Nine Reasons To Look Forward To Baseball Season

I found this great article on MSNBS about the 2008 baseball season, and I thought I would share. It was rather long, so I trimmed out some parts, although it doesn't appear that way, so click here if you would like to read it in its entirety.

We come to you today from the performance enhancing drug-free zone, with zero tolerance for grandstanding, blame-gaming and WADA references. Instead, in the spirit of moving forward, we bring you nine reasons for delicious anticipation of a new season that is about to unfold:

1. The Boston Red Sox, and this century’s first shot at a mini-dynasty. They have won two World Series in the last four seasons, and are the odds-on favorite to win another as they return virtually intact from a sweep of the Colorado Rockies, and have emerging young talents such as Dustin Pedroia, Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester to cushion the effects of age on a roster that includes 40-somethings Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield and Mike Timlin, and a mostly-mid-30s lineup.

2. The Johan Santana question. Has a pitcher of this magnitude ever been stuck in this must-be-dealt situation? And where he goes — Red Sox, Yankees, Mets or surprise late-bidder — will alter the balance of power in either league. The Twins are trying their best to maximize their return, but in reality, they are up against it here. You can only ask for so much young talent for a pitcher who will be signing an extension in the $150-million range, and both the Red Sox and Yankees wisely aren’t willing to go any higher than they’ve already gone. The Mets might be willing to, but don’t really have as much to offer.

3. Joba Chamberlain, Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy. We pretty much know what to expect from the rest of the Yankees’ roster . What we don’t know is just how good Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy will be, and how soon they will get there. And so these three young pitchers who will make about $1 million between them could be the key to the Yankees’ fortunes in 2008 — an interesting twist from the franchise that brought you the first $200-million payroll.

4. The Detroit Tigers’ lineup. Any way Jim Leyland decides to go — and knowing him, he will go in many different directions — this is a potential 950-run monster. Here is one possible combination: Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, Jacque Jones, Edgar Renteria, Ivan Rodriguez. With this group in place and healthy, there’s little reason to worry about Dontrelle Willis’ adjustment to the American League.

5. The National League West race. Good luck winning it, as the division that gave us the 2007 NLCS matchup is poised once again. The Dodgers have added Joe Torre, Andruw Jones and Hiroki Kuroda in hopes of erasing the memory of their late-September meltdown. Meanwhile, the comebacks of Jason Schmidt, Rafael Furcal, Hong-Chi Kuo and Yhency Brazoban are on schedule. The Diamondbacks pulled the winter’s biggest coup by landing Dan Haren for a bunch of prospects they can do without, giving them their best 1-2 rotation combination since their 2001 World Series title season. And you have to figure that young core players Conor Jackson, Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton and Chris Young will get better. The Rockies lost more than they added this winter, but there is little debating the fact that they were the best team in the National League during the entire second half, not just their late-September run. And they should get full seasons from No. 2 and No. 3 starters Aaron Cook and Ubaldo Jimenez, which they didn’t get in 2007.

6. The Milwaukee Brewers. While Commissioner Bud Selig finds himself embroiled in a mess that won’t go away, his former team is doing its best to fight the fight of the small-to-mid-market franchise. Look no further for a team poised to improve in 2008 behind emerging stars Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy, Yovani Gallardo, Rickie Weeks and Ryan Braun.

7. The Chicago Cubs. They needed a corner outfielder and some left-handed power to balance their lineup, and got both in Kosuke Fukudome. He could hit second, or he could hit fifth, and his power should translate to Wrigley Field, adding another threat to the combination of Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. There are plenty of quality late-inning bullpen options in Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood, Bob Howry and Jose Ascanio, rotation depth has been added with Jon Lieber and Ryan Dempster, and it says here Carlos Zambrano is poised for his first 20-win season in a bounce-back year of sorts. Felix Pie and Geovanny Soto will have to do what Ryan Theriot was able to do last season in establishing himself as a regular, but things are pointing to a return trip to the post-season.

8. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, Trevor Hoffman, Curt Schilling, Jamie Moyer, Kenny Rogers: We’re running out of time to appreciate this stellar group of 40-somethings that could include up to five future Hall of Famers. And in fact, it could be our last chances to watch Maddux and Glavine, two 300-game winners who did it in the biggest offensive era in the game’s history.

9. Ken Griffey Jr.’s 600^th homer (he’s seven away); Maddux’s 350^th win (three away); Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield’s 500^th homers (10 and 20 away, respectively); the 2,600^th hit for the game’s new active career leader — surprise! Omar Vizquel (two away); and maybe — just maybe — Johnson’s 300^th win (he’s 16 away).

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