centerfield late in the season for Colorado. Gonzalez played last season in Oakland, hitting just .242 in 85 games. He was traded over in part in the Matt Holliday trade. The Rockies hope Coors Field helps boost Gonzalez’ offensive numbers. Garrett Atkins, Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki will need to put up superior numbers for the young Colorado lineup. Chris Iannetta and Yorvit Torrealba should split time behind the plate for Colorado.

The defending National League West Champion, Los Angeles Dodgers made their move just recently finally reaching an agreement with outfielder Manny Ramirez. With Ramirez last season the Dodgers won the NL West and also won a first round playoff series. Ramirez shows up to Glendale Arizona seeing several of his 2008 teammates gone. Gone are veterans Jeff Kent, Andruw Jones, Derek Low and Brad Penny. The Dodgers helped Ramirez in the lineup with the re-signing Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal. Russell Martin continues to improve and may be the best catcher in baseball both offensively and defensively. Los Angeles added protection for Martin, but signing Brad Ausmus to be his back up. On the mound Randy Wolf was signed to eat up innings from the left-handed side. A prospect that may make a huge impact for the Dodgers this season is James McDonald. At 6’5, McDonald played first base in high school, and in the outfield in minor leagues, he throws mid 90’s, and could be thrown into the rotation, or used out of the bullpen. The starting rotation appears to be Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Clayton Kershaw and Jason Schmidt 1-4. Schmidt has not pitched in the major leagues since 2007, but after having shoulder surgery Schmidt may finally be able to produce again. The fifth starter looks to be a toss-up between Randy Wolf, Claudio Vargas, Shawn Estes, Eric Stults and James McDonald. Johnathan Broxton should lead the bullpen, which appears to have some unknowns under manager Joe Torre. Guys like Hong-Chih Kuo, Cory Wade and Ramon Troncoso will take their turns looking to throw in the middle innings.

As the San Diego Padres continue to work in Peoria Arizona, they will look to find any way they can to forget their dismal 2008 season. The Padres finished with a league worst 63-99 record, for last place in the NL West. The Padres are now under new ownership led by Jeff Moorad, replacing former owner John Moores. While Moores was leading the organization, their payroll lowered to nearly $40 million. During the off-season, San Diego traded Khalil Green to St. Louis and elected to not re-sign Trevor Hoffman. The Padres added a spark plug at the top of their offense in shortstop David Eckstein. Despite all the off-season talk about Jake Peavy moving to a new location, he still remains in San Diego. Will Peavy finish the season in San Diego? That is a question that will be asked throughout the entire season. With Peavy and Chris Young in the rotation, should be unknowns such as Cha Seug Baek, Kevin Correla and Josh Geer. Youngsters such as Chad Reineke, Wade LeBlanc and Will Inman will wait in the wings for when needed. Heath Bell and Cla Meredith should anchor a bullpen with some ability to be solid. Mike Adams, Mark Worrell and Chris Britton will look to put up quality numbers as well. San Diego may be looking to youngster Mark Antonelli to fill in at second base. Antonelli was the Padres first round draft choice in 2006, but hit just .215 in AAA last season. Jody Gerut, Brian Giles and Chase Headley should fill the outfield with Cliff Floyd and Scott Hairston coming off the bench. Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff should fill the corner infield positions and bat in the middle of the lineup.

The fifth and final team in the National League West is the San Francisco Giants. The Giants finished 72-90 last season, placing 4th place in the division. The Giants had the best off-season adding Edgar Renteria to play shortstop and veteran Randy Johnson to help Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain out in the rotation. Johnson should benefit from a pitcher friendly AT+T Par. If Barry Zito could regain any of his former production, the Giants rotation has the potential to match anyone in the National League. At the bottom of the rotation is Johnathan Sanchez, who is just 26 years old. San Francisco also added Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry to help set up closer Brian Wilson. Wilson saved 41 of 47 games for the Giants in 2008. The weakness for the Giants will be their offense. Can the Giants find an offense that can keep them competitive in the National League? Pablo Sandoval, Bengie Molina and Fred Lewis appear to be the meat of the order, with veterans like Randy Winn, Edgar Renteria and Aaron Roward sandwiched in between. To be successful, it appears the Giants will need to win a lot of 2-1, 3-2 ball games.

Within the National League Central, no team made a single impact move that will catapult a team into the World Series. But, the Cubs continue to have the best team in the division on paper, but as we have seen in past years, on paper means very little.

In Mesa Arizona, the Chicago Cubs are trying to figure out what went wrong in October of 2008. The Cubs flamed out in three straight games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chicago did not make any major additions to improve the team, but they did not have to in order to win the NL Central. The Cubs were close on acquiring Jake Peavy from San Diego, but were not able to pull the trigger. The Cubs did pick-up Milton Bradley to help in the outfield, and they also re-signed Ryan Dempster to assist in the starting rotation. Chicago’s bullpen took a hit when they elected not to re-sign Kerry Wood, instead picking up Kevin Gregg, who appears to be the set-up man for new closer Carlos Marmol. Chicago also let Mark DeRosa go to a trade, which may hinder the Cubs versatility. The starting rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly Chicago should have a rotation that can match anyone in baseball. Harden appears to be the starting pitcher every seven days to give his arm a rest. The question for Chicago is who can fill in as the fifth pitcher, and also the health of Harden, who has had arm problems year after year. With the addition of Kevin Gregg, along with Chad Gaudin, the Cubs bullpen should be solid in the back end, but will Marmol be ready to fill the role as the closer for the Cubs? Offensively, Bradley should help an already powerful lineup with Alfonso Soriano, Derrick Lee and Aramis Ramirez in the mix. Centerfield will be a rotation of Kosuke Fukudome and Reed Johnson. Fukudome sort of lost some love with the Chicago fans after a dismal second half of the season.

In Sarasota Florida the Cincinnati Reds have high hopes for a 2009 season. A year after finishing 74-88 for fifth place in the NL Central the Reds have gotten younger and healthier. General Manager Walt Jocketty elected not to re-sign Adam Dunn or Ken Griffey Jr., instead adding Willy Tavaras and Ramon Hernandez to the mix. Cincinnati will definitely be counting on young talent, as opposed to aging veterans. The left field position is the most challenging position in Sarasota, as it appears to be a battle between Jerry Hairston Jr., Chris Dickerson, Jonny Gomes and newcomer Jacque Jones. Hairston spent his 2008 season playing in 80 games, hitting a career high .326. Dickerson played in just 31 games as a rookie, hitting .304 with 6 homeruns, and Gomes comes over from Tampa Bay with good talent, but questionable defense. Jones has been around, and is spending another season in a different uniform. Jay Bruce, Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips should anchor the offensive load, but pitching is where the major question marks lie. Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto, along with Homer Bailey have an abundance of talent, but consistency has yet to be seen. Bailey spent last season up and down, and while with the big club, he went 0-6 with a 7.93 era. Volquez came up with a CY Young type season in 2008 starting 32 games and picking up a 17-6 record and a 3.21 era. Cueto struggling during 2008 starting 31 games, winning 9 and losing 14. Cueto’s era ballooned up to 5+ at one point in the season, finally settling at 4.81 on the season. Aaron Harang had a horrid 2008 season going 6-17 with a 4.78 era. His season snapped a string of four straight year of winning 10+ games. One guy to look out for is youngster Yonder Alonso. Alonso was the 7th pick in the 2008 draft. He has big time power, but with Joey Votto manning first base, Cincinnati may have to do some creative thinking.

When your top free agent signing is a 36-year-old pitcher that has made just 13 starts in three seasons, things are not promising. Mike Hampton will join the Houston Astros pitching staff that will once again be anchored by Roy Oswalt. The rest of the staff is very questionable, with Wandy Rodriguez, Brandon Backe and Brian Moehler looking to find consistency. If one falters, look for Bud Norris to get a look with the big team. Norris has a fastball upwards of 97mph and had scouts drooling in the Arizona Fall League The Astros come into the season after finishing in third place in 2008 with an 86-75 record, due in large part to Oswalt and Lance Berkman. Berkman will once again man first base for the Astros. In 2008 Berkman hit .312 with 29 homeruns and 106 knocked in. Brad Ausmus has left the team after several years, and the spring training battle is at the catchers’ position. Houston has Jason Castro waiting in the wings, but until then guys like Humberto Quintero, J.R. Towles and Toby Hall all will fight for playing time.

A year after the Milwaukee Brewers reached the playoffs, they come into their spring training home in Phoenix Arizona with a bevy of questions for the 2009 season. After losing both CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency, the Brewers are going to search hard for quality starting pitching. The Brewers signed Braden Looper to go along with Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra and Chris Capuano. Looper looks to be an innings eater for a young staff. Gallardo hopes this is the year he turns his electric stuff into a staff ace. Gallardo missed most of the 2008 season with an injury, as did left-hander Chris Capuano. The Brewers recently released set-up man Eric Gagne to go rehab a shoulder that has been bothering him for sometime. Milwaukee will need some help from the bullpen in order to compete at the level they did in 2008. To close games for Milwaukee will be 41-year-old Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman posted his worst ERA since 1995 in 2008 with a 3.77. Offensively, the Brewers should have enough to compete. With Ryan Braun turning himself into a mega star, along with big man Prince Fielder manager Ken Macha will have an enjoyable time putting the pieces together in the lineup. Bill Hall struggled at the plate last year, but will seemingly improve upon his .225 average. If he is not able to get the job done, veteran Mike Lamb and youngsters Matt Gamel and Casey McGehee will get a definite look. At shortstop J.J Hardy should be the every day starter, but if he is not able to produce look for Alcides Escobar to his shot. Regarded as a top defensive player in the minor league, Escobar also hit .328 in Double A last season.

In Bradenton Florida, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to end a 16-year streak in which the team finished below .500. This season looks to continue that streak unless some of the young talent they have attempted to stockpile can come through. After trading Jason Bay away in 2008 Pittsburgh finished the season 17-37 to finish 67-95. The Pirates did very little in the way of free agency in 2009, as they signed Ramon Vazquez and Eric Hinske. Hinske is coming off his best season in the major leagues since he won Rookie of the Year in 2002. Adam and Andy LaRoche will anchor the offense along with Nate McLouth. The question with the LaRoche brothers is, can they put two halves together? Adam LaRoche hit .304 in the second half of the season after putting up horrid numbers in the first half in 2008. His brother Andy, who will man third base, has not quite lived up to the hype that made him the Dodgers top prospect a few years ago. Pittsburgh relies heavily on the LaRoche brothers, so the sooner they can provide solid offense, the better. Gold Glover Nate McLouth may be on his way to moving to left field to make room for a power hitting prospect in Andrew McCutchen. The 22 year old spent last season in AAA Indianapolis and appears to have all the tools for a major league outfielder. It will be tough to remove McLouth from the lineup anytime soon, as his 2008 season was solid hitting .276 and banging 26 homeruns. He also hit for 46 doubles, leading the team. Manager John Russell is scratching his head with the starting rotation in place, but hopefully for Pittsburgh new pitching coach Joe Kerrigan can calm some of the youngsters on the staff down, and turn them into winners.

For the St. Louis Cardinals, three years removed from their tenth World Series Championship, the team appears to be stuck in a period of transition. With general manager John Mozeliak in his second year on the job, he has done a nice job of developing the farm system, but has yet to produce a championship caliber team at the professional level. The Cardinals drew over 3.4 million fans and they have the NL MVP, but as a whole, fall just short of playoff contention. At 86-76 last season, the Cardinals may have upgraded at shortstop, signing Khalil Greene, and letting Adam Kennedy go. Greene hit just .213 last season, but appears to be a better hit than that, and has more pop than Kennedy. Troy Glaus is going to miss the first two months of the season, so who will fill in at third base, and support Albert Pujols in the lineup is the big question. As the Cardinals train in Jupiter Florida they are keeping a keen eye on the 2005 CY Young award winner Chris Carpenter. He claims he is feeling great, and others are saying he is pitching well. Dave Duncan the Cardinals pitching coach has done miracle work with aging players before; he will be looked heavily upon to work Carpenter back into form. With Carpenter healthy, and adding in Adam Wainwright the Cardinals could have a 1-2 punch that very few could match in the national league. After those two the Cardinals rotation could get choppy, with Kyle Lohse seemingly grabbing the #3 position. Colby Rasmus, a five-tool stud appears to be heading to the big leagues this season. Rasmus has been the “can’t miss prospect” for St. Louis the past couple of years, but was sidelined by a knee injury last June. Many call him the National League’s version of Grady Sizemore. Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick should man the outfield for St. Louis. Ludwick had a dream season in 2008, one that made him an All Star, and Ankiel found his power stroke. Skip Schumacher appears to be heading to second base, a position he grew up playing but has not played professionally. Out of the bullpen young fireballers Chris Perez and Jason Motte will be added with guys like free agent signees Dennys Reyes and Trever Miller, along with Ryan Franklin and Josh Kinney. The closer position appears to be a closer-by-committee role, but if Perez can prove consistency, he looks to be the best option.

In what some might consider the most competitive division, from top to bottom, the American League Central does not appear to have the strength and star power that other divisions have. Look for a narrow gap between the top and the bottom of this league, with the order going in any order. While the AL Central did not appear to lose any of their star power from 2008, they also did not seem to gain any via the off-season.

As the Chicago White Sox convene in Glendale Arizona, they come in as the divisional winner from one season ago. The White Sox ended the season 89-74, but fell in the ALDS. Chicago unloaded Nick Swisher and Javy Vazquez during the off-season for seven players including six that appear to be minor leaguers. Wilson Betemit appears to be the key name sent to the Windy City in that deal. Others involved with Brent Lillibridge and Jeff Marquez. Marquez looks to possibly be thrown in the 5th starter role for Ozzie Guillen’s Sox. Chicago also added Jayson Nix who played second base for Colorado last season. He looks to be the front runner for the position, just ahead of prospects Chris Getz (from Chicago) and Brent Lillibridge. Whoever gets the nod will play alongside Alexei Ramirez in the middle infield. Ramirez finished second in the AL MVP voting last season behind Tampa’s Evan Longoria. Josh Fields looks to fill Joe Crede’s position at third base. Crede was let go via free agency. Gone from last season’s outfield are Ken Griffey Jr. and Nick Swisher. Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye look to be mainstays in the outfield, with Paul Konerko and Jim Thome sliding in at first base and DH respectively. The last question for Chicago is who will fill centerfield. Jerry Owens, DeWayne Wise and Brian Anderson will all three fight for the position this spring. Owens only played 12 games in 2008 with a groin injury, while Anderson and Wise have had problems getting on base. The White Sox pitching will be anchored by Mark Buehrle. The lefthander will lead a rotation with Gavin Floyd, John Danks and a mixture of Bartolo Colon, Lance Broadway, Clayton Richard, Jeff Marquez and Aaron Poreda fighting for the fourth and fifth positions. Poreda appears to be an excellent choice, as he is just 22 years old. The 6’6, 240lbs. sinkerball pitcher pitched in 12 games in high A ball last season, and then 15 in Class AA. If Ozzie elects to not throw him into the rotation, he will certainly figure into the bullpen, alongside guys such as Bobby Jenks, Matt Thornton and Scott Linebrink.

In Goodyear, Arizona the Cleveland Indians feel they have as good of shot at winning the division as anyone. After their 81-81 mark in 2008, Cleveland only made minimal splash in the free agency pool, but appear to have improved. The signing of Kerry Wood should be an upgrade from Joe Borowski, who closed games in 2008. Wood saved 34 games in 2008 only making one trip to the disabled list. If Wood stays healthy, this could prove to be an excellent signing. Cleveland also added another former Chicago Cub in Mark DeRosa. DeRosa appears to be a good fit for third base in Cleveland after his time spent in Chicago was merely as a utility player. Joe Smith was also added to the bullpen to add some much needed depth. The improved play of Shin-Soo Choo made letting Franklin Gutierrez expendable. Starting pitching will surely be a question mark for Cleveland. The first question will be, can Cliff Lee continue his sharp pitching of 2008? Lee finished 22-3 with a 2.54 era in 2008 after having just a horrible 2007 season. Behind Lee in the rotation will be Carl Pavano, who never could shake his struggles as a Yankee. Fausto Carmona will be Cleveland’s third starting pitcher, and if those three are on, there will be no better 1-3 rotation in the AL Central than Cleveland. But, consistency has been an issue for all three. The bats should not be an issue for the Indians. Travis Hafner should continue to hold the designated hitter position, despite only playing in 57 games last season. Hafner received MVP votes in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Kelly Shoppach has allowed the Indians to move Victor Martinez to other positions, such as first base or designated hitter. If none of the above options work, Ryan Garko has showed he can hit the ball as well. Look for youngster Matt LaPorta to possibly get a shot directly out of spring training. His best position is left field, and he could develop into of the games most powerful hitters. LaPorta was the main cog in the trade that sent C.C. Sabathia to Milwaukee. If he doesn’t make the opening day roster, his stay in AAA Columbus will probably not be long.

In Lakeland, Florida where the Detroit Tigers are conducting their 2009 spring training, the Tigers are looking for answers. Answers as to what went array during the 2008 season, as Detroit finished 74-88, last place in the AL Central. Detroit allowed 857 runs in 2008 and are counting on guys such as Jeremy Bonderman, Justin Verlander, Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya will all return to 2006 form. All four of those guys had a great deal of struggles during 2008. Detroit grabbed Gerald Laid from Texas, along with Edwin Jackson, Adam Everett and Brandon Lyon. When Detroit won the pennant three years ago, Bonderman and Verlander went 31-17 and pitched over 400 innings. In 2008 they combined for a dismal 14-21 record with a near 5.00 era. Also, in the Tigers dream season of 06, Rodney and Zumaya combined for a 2.67 era, while in 08, they did not win a game, going 0-8 with a 4.38 era. Both suffered injuries throughout most of the season. Offensively Gary Sheffield, added with Miguel Cabrera, Placido Polanco and Brandon Inge should be a solid combination. Adam Everett should help Detroit defensively in the middle of the infield. Behind the plate, the Tigers will not see a mainstay in Pudge Rodriguez, as this season the job looks to go to either Gerald Laird or rookie Matt Treanor. If Laird gets the nod as the starting catcher, look for Treanor to be one of the best back-up catchers in the league.

For the Kansas City Royals, they hope their turn around in 2009 matches the city in which they are training in. Surprise Arizona holds the Royals spring training complex, and that’s exactly what the Royals want to do – surprise the rest of the league. The Royals added a bad in Mike Jacobs to the lineup, along with Coco Crisp. Jacobs hit 32 homeruns last year and drove in 93, while Crisp is a guy that will get on base at the top of the lineup. Kansas City locked up Zack Greinke, their ace for four years, while picking up Kyle Farnsworth and Willie Bloomquist. Kansas City will continue to rely on youngsters such as Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Luke Hochevar to carry a heavy load. After finishing 75-87 last season, Kansas City finally moved out of the AL Central cellar, passing Detroit. Another step in that direction would please the front office in Kansas City, but with the division being wide open, the Royals will battle hard all 162 games. Offensively, Jacobs and Guillen should pack a punch in the middle of the lineup, but the question will be can Butler and Gordon get themselves on base enough. Gordon hit just .260 last season. Look for prospect Mike Moustakas to get some looks at shortstop for the Royals. The number two pick in the 2007 draft led the Class A Midwest League with 22 homeruns in 2008. With Gordon at third base, and Moustakas manning shortstop, Kansas City could be in for a solid feature. Another move Kansas City made in the off-season was adding another year for the services of Mark Teahen. The Royals will look to start Teahen at second base, but with his versatility, he could get moved around. He will compete with Alberto Callapso and Bloomquist for the job. When it comes to starting pitching, Zach Greinke is at the top of the list for the Royals Gil Meche has turned into a serviceable start, and Joakim Soria had a nice season in 2008. If those three can have solid seasons, and Kansas City finds their niche in the bullpen, they could themselves in a playoff chase come August and September.

The Minnesota Twins payroll has dropped to about $60 million, which is down $14 million from the 2007 season. Fortunately for Minnesota they did not lose anyone from the team that lost the division in 2008 in a play-in game against Chicago. Minnesota recently signed Joe Crede to play third base, so that should help out the Minnesota offense. The buzz in Fort Myers Florida is how good the youngsters are that will take the field for the Twins. The starting rotation is just an average of 25 years old and only average around 40 starts in their career. Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins and Nick Blackburn have not turned into household names, but they have shown potential of being very solid. Baker is the oldest of the crew at 27 years old. He has made 76 starts in his young career. If a hiccup occurs out of any of the starting pitchers Kevin Mulvey could fill in quite nicely. Mulvey is a 23 year old right hander who pitched in the Mets’ minor league organization in 2007 finishing the season with a 3.62 ERA in 154 innings. With Joe Nathan at the back end of the bullpen, the Twins look to find patch work to complete the rest of the group. Offensively Minnesota will once again rely on Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Mauer is arguably the best catcher in baseball, and Justin Morneau has MVP type ability. Along with Mauer and Morneau are guys such as Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young that have great ability, but have yet to show themselves in the major leagues. Both players have great athleticism, but that doesn’t correlate to getting on base. Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris should battle hard behind Crede at third base position. Buscher starting 60 games at third base last season, while Harris took turns at basically every infield position.

The National League East Division looks to once again be set for a competitive race from start to finish. Last season, the divisional race came down to the last few games, only to see the Philadelphia Phillies win the division, and go on to not only win the National League crown, but also World Series Champions. The National League East is the only division in Baseball to see four of its teams in the World Series since the Wild Card came into play. Year after year the NL East continues to be put a rank below due to being part of the Junior Circuit, but in 2009 with some teams revamping their rosters, the NL East looks to put a group of teams together that could rival any other division in Baseball.

The Atlanta Braves from their Orlando Florida facility are still trying to figure out what happened to them in the free agent period, in which they were linked with numerous big names. Despite losing some of the names they were targeting(A.J. Burnett, Rafael Furcal), they were able to ink some quality players to fill the gaps. The Braves signed Derek Lowe and picked up Javier Vazquez in a trade from Chicago. Those two pitchers will look to anchor the Atlanta pitching staff, which lost John Smoltz to Boston in free agency. Tim Hudson will continue to be the staff ace, and with Atlanta continuing as suitors for the services of Jake Peavy, Atlanta’s rotation could be a force to reckon with. Youngster Tommy Hanson may get an opportunity to slide into Bobby Cox’s rotation. Hanson dominated the Arizona Fall League going 5-0 with a 0.63 era. Hanson is just 22 years old and has a mid 90’s fastball, along with a solid change-up. Offensively, the Braves will look to Jeff Francoeur to pick up his numbers from 2008. Francoeur appears to be the every day starting right fielder with Matt Diaz and Brandon Jones battling it out this spring for left field. Neither Diaz or Jones had a spectacular 2008 season, so Atlanta hopes for breakout seasons from both of these youngsters. Kelly Johnson will be the starting second basemen, and while he has a solid bat in the line-up, his defensive presence at second base is just marginal. Chipper Jones had an excellent 2008 season winning the batting title by hitting .364 with 22 homeruns and 75rbi’s. The 36 year old Jones will start his 16^th full season in the major leagues as the starting third basemen once again for Atlanta.

The Florida Marlins will look to improve upon their 84-77 record of 2008. The Marlins, as they train in Jupiter Florida appeared to have gotten younger over the off-season. Being one of the youngest teams in baseball in 2008, it would seem difficult to become even younger, but Florida did just that. Florida dealt away Scott Olsen, Josh Willingham, and Mike Jacobs. They picked up youngsters such as Emilio Bonifacio, but he may have to play a new position to get quality time as a starter in 2009. Dan Uggla mans second base(same position as Bonifacio) for the Marlins. Of course the offense begins and ends with star shortstop Hanley Ramirez. Florida locked Ramirez up for six years and $70 million. The Marlins do not plan to add to their payroll, which will mean cutting ties with Dan Uggla, when that time comes. Cameron Maybin will look to get his opportunity to become a starting outfielder in the major leagues. Maybin is 22 years old. He will most likely be the lead-off batter for the Marlins, but that seems to be a lot of pressure put on a kid that has played in just 32 games in the big leagues. In the pitching department, Josh Johnson has turned into a staff ace, and will fight for 20 wins in 2009, with Ricky Nolasco coming in at #2. The rest of the staff is very young and inexperienced. The bullpen lost Kevin Gregg to Chicago, and will  now turn to Matt Lindstrom to close out games. Scott Proctor, Leo Nunez and Logan Kensing also appear to be fighting for late inning roles out of the bullpen. 

The New York Mets appeared to have the best off-season in the division. A year after winning 89 games, but coming up short in both the division and the wildcard, New York made quite the splash in the free agent department. The Mets signed Francisco Rodriguez to nail down games, and also J.J. Putz, who appears to be thrown into the set-up man roll for New York. The Mets training facility in Port St. Lucie sure got a new look Mets bullpen, as during the off season they dumped seven members of that pen. Joe Smith, Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis were among the crew not re-signed by New York. The Mets picked up Freddie  Garcia and Tim Redding to go along with a rotation with Johan Santana and John Maine at the top and Oliver Perez as a solid lefty. Santana’s health may be an issue early in the season as he is dealing with coming off knee surgery on his left knee. Rookie Fernando Martinez may get an opportunity to be in the starting lineup, as an outfielder, as New York was not able to pick up Manny Ramirez or Bobby Abreu in the off-season. The Mets will have to go with Martinez, or they could settle with anyone of the following: Fernando Tatis, Nick Evans or Daniel Murphy. The question for New York is, can guys such as Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran, along with Jose Reyes and David Wright stay healthy enough, and be productive enough for an entire 162 game slate?

Things are a little more upbeat in 2009 at the Phillies complex in Clearwater Florida. But the jubilation will quickly turn to business as the Philadelphia Phillies under Charlie Manual will look to repeat their 2008 World Championship. Philadelphia did not make a huge splash in the free agent market, but two moves they did make may prove to be very keen, as they locked up both Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels to long term deals. With Howard in the line-up and Hamels at the front of the rotation, Philadelphia should continue to stay, at the least, very competitive. Now add in Chase Utley,  the age-less Jamie Moyer and Brad Lidge and you are once again looking at a championship caliber ball club. The Phillies did not re-sign Pat Burrell, and instead signed Raul Ibanez to a three year deal. Chan Ho Park was added to help Hamels and Moyer out in the rotation. Joe Blanton and Brett Myers will hold the three-four positions within the rotation, with youngsters such as J.A. Happ and Kyle Kendrick battling with Park for the final spot. The Phillies have three major league ready catchers in Carlos Ruiz, Chris Coste and Ronny Paulino, but they all may take a back seat to youngster Lou Marson. Marson is a 22 year old that hit .308 for Team USA during the 2008 Olympics. Utley may miss a portion of the start of the season, after having off season hip surgery. Marcus Giles was signed to a minor league contract and may see time at second base to keep Utley’s position warm. J.C Romero will serve a 50 game suspension to start the season, which will inevitably hurt the back end of the bullpen. Finding a serviceable left hander may not be an easy task for the defending champs.

The Washington Nationals open up their spring training slate in Viera Florida coming off a 59-102 season in 2008. The Nationals signed Adam Dunn to a two year $20 million contract. Dunn will look to be the Nationals most dangerous hitter in their lineup. Dunn has hit 40+ homeruns in five straight seasons. Washington also picked up Daniel Cabrera and Scott Olsen. Both of these pitchers have loads of talent, but also are unproven. They also both have a shot at being the staff ace, after last seasons ace Tim Redding left the team. Redding won 10 games for Washington in 2008. Jordan Zimmerman, a 22 year old starting pitcher may get an opportunity to get some starts for the Nationals. The Washington front office would like to see Zimmerman remain at AAA for one more season, but injuries and lack of production may force their hand earlier than desired. The outfield is a bit of a log jam for Washington. Five guys appear to be battling for three positions. Willie Harris, Lastings Milledge and Austin Kearns got the majority of time last season, but if Willingham is healthy, he will see a great deal of time. Elijah Dukes has talent, but it has yet to convert to quality numbers at the professional level. Willie Harris has the advantage of being very versatile, and could possibly move to another position, such as second, short or third.

In 2008, the American League East took a turn for a complete surprise as the upstart Tampa Bay Devil Rays took the division, and then later the American League title in October. The beasts of the East; Boston and New York finished in second and third place respectively, with Boston garnering the wildcard, and the Yankees snapping their 13 season playoff streak and finishing 16 games above .500 and 8 games back. The Toronto Blue Jays finished 86-76 and 11 games back, and the Baltimore Orioles won 68 games, finishing 28.5 games out of first place.

A year after winning the American League Championship Series, before falling to Philadelphia in the World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays come into the season as the underdog in the American League East once again. Tampa Bay kept relatively quiet in the off-season, while their rivals, the Yankees and the Red Sox were active picking up additional talent.

Despite all the drama surrounding Manny Ramirez last season, Boston was still able to snag the wildcard, only to fall in the ALCS to the Rays. A full season with Jason Bay patrolling the outfield, along with the additions of Rocco Baldelli, Brad Penny, Takaski Saito and John Smoltz the Red Sox appear to be in a prime position to play October Baseball once again. Youngsters Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and Justin Masterson will be turned heavily to with oft-injured Josh Beckett and Brad Penny in the middle of the rotation. Offensively, Boston will look to get a repeat season from AL MVP Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia hit .326 with 17 homeruns and 83 rbi’s for Boston. Jacoby Ellsbury brings lightning quick speed to the outfield, but will need to find more ways to get on base to please the Boston organization in 2009. As Boston continues to prime for the 2009 season in Key West Florida, the pundits are still debating if the decision to avoid surgery on David Ortiz’s wrist was a good decision. Ortiz had some of the lowest numbers in his career, a cause for concern for the Red Sox nation. It should be an excellent spring training battle at shortstop between Julio Lugo and Jed Lowrie

The Yankees had the huge off-season, picking up free agents pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. On the offensive side, Mark Teixeria was signed to a massive contract to shore up the first base position for the Yankees. The Yankees on paper, appear to have the firepower to win this division, but with the off season issue regarding Alex Rodriguez and steroids, the team will need to find a way to rally and concentrate on baseball. Catcher Jorge Posada looks to be regaining health after missing the ladder part of the 2008 season after having right shoulder surgery. Hideki Matsui is also coming off a season ending injury after having left knee surgery at the end of the 2008 season. The question around the Yankees spring training facility in Tampa Florida is whether Joba Chamberlain is best served as a starter or an 8^th inning man? Mariano Rivera will once again take the duties as the closer for the Yankees.  Starting pitching will once again be the question mark for Joe Giradi’s squad, as Phil Hughes, Humberto Sanchez and Jason Johnson all look to be fighting for the fifth position in the rotation. 

The defending champion Tampa Bay Rays added Pat Burrell from Philadelphia to help bring some power to the lineup from the outfield position. The outfield is awfully crowded for the Rays who have B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and Gabe Kapler already. Look for youngster Matt Joyce to get some at bats in the outfield for Tampa Bay as well. Evan Longoria will look to repeat his .272, 27, 85 2008 season as his stock in major league baseball continues to grow. Carl Crawford appears to be as close to 100% as he can be, after playing just over 100 games last season. The pitching staff last season turned into one of the more dynamic staffs in all of baseball, and will now add youngster David Price, the 6’6 lefthander out of Vanderbilt University. Most recently, Tampa Bay added reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor league contract. Isringhausen may be a big help later in the season if he can regain his old pitching ways. 

The Baltimore Orioles come into Fort Lauderdale Florida with a few new faces. Baltimore picked up Ryan Freel, Ty Wiggington, Cesar Izturis and Gregg Zaun, all veterans, along with youngsters such as Rich Hill and Felix Pie. They also resigned All-Star second basemen, Brian Roberts. Baltimore had the American League’s worst ERA last year with a 5.51 era. This season Mark Hendrickson will be turned to, to eat up innings after finishing with a 5.45 era last season in Florida. Koji Uehara, a two time All Star in Japan will slide into the rotation along with Jeremy Guthrie. Youngsters Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones will seemingly get plenty of at bats for a team that is expected to finish at the bottom of the division again in 2009. Felix Pie amd Ryan Freel will have a spring training battle to see who can fill the other outfield position for Baltimore, while Luke Scott appears to be the team’s designated hitter.

The Toronto Blue Jays did not put forth much of an effort in the off season to show the fans they are going to attempt to compete at the top of the American League East. Additions of Michael Barrett, Kevin Millar, Mike Maroth and Matt Clement are hardly a sign of dominance. The Blue Jays do not appear to have a great deal of starting pitching depth beyond Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch, so guys like Scott Richmond, David Purcey and Brian Burress will be forced to step right into the show. Vernon Wells and Alex Rios are nice plays and with Halladay, the Jays will have a staff ace.  However, this team has a lot of question marks and seems to be relying on too many young bats.

I know it has been an on-going week of steroids and substance abuse talk revolving around one of the biggest names in baseball in New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez. I apologize to all those who are reading and are like not another story on A-Rod. I was going to stay away from the topic all together, but figured they are few sides to these steroids stories that many people are unaware of.  Sadly performance enhancers topic seems to headline Major League Baseball every week. While there are many new drug test proposed by the MLB people need to realize the real problems with baseball substance abuse in today’s society. Basically breaking this thing down plain and simple the problem that Major League Baseball is having starts many years before these star athletes ever reach this elite league of superstars. Simply put, if you want to keep the performance enhancing substances out of the big leagues they must start to keep them out of the colleges and high schools.

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This topic may have been hit on briefly by a few people, but nobody really refers to this problem when making the connection to the MLB. Speaking as a high school standout in baseball that later went on to play college baseball I feel it is important to bring the truth to doorstep to all those that do not understand why players would take these substances. High schools are now facing the exact same problems with steroids and substance abuses with sports athletes, especially baseball players. The majority of high school athletes can pass a physical and be cleared to play on most varsity levels. While you may not hear about steroids use in your local home town schools, that does not mean they are not there. As a high school player, I was asked on multiple occasions if I ever wanted to take steroids by teammates that were currently using them. Considering I only weighed 135lbs my entire career in high school I figured they would not help myself enough. However, that did not stop many teammates from using them on a consistent basis. There was an unspoken rule that you accepted to those players that took performance enhancers. The simple rule was that it was not to be talked about, but between teammates. While many may jump to say that this was just one high school and not a large majority. There were plenty of opportunities and summer leagues where players met up with other players from different schools and again there were countless players who were open to admit using steroids and performance enhancers.  While many of these players did this type of behavior in the off-season, some continued all year long.

The reason I am preaching this reality is for people to understand the need for enforcing strong regulations for drug testing in early ages of sports. College athletes are at an all-time high with steroid use and performance enhancing abuse. When I signed on the dotted line on the NCAA transcript back some 5 years ago to confirm that I was subject to any drug test at any time, I understood that agreement. I also understood as I signed that line that the chances of me really ever being tested were slim to none. I believe that is the problem with teams today. There are not enough mandatory drug screenings, and many players can fall through the cracks. While some do make mandatory screenings so many times a year, players are often aware of these drug test long before they happen giving them plenty of time to stay off the substances or at least long enough to past the test. Until, the rules and regulations take a big change you are going to continue to have these issues in the years to come. It is not surprising one bit that Alex Rodriguez one of the biggest names in the sport has used a type of performance enhancing product, because if the truth was to actually come out (which it never will) you would be absolutely shocked at the number of players that have used these types of drugs at some time or another in their career. For MLB athletes, I would expect no less than the 70% range.

I have seen arguments were people have tried to claim that using these steroids make no big impact on baseball or performance on the field. Those people could never be so wrong. I have seen players go to take these drugs and start hitting balls they never could dream of. For people to try and say that it does not affect the game of baseball, are simply in a delusional world. The sad thing steroids really do is they take away from the level of play from some of the greats of the old-age of baseball. Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Hank Aaron were some of the names that could change the game with a swing of the bat. Today there are many guys that can change the game with a swing of the bat, or the injection of a needle. The stats from the legends of the past mean nothing to the new players juiced on some inhuman type advantage. The all-time greats that revolutionized the game may lose their value to history because their stats will fall to the new rise and new age of this type of play edged by an unfair advantage. Also, even more disappointing is to those players that are not using or have never used these products. Imagine a player breaking out with 60+ homeruns, and breaking RBI records that is doing it the right way. The majority of America will never believe they have not used performance enhancers in today’s game. Unfortunately, the game of baseball has been tarnished even if it is the greatest game in the world. What is even more unfortunate, is that there is no doubt that Alex Rodriguez will not be the last hero to fall victim to performance enhancements.