Preview/Prediction

One of the youngest and deepest divisions in baseball, the NL East will have its share of drama and races throughout the season.  Will the New York Mets finally get over the hump and have a good season?  Do the young Florida Marlins or Atlanta Braves have the chance to take a run at the division crown?  Are the Washington Nationals ready to take a big step forward?

These are all very interesting points, but one other question may be the most important of all: Do the Philadelphia Phillies have the division locked up before a game is even played?

Today is the first installment of a position-by-position look at the Pittsburgh Pirates camp battles in spring training.

We begin behind the plate, which was a sore spot both offensively and defensively during the 2010 campaign. Teams stole bases on the Pirates pitchers and catchers at an alarming rate a season ago. It was so alarming that it prompted Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington into making some midseason changes.

Once again, the Arizona Diamondbacks ended the season at the bottom of the NL West. The Diamondbacks went just 65-97 in 2010, their worst record since going 51-111 in 2004.

The Diamondbacks are turning to general manager Kevin Towers, who was signed in September of last year. Towers wasted little time renovating the Diamondbacks roster.

The Colorado Rockies were unable to make it back to the postseason for a third time in four years, as they finished 2010 third in the division with a record of 83-79.

The Rockies, however, have the pieces in place to make it back to the playoffs this season, as they have a ton of great players on the field and on the mound. Colorado should contend for its first NL West crown in team history.

The San Diego Padres will have to find a way to overcome a terrible finish to the 2010 season. The Padres were atop the National League at 76-49 on Aug. 25, but fell apart down the stretch, going just 14-23 to finish the year.

San Diego ended up finishing second in the division to the San Francisco Giants, who eventually won the World Series.

Last year, the Cleveland Indians finished second-to-last in the AL Central with a 69-93 record.  Considering how center fielder Grady Sizemore missed most of the season with a knee injury, along with the inconsistent pitching, that's still a pretty strong performance.

Last season, The San Francisco Giants took advantage of a late-season collapse by the San Diego Padres to win the National League West with a record of 92-70. San Francisco carried that momentum all the way to the World Series, where they beat the Texas Ranges.

With a top level pitching staff secured for year to come, San Francisco is no doubt a threat to not only repeat in the NL West, but to return to the World Series this year.

It wasn't the season the Los Angeles Dodgers were hoping for in the final year under manager Joe Torre. The Dodgers didn't exactly play badly at 80-82, but finished fourth in the NL West. Torre's replacement is Don Mattingly, who will try and bring life to an organization that hasn't made the playoffs since 2006.

The Houston Astros finished fourth in their division last season with a record of 76-86, it marked the first time Houston finished two straight years with a losing record since the 1990 and 1991 seasons (74-88, 2009). While Houston traded away Roy Oswalt to the Phillies last year, they still expect a strong season from this year's starting rotation.

The American League East has been the best division in baseball since its creation in 1969. This is mainly because of the division's perennial top-two teams, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. These two bitter rivals have had many classic battles in the past, such as the unforgettable 2004 ALCS. This year should be no different.