For the most part, I think the M's are ready for another run for the post-season after they take care of some salary issues with Freddy Garcia, who in my opinion, is asking for way too much. I like the recent additions of Randy Winn and John Mabry. I think the Mariners have one of the best outfields of any team with Ichiro, Cameron, and now Winn, who will undoubtedly add speed to the baserunning like Ichiro does. ----Enough about my team, what kind of changes (positive/negative)have been made to other teams? Do you really think they'll make it to the playoffs or beyond this year???

You can probably guess how I feel...Thome, Bell, Millwood, no more Travis Lee...if the bullpen doesn't blow it, it oughta be a fun final season at the Vet!

I need pitching. And fans.

Joe in philly sounds confident in his team, but I don't hear the same enthusiasm in Seph. You have an Ex-Yankee on your team, what more could you want? wink

I'm not sure El Duque is a plus for anyone these days - he seems to have become a headcase and a bit of a moaner. Then again, a change of scenery may be just what the doctor ordered. Love the Yankees starting rotation for next year, but the middle relief is a BIG question mark with both Mendoza and Stanton gone. The outfield will be substantially better - folks seem to think Juan Rivera will be the next Bernie Williams, and if Godzilla lives up to half the hype in leftfield it'll make up for the departure of bootylicious Shane Spencer . All in all, looks like another fun year in The Bronx.

My three teams would be the Braves, Cardinals, and newly-adopted Rangers (because I live in Dallas).

Braves: I hope Robert Fick is the answer at first base, at least adequate anyway. Sheff needs to come back from an injury-plagued year to put up the numbers that he is capable of. Chipper will be himself again, and hopefully even better with a healthy Sheff. Andruw needs to finally become the player that everyone predicted, now or never. The rotation looks good with Maddux, Hampton (who will come around about six weeks into with Mazzone's help), Russ Ortiz (should be better in a pitcher's park and under Mazzone), Paul Byrd (expect about the same or slightly better), and Marquis (who could be the best #5 in the league). Smoltz will be lights-out again, just need to make sure there are setup folks in front of him (Roberto Hernandez should help). Castilla remains a mystery at third, but should be solid defensively. Furcal needs to become a spark again and be more consistent, J-Lo needs to bring his offense back, and Giles/Betemit/whoever plays second has to be better than last year.

Cards: Rolen and Drew healthy are a must for playoff contention. Rotation looks good even though they didn't bring back Finley. Ankiel should be on the comeback trail and could turn into a force out of the pen, unless he has to be bumped back into the rotation. Izzy hopes to be healthy, and he is the key to that pen. Pujols proved he could follow up an awesome rookie campaign with an almost-identical sophomore year. Looks great on paper!

Rangers: Heading the right direction by bringing in Mississippi State Bulldog alum Buck Showalter. Along with former Bulldogs Jay Powell and Rafael Palmeiro, there should be leadership for the guys like Teixera (who probably will show up this year), and the young starters. Still a rebuilding year, but at least there seems to be some hope now that loudmouth Rocker is gone and they decided that overpayed pitching isn't the answer.

As a Brewers fan, at this point in time, I'm excited about their prospects. All that will end, of course, on Opening Day! By Memorial Day, it will be but a distant memory ...

The Mets? No. Not with rookie Ty Wigginton at third base, for starters; that rumored Tony Batista-Jeromy Burnitz deal better happen. Given the Amazins' absurd snub of Jose Hernandez, I hope the players' union files that rumored collusion suit!

The Twins made it all the way to ALCS last year and gave the Angels a battle. That experience can only help. Lots of young talent eager to prove last year was no fluke. Not any significant changes to the roster. They lost David Ortiz, a decent DH with some power, but pretty inconsistent and injury prone. They have enough youn talent to replace him.

Arguably the best defense in baseball. A solid starting rotation in Radke, Milton, Mays, Reed and the emergence of Santana and Lohse. Blossoming stars in Hunter, Pierzynski, Jones, Koskie and Mientkiewicz plus up and comers Mohr, Kielty and Cuddyer. I gotta say, I'm pretty darn happy!

The Dodgers are in a rebuilding year, having let Karros and Grudz go (among others.) Don't really expect much from them this season and I doubt I'll be too disappointed if they fail to make the playoffs. Don't know if Green will be effective as a first-baseman, but we shall see.

~Adam

I'm an Astros' Fan...

The Killer Bs... Bagwell, Biggio, and now Berkman.

Along with Kent joining the ranks, Ausmus behind the plate.

I know there are more serious contenders but for me it's all about enjoying the game, hoping this year, we win the pennant on the way to the big show and it's about the people I'm with at the game.

I don't get too technical about the game cause after all, it's just a game, but what a game.

Baseball .... It's the perfect sport.

Hot Dog, Coca Cola anyone?

Very excited. I was very ho-hum about the offseason until the Bartolo Colon trade. Now I think we're as good or better than the Twins overall. Sox add Colon, Koch, Daubach, and the price isn't all that steep. White Sox in 2003!!!

I ll chime in on my favorite team and defending World Champions: The California Angels

The Angel organization was totally absent from making any trades or acquistions in the off season. It seems no one is offering criticism for their non actions due to the team be very young and no where was it identified that they had a hole to fill at any position. Tim Salmon is the only player over 30 years old in the every day lineup. Another key veteran on their team is Troy Percival and he is still only 32.

The team is very optimistic that they will be better than last year due to the fact that two of their most important pitchers, John Lackey and Rodriguez (K-Rod),joined the team very late in the season last year and they will now enjoy their contributions for a full season in 2003.

It will be interesting to watch how a few players perform as 2002 was a breakthrough year for Kennedy, Eckstein and Spezio. Everyone else on in the starting lineup had an average year performance wise. Pitching wise, the questions pertain in a similar way with Washburn and Martinez; two young pitchers who both performed at levels the organization had always projected they would.

With that said, the Angels play in the most difficult division in baseball as they have to compete and play often the likes of Seattle, Oakland and the improved Rangers. It will be tough for a wild card to come out of the division again this year. Only the winner of the division will most likely advance to the playoffs.

Fellow Angel booster....Jim Allen, where are you?

[ February 20, 2003, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: MikeOC ]

The Royals.
An owner who doesn't care.
A baseball commissioner who doesn't care.
We still have Carlos Beltran and Mike Sweeney.

Well, Opening Day will be fun no matter what. At that time of year there's always that faint glimmer of hope, keeping your fingers crossed, hoping for lightning to strike.

The Royals aren't that bad of a team, although I'm a little concerned about their pitching.

Very happy with the Yankees, though I wish psycho-owner George would LAY OFF DEREK JETER! Please, somebody, give the jerk some Paxil and shut him up.

The pitching staff was looking very creaky until they hired that hot Cuban Chocodile, José Contreras, so I think they'll be very competitive. Contreras could win 15-17, Pettitte could win 15, and Mussina is good for about 14-16. Clemens and Wellsie are on their last legs, but Clemens should easily get 7 wins to top 300 lifetime. (One of the greatest!)

The Cardinals have a decent offensive team, especially with Rolen's arm healthy, but Tino Martinez's dead bat is the hole in the lineup. That gorgeous Albert Pujols will again be the RBI engine. I just don't know about their pitching. Simontacchi will probably win 12 games again, and if he's healthy, Morris could win 15-17. But what about Woody Williams? What about Dustin Hermanson? Why don't they just get Kenny Rogers for 10-12 wins and be done with it? Garrett Stephenson is a huge question mark. And headcase Rick Ankiel has a great arm, he just can't marshal his senses to use it. A sad story.

I still think they can keep pace with every NL Central team, however, but the Stros have better pitching (Miller, Oswalt, Hernandez, and Reynolds are the tops in the division) and a better lineup (especially with Kent). The Cubs have talent, but they're cursed. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh often cobble together some great teams, but I'm not convinced either will do it this year. Griffey's bad karma is still in Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh just doesn't have the bucks to keep talent. And then there are the Brewers....

I pretty much have to be happy with the Phils this year. They finally attacked the free agent market with a vengance, something they have not done in recent memory. I only hope they don't suffer the same syndrome as the Mets of last year, as underacheivers after breaking the bank.

I don't know how long you've been a Yankee fan, but you ain't seen nuthin' yet as far a George's rants go. He's pulling this crap and its only been two years since they last won the World Series. Imagine (or remember) what he was like when the Yanks were dry from around 1982 until the mid 90s! eek!

Hopefully for Yankee fans, Jeter's skin is thick enough to let this roll off him. Many former Yanks folded under the scrutiny. As for the criticism of Torre, Steinbrenner must be sharing Whitney Houston's crack pipe!

Well, if you asked me a month ago I would have said I had low hopes for the Blue Jays. But, I'm becoming a bit more optimistic.

The pitching staff starts with genuine ace Roy Halladay and ends with inconsistant Kelvim Escobar (who makes good trade bait because of his arm). In between... well, more misses than hits.

Carlos Delgado is still one of the top first basemen in the league. And what a smile! The O-Dog at second, Chris Woodward/Mike Bordick at short and Rookie-of-the-Year Eric Hinske manning the hot corner. Catcher is a question mark. Non-talents like Ken Huckaby, Tom Wilson (cute!) and Greg Myers.

Outfield has Shannon Stewart, a legit .300-hitting lead-off man (and possible trade bait), Vernon Wells who provides very strong defense, and cutie Frank Catalanotto.

If they play slightly above .500 baseball I'll be happy.

Season opener is against the Damn Yankees--I'm going to try to go.

Tough break. To start the season losing three in a row.

Well, this year, like many Cub fans, I'll be praying for a miracle. I'd like to say that the Cubbies will be the next Angels, but I just don't see it this year. However, the improvements to the bullpen, bench, and manager's office all give me new reason to hope. If Kyle Farnsworth *drool* can get back on track, Moises Alou's new conditioning program works, and the rookies (Messrs. Hill and Choi) produce, the result, I think, will be good. The bullpen additions I think were the best and most needed. Having quality veterans in there like Remlinger, Veres, etc., will only help develop the young talent that is there, especially the Farns. Again, I don't really see the Cubs doing very much this year, wins probably in the 82-87 range, but come 2004, I think this team can really be exciting to watch and to root for.

I remember how he badgered poor Dave Winfield, whom I was in love with throughout my teens. (I actually met him once, as he was getting out of a limo in Times Square--he was so tall and built and handsome I swear I nearly passed out!)

And of course other players, and poor crazed manager Billy Martin, etc. Steinbrenner is crazy. He had calmed down because the Yankees were winning, but he really is violently deranged. His criticisms of Torre were totally wacko and a sign that he doesn't need a crackpipe--his brain is like a burning freebase spoon.

Win, win, win, or don't show up ever again....

I'm just very glad they got Contreras.

After the Mariners great 116 win season, I *knew* they weren't going to even come close to repeating that because almost all of their players had career years. I mean, Bret Boone juicing* got him a .331/37/141 year in 2001, but he's a career .267 hitter. The Angels, on the other hand, had all their position players have pretty typical years for them. Where they improved was the young pitchers coming through.

I think they have to be happy with their lineup. The big question mark is, again, going to be pitching. Can Washburn, Ortiz and Lackey continue to improve? Can the middle relief pitchers (an Arson Squad last year) improve? One bad sign is that they are playing contract hardball with Washburn, refusing to talk about a long term deal. I don't think that's bad per se, but he's not a happy bunny in camp. Could be a clubhouse toxin and lawdy knows the Angels have had enough of those over the years.

Do I think the Angels will repeat? No, what they did last year was magic, all the pieces coming together at the right time. They're still in probably the toughest division in baseball. Mike Scoscia will keep them focused but the bench is a bit thin and a major injury to Erstad, Anderson or Glaus could be disastrous.

Angel single game seats go on sale next Saturday and I'm going to try and get tickets for Opening Day, which is a Sunday night ESPN game.

Oh, and the Dodgers are likely to be mediocre again, so all in all, I can't wait for baseball to start.

* A guess, no "evidence".

[ February 22, 2003, 07:45 PM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

Well every poll I have seen this spring training has our Milwaukee Brewers picked 30 of the 30 teams so I guess no where to go but up!!! Seriously lots of reasons for optimism...total makeover Ulice Payne as President & CEO & Doug Melvin general manager & Ned Yost new field manager...major changes occurring at every level of the Brewers organization...with much of the same time returning from last year do not expect a whole lot this year but there is a core 7-8 players coming through the minor leagues right now considered blue chip players & expected to be stars some day. This along with lots of smart moves by the new Brewers brass & extrememly enthusiastic additude Ned Yost is instilling in the team bodes well for the Brewers in 2-3 years

The 2003 Red Sox are shaping up this way:

• C- Jason Varitek, Doug Mirabelli
• 1B- Jeremy Giambi, Kevin Millar, David Ortiz
• 2B- Todd Walker, Damian Jackson, Lou Merloni
• 3B- Shea Hillenbrand, Bill Mueller
• SS- Nomar Garciaparra, Angel Santos
• OF- Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Trot Nixon, Benny Agbayani, Adrian Brown
• Starters- Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, John Burkett, Tim \"Woof-Daddy\" Wakefield, Casey Fossum
• Relievers- Alan Embree, Chad Fox, Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Timlin
• Utility guys- Frank Castillo, Bob Howry, Ryan Rupe, Willie Banks, Javier Lopez, Robert Person, Matt White, Justin Kaye

It goes without saying that things can and will change.

GM Theo Epstein and his statistician sidekick Bill James are planning not to use closers in the traditional sense. As I understand it, any relief guy can step into the role, with the decision on who and when guided by statistical models based on prior situational performance. Plus a healthy dose of Grady Little, who reportedly has come around to their way of thinking. We'll see if they have a clue... :cool:

[ March 10, 2003, 07:49 AM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]