Preview/Prediction

The bullpen in Flushing, New York has been subject to a lot of finger pointing over the years. But with names like Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran at the top of the order, and Johan Santana at the top of the rotation, it made Aaron Heilman and Luis Ayala look all the worse.

With 29 blown saves last year (third worst in the majors), the pen left us with some bitter memories. Worse, it caved more then ever down the stretch as the Mets narrowly lost their playoff spot to the Phillies for the second straight year.

It's the middle of March, and spring training games are getting more competitive. Pitchers are pitching more innings, and players are starting to get back into the swing of playing Major League Baseball everyday.

The transition from spring training to the regular season is beginning to take place.

With that in mind, there have been numerous predictions, division breakdowns, rankings, and lists about who will win, lose, win awards, an so on.

1. The return of Manny Corpas

It remains to be seen if Corpas will be used as the closer, but it's certain that the Rockies will need Corpas circa 2007 if they are going to compete in 2009.

Corpas was fantastic in 2007 (2.08 ERA) and it looked as though the Rockies had a rising star on their hand. But Corpas regressed in 2008 and suddenly became very hittable and average.

With Taylor Buchholz out until at least the end of May, the Rockies will need Corpas to perform at his peak for the team to stay afloat.

2. Ubaldo

Today, I will unleash my top 10 prospects heading into the 2009 Baseball Season.

I will give analysis on each player, and whether any of them will make an impact with their teams this season or in the future.

The only rule I have is to discard David Price and Travis Snider from this list, as they were in the Majors for a decent part at the end of the season and will probably make the roster on Opening Day due to their success...Enjoy!

One of the oldest adages in baseball is “You must be strong up the middle.” The Astros are far from strong in several key positions, such as catcher, center field, and starting pitching.

Manager Cecil Cooper did a marvelous job the second half of last year getting the Astros into playoff contention, especially with Carlos Lee missing the final seven weeks. But Houston needs a couple of its starters, beyond bell cow Roy Oswalt, to turn in strong seasons.

There has been great debate as to how the Giants will look in the 2009 season.

Players and fans accept the fact that the Giants must rely on their pitching to survive and become a force in the weak National League West.

Preseason rankings have the Giants fluctuating between second and third place, behind the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.

However, with their pitching staff I think they will trail only a little behind the Dodgers.

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Who ever said money can’t buy happiness obviously never talked to a Yankee fan.

The Red Sox slipped only a little in 2008, reaching game seven of the ALCS after entering the year as defending World Series Champions. But even if the Sox hold their ground again in 2009, others appear to have gained on them.

Though Boston returns virtually the entire roster from a team that has been the class of the AL over the last two years, it failed in its pursuit of No. 1 offseason target Mark Teixeira, who signed with the rival Yankees.

1. Manny being Manny

Breathe easy, Hollywood. Manny is back and hopefully better than ever.

After a rousing first act with the Dodgers in 2008, Manny returns as the superstar and the face of the Dodgers.

Like so many things in Hollywood, this has pros and cons. Manny is of course Manny...and thus will tear the cover off the ball as long as he is healthy and motivated.

But still, Manny is Manny, and is prone to cancerous and curious antics that tend to divide and hurt teams. Which Manny will the Dodgers get? Very interesting sub plot.

The last true setup man that the Yankees had was Tom Gordon in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Since then, the Bombers have had no steady option to hand the ball off to after the seventh inning.

I read an article that said that Brian Bruney was vying for the job. Check out what Bruney himself said: