Preview/Prediction

What are the most important considerations that will help to determine the outcome of the AL East divisional race in 2010?

Is it the performance of new Rays closer Rafael Soriano or Yankees starter Javier Vazquez? Maybe it's the comeback of Red Sox DH David Ortiz or the development of Rays OF B J Upton? Or is it the productiveness of the Red Sox offense in contrast to the effectiveness of the Yankees starting pitching?

Here are my Top Ten Questions for the AL East for 2010.

If you're a New York Mets fan like I am, you've got to be thick-skinned.

It's hard enough when you see your entire 40-man roster fall apart at the seams due to injuries, but it's even more painful when you're forced to watch your division rivals face your crosstown rivals in the World Series.

Over the past six seasons, through three managers and what seems like one hundred general managers, the Mets have had an unbelievable stretch of roller coaster up-and-downs.

Unlike this time last year, the Atlanta Braves have an incredibly deep bullpen to count on throughout the year. This means that Bobby Cox will not have to overuse two or three guys and have them burnt out by September.

This season's bullpen will consist of new closer Billy Wagner, Japanese setup man Takashi Saito, the jovialant side arming Aussie Peter Moylan, lefty specialist Eric O'Flaherty, Kris Medlen, who could be used in several different roles, and several different pitchers fighting for the final two spots in.

My last article predicted the final records for the AL West teams. I came up with this:

LA 88-74
Seattle 87-75
Oakland 84-78
Texas 82-80

Obviously, I think it's going to be close.

The next thing I wanted to do was look at the starting rotations of each team, pitcher-by-pitcher, and grade them.

Without further ado, here's my look at Texas.

Begin Slideshow

With Spring Training starting and the 2010 baseball season only weeks away, it is the time of the year when fans of the Baltimore Orioles can start dreaming that maybe this is the year that our decade long nightmare ends.

The Orioles were not among the most aggressive or highest spending teams in the offseason, but they did make a number of lower-key moves designed to make the team better in 2010.

Considering that they went 64-98 (including a 20-39 record to end the season) in 2009, it shouldn’t take much to illustrate improvement.

The AL West consists of four teams; three of which look like they could win the division without a problem.  The Angels, Rangers, Mariners, and Athletics are all talented teams.  But, only one team can win the division.  However this division ends up, I know it's going to be a very tight race. 

1. Los Angeles Angels

The World Champion New York Yankees will not look the same when the new season starts in Boston on April 4.

Gone from the championship team are designated hitter Hideki Matsui, left fielder Johnny Damon, center fielder Melky Cabrera, relief pitcher Brian Bruney, and relief pitcher Phil Coke.

Just as we enter spring training, it is that time of year. It is time to predict everything  that is going to happen in 2010. With the suprises of baseball, though, it seems you can never be too far out on your predictions, but you can never be just right.

The NL East is known as one of the top divisions in baseball. But last year with the injuries of the Mets, the Phillies took the division with ease. Here are my predicted rankings of how the east will be set on the last day of the year.

In recent years, the NL West has been dubbed baseball's worst division. In 2005, the San Diego Padres won the division with a mere 82 wins, barely clinching a winning season. The other four NL West teams had losing seasons.

In 2006, not a single team reached the 90-win plateau and three teams endured sub-.500 seasons.

2007 finally brought two 90-win teams thanks to Arizona's solid season and Colorado's magical late-season run.

On April 4, the new baseball season will open on a Sunday night in Fenway Park. The visitors will be the New York Yankees, renewing the greatest rivalry in sports against the hometown Boston Red Sox.

Most baseball analysts will tell you that the key to winning in baseball is pitching.