Preview/Prediction

Dave Bush must be a fan of roller-coasters. I say that because that has pretty much been the path his career has taken with the Milwaukee Brewers.

He has experienced some incredible highs, as well as some very crushing lows. Through it all, Bush has persevered, and has turned into a solid Major League pitcher.

Last season was a microcosm for Bush's three years with the Brewers. He started the season 0-3, and was sent down to Triple A for a cup of coffee before injuries forced the Brewers to recall him.

The second part of the Two-for-One MLB Previews covers the two teams that made the most even trade of the past offseason, Texas and Cincinnati.

Past Previews: TB/SD

Current Standings

ALE: 1, Tampa Bay*, 3, 4, 5

ALC: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

ALW: 1, 2, 3, 4

With all the drama this spring over who will be starting and who is healthy, and all the other mumbo-jumbo going on with the starting rotation, it seems I had forgotten all about the real question: Who's gonna close?

"The process now," said Tony La Russa, "is to give guys appearances, make evaluations, and then sort it out at some point at the end." TLR has told the media he has narrowed his options down to five. That sounds like a lot, but a few months ago there were about a million. I'll break down his options one by one.

With age comes maturity...hopefully. At least that is what Jim Hendry and the Cubs are hoping will be the case with notorious hothead Milton Bradley.

Bradley was inked to a three-year, $30 million contract this offseason, the first multi-year contract of his career. The reason for teams' hesitance to commit? Bradley, aside from his short fuse, has battled injury after injury after injury throughout his playing days.

*From Protect the Plate

After winning 90 games and riding a hot streak all the way to the World Series in 2007, the Rockies fell to 74-88 last season.

Now that the center piece of their lineup is gone, it's starting to look like the Rockies are destined to endure their eighth losing season in nine years.

With manager Clint Hurdle on the hot seat and an impressive group of young players, however, anything's possible. Just look at the 2007 Rockies.

NO HOLLIDAY

Spring Training Game 13

Yankees vs. Blue Jays
George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL
Game Time: 1:05 p.m.
TV/radio: none

Here are the lineups.

YANKEES

Brett Gardner CF
Melky Cabrera LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Jorge Posada DH
Nick Swisher RF
Jose Molina C
Angel Berroa 2B
Justin Leone 3B
Ramiro Pens SS

Pitching: Andy Pettitte, Ian Kennedy, Dan Giese, Dave Robertson, Jose Veras, and Jon Albaladejo

BLUE JAYS

Baltimore Orioles 2009 Preview:

Mostly unknown by casual baseball fans, the Orioles have arguably the best prospect in all of baseball. Catcher Matt Wieters is the early favorite to win the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year award.

The athletic 6’5” switch hitter has drawn comparisons to Red Sox captain Jason Varitek, which gives the people of Baltimore something to look forward to for the next few years.

With about four weeks left of Spring Training, I'll be previewing each MLB team, two at a time. Monday through Thursday I'll cover two teams per day, leading all the way up to the Phillies and Braves, a few days before Opening Night.

To kick it off, the American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays and the San Diego Padres.

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Tampa Bay Rays – AL East

This is intended as a counter argument to thoughts expressed by Mr. Todd Civin. I think his comments about the Yankee’s weaknesses are actually very thorough and obviously he did some good research, and has a very good knowledge about baseball.

However, I really think some of those comments are unfair to what can turn out to be a great Yankee’s team in 2009.

Our previous starting first baseman, Richie Sexson, left Seattle during last season (or was forced to leave). The Mariners, with new General Manager Jack Zduriencik, brought in potential starting first baseman Mike Carp (from the Mets) and Russell Branyan (from the Brewers).

But who will be starting?

Here are the candidates:

Russell Branyan