Preview/Prediction

Change is scary and unsettling, especially when it is not by choice.

The 2010 off-season did not work out the way the New York Yankees had hoped. The franchise heads into a New Year having failed to acquire ace Cliff Lee or any other highly sought free-agent players.

On the mound:

The Yankees will be fine without Cliff Lee. The Yankees don’t NEED Cliff Lee. Would they have liked to have signed him? Of course. Who wouldn’t have? Having C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, a young 19-game winner in Phil Hughes and possibly Andy Pettitte should be enough for the Yanks. They have a young pitcher in Ivan Nova who, if he fixes his sixth inning troubles, should be a solid pitcher.

While it may have seemed that the Padres playoff chances in 2011 dissipated into shambles following the departure of superstar slugger Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, the Padres brass has responded in the best way possible: making extremely cost effective moves to bring in quality players.

After the New York Mets non-tendered Sean Green earlier this month, it was only a matter of time before a team gobbled him up for the potential ‘relief’ he could offer.

The time has come, and that team is the Milwaukee Brewers, who are looking to reload this off season to have a productive 2011.

I won't lie—it's a nice problem to have.

At a time of year when finding an outfielder, starting pitcher and rounding out the bullpen is at the fore of most teams' minds, Boston is chiefly concerned with the dilemma of what order to bat our All-Stars.

Oh, the bullpen isn't a given, and there's the matter of Marco Scutaro and Jed Lowrie at short. But recent additions Dan Wheeler and Bobby Jenks would seem to have stocked and solidified a middle relief that was plainly awful last year.

The Oakland A's have made some great moves so far this offseason, but they don't seem to be getting much recognition for it.  

While teams like the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals and others have been making large splashes by acquiring big name players, the A's have quietly had one of the best offseasons yet.  

What do Elvis Andrus, Jose Bautista, Adrian Beltre, Clay Buchholz, John Buck, Trevor Cahill, Robinson Cano, Fausto Carmona, Neftali Feliz, Phil Hughes, Jon Lester, David Price, Rafael Soriano, Nick Swisher, Matt Thorton, Jered Weaver and Ty Wigginton all have in common?

They were each named to their first All-Star Game in 2010. This particular bunch represented almost half of the American League roster last summer.

Prior to making the offseason moves for Rich Harden and Brandon McCarthy, the Oakland Athletics already had the best pitching staff in the American League.  Their 3.56 team ERA ranked first in the AL last year and fourth in the big leagues behind San Francisco, San Diego and Atlanta.  The starting rotation stands to get better with another year of experience for young twenty-somethings Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez.

Former Cy Young Award winner and National League All-Star Game regular Brandon Webb is still looking for a new home this offseason.

Despite making only one start over the past two years due to devastating shoulder injuries, the 6'3" right-hander could prove to be quite a sleeper in the 2011 season and be one of the league's more pleasant surprises.

Before his unfortunate run of injuries, Webb was one of the league's most dominant starters.

Initially, when hearing a productive and established player such as Jayson Werth signed with the Washington Nationals, it was bewildering.