Show ti rwviip vv "r m'N n mw 'WirTtyw's ti' m wn’y wvttTwa ’WWr'W rt t hmm m m tt ti i Page 20 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday majors with 19 losses — to start on opening day National ' on the Giants A look at the NL in predicted order of finish: Atlanta Braves Expected to make a major play for Alex Rodriguez air Mike Hampton the Braves kept quiet in the offseason and let Andres Galarraga walk away Then again if Smoltz can contribute' that’s the same as adding a top free agent or maybe even better He is Atlanta’s best big-gapitcher at 12-- 4 lifetime in the postseason (19-- 9 300 ERA) and Tom Glavine (21-are no spring chickens Bom three weeks apart they’ll both be 35 by mid-Apr- il 9) New York Mets Masters of magic in the postseason the Mets will find out right away how they stack up this yean Six of New York’s fust nine games are against Atlanta This year they play their nemesis 19 times in the regular season Free agents Kevin Appier (13-1- 1 for Oakfor Tampa Bay 5 land) and Steve Trachsel and Texas) need to pick up the wins and innings late-inni- ng (8-1- left by Hampton’s departure Philadelphia Phillies Tired of poor finishes under nice guys Philadelphia hired a real spitfire as manager Larry Bowa told his old team he expected a turnaround and picked Omar Daal — who led the ' All signs are pointing up for the Marlins r— con- several key players are under long-tertracts and Charles Johnson chose to return to the team he helped wirithe 1997 World Series Montreal Expos Vladimir Guerrero Jose Vidro and the young Expos showed early last season that there’s talent in Montreal Whether there’s a future for baseball in the city remains to be seen 44 123) shbuld be an MVP Guerrero candidate forthe next 10 years and Vidro got 200 hits Also in the mix is former Expos star Tim Raines out of retirement at age 41 CENTRAL St Louis Cardinals All eyes at Busch Stadium and all around baseball will be on Mark McGwire and Ankiel m ce Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park opens up and so does the' team's payroll Milwaukee still may be a long way from playoff contention though it might be able to stop its string of eight straight losing seasons Pittsburgh Pirates e Like' a lot of managers ' first-tim- If they’re fine St Louis should be in great shape Chicago Cubs Reduced to a postseason tendinitis in his right knee Big Mac was fihe-this spring A phenom at 21 Ankiel (1 350 194 strikeouts in 175 innings) mowed down hitters before going wild in the playoffs Houston Astros The Astros’ string of three straight Central titles ended as quickly as it took balls to fly out of new Enron Field As in right away 1- -7 the pitcher-friendl- y Astrodome Jose Away-froLima (7-1- 6 665) and most of the Houston staff nine struggled The Astros lost a major league-hig- h — led after gamefc they they hope a eight innings healthy Billy Wagner can close that problem Cincinnati Reds Lloyd McClendon inherits a tough situation At least he gets a chance to make his mark in a new place PNC Park winner Randy Johnion i 19-- 7 league-leadin- g 264 major 347 strikeouts) San Francisco Giants Dusty Baker’s crew pulled an amazing feat leading the majors with 97 wins Now the Giants will try to do something else special — reach the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since Carl Hubbell and Mel Ott did it iii 1936-3- 7 MVP Jeff Kent (334 33 115) and Barry Bonds (306 49 106) need big seasons to make up for Ellis Burks (344 24 96) who went to Cleveland Colorado Rockies Todd Helton's pursuit of 400 brought Though fans to the ballpark the Rockies realized pitching will bring a contending team to Denver So they spent $12 million to sign Mike 314) and another $51 million Hampton (15-1- 0 for Denny Neagle hoping they can succeed in the thin air at Coots Field Los Angeles Dodgers On paper the Dodgers look tough Of course all that potential added up to ab'ig zero for1 Todd Hundley Tom Gordon Jeff Fassero and Malt Stairs report to Wrigley Field where the Cubs players keep banking on iffy older and Sammy Sosa (320 50 138) stayed in Chica- -: Davey Johnson New manager Jim Tracy had a rough start this go while Mark Grace left the Friendly Confines ' for the desert Kerry Wood (8-- 7 480) will get spring Gary Sheffield (325 43 109) caused a huge distraction with his demands Shawn help in a few years from a rich farm system Green’ (24 HRs 99 RBIs) and Adrian Beltre WEST Arizona Diamondbacks ' (290 20 85) weren’t healthy and Devon White Bob Brenly moves from the broadcast booth to was traded to Milwaukee for Marquis GrissomSan Diego Padres the dugout and the result will be a clubhouse Padres fans will get to see big numbers this more relaxed than the one run by Buck Showalter Will it pay off on the field? Yes particularly season Not wins’ but historic totals as Tony ' ' with Curt Schilling (5--6 with the Diamond-backpitching for a full season with Cy Young s) Gwynn and Rickey Henderson move' up on major lists starting the season on the DL Wells is vital at the top of a rotation that should be helped by youngsters Kip Wells and Jon Garland ' Kansas City Royals The Royals sure were fun to watch last season with their Continued from Page 19 How the newcomers fare — and how teams make up for sonle key departures — will play a big role in determining who will be in the best posi- potentoffense and com- bustible bullpen that made no tion to challenge the Yankees A look at the AL in predict-ed order of finish: leadafe Danion will be missed sorely at top of the lineup Royals need Carlos Beltran (247 7 EAST New York Yankees 44) to bounce back from his ' sophomore slump Mike Added Mussina (379 ERA last season) to rotation that Sweeney (333 29 144) Jer-maine Dye (321 33 118) and already included Roger Clemens (13--8 370) Andy Fettitte (third in majors with 88 wins die past five years) and Orlando Hernandez (12-1-3 451) Throw in the game's best closer in Mariano Rivera (36 saves) and 'the Yankees are once again the team to beat There are questions for the fifth starter setup man and Chuck Knoblauch’s throwing woes which have moved the second baseman to Ken Griffey Jr put up big numbers with 40 home runs and 118 RBIs in his first season in NL‘ The Reds however brought him home to finish ' produce a first-plaTo make up 10 games on St Louis new manager Bob Boone will need more than Junior who’s nursing an injured hamstring He’ll need Barry Larkin (313 in 102 games) and Sean Casey (3 1 5 20 HRs) to stay healthy Florida Marlins Continued from Page 19 Dodgers and relaxed Diamondbacks take aim Greg Maddux 2001 1 April Mark Quinn (294 20 78) form lethal middle of lineup Roberto Hernandez (32 saves) was’ brought in to shore up a bullpen that has 58 saves and 56 blown saves over the past two seasons ' Minnesota Twins : The Twins can pitdi and catch but hitting is another question OF Matt Lawton (305 13 88) is best hitter but could be dealt to a contender right-hand- ed left field Detroit Tigers But presence of Derek Jeter Optimism from last year’s (339 15 73) Bemie Williams move into new stadium has (307 30 121) David Justice'' turned into reality of budget-- : (28641 118) and Jorge Posa- cutting and player losses da (287 28 86) should keep Juan Gonzalez is gone and ' offense productive journeyman Billy: McMillon Boston Red Sox will take his place at DH Even without Garciaparra WEST Oakland Athletics One of the youngest teams in the game came within one bad inning of knocking the Yankees out of the playoffs last season Oakland should be even more talented this year with the added dimension of Damon’s : the Red Sox still have the game's best pitcher in Martinez 174) and Ramirez 38 122) and Everett (351 (1300 34 108) to anchor the middle of the lineup It’s Nomar’s replacement — possibly Lou Merloni or Mike and the rest of the Lansing (18-- 6 speed His 46 steals last season rotation that raises questions Boston had the best ERA in the ieague last season despite getting the fewest innings from its starters Toronto Blue Jays v Struggling to tread water in same division with big-spen- d-' ingNewYork and Boston Offseason marked by trading ' winner David Wells Mike Sirotka for IB Carlos Pelgado (344 41 ’ 20-gam- biim-arm- ed 137) leads powerful lineup that was tops in AL with 244 homers last season 3B Tpny Batista (41 pitch-inga- ' ’Injuries did in Devil Rays last season as big hoppers Fred McGriff Jose Canseco Greg Vaughn and Vinny Castilla only started 38 games together Ben Grieve (279 27 104) should help offense ' that ' ' ranked last in AL Baltimore Orioles A bad team suddenly’ got much worse in spring training when Albert Belle’s career ended because of a hip injury Cal Ripken one of the only links left to Baltimore’s glory days has a bad back and is nearing the end of his career CENTRAL : Cleveland Indians 'Perhaps the best team in the AL by the end of the yasbn the Indian finished out of the playoffs for the first time since 1993 nd s HRs) RF Raul Mondesi (24 HRs in 96 games DG Brad Fkillmer (32 HRs) Jose Cruz Jr (31 HRs) OF Shannon Stewart (21 HRs) and C Darrin Fletcher (20 HRs) also provide power Tampa Bay Devil Rays were six more than Oakland had as a team He also will be on base in front of Giambi (333 43 137) plenty of times Seattle Mariners r' After losing Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr the " Mariners made it to the ALCS Yfcn-last season falling to the ’ ke£ in six games Making up forA-Rod’- s bat glove and leadership will beeven tougher Move to Safeco Field has shifted team from waiting for the big inning to strong timely hitting Bullpen-ithe strength of the staff led by Rookie of the Year Kazuhi-r- o Sasaki (37- saves) freer agent acquisition Jeff Nelson (8-- 4 245) Arthur Rhodes and Jose Paniagua Texas Rangers Offense won’t be a problem in Texas where Rodriguez (316 41 132) DH Andres : Galarraga (302 28 100) for- mer MVP Ken Caminiti and 2B Randy Velarde join Rafael Palmeiro (288 39 120) and Ivan Rodriguez (347 27 83 in 91 games) to form dangerous lineup Pitching is a whole other question Rick Helling (16-1- 3 448)' and Kenny Rogers (13-1- 3 455) are the only depend able starters and Tun Crabtree (5 career saves) replaces John Wetteland as closer V Anaheim Angels Lost IB Mo Vaughn before die season even began Lineup still has power with Darin Erstad (355 25 100) Troy Glaus (284 47 102) Garret Anderson (286 35 117) and Tim Salmon (290 34 97) Questions at first base middle infield and starting' rotation Angels haven’t had a winner in five years winner in 27 and a Ellis Burks (344 24 96) and a healthy Juan Gonzalez shbuld help make up for the loss of Ramirez Chicago White Sax Won’the most games in the AL last season and made persjrpdra Shigetoshi Hasegawa (10-- 6 haps the best offseason trade Dealt injured Sirotka to 357) is one of the league’s Toronto for Wells one of die best setup men but Anaheim best pitchers in the needs a healthy TYoy Fercival Baldwin (32 saves) to close With James league 15-ga- 20-ga- big-ga- -- jii'iS r I i |