- the Red Sox paid the price for unfettered loyalty; a year after giving Jason Varitek a $40 million contract, they traded both Josh Bard and Cla Meredith to reacquire Doug Mirabelli. The results were ugly

- Jorge Posada, at age 34, made a grand statement that rumours of his decline were greatly exaggerated... he has passed Elston Howard in games caught and runs created, and early in 2007 will pass Thurman Munson in both categories, as he makes slow progress up the Yankees' formidable leaderboard...

- a potential problem for the Blue Jays. Bengie Molina was a defensive disappointment, but him and Gregg Zaun put some runs on the board. Now, Zaun is 36, and will be asked to catch as many games as he possibly can. Fortunately, the Jays have a decent prospect, Curtis Thigpen, who could help by midsummer... hell, with the twist of an ankle, he could be the starter in April

- Dioner Navarro emerged as a prospect while still a teenager with the Yankees. In a depressing trend, he has been traded first for Randy Johnson, then for Shawn Green and then again for Mark Hendrickson. His minor league record isn't great, but he's always played with guys a lot older than he is

- it is still unclear where Kevin Youkilis stands with the Red Sox. He was excellent the first three months of the season, then struggled mightily in the second half (.258, 3 home runs). The Todd Helton trade talks appear to have died down... but Eric Hinske is in the picture as well. If Hinske ever got regular playing time... well, sometimes Fenway Park teaches left-handed batters to do things that they are not very good at

- Greg Norton and Ty Wigginton both had nice little years for the Rays, playing all over the field while Travis Lee stunk it up at first base. Versatility is a big part of their game, but the departure of Lee gives someone a chance to play everyday

- I'm guessing that Jason Giambi will continue to get playing time at first, despite his advancing age and degrading defence. His OPS was 150 points higher while playing first than at DH, close to his career numbers

- the Yankees could also try Hideki Matsui at first; they also have Josh Phelps kicking around camp. It's difficult to imagine that either Andy Phillips or Doug Mientkiewicz will get the majority, or even the plurality, of playing time this season

- the Blue Jays got even worse production from their second sackers than their shortstops, mostly because Aaron Hill hit .340 while playing short. Both Russ Adams and Edgardo Alfonso fell short of the Mendoza Line while playing second. The saving grace: it's difficult for me to remain objective, but I would argue that Hill has the best footwork I've ever seen in a Blue Jay second baseman, something I think is reflected in his defensive stats

- it appears that the Blue Jays are going to commit to Hill as a regular second baseman, which is the correct decision. It's awfully tempting to move Hill to shortstop for at least one year, but it's always better to put young players at their best defensive position, especially if its second base...

- Jorge Cantu had about the worst season he could have. He's still only 25, still has a lot of upside with the bat, but he's almost certainly playing the wrong position. Funny how that seems to happen a lot in Tampa Bay...

- Robinson Cano hit a punchless .325 in the first half, then muscled up and hit .365 with 24 doubles, 11 homers in the second half. Joe Torre was impressed enough to compare him to Rod Carew... Carew at the same age hit .332 with twice as many walks, many more stolen bases, less power and more strikeouts. Cano's skill sets seem to be more like Jose Vidro's...

- the Red Sox are hoping that their kid, Dustin Pedroia, can turn out as well as New York's. He's a guy who can hit .300 with lots of doubles, more walks than strikeouts, but right now doesn't hit home runs or steal bases. If his defence holds up, he could be Jody Reed...

- Alex Rodriguez was infamously dropped to the sixth slot in the batting order at the end of the year. Curiously, he batted .339 with a 1122 OPS while batting fifth, and his career numbers in that slot are almost as good (in 461 at bats). Given enough at bats, things would probably even out... but it is curious that the Yankees would not leave him in the spot where he's been at his best

- Melvin Mora signed a three-year contract extension in May, then didn't hit at all the rest of the year. He's 35, and has never been a good defensive player. Mora's late rise to stardom was a rare success story for the Orioles' organization, but they didn't clue into the beginning of his decline phase...

- compare B.J. Upton with Hanley Ramirez. Both turned 22 last season (Upton is eight months younger); both are major league hitters, both have defensive problems and both have had their attitude questioned in the past. But one was the NL Rookie of the Year and the other was stuck at Durham because... the Marlins actually know how to run an organization, while the Rays, despite new ownership/management, do not

- when the Jays acquired Troy Glaus to play third base, I wasn't impressed - I didn't think that he could stick in the lineup unless he became a DH. I'm still not convinced that he can stick in the lineup, but I'm not sure that DHing will help - anecdotally, he seems to do most of the damage to his body while swinging the bat. I've never seen a player hobble around in the batter's box as much as Glaus, usually after a mighty swing-and-a-miss that wrenches his back/knee/groin/whatever

- Derek Jeter was my MVP choice. He led the American League in VORP and hit a robust .381 with runners in scoring position. And he's a great baserunner. He's not a great defensive player, but... well, he's a warm body out on the field

- Jeter seems to have fallen into a media netherworld, where he's constantly getting credit for stuff he doesn't do (great defence, willing his team to win, saving kittens, etc.) but doesn't get nearly enough credit for the stuff he does do (whacking the hell out of the ball). It's not a good tradeoff; the former takes up endless amounts of dead space during slow games, but is just fluff that doesn't carry much weight at awards time

- my guess is that the Blue Jays will do what they're saying they will do - Royce Clayton will start the year at shortstop, and Russ Adams will be sent to AAA. And if Adams shows a pulse at Syracuse, he will be the shortstop by mid-May. It appears that the Jays have invested too much time and resources in him to give up just yet... and it's a huge gamble, because this is the position where they have the potential to improve the most

- at the trade deadline, Julio Lugo was having a free agent's dream season: career-best numbers with Tampa Bay, then a trade to the playoff-bound Dodgers. But he sucked horribly in LA, posting only a .545 OPS... it didn't stop the Red Sox from giving him $36 million

- the Blue Jays' outfield was freaking awesome in 2006. All three outfield positions produced at least 115 runs created, while Reed Johnson, Vernon Wells and Alex Rios were amongst the best defensively as well. Frank Catalanotto has left, but superprospect Adam Lind has nothing left to prove in the minors

- if "Jay Payton" is the answer, you may not want to know the question...

- at age 24, Carl Crawford had almost the same season that he had at age 23 and 22; he seems to improve by about 1% each year... he's still young, is among the better outfielders in the league, has a fabulous diversity of skills and could easily explode with an MVP season. His list of Similarity Scores includes Jake Beckley, Mike Tiernan and Jimmy Sheckard, which is just awesome

- the Damon move turned out to be a stunning change in the balance of power in the AL East. The Yankees plugged up a huge hole in centre field, while the Red Sox developed a huge problem of their own

- Coco Crisp and Wily Mo Pena are both fine players, are both young and are both capable of busting loose with a big season. But neither is really a centre fielder, and neither anywhere else to play

- Rocco Baldelli's season was almost what you would have expected from him even had he not missed a season with a torn ACL. A .300 batting average, more power, speed still intact... only his strike zone command remains weak, which may or may not related to his 18-month absence

- as a Jays fan, I thought that Vernon Wells had his best season defensively in centre. His achilles heel are shallow bloopers hit in front of him, but they seemed to give him less trouble than usual, while he still caught everything hit over his head. Maybe he was playing a step shallower?

- what a group... I haven't the foggiest idea which one of these players will have the best season in 2007. To sum up:

- Delmon Young was suspended for 50 games for assaulting an umpire, but otherwise played like the best prospect in baseball

- 22-year-old rookie Nick Markakis hit .182 in April, then got real good real fast, batting .311 with 14 home runs in the second half

- Alex Rios did his best Roberto Clemente impression in April, May and September - and had his summer ruined by a mysterious staph infection

- J.D. Drew played in a career high 146 games; he didn't have his best season, but was still easily among the better outfielders in the league. He then opted out of his contract with the Dodgers and signed with Boston

- Bobby Abreu's power stroke disappeared for 12 months, then suddenly reappeared after he was dealt to the Yankees

- David Ortiz vs. Fausto Carmona: my official "Holy shit, I can't believe I just saw that" moment for 2006... Ortiz led the AL in runs created by a fair margin, despite spending a week in the hospital in August

- Johnny Gomes hurt his shoulder bad enough that he wasn't able to throw - so of course, they moved him to DH, where he didn't hit at all for two months

- Toronto's DHs weren't too much better than Tampa's - and people here wondered why they signed Frank Thomas. If your only goal is to play .500 ball (as was the case with Toronto in 2005), then Shea Hillenbrand is a good guy to have - he's durable, consistent and isn't horrible. But if you're serious about contending... it's time to move on to something better

- Thomas' big comeback season at age 38 is a good match for Willie McCovey's comeback season at age 39. McCovey was done after that, which doesn't bode well for the Jays... if they're lucky, Thomas will play 80 games, hit 20 homers, and then they can play Adam Lind or somebody when the Big Hurt is hurting...

- it's Feb. 24 in Toronto, and Halladay Hysteria has hit a fevered pitch here in the city. Dude was 4th in innings pitched, 3rd in Cy Young voting, had the highest average Game Score in the division... and the media keep saying that he's got something to prove

- of course, he's not a slam dunk to stay healthy - he's a pitcher, for Chrissakes. He does horrible, horrible things to his arm 32 times a year. As a Jays fan, I don't lose too much sleep worrying about the Doc... well, I'm a little worried about the large drop in strikeout rate. But both his strikeout rate and K/BB ratio are far away from Tim Hudson levels...

- the Senator won't like to hear this, but Mike Mussina has (I think) moved past Jim Bunning on the list of baseball's all-time great pitchers. His career record is now a very close match for Juan Marichal's... except that the bulk of Marichal's career wins were bunched into six 20+ win seasons, while Mussina's are spread out over a bunch of 15+ win seasons...

- Scott Kazmir had a dazzling, overpowering sophomore season in which he dramatically improved his control while increasing his strikeout rate. He was also shut down for much of the summer with a shoulder injury; the shoulder appears to be the only obstacle between him and stardom

- well, that and the shitty team behind him. Kazmir received only 3.67 runs per game in support, a wretched total but only the second-worst among pitchers with at least 140 innings pitched (Jamie Moyer was worse). Two of his teammates, Mark Hendrickson and Jae Seo, also fared worse, with Hendrickson clocking in with a whopping 2.71 runs per game in support over 13 starts...

- Chien-Ming Wang is an amazing throwback; he doesn't strike anybody out, and while he gets a lot of ground balls he doesn't get a huge number. Derek Lowe, for example, strikes out a lot more batters and gets more ground balls as well. Jim Barr had some seasons like this in his mid-to-late 20's, as did Mel Stottlemyre, Wang's former pitching coach. There aren't too many other right-handers in the past 50 years who have had more than one year like this

- there are many stories of Stottlemyre, the pitching coach, trying to teach young pitchers to be just like he was. He apparently even tried to teach the young Dwight Gooden to strike out fewer batters and get more ground balls. It would be something if, in his final year as New York's pitching coach, Mel finally found the perfect disciple...

- Josh Beckett's innings pitched total has gone up every year in his ML career - six straight years. But man, did he get lit up last season - both at home and on the road, by both right-handers and left-handers, in all six months...

- Gustavo Chacin continued to win 60% of his decisions, but an elbow injury put him on the DL twice, plus he had a nasty ERA and super-nasty peripherals. The Jays are hoping that he is Kirk Rueter Redux, a funky left-hander who can go 11-7 every year for the next 4-5 years, but have stocked up on other options just in case

- Andy Pettitte struggled badly in the first half, but was back on top of his game after the break (2.80 ERA, 86 strikeouts in 93 innings). At age 35, he remains a quality pitcher, and is no longer as brittle as his reputation

- Casey Fossum led the Rays in starts last season, despite missing all of September when he had surgery to repair a "frayed" labrum in his shoulder; with almost any other team I would consider him a longshot to have a spot in the rotation, but apparently he's on track to return in April...

- after the Yankees signed Carl Pavano three years ago, I wrote that "the Yankees are paying him to be an ace but more than likely they are getting Jeff Suppan". I apologize to Jeff Suppan... Pavano has a spot in the rotation because he's still getting paid and the Yankees don't want to rush Phil Hughes. But realistically, he's on a short leash

- The Red Sox' rotation has plenty of question marks, but also an awfully high ceiling; Jon Papelbon was spectacular in the closer's role last season, but appears to have all of the tools to be a quality starter as well... Paul Richards seeks some redemption

- Steve Trachsel, not surprisingly, received the highest run support among NL pitchers with at least 120 innings pitched, despite being on the wrong end of three shutouts; scale back to 100 innings, and both Aaron Sele and Chuck James received higher support... this may be wishful thinking, given Trachsel's dual status as both Crappy ex-Blue Jay and Most Painful Pitcher to Watch, but at age 36, it appears that he is done

- I think that fans in every city have a player that they feel very lonely rooting for. I actually like Shaun Marcum quite a bit; he could be the next Woody Williams, a guy who doesn't get any respect from the fans or media or even the team itself, but who ends up becoming a good pitcher... with another team

- I may have things backwards; Craig Hanson may actually be the swing man in Boston, while Joel Pineiro gets the closer's role. It will be, of course, The Story of the division in April, whether the Red Sox can find someone to competently replace Jonathan Papelbon in the bullpen (UPDATE: Papelbon is the closer again, Julian Tavarez is in the rotation, everybody is happy. As a Blue Jay fan, I'm hopelessly biased... but as far as I am concerned, the less Papelbon I see, the better...)

- the Rays appear to have narrowed their closer candidates to Proven but Declining Veteran (Dan Miceli), Clueless Wild Man with Great Arm (Seth McClung) and Guy Who Can Pitch but who doesn't Inspire Confidence (Shawn Camp)...

- the second-worst day for my fantasy team was this one, made worse because I was watching on MLB TV. Other than that, Chris Ray had a nice little year for the Orioles and, more importantly, my team. Only 25, needs to cut down on the long balls (10 allowed in 2006) to become an elite stopper

- Jason Frasor pitched pretty well for Toronto, but was mysteriously demoted in May... whatever the issue was, team and player better be on the same page because the Jays have no one better

- after years of hype, Brandon League finally harnessed his control and threw some quality innings. He will be asked to replaced Justin Speier... still very young, still needs something to get left-handers out with (UPDATE: League's arm doesn't feel so good, so Francisco Rosario may get another shot in the bigs. He's been a starter in the minors, and has some nasty stuff, but due to injuries and inconsistency his career is taking forever to get going. UPDATE #2: nope, Rosario's toast, the Jays added Victor Zambrano(!) to the staff instead. After five years, I still find it hard to guess at what J.P. Ricciardi will do next with his pitching staff, making me wonder if (1) I'm just not clueing in to the program, or (2) he's throwing darts at a board)

- Kyle Farnsworth threw only 66 innings in 72 appearances; he has a reverse platoon-split, was tougher against left-handers than right-handers... but so did Scott Proctor; Farnsworth held lead-off hitters to a .150 batting average in 60 at bats, and was most effective when he threw under 15 pitches; Proctor was more effective after throwing at least 15 pitches, while lead-off hitters hit .286 against him

- I have no idea whether those numbers had any influence on Joe Torre, or at what point in the season he would start using them to guide his decisions. I'm sure that someone, somewhere has done a much more thorough study of Yankee bullpen usage...

- Luis Vizcaino joins his fourth team in four years... but he seems to be getting better each year, and should be an improvement over Ron Villone

- Jeremy Accardo pitched well the first two months of the season with San Francisco, then was horrible over the final four months. Still young, and the Jays' other options are limited

- sorry, I don't follow the Rays closely enough to know who will pitch in their bullpen. Chad Orvella had a nice rookie year in 2005, then completely imploded on himself last season. Still young, and once again, the Rays' have limited options (or perhaps more precisely, they have many, many options, almost all of which look equally ugly; there's probably a gem in the mix, but whether or not Joe Maddon can find him...)

- when Brian Tallet arrived in Toronto, he was quickly nicknamed 'Wolverine' due to his, umm, sharp looks, then was dispatched to Syracuse, presumably never to be seen again. But he replaced the awful Scott Schoeneweis in midseason, and pitched out of jams the rest of the year. His control sucks, and I wouldn't expect his success to continue unless it gets better

- J.C. Romero was the most LOOGYish of the group, holding left-handers to a .202 batting average while getting pounded by right-handers at a .382 clip

- Mike Myers actually performed better against right-handers than lefties, something I wouldn't expect to happen two years in a row... apparently, Ron Villone is still kicking around camp as well, and last year had a much wider platoon split than Myers did

- by adding both Luis Vizcaino and Chris Britton, the Yankees may have their deepest bullpen in years; they've always had Mariano in the 9th, but I'm sure that Yankee fans will be glad not to have to watch Tanyon Sturtze, Felix Rodriguez or Octavio Dotel in the 6th...

- Scott Downs did a solid job for the Jays last year and will return as a swing man, though Josh Towers will also get a chance to rescue his career... most fans in Toronto, I think, were braced for the possibility that Towers would struggle in 2006 - but the extent of the meltdown was astonishing. You have Three Mile Island, you have Chernobyl... and then you have Josh Towers

- the back end of the Orioles' bullpen was unspeakably awful; Hayden Penn is a fine young prospect whose future is in the starting rotation, but it might be in the team's best interest to take Earl Weaver's advice and stick him in long relief for a year

- the good (Mauer), the bad (Buck) and the ugly (AJ). Victor Martinez' defence also qualifies as "ugly", and he may play more frequently at first base

- I don't claim to know why Pudge Rodriguez lost those 30 pounds three years ago; maybe he stopped taking PEDs, or maybe he just tried out the cabbage soup diet. Though he's lost a bit of pop in his bat, his mobility behind the plate, especially at this stage in his career, is astonishing

- the Tigers brought back Sean Casey after he posted a whopping .650 OPS for them. He's only two years removed from a big season, but it's a common mistake for championship teams to remain loyal to rapidly declining veterans

- Ryan Shealy is enormous, hits big home runs and is still trying to establish himself at age 27. He was blocked by Todd Helton in Colorado; and while he has always hit in the minors, he didn't HIT the way you might expect a 26-year-old playing at Colorado Springs. Still, the Royals are a team that can afford to take a chance on him

- 12 lost months: in 2005, Justin Morneau had a monstrous April (.439 average), then was beaned in the head and struggled the rest of the season. Last year was the opposite; he stunk in April (.208) but was outstanding the rest of the way...

- Morneau and Paul Konerko had pretty much identical seasons... Morneau was an MVP in the tradition of Steve Garvey and Mo Vaughn, having the distinction of The Most RBI by a Guy Whose Team Made the Playoffs. Garvey was actually out-homered, out-RBIed, out-everythinged by Johnny Bench in 1974, but the Reds lost the divisional race to the Dodgers

- complaining about the lack of Gold Gloves in Detroit is like complaining about the lack of water in the Mojave Desert, but.... Placido Polanco got some attention last fall for his torrid hitting against Oakland and New York, and then his 0-for-17 against the Cardinals. All of which misses the point... he's been a premier defensive player for years now

- Luis Castillo gave the Twins five pretty good months; but he hurt his right knee in late May, couldn't run, played through the injury and hit .206 in June...

- second base was one of the black holes in the Indians' horrible infield defence; Ron Belliard, after a pair of nice seasons, pulled a Baerga and was traded in midseason. Barfield is young and athletic; he should improve the defence and has room to improve as a hitter

- as you know, Mark Teahen was terrible in April, was demoted in May, was recalled... then absolutely destroyed AL pitching the rest of the year. His power surge came entirely without warning; maybe there's hope for Sean Burroughs yet

- it is also unlikely that Teahan will play much third; for good reason, the Royals want phenom Alex Gordon to start the year there. Gordon, in his first pro year, demolished Texas League pitching, and at age 23 may as well get his career going. It appears that Teahan will split his time in the corner outfield spots, maybe first base or DH... of course, there's a pretty massive hole at shortstop as well, if anyone's looking for a challenge...

- Andy Marte's career has yet to take shape as expected. In his second year at AAA, he hit .261 with 15 homers. He's also been traded twice, both times by good organizations... still, he's only 23, and the Indians have traded away his competition

- over the past two seasons, the Tigers and White Sox have each (1) won an American League pennant, and (2) fielded some outstanding defensive teams. And in those two years, they have won a grand total of two Gold Gloves (Ivan Rodriguez and Kenny Rogers). Joe Crede and Brandon Inge are just two outstanding defensive players who have gotten no love

- Juan Uribe had a difficult year, batting just .235 and (apparently) falling victim to an extortion scheme during the winter. He's still the premier defensive shortstop in the American League, is only 27 and has hit better in the past

- with the bat in their hands, no one in the league was worse than the Royals' shortstops; they were no great shakes defensively, either. Angel Berroa is still kicking around, with a couple of 23-year-olds challenging him for the starting job

- it appears that Jason Bartlett has won a lengthy battle to be the regular shortstop in Minnesota. He appears to be a decent defender who has hit well over .300 the past three seasons at Rochester, and proved something to the Twins by hitting .309 in 333 major-league at bats. His secondary skills are limited, but he spikes his OBP by getting hit by pitches...

- in theory, finding a guy who can hit and play left field shouldn't be too hard. But not only was this a really weak group in 2006 - most of these guys still have their jobs

- Marcus Thames did most of his damage as a DH, hitting only .227 while playing left field. The arrival of Gary Sheffield puts the squeeze on him and Monroe, at least in the short term

- Dave Dellucci has been a super fourth outfielder the past two seasons, but him and Trot Nixon both have massive platoon splits. Michaels should get plenty of at bats against left-handers, but won't get 494 at bats again, which is a good thing...

- Rondell White was a disaster in the first half, batting .182 before the break. But he hit .321 afterwards, and it looks like the Twins are going to stick with him. He's rebounded from disastrous seasons before...

- Darin Erstad is also in the White Sox camp and may win playing time in centre. Once an elite centre fielder, Erstad hasn't played much outfield the past four seasons... Kenny Williams tried to acquire him in 2002 for Jon Garland, a deal he's probably glad the Angels nixed...

- Erstad is around because Brian Anderson had such a disappointing year. But Anderson's defensive reviews were good, and even in a terrible year at the plate he was still more productive than Erstad... Mackowiac is a good 4th outfielder

- Casey Blake may be the right-handed half of a platoon with one of these guys... Nixon needs a comeback; his hitting has dropped steeply the past three seasons, while injuries take their toll... Shin-Soo Choo has some power and speed; he should be a good fourth outfielder, and is trying to prove that he can be better. Last season's terrific performance in 45 games with Cleveland was a good start

- Jermaine Dye had an astonishing season that under slightly different circumstances could have copped (and deserved) an MVP Award. He hit in all situations, against all pitchers for all six months of the year. This, at age 32 - six years after his breakout season in 2000. The years in between were marred by a devastating injury and disappointing production...

- trying to find a precedent for Dye's season isn't easy, but... Andres Galaragga had a breakout year with Montreal at age 27, spent five years in the wilderness then won a batting title with Colorado at age 32... Ellis Burks emerged as a young star with Boston in his early 20's, spent six years battling injuries, then had a monster comeback season with Colorado at age 31

- of course, both Burks and Galaragga made their comebacks in pre-humidor Colorado, a luxury that Dye didn't have. But both Burks and Galaragga remained outstanding hitters well into their late 30's, even after they moved to new cities...

- the Twins... like... to... take... their... time... developing... young... players... Michael Cuddyer... emerged... as... a. prospect... five... years... ago... and... had... a... breakout... season... last... year... at... age... 27... maybe... if... they... played... their... kids... more... they... could... have... avoided... the... Tony Batista... fiasco...

- according to baseball-reference.com, Hafner has led the AL in OPS+ for three straight years. He is arguably the best hitter in the league, but has yet to play more than 140 games in a season

- no, the Royals didn't have the same pitching staff as the 1935 Boston Braves; it just seemed that way...

- Johan Santana went 8-3 in 15 starts against Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland; the Twins were 11-4 in those games... the Cy Young Award was up for grabs at the trade deadline; Santana finished the season 7-1 with a 2.09 ERA in his final 11 starts

- Jeremy Bonderman has been a full-time starter since age 20; in his fourth year, he posted his first above-average ERA and struck out 200 batters for the first time... has struggled in the second half two years in a row, but appears to be on the cusp of a Cy Young-type season

- C.C. Sabathia has also been a full-time starter since he was 20; in his sixth season, he took a stunning step forward, dramatically dropping his walks while raising his strikeouts... he also appears to be on the cusp of a monster season, though weight and health are always concerns

- out goes Brad Radke, in comes... Boof Bonser. Boof has a ways to go before he's Radke's quality, but he may end up being a similar type of pitcher, give up a lot of home runs but thrive with a good K/W ratio. Bonser was more of a power pitcher in the lower minors, is now improving his control...

- Javier Vazquez has now had nearly identical seasons in four of the past five years - a good strikeout rate and strikeout/walk ratio, more hits than innings, lots of home runs given up and near-average ERA; he had a pair of knockout seasons with Montreal in 2001 and 2003, but I dunno... how many guys like this pitch well into their 30's? Most pitchers who rely on strikeouts have to make an adjustment in their early 30's, and I doubt that Vazquez will survive his

- the Twins had the second-best team ERA in the league last season. But they've lost 280 quality innings which they received from Francisco Liriano and Brad Radke; it appears that Carlos Silva, despite getting lit up for a .324 batting average and 38 home runs, still has a solid spot in the rotation

- hard to find too much wrong with Justin Verlander's rookie year; he was healthy, very effective and grabbed the Rookie of the Year Award. One thing we're still waiting for: that totally dominant performance in which a young pitcher proves that he can totally master an opposing lineup; like, say, this one

- the depth of the Tigers' rotation was remarkable; their top four starting pitchers had an average Game Score of at least 51, good enough to separate them from the rest of the pack

- Mark Buehrle could wind up being the Sox' best pitcher, of course - but a brutal second half (6.44 ERA) coupled with a dramatic drop in his strikeout rate raises some serious doubts about how effective he will be - and whether he is as healthy as he says he is

- Matt Garza made eight starts in the FSL, 10 starts in the Eastern League, five starts in the International League, then nine more in Minnesota. At age 22, he dominated three levels of opposition before stumbling a bit in the majors; not as polished at the moment as Bonser, but has an electrifying arm, and the Twins will need him to replace some of what Liriano gave them last year...

- Glen Perkins is described as a left-hander with a "sneaky fastball", which sounds suspiciously like Glendon Rusch, but... Scott Baker, OTOH, looked like the next Josh Towers, which didn't endear him to Twins management. But even Josh Towers had a couple of decent seasons...

- in his second pro season, Jeremy Sowers shut down the International League (9-1, 1.39 ERA), then after a short adjustment period started shutting down major league hitters as well (including back-to-back shutouts). A starting spot is certainly his to lose... a left-hander with "average" stuff, he appears to have two pitches that he keeps throwing in the same spots. Needs Glavine-type karma to thrive...

- Gavin Floyd was the Phillies' top pitching prospect a couple of years ago, but has struggled badly both at Triple-A and the majors. A right-hander with a fastball/curve combo, the consensus is that he has lost some velocity, plus his control isn't very good. It's not a promising combination... but then, the same thing could be said of Gil Meche.

- unlike his father, Brian Bannister has the misfortune of being right-handed. A survivor of elbow surgery, he's trying to survive as a decent back-of-the-rotation guy... which, God knows, the Royals need, given the atrocious performance of their back-of-the-rotation guys last season

- in his third year as the Twins' closer, Nathan was even more dominant than before, holding batters to a .158 average while pushing his strikeout rate up to 12.51 K/9 innings and improving his control

- (a)synchronicity can be good; the Tigers in May and June could do almost no wrong, posting a 39-16 record in those two months. An exception was closer Todd Jones, who reeled off 18 saves during that period, but who also self-imploded on five occasions, losing all five games and giving up more than 50% of his runs allowed for the year. Jim Leyland was under no pressure to make changes, and chose not to; Jones was outstanding the second half of the season (1.80 ERA) while the rest of the team stumbled...

- Bobby Jenks picked up where he left off in 2005, mowing down batters and reeling off saves, and was selected to the All-Star team. Like many of his teammates, he suddenly lost the strike zone and was pounded after the break (5.72 ERA). Despite the struggles, I would be less worried about him then any of the starting pitchers...

- the Cleveland Indians lost 84 games, incredibly despite having the AL's second-best offence and third-best starting rotation. The culprits were (a) bad luck, (b) brutal defence and (c) a brutal, brutal bullpen. Joe Borowski is hardly an elite closer, but right now the Indians just need someone who won't suck horribly

- in the Great Debate over bullpen usage, the Tigers seemed to please both sides; they had an experienced, veteran closer who pitched only in the 9th and who didn't suck, while the best pitcher in the bullpen had the freedom to enter any inning at any time; Game 2 of the ALDS was, of course, a good example of this strategy - bring in Zumaya to mow down the heart of the order in the 7th, then use Jones against the bottom three guys in the ninth...

- Juan Rincon was less dominant than in recent years, giving up more than a hit per inning while his strikeout rate plummeted for the second straight year. But he had an outstanding ERA and got the outs when they counted... has appeared in at least 75 games for three straight years

- despite his age, Roberto Hernandez continues to plug along as a decent middle reliever, and is surely ready to taking another crack at closing if needed. See Joe Borowski... the Indians don't need him to be good, they just need him to not be awful...

- the Twins' bullpen had a 2.91 ERA in 2006, far and away the best in the league. Nathan and Rincon both have outstanding track records, of course... but they also got freakish performances from Pat Neschek and Dennys Reyes. Neschek was called up in July, and was vintage Dennis Eckersley the rest of the season... a side-armer, Neschek held right-handed hitters to a .140 batting average

- Reyes was the league's über-LOOGY in 2006; he posted a 0.89 ERA in 50 innings with the Twins, who were his 8th team in six years. It was his first above-average ERA since 2000... he held left-handers to a .148 batting average and .424 OPS; right-handed batters didn't fare too much better...

- Aaron Fultz isn't really a left-handed specialist; he was a workhorse in the Phillies' pen last year, and his career platoon split isn't that big. Like Borowski and Hernandez, a serviceable veteran whom Mark Shapiro brought in to stop the bleeding...

- Jason Kendall's second season in Oakland was a little better than the first. He was plodding along miserably at the break, then finally started to hit, batting .323 in the second half... the Athletics' leadoff hitter, Kendall had a woeful .308 on-base percentage when leading off an inning, but batted .347 with runners on base

- I will confess that, as someone who lives far away from the LA area, the Angels' catching situation has me confused... former super-prospect Jeff Mathis started the year with the Angels, struggled in April and was demoted in early May. OK prospect Mike Napoli was called up, and just destroyed major league pitching for two months

- after batting .286 with 11 home runs through his first 50 games, Napoli then hit .164 with five homers in his next 50 games. All this time, Jose Molina was serving as the backup and not hitting much himself... all three are in camp this spring. Napoli can hit 25 homers, but will struggle to hit .230; Mathis' star has dimmed, but he's still 18 months younger than Napoli

- a lot of bad stuff happened to this group in the first half of the season. Dan Johnson hit .175 in April, .213 in May, developed a double-vision problem and was demoted at the break. Casey Kotchman was even worse, batting .162 in April before he was diagnosed with mononucleosis. Richie Sexson hit .218 in the first half, and even Mark Teixeira had just nine home runs at the break

- it got better for some. Teixeira hit 24 home runs in the second half; Sexson was a monster, .batting 322 with 18 homers after the break. Johnson hit up a storm at Sacramento and was recalled, but continued to struggle in September

- Nick Swisher also played a lot of first last season. The Athletics also have Shannon Stewart and Erubiel Durazo kicking around training camp, and they seem to want to get 21-year-old Daric Barton's career started as soon as possible. But at least in the short term, Johnson's still their best bet...

- as you may know, Howie Kendrick has hit over .360 in each of his last four minor league seasons. He has work to do; he swings at everything, and didn't get much opportunity to play second base in the second half last year. His power may be slow to develop; however, his ability to put bat on ball and hit it hard appears to be astonishing

- another kid, Jose Lopez of the Mariners, played about as well as could be expected at age 22, sticking in the lineup for 150 games and hitting OK while holding his own defensively. Unlike his double play partner, Betancourt, Lopez does have some upside as a hitter, can hit .300 with 20 homers...

- the Third Amigo in the division, Ian Kinsler, had a nice rookie season that was marred by a spring thumb injury and a power drought during the summer. Definitely can hit 25-30 homers; the thumb injury came while sliding on the bases, otherwise he hasn't had much trouble staying in the lineup since switching to second base a couple of years ago

- Chone Figgins, of course, will continue to play every day; it's just not clear whether he continue to move around the field or settle down at one position. Izturis could find himself playing shortstop, if not in Anaheim then somewhere else

- the Rangers lost two of their best players, Gary Matthews and Mark DeRosa, over the winter; of course, no one was expecting them to be as good as they were, and few expect them to repeat those performances. One way or the other, the Rangers were going to have to get production from other sources, starting with the hugely disappointing Blalock

- speaking of disappointments... Eric Chavez' age 27-28 seasons have been his worst two at the plate, and that's not supposed how it's supposed to work. Three years ago, Chavez hit .306 against left-handers, and appeared to be ready to hit his peak - but the old problems returned. He hit .197 against southpaws in 2006

- and speaking of yet another disappointment... Adrian Beltre has still yet to deliver the kind of year that the Mariners were expecting, but at least he showed a pulse in 2006, hitting 18 home runs after the break

- Michael Young's numbers were down a bit, but his .412 batting average with runners in scoring position was the best in baseball among qualfied players (Barry Bonds was higher, but missed the cutoff by nine plate appearances)

- The 2003/2004 AL Rookies of the Year, Angel Berroa and Bobby Crosby, haven't fared too well recently. Crosby maybe hasn't fallen as far as Berroa, but he's not far away... he is expected to return after fracturing a lower vertebra in his lower back

- Yuniesky Betancourt, on the other hand, played 157 games at shortstop, hit OK and made some flashy plays in the field. Has very little upside as a hitter, but if he can do what he did last year - stay in the lineup, hit .280 - and develop a little more consistency defensively then the Mariners should be happy for a few years

- as a Blue Jay fan, I half-expected Orlando Cabrera to be in a Toronto uniform this spring; I still half-expect it this summer... he had a fine year, and I certainly understand why the Angels wouldn't want to part with him, but his trade value will never be higher, and the Angels have more depth at shortstop than at other positions...

- the Rangers benefited from a Kevin Mench hot streak early in the season, then picked up Carlos Lee at the trade deadline. They will have a hard time replacing that production... but Wilkerson had a terrific three seasons ago, and as Jermaine Dye reminded us, hitting ability is resilient

- Swisher was batting .305 with 16 homers at the end of May, but batted only .197 with six homers in June and July. He has never hit for average in his pro career, and despite the wild swings in performance, his final batting average (.254) was probably about right. Reportedly has packed on some muscle this winter, will try to be a more versatile Adam Dunn in 2007...

- Garret Anderson has been among the weaker corner outfielders in the league the past two seasons, and now he's 35 years old. The Angels appear to be committed to sticking with him as an everyday player

- one never expects in one's lifetime to use the words 'awesome' and 'Ibanez' in the same sentence, but Raul Ibanez had an awesome season at age 34 - or at least, it was very, very good. He had 93 RBI while batting with runners in scoring position, one behind the major league leader (Justin Morneau)

- for years, it seems, both fans and sportswriters have been lobbying for Ichiro Suzuki to transform into Duke Snider - move to centre field and start hitting home runs. They're gonna get half their wish; for now, at least, Ichiro is moving to centre, while Jose Guillen takes over right field

- the Angels are the American League's Opposite Team; unlike everybody else, they appear to have a very good and deep pitching staff. But they had big problems scoring runs last season, and Bill Stoneman's only response was to acquire Gary Matthews Jr. and Shea Hillenbrand...

- you know as much about Matthews as I do; a career journeyman, he had a stunning All-Star season at age 31, signed a monster $50 million deal with the Angels, and this spring has hired Robert Shapiro to defend him against allegations that he purchased HGH...

- Jose Guillen missed much of the season after having elbow surgery; with Ichiro moving to centre, he will be asked to replace the non-production of Jeremy Reed and Willie Bloomquist... if Guillen proves to be an Old 31, then 21-year-old Adam Jones is next in line; he had a fine year at Tacoma, and probably is better off playing the majors in 2007 anyways

- Marlon Byrd is yet another Washington National trying to find a home in the AL West. His career has been a major disappointment since his fine rookie year in 2003; his competition is Nelson Cruz, who has some pop in his bat but who's other skills are limited, plus he had a miserable rookie year and is 26 already. Also in the mix is Sammy Sosa, whose attempt to rejuvenate his career is garnering slightly more attention than Byrd's...

- Carl Everett got the bulk of Seattle's DH duties, and was really awful. They picked up Ben Broussard, but he struggled badly as well. Broussard is obviously capable of doing better but they added Jose Vidro as well

- in his career, Vidro has batted .301 with a .363 on-base percentage and a .459 slugging percentage. According to BB-Ref, his splits are 301/363/459 batting left-handed against right-handers, and 301/363/459 batting right-handed against left-handers...

- in a collision between Shea Hillenbrand's head and Gary Sheffield's knee, Hillenbrand's head won the battle. He is the anti-Nick Johnson, has no secondary skills at all and is almost impossible to root for, but is also fairly consistent and nearly indestructable...

- Jason Botts is enormous and can hit enormous home runs, especially while batting left-handed. His season was going nicely until he broke a broken hamate bone in his wrist; at 26, he's a very late bloomer, though no more than, say, Ryan Howard...

- but the Rangers aren't impressed; not only did they sign Frank Catalanotto, but now Sammy Sosa is in camp trying to win a job. The corner outfield positions and the DH spot are wide open, and Botts may yet get some playing time, but if Sosa makes the team... Botts may end up getting traded for Paul Bako

- Mike Piazza had a remarkable comeback season, posting his first .500 slugging percentage in four years despite playing in the worst hitter's park in the NL. He batted .223 at the Pet Factory, .332 on the road...

- he's never won more than 14 games in a season, and a 13-11 record last year wasn't what he was dreaming of, but I think that John Lackey is now the best starter in the division. A durable power pitcher who good command, he always seems to be on the cusp of taking his game to a higher level...

- Dan Haren is a similar case, but is a couple of years behind Lackey in development. The innings and strikeouts went up while the walks went down... but Haren still throws too many fat pitches, as evidenced by his 31 homers allowed. For a pitcher his age, everything looks good for the future...

- Kevin Millwood pitched pretty well in his first year for Texas, throwing over 200 innings with an above-average ERA. He numbers looked ugly at the break, especially thanks to one start where he gave up nine earned runs in 1 1/3 innings, but he pitched better in the second half... his list of Similarity Scores includes a bunch of guys (Jack McDowell, Dennis Leonard, Pat Hentgen, Matt Morris, Ron Darling) who really hit the wall at age 31. Millwood, despite his injury history, still appears to be going strong, and is still occasionally dazzling...

- Kelvim Escobar reached 30 starts for the third time in his career, and pitched very well, despite the losing record... had the distinction of receiving the worst run support of any AL pitcher with 162 innings pitched; Jamie Moyer, who fared far worse, was traded to the NL while at 160 innings...

- after a pair of injury-plagued seasons, the Phillies traded Vicente Padilla to Texas for a bucket of baseballs. He had a free agent's dream season, giving the Rangers 15 wins, 200 innings and an above-average ERA, then re-signed for $34 million - a lot of money, but $20 million less than Gil Meche...

- Jarrod Washburn is a left-hander, but has had almost no platoon split in his career. Last season, left-handed hitters beat the snot out of him - which was almost certainly a fluke. Now 32 years old; not a guy whom you would willingly want to give a 4-year $37 million contract, but still a decent middle-of-the rotation guy

- as I write this, Rich Harden is in training camp, overpowering opposing hitters; which is no surprise, as Harden is almost always overpowering whenever he pitches. But staying healthy for more than three weeks at a time has been a serious problem...

- one of these is not like the others... at age 23, Ervin Santana improved everything; he was overshadowed a bit by some of the sensational debuts of some other young pitchers last season (like his teammate, Jered Weaver), but with continued good health, and a few more strikeouts with that curve, he could easily be the best of the lot...

- Esteban Loaiza did his familiar Jekyll-and-Hyde act; before the break, he endeared himself to Bay Area fans with a 3-5 record and 6.43 ERA. In the second half, he was 8-4 with a 4.01 ERA... now 35 years old, but with the exception of 2003, his overall performance really never changes

- I'm ranking Jered Weaver as the Angels' #4 starter only because of lack of experience; he was as good as anybody after he was called up, and could easily be the Angels' ace in 2007 (he's also been dealing with a sore biceps this spring, another reason to take a deep breath...)

- Joe Kennedy didn't start any games last year, but all of the websites are listing him as the Athletics' #5 starter this spring. As a starting pitcher, he had a very nice year for Colorado in 2004, sandwiched between disastrous seasons in 2003 and 2005

- I have nothing to add about the Horacio Ramirez/Rafael Soriano deal; one can only assume that, after being drilled in the head last August, Soriano spent his last four months in Seattle telling everybody that he was Harry Truman (and even if that were true, it would still be a bad deal...)

- Joe Saunders surprised nearly everybody with how well he pitched last season. He is a lefty who doesn't have much margin for error when he pitches... he will be battling for the Angels' #5 spot in the rotation with a guy who won the Cy Young Award two years ago...

- Kameron Loe is 6'8"; John Koronka is left-handed. Apart from those attributes, there's not a whole lot to like about them... Loe depends on a sinker, and needs to get way more ground balls than he did last year. A Google search on "koronka command" does not return positive results...

- after his performance in 2002 postseason, I'm not sure what kind of reasonable expectations we should have had for Francisco Rodriguez, but he's either met or surpassed them all... has 106 saves through age 24, is still getting better...

- Huston 'we have a few problems' Street had a disastrous start to the season, missed a couple of weeks with a strained pectoral muscle, blew ten saves on the year, and served up a season-ending home run to Magglio Ordonez in the ALCS. It was a busy year for the 22-year-old sophomore, but... you can't complain too much about 37 saves, 70 innings, a 3.31 ERA and a dazzling K/BB ratio

- at age 29, J.J. Putz struck out 104 batters in 78 innings, while grabbing the closer's job Seattle. At no point in his professional career had he ever done anything like that... apparently he started to rely on a split-fingered fastball with two strikes, and transformed into Bruce Sutter...

- Akinori Otsuka took over the closer's role in Texas in May, and did a darn fine job the rest of the season, picking up 32 saves. He moves back to the setup role with the arrival of Eric Gagne; dunno how happy he is about that, but of course there is the possibility that Gagne, who threw two innings last year, will need replacing in May as well...

- it certainly seems as though Hector Carrasco has been around forever. I remember him best from a computer game I had in the mid 90's in which he pitched like Francisco Rodriguez... after spending the 2004 season in Japan, Carrasco has returned with a vengeance, pitching the best ball of his career. He could also be the fifth starter if that's how things break...

- 23-year-old Mark Lowe made a sensational transition to the bullpen, dominating the lower minors early in the season, then dominating MLB hitters for about a month before elbow surgery ended his year. He is expected to return in July... in the meantime, the Mariners will turn to Chris Reitsma, who had several years in the Braves' bullpen as a dependable middle reliever but last season had the worst year imaginable...

- Chad Gaudin made his debut with Tampa Bay when he was 20, was traded to the Blue Jays for an Eric Anthony rookie card, then was traded to Oakland for a Scott Cooper rookie card. Last year he had both a good ERA and good WPA, but his control was horrible (42 walks and 36 K's in 64 innings). He won't be good unless throws more strikes, but he's still so young that he could be 6-7 years away from his prime...

- George Sherrill did not allow a single home run in 40 innings. He was devastating against left-handed hitters (.143 average) and walked almost a quarter of the right-handers he faced...

- Darren Oliver was used exclusively in the bullpen last year for the first time since 1994; he did a fine job for the Mets, but isn't really a left-handed specialist. Mike Scioscia rarely used a LOOGY from 2002-2005; last year the Angels brought in J.C. Romero, who got left-handers out but who also posted a 6.70 ERA... Oliver, at least, isn't used for batting practice by right-handed hitters

- Josh Rupe missed the first two months of last season with a bad elbow, but was decent coming out of the bullpen when he returned. He may have a shot at the starting rotation this year... his upside appears to be limited, but as someone who was once a PTBNL in return for Carl Everett, anything he can offer is gravy...

- if Brian McCann's season was a fluke, he kept the fact carefully well hidden. He hit .343 with six homers in the first half, .324 with 18(!) homers after the break

- Paul Lo Duca, notorious for bad second half's, hit .338 after the break... the NL's presumptive Great Team Leader, Lo Duca finally played in his first postseason, and was OK. He hit .455 in the sweep of the Dodgers, but only .207 against the Cards... now 35 years old and has caught 954 games, putting him firmly in the Danger Zone for a sudden decline...

- challenges in Atlanta, where Adam LaRoche was traded, and Washington, where Nick Johnson's broken leg won't be ready for the start of the season... Larry Broadway is playing for the wrong team, of course, but the Mets have a first baseman and the Nats don't, so Washington it is. At the moment, Broadway looks like the next Sid Bream - that he is still recovering from a knee injury is the only reason for optimism...

- UPDATE: as I write, the Nationals have sent Broadway down, and have ticketed Dmitri Young to play first base. You never know, but... Young has a bad body that has been breaking down since he turned 30, and his batting has declined sharply as well...

- Ryan Howard's season was stunning, but not unprecedented; it has a fair bit in common with Cecil Fielder's 1990 campaign. Both players were 26; both had fallen into limbo for a couple of years, due to lack of a position, and concerns that major league pitchers would pick apart their big swings. Howard's numbers look better on the surface, but Fielder hit 51 homers in an era when few players hit even 40...

- FWIW, Fielder never had a another year like it. He led the league in RBI two more times, and remained a productive hitter into his early 30's, but fell off the cliff at age 33... Howard walked 31 times in the first half, then 77 times (including 32 intentional walks) after the break. He also batted .355 with 30 homers in the second half; if pitchers were pitching around him, it didn't affect him much...

- Mike Jacobs and Wes Helms were a decent platoon for Florida. Helms is gone; Jacobs has a chance to improve on his .182 average against lefties

- at any spring training camp, it can be difficult to keep track of all the Johnson's hanging about. The above Johnson is, in fact, Kelly Johnson, the Braves' rookie left-fielder from 2005. He missed all of last season after having surgery on this throwing elbow... a shortstop in the lower minors, he will try to restart his career as a second baseman. He should hit well enough for the role, but God Knows if he can play the position

- after a fine comeback season in 2005, Felipe Lopez struggled at the plate and was brutal in the field. He lost his shortstop job and was dealt to Washington... the 44 stolen bases were a nice surprise. He is expected to start the year at second base, but has hardly any experience there... if he has any success in 2007, my guess is that it will be back at short

- among Mets with at least 50 ABs, Anderson Hernandez was out-hit by both Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel... he was demoted, and was a complete zero at Norfolk as well, a very disappointing season from a guy who has a great defensive reputation, and who had a breakout year with the bat in 2005. A bulging disc in his back may have set him back...

- a tremendous group of players, three of whom are still under 25 years of age. Also a huge weakness for the Phillies, which they only addressed by getting Wes Helms...

- ten years earlier, this division produced another trifecta of great young third basemen - Chipper Jones, Scott Rolen and Edgardo Alfonso. Jones is still mashing for Atlanta, Rolen got a championship ring with the Cards; Alfonso became a great second baseman for a few years before his career went into free fall...

- Ryan Zimmerman arrived in the majors with a great defensive reputation, and played pretty well; David Wright appears to have good defensive tools and makes the occasional great play, but overall has struggled defensively. Miguel Cabrera appears to be about as much of a third baseman as Pedro Guerrero was...

- but so far, neither Miggy nor the Marlins seem to be too worried about that. He is the best hitting third baseman in the league; both Wright and Zimmerman have tremendous potential as sluggers, but Cabrera will likely remain the best hitter of the group. Whether or not he can stay healthier than Guerrero did... so far, he has been very durable for a guy with a bad body

- Hanley Ramirez probably wasn't the best rookie in the league - his defence was kinda brutal - but he still had an eye-popping season at age 22, hitting for average and power and stealing 51 bases. A nasty slump in June (.190 average) prevented him from hitting .300, but he was quite a force at the plate and on the bases the rest of the year...

- Jimmy Rollins has played at least 152 games at shortstop for six straight seasons; he also set a career high in homers and had another sensation year as a base stealer... lack of plate disciple prevents him from ranking among the elite shortstops and leadoff hitters in the game, but he figures to score a lot of runs the next few seasons...

- Nationals shortstops (mostly Felipe Lopez and Royce Clayton) weren't so good, but with the return of Cristian Guzman have a chance to be even worse...

- the Pat Burrell trade talks appear to have cooled... perhaps the Phillies (or the Philly media) realized that outfield depth isn't a strong point at the moment...

- also, Pat Burrell is awesome, even when he's not...

- Endy Chavez had a nice year at the plate, batting .306 with some doubles and a few steals. Defensively... every baseball season there are probably a couple of hundred 'great' catches that, upon further review, aren't nearly as impressive as the play-by-play man would have us believe. Chavez' catch in the NLCS was fookin' spectacular... Moises Alou turned 40 last July, and remains a remarkably scary hitter

- Ryan Langerhans is a wonderful defensive player who probably hits enough to be somebody's regular centre fielder; he may be able to hit a few more homers as well. But he's not going to play centre in Atlanta this year, so he's competing for playing time in left with Matt Diaz, a minor league journeyman who usually hits wherever he goes, but who last year hit major league pitching (.327 average) for the first time

- one spot on the Marlins' roster that never got better. The same group is back, but they're neither as young nor as talented as the other young players on the roster... they were also toying with an Alex Sanchez comeback during the spring, which worked out about as well as expected...

- at the end of August, Carlos Beltran was probably the NL MVP; he wasn't going to win, and a September slump diffused any potential controversy, but it was still a heck of a year...

- Jeremy Hermida was the Marlins' best prospect entering the season, but was one of their few rookies who didn't have a good season. A stress fracture in his ankle didn't help... still really young, has Nick Johnson-type skills at the plate. Hopefully he won't be as fragile

- Jeff Francoeur also turns 23. As expected, his lack of plate discipline was a serious problem, but he also proved that he has a remarkable ability to put the bat on the ball and hit it hard. I am relatively bullish about Francoeur; I expect that he will pass a couple of milestones this season, hitting 30 home runs while perhaps putting up a .301 on-base percentage...

- Bobby Abreu and Dave Dellucci gave the Phillies the best right fielders in the division, and both are gone. One of the replacements, Jayson Werth, missed last season with a broken wrist. Shane Victorino appears to be a tweener, doesn't hit quite enough to be a corner outfielder, nor field well enough to play centre... Victorino's future is likely as a fourth outfielder, but sometimes these guys surprise us

- the Nationals had both the worst pitching staff and the worst starting rotation in the NL last year, and 2007 isn't looking much brighter. John Patterson is a legimitely fine pitcher. but is trying to come back from surgery last July to repair nerve damage in his arm

- John Smoltz struck out over 200 batters for the first time since 1997... he has pitched remarkably well since his return to the starting rotation, picking up 30 wins in two years. He seems certain to pass 200 wins this season; combine that with 154 saves and one of the greatest postseason records in baseball history, his Hall of Fame case is shaping up nicely

- the prodigal one, Cole Hamels, made his major league debut last season. He struggled with inconsistency for a couple of months, then pitched brilliantly in August and September. He has a degenerative disc in his back, and I really don't have the foggiest idea what that spells for his future... but everything else about him is wonderful

- John Maine is your typical right-handed pitcher with mediocre stuff who throws strikes but who also gets hit pretty hard. There are lots of them about - but Maine reeled off a 26-inning scoreless streak in the summer, and threw two big games in the playoffs, solidifying his spot in the Mets' rotation.

- Jerome Williams is still only 25. He was awful last season with Iowa, but is in the mix for a starting job with the Nationals

- Oliver Perez surpassed his 2005 season with an even more dismal campaign. He was horrible for much of the year, but three impressive starts late in the year with the Mets - including Game 7 of the NLCS, have provided a glimpse of hope. Still only 25 years old, still able to quickly rack up strikeouts when his stuff is working

- and speaking of comebacks... Mike Hampton is now 34, and is 18 months removed from having Tommy John surgery. He plans to come back in May... I'm not optimistic about his chances, but I also doubt that anyone will take his spot in the rotation

- Mike O'Connor is one of the few Washington starters who has a chance to keep his job in 2007. He had surgery in November, however, and will likely start the year on the DL. He is left-handed.

- the Phillies seem to be under the impression that they have a surplus of starting pitchers, so much so that Jon Lieber was sent to the bullpen for one day, before Freddy Garcia got hurt. Lieber may still pitch in relief... but Jamie Moyer's age, Adam Eaton's crappiness, injury concerns with Garcia and Hamels and Brett Myer's dumbassness could all force him back into the rotation...

- after missing the 2005 season with Tommy John surgery, Shawn Hill was called up by the Nationals in May, made six starts, and went right back onto the DL. If he can lift his arm above his shoulder, he should have a spot in the rotation in 2007

- at 40-something, Orlando Hernandez made 29 starts and struck out 164 batters in 162 innings, the highest rate in his career... dunno how long El Duque will keep it up, but Pedro is expected to return in July or August following shoulder surgery

- the Braves' closers almost certainly had a negative WPA in 2006; I just don't have the time, nor the stomach, to go game-by-game through the Jorge Sosa/Chris Reitsma tours of duty... Bob Wickman was spectacular in 28 games after the Braves picked him up, and will keep the job for now

- Chad Cordero was dinged for 10 homers in the first half, but returned to form after the break and had another fine season. Now has 91 saves through age 24... he's not yet an elite closer, nor is he the best young closer in the game (K-Rod), but it appears that Cordero is going to have himself a nice Rod Beck-type career

- even though the Braves traded their first baseman to get Mike Gonzalez, it appears that Wickman will start the year as the closer. Gonzalez established his closing creditials with 24 saves for Pittsburgh... in his career (155 2/3 innings) he has struck out 183 batters while holding opponents to a .206 batting average

- Rafael Soriano continues to have a fragile arm, plus he was struck in the head by a line drive last summer. But the Braves' middle relief desperately needed an upgrade, and they didn't give up much to get him

- in a year in which the Mets bullpen could do little wrong... Guillermo Mota's career was careening towards oblivion when he was traded to New York for a can of shoe polish. He gave the Mets 18 kick-ass innings, then led the bullpen in games and innings in the postseason... and then was suspended for steroid use after the season. The Mets re-signed him anyways... he will miss the first 50 games of the season, and may-or-may-not have a major league fastball when he returns

- if you've never heard of Matt Lindstrom, join the club. But now that I've heard the story, I may as well repeat it: he's a Swedish Mormon (who teaches religious class in Swedish) who also has been clocked at 102mph. He's wild, and at age 27 has yet to throw a pitch above Double-A... but the Marlins are hoping that he has suddenly discovered command of his pitches. Good luck with that, but stranger things have happened...

- Henry Owens isn't a Swedish Mormon, but otherwise he and Matt Lindstrom have a lot in common. They are both relievers in their late-20's who have almost no experience above Double-A; both pitched for Birmingham last season, and were overpowering... both were traded to the Marlins during the winter, and entered spring training with a shot at a job, perhaps even as the closer

- it's difficult to believe that either of these guys could be successful at the major league level, let alone both of them... but it appears that they are going to be given a chance to fail.

- Fabio Castro had a Rule V draft odyssey in 2006; he was drafted by the Royals, traded to the Rangers then traded again to the Phillies. He appeared in 20 games on the season was OK. Just a kid but could stick with the Phillies in 2007; gave up two hits in 27 at bats to left-handers last season...

- at age 22, Ambiorix Burgos was handed the closer's role in Kansas City and was pretty bad, saving 18 games but also blowing up on countless occasions. The Mets, who had a deep, deep bullpen in 2006, have let go of some experience in exchange for raw, talented youth... which, I think, is a solid direction to go in

- Oscar Villarreal fell off the planet for a couple of years, then re-emerged with Atlanta at age 24, posting a 9-1 record as the swing man. Figures to stay in the bullpen, depending on if/when Hampton returns and other factors

- lost among the endless impressive rookies seasons of 2006 was Ronny Paulino's .310 average with the Pirates. His upside probably isn't much more than what he did last season, but catchers who can hit a bit are a rare commodity... Pittsburgh Pirates who can play any position and hit a bit are a rare commodity as well

- the Cubs have huge potential for improvement here; after Derrek Lee broke his wrist last season, they invested 140 at bats in John Mabry, who responded by batting .171. A healthy Lee can presumably do much better

- Scott Hatteberg and Rich Aurilia proved to be a surprisingly productive combition for the Reds; Aurilia is out, Jeff Conine is in, giving the Reds a rather ancient platoon

- at the All-Star break, Adam Laroche was piddling along with an .804 OPS, not far from his career number. In the second half, he batted .323 with 19 homers; the Braves then decided to sell high, and sent him to Pittsburgh. I doubt that Laroche will hit .300 in the future, but he finally got some at bats against left-handed pitching, and his improvement - from 'automatic out' to 'occasional big blast' was encouraging

- Prince Fielder hit 28 homers as a 22-year-old rookie. Given the hype that has surrounded him since he was nine years old, it was a little underwhelming... but he has enormous power upside. Is 4 1/2 years younger than Ryan Howard...

- Jose Castillo had a very disappointing season in Pittsburgh, taking a step backwards offensively at age 25. But after the season he showed his leadership skills by challenging one of his underperforming teammates to play better...

- Mark DeRosa was in contention for the batting title for much of the year, until a slump over the final six weeks knocked his average down to .296. It was a well-timed career year, as the Cubs gave him $13 million after the season. I can't think of a reason not to wish him continued success...

- Morgan Ensberg had a monstrous start to the season, hitting 17 homers the first two months. He injured his shoulder in early June; that led to an amazing three-month run in which Ensberg hit only .184 with three homers, but had a .395 on-base percentage (the tally over that period was 27 hits, 50 walks). He appeared to get his swing back in September... on the whole, it was a nice little Darrell Evans-type season. The Astros have been pretending that they have other options at third, but it appears that Ensberg will be the starter again...

- Corey Koskie was having a fine comeback season when he suffered a season-ending concussion; it is still unknown whether he will return. Tony Graffanino and Craig Counsell could end up sharing third for the Brewers

- starting shortstop JJ Hardy had his season cut short by surgery on his right ankle; Bill Hall stepped in and mashed 35 homers in his absence. This spring, Hardy is back at short, while Hall moves to the outfield... Hardy has had two devastating injuries in three seasons, and it's a little tough to say how good he is. Only 24, and should at least be a Chris Gomez-type player, hopefully a bit better. The Brewers have brought in über-backup Craig Counsell to give them some depth

- Ronny Cedeno had a brutal season with the Cubs, but they kept playing him, and it looks like he will be on the roster in April. I like it; Cedeno doesn't have much going for him except for his youth, and a stunning 65-game performance at Iowa in 2005... but if you're the Cubs, you've got to stick with him and see if there's something there. It's been a long time since the Cubs have had a good shortstop...

- Matt Murton... certainly appears to be a nice young player. After a bit of a slow start, he hit .319 with more power in the second half... the Cubs signed two veteran outfielders during the winter, and I'm not sure where Murton fits in their plans. He doesn't yet hit with the power you normally expect from a corner outfielder, but he should be more productive than either Floyd or Jones

- the Pirates were dead last in the NL in runs scored last season; they picked up Adam Laroche, which should help a bit, but they don't have too much else to brag about in their lineup. Jason Bay had knee surgery during the winter; he appears to be fine, but if anything should happen to him...

- as you know, Chris Duncan hit as well as he possibly could after he was called up in May, and fielded about as badly as anyone possibly can. If he's lucky he can be a Chad Tracy/Aubrey Huff-type hitter; but those guys at least make an attempt to play third base or right field, whereas it doesn't appear that Duncan can do even that...

- speaking of bad defence... Adam Dunn has become one of the most extreme players in baseball. He had some nice numbers in 2006 - 40 homers, 92 RBI, 99 runs, 112 walks, 7-for-7 as a base stealer. But he hit .234, struck out 194 times, and was so bad defensively that it seems likely that, overall, he was a below-average left fielder... there were trade rumours during the winter, but the Reds were wise to keep him for his age 27 season. Sell high, not low...

- three of these guys weren't even centre fielders last year. Bill Hall hit 35 home runs as the Brewers shortstop; they were probably better off leaving him where he was, but he's such a good athlete that they couldn't resist trying to convert him into an outfielder... Chris Burke is taking the Michael Cuddyer career path, waiting... and waiting... and waiting for the Astros to give him a job

- Alfonso Soriano, after some griping during the spring, moved to left field and had a monster season at the plate. He cashed in with a $136 million contract with the Cubs ths winter... see Ken Griffey below. Keeping his legs healthy and retaining his speed will be essential for Soriano; I don't think I'd want him to be my left-fielder four years from now...

- Ken Griffey broke his hand during the winter, and will start the year as the right fielder. The Reds still don't have a real centre fielder, so Griffey may be back in centre before too long...

- Griffey is an awful centre fielder, something that neither he, nor the Reds, seem willing to acknowledge. For years, he has been caught in a vicious circle, where (1) injuries have prevented him from making the plays he could when he was younger, and (2) his attempts to catch balls he can't reach anymore have resulted in more injuries... now 37 years old, Griffey has stolen only three bases in the past five seasons, but remains strangely stubborn about trying to play a difficult defensive position...

- Juan Encarnacion has a dream job. He's among the least productive corner outfielders in the league, but he's a good defensive player, and plays for a team that (1) needs an occasional replacement for their injury-prone centre fielder, and (2) has Albert Pujols in the lineup, (3) just won the World Series, and apparently doesn't care about whether or not their right fielder can hit...

- Roy Oswalt led the NL in ERA, which made me happy because he was on my fantasy team. But he only won 15 games, thanks in part to games like this one, one of those jaw-dropping affairs that you can't believe you're watching...

- the Brewers' starting trio of Chris Capuano, Ben Sheets and Dave Bush combined to strike out 456 batters while walking only 96 - a 4.75 K/BB ratio. By getting rid of Doug Davis, and bringing in Jeff Suppan and Claudio Vargas, they don't figure to walk a whole lot of batters in 2007...

- the two-year tally for Chris Carpenter: 65 starts, 463 innings, a 36-13 record, seven shutouts, a Cy Young Award, a World Series ring, and a 5-1 record in postseason play...

- Zach Duke had a bit of a rough ride in his sophomore season, but pitched very well the final two months and overall had a solid year. Needless to say, it's not easy being the 23-year-old ace of the worst organization in baseball...

- after three years of career drift, Jason Jennings responded with his best season, setting career-best in innings, strikeouts and ERA. Of course, the humidor experiment helped with that, but he's a good pitcher and he's done now with Coors... Jennings is best known for his sinker, but doesn't get many ground balls. I guess we'll find out how much of that was the park...

- the combination of turning 40, a 35% drop in his strikeout rate, and moving from a great pitcher's park to Houston, all doesn't bode well for Woody Williams in 2007. But he had a heck of a comeback season, and we'll always be rooting for him...

- Jason Marquis was horrible last season; despite making 32 starts and winning 14 games, the Cardinals didn't let him pitch in the playoffs. There isn't much reason to think that he will get better, but the Cubs gave him a three-year contact...

- in the wake of the endless Wood/Prior soap opera, the Cubs are perhaps a little too focused on controlling their future - the fans and media are certianly tired of depending on two guys that you can't depend on. Marquis is an excellent bet to make 32 starts, throw 200 innings and post an ERA of about 5.50. It's not very good, but it's predictable...

- the Legend of Rich Hill begins in earnest in 2007... well, maybe, apparently he's having blister problems this spring. After years of career drift in the minors, Hill was the Koufax of the International League. He was called up in May, made four atrocious starts and was demoted with a 9.31 ERA....

- back in the minors, he was Koufax again, and the struggling Cubs gave him yet another oppotunity. This time, finally, he pitched well - and at times was sensational, most notably a two-hit shutout of the Reds with 10 strikeouts. Just turned 27 years old, is armed with a devastating curve/slider/breaking thingamajig... how many guys like this have actually gone on to have success? A few, I guess; Al Leiter (speaking of blisters) is one who comes to mind...

- we have been hearing about Adam Wainwright since 2003, when the Braves sent him to St. Louis as part of the J.D. Drew deal. He had a very fine rookie season in middle relief, then took over the closer's role late in the year and had a brilliant postseason. But he's always been a starting pitcher, and for now, at least, is ticketed for a spot in the Cards' rotation

- was Ryan Dempster really that bad last season? I wasn't following that closely... but I guess a 1-9 record speaks for itself. The Cubs are hoping that Kerry Wood can find both success and good health in the closer's role. If that fails... well, Dempster is probably the same pitcher he was two years ago, and is capable of being a middle-of-the-pack closer. SPRING UPDATE: well, you know

- so it comes to this: it's been 14 years since Salomon Torres started the final game of the 1993 season. He was a 21-year-old kid with a Zack Greinke-like reputation for command and poise on the mound; but the Giants lost that game, and Torres' career imploded the next few seasons. He was out of baseball at age 25 and became a coach; it's been five years since he began his comeback. Last year he appeared in 94 games, the second-highest total in baseball history (tying former Pirate Kent Tekulve), and in 2007 it appears that he has inherited the closer's job...

- bullpens can be... unpredictable. At least, they're more unpredictable than most anything else in baseball. The Brewers' pen was 4th in the NL in ERA in 2005, and dead last in 2006, a big reason why they had such a disappointing season. Complete disaster was averted when they acquired Coco Cordero, who had lost his closer's job in Texas, then got his mojo back in Milwaukee

- looking ahead, I think I would rather have Cordero closing games than any of the other guys listed above, which isn't really saying much. He still gets strike outs, but is inconsistent and at age 32 is just a middle-of-the-pack closer. As for the Brewers, they probably won't finish last in the league in ERA again - bullpens are so unpredictable that it's hard to do something like that two years in a row

- Dan Wheeler might be the best reliever in the division right now, and picked up nine saves after they finally gave up on Brad Lidge. Wheeler doesn't have closer 'stuff' and for now Lidge has his job back... but at some point Phil Garner has to go with the guy who's getting people out

- it was well documented that the Reds, behind Weathers and Coffey, had brutal middle relief - so bad that they traded Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for Gary Majewski and Bill Bray. They sacrificed talent for the short-term good of the team, which isn't necessarily a bad thing... but if you're gonna do that, you have to be sure that you're a real contender, and you have to be sure that the pitcher you acquire (Majewski) doesn't require an immediate trip to the disabled list...

- Derrick Turnbow had one of the more macabre seasons in recent memory; he was selected to the All-Star team because of his 23 saves at the break; he lost his closer's job two weeks later, and finished the year with 24 saves and a 6.87 ERA. The latest reports are that he is having a good spring, and will have a setup role with the Brewers in 2007...

- I'm not much of a statistician, but if I had the time and energy I would like to invent a stat called the "Turnbow Line", i.e. what does Derrick Turnbow's ERA have to be in 2007 for a desperate team to acquire him to be their closer?

- it was quite the year for Trevor Miller, who (1) had the best strikeout rate and strikeout/walk ratio of his career, and (2) was equally effective against left-handers and right-handers...

- Josh Bard was, without doubt, baseball's Alpha Dog of 2006 who really deserved a special mention on The Colbert Report. He began the year as Tim Wakefield's personal catcher, and committed ten passed balls in five games; the Sox pulled the plug on April 26, trading Bard to the Padres for Wakefield's former personal catcher, Doug Mirabelli

- with the Pads, Bard hit .338, outhitting Mirabelli by 147 points. That's called STICKING IT TO THE TEAM THAT DIDN'T BELIEVE IN HIM. Now he's the starting catcher in San Diego... at age 29, there's no reason to think that he can hit .300. But then, no one's believed in him in the past; he was stuck behind Victor Martinez in Cleveland, then derided and dumped in Boston. In any case, I'll be rooting for him...

- well, thanks for the memories, Bengie. Here in Toronto, I got to see Bengie Molina up close and personal... and I wonder if he holds some sort of record for rapid defensive degradation. Man, is he fat; every time a pitch hit the dirt, Bengie tried to backhand it with his glove - and of course, balls would regularly kick off the heel of his glove and bounce away

- but he's just too fat to block pitches with his body; once he gets into a crouch, that's it, he can't move. But he's durable and he hits a bit; I just hope that Giants fans don't mind the sight of balls continuously bouncing to the backstop...

- at the All-Star break, Adrian Gonzalez was piddling along with a .275 batting average and .773 OPS. He then exploded at the plate, batting .336 with power and walks in the second half. The #1 pick in the 2000 amateur draft, it's taken a long time to get to where he is, and I'm not completely sold that he's turned the corner... but obviously he has impressive tools, and that was one heck of a performance

- Conor Jackson is five days younger than Gonzalez, and another former 1st round pick. He had an interesting rookie season; a young hitter with a tremendous eye, he was too passive in the first half, drawing more walks (38) than strikeouts (30) but not hitting for average or power. He became much more aggressive after the break, and hit .312 with more power. Now, he's just looking for some equilibrium...

- the Giants have acquired Rich Aurilia and Ryan Klesko to play first base in 2007... and both are considering to be major improvements over what they had in 2006...

- incredibly, Orlando Hudson led the Diamondbacks in VORP in 2006... after the trade to Arizona, there was much hand-wringing here in Toronto about how the Jays' infield defence might suffer. As it turned out, the Jays' second basemen were solid with the glove, but were horrible at the plate. Orlando doesn't hit a lot, but he hits enough that replacing his bat proved to be much more of a challenge for Jays' management than replacing his glove...

- another year, another solid performance by Jeff Kent. He also boosted his impressive postseason numbers by batting .615 in the NLDS... at age 39, he's not such a good defensive second baseman, and perhaps isn't as durable as he once was - but his career numbers now look like a corner outfielder's, plus he has an MVP Award in his pocket. I really don't see how he's not a Hall-of-Famer at this point...

- with 15 homers and 62 RBI at the break, it appeared that Pedro Feliz was going to have some nice numbers heading into free agency. But he stopped hitting - completely - in the second half, and only managed to re-sign a one-year deal with the Giants... still, he should count himself lucky. Tony Batista was forced to go to Japan at the same point in his career...

- it's been slow progress, but Kevin Kouzmanoff's going to get a chance to show what he can do. In 2004, he fell down some dugout steps while chasing a foul ball and seriously hurt his back. Last season, he came back and was the Pujols of the Eastern and International Leagues... he's always hit when he's been healthy, but he's also usually been older than his opponents...

- but if he's looking for a late-bloomer for inspiration, there's always Garrett Atkins. Atkins made slow progress to the majors because it took him two years to start hitting at each level; he continued that pattern last season, when he followed up a disappointing rookie campaign with a monstrous sophomore performance. He hit all year long and in every park...

- Rafael Furcal was a free agent bust the first half of the season (.691 OPS), then caught fire after the break, batting .339 with 11 homers... his 73 walks and .369 on-base percentage were his best totals since his rookie season in 2000... strangely, he loved to hit at Chavez Ravine (.955 OPS), but didn't care much for some friendlier road stadiums. His worst performance was a .171 average in 41 at bats at Coors Field...

- Matt Holliday had an... impressive... performance, especially for a guy who didn't hit for much power in the minors. I have no idea how he would fare for another team, but he's a guy whom the Rockies have been sorely missing since the Bichette/Castilla years - a big, strong guy who can whack the hell out of a fastball. In Coors, that's all you need...

- you probably know how Barry Bonds' season went. In the first half, he was given the 'Bonds Treatment' - 74 walks, 31 of them intentional. But he didn't do much else except draw walks. Pitchers started challenging him in the second half... and that's when whacking the hell out of the ball. I guess he was just baiting them...

- his second-half performance, combined with his impending assault on Hank Aaron's home run record, and the likelihood of his getting 'protection' in the lineup from Bengie Molina, makes it unclear about whether the 'Bonds Treatment' will return in 2007...

- as far as underrated players go, Mike Cameron must rank at or near the top of the list. After having his face smashed to pieces in an outfield collision in 2005, he returned and had one of his best seasons at the plate. And at age 33, he has retained his speed, stealing 25 bases while continuing to play an outstanding centre field

- at age 34, after many years as the poor man's Kenny Lofton, Dave Roberts finally got some regular playing time, and cashed in after the season with a 3-year deal with the Giants. Still has tremendous speed, and is a better hitter now than he's ever been... take care of those hamstrings, Dave

- I doubt that there is anything I can tell you about Chris Young that you don't already know. He's very young, and has very impressive power and speed...

- after he was called up in May, Andre Ethier smoked the ball for four months, then batted .132 in September and was benched in the playoffs. Apparently he had a shoulder injury. The Dodgers have so many outfielders that it was unclear this spring what Ethier's role would be... but Jason Repko is now out for the season with a groin injury, so one assumes that Ethier will be a regular

- speaking of injuries, Carlos Quentin has been diagnosed this spring with a tear in the labrum of his non-throwing shoulder. He was gonna keep playing, but has instead gone on the DL... if/when he comes back, he will draw walks and hit home runs. Still young, probably won't hit .300 for another 2-3 years...

- Brandon Webb was my choice as the Cy Young winner. His first four seasons in the majors have been spectacular, despite the unimpressive won-loss record. But there is a decent chance that the DBacks will put a good team behind him in 2007... a devastating Kevin Brown-type pitcher who combines strikeouts with huge numbers of ground balls - except that Brown wasn't this good until he was in his 30's...

- Matt Cain entered last season as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. So far so good; he made 31 starts, threw 190 innings and won 13 games. He got off to a rough start, and was overshadowed by some of last season's other rookies... but got better as the season wore on, and was overpowering in August. Could easily be the top sophomore in 2007...

- most of Randy Johnson's numbers in New York were pretty good, except for the ERA. The main culprit: with runners in scoring position, he was lit up for a .348 average and a .608 slugging percentage. Obviously, he has not historically had a problem pitching with runners on base... but then, historically, he hasn't had to deal with too many baserunners to begin. In any case, it appears that he can still pitch, but he's also 43 and had back surgery during the winter

- Brad Penny set career highs in wins and starts, but it still wasn't the season he was dreaming of. He was cruising at the break (10-2, 2.91) but posted a 6.25 ERA in the second half and didn't start in the postseason. There were rumours all winter that he would be dealt, but he's starting the year with the Dodgers... this spring, there were reports that Penny was struggling with shoulder stiffness, shoulder soreness, and a shoulder that became momentarily detached from the rest of his body

- like Jack Nicklaus leading the Masters on a Friday afternoon, Greg Maddux teased us with a 5-0 start in 2006 before getting old. Still a good pitcher, still my favourite player in all of baseball to watch

- there's a chance for one of these teams to gain a real advantage over the others here, but I'm not sure who. The teams that plan to start either a former Baltimore Oriole or a 44-year-old diabetic left-hander might be at a disadvantage

- Chad Billingsley had a solid rookie season after a couple of years of hype - but it appears that, for a short time anyways, he'll pitch out of the pen while Brett Tomko gets some starts. Likewise, Jonathan Sanchez has momentarily lost his spot in the rotation to Russ Ortiz...

- I've already forgotten who the above 'Gonzalez' his. It's either Edgar or Enrique; they're both 24, and their both solid young pitchers. Edgar was won the job this spring but both give the DBacks some nice depth...

- Trevor Hoffman was probably the best closer in the NL; his 46 saves were the second-highest total of his career, plus of course he set a new career record

- Takashi Saito had a spectacular rookie season at age 36. He picked up up his first save on May 15 and was nearly unhittable the rest of the year.

- the other rookie reliever for the Dodgers was Jonathan Broxton, who established himself in the setup role and struck out 97 batters in 76 innings. Saito is the closer for now, but Broxton will probably get the role in a couple of years...

- Cla Meredith held right-handers to a .107 batting average (12 hits in 112 at bats).