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Slim at pitching, the Milwaukee Brewers might slip to fourth this year pending on whether or not their hitting will pick it up. Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, and company will the lead the offensive power house but the Brewers will be without Ben Sheets. They could not resign him nor could they get C.C. Sabathia back as he left to go east.

The Brewers will have to turn to new ace Yovanni Gallardo and rookie Manny Parra. With the loss of Eric Gagne, the Brewers will rely on Carlos Villanueva, who had one save last year, to fill in for the closer duty.

The Houston Astros, I predict, will finish fifth in the NL Central. I don't think that they will have enough steam to finish in the top and they will be beaten out by the Cincinnati Reds. The Astros need help in the rotation because Roy Oswalt cannot carry this team on his arm.

Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee will need to provide as much power and driving force as they can. Berkman cannot get injured while in a playoff hunt either.

Keep an eye on: Wandy Rodriguez, sp

In a game that may be forgotten before writers' heads hit their pillows tonight, A.J. Burnett showed Boston no spring training mercy.

Consistently pounding the strike zone with an eye-popping breaking ball and a 95 mile-per-hour heater, Burnett made sure that the Red Sox lineup will not sleep quite as soundly.

Boston's socks began to take on a shade of green by the end of Burnett's outing, as they became envious of the Yankees new flamethrower.

The Pirates organization has been on a downfall since they lost Barry Bonds. Over the past five years, their highest win total was 72, and that was in 2004. Least year they only managed to grab 67 wins. This organization is getting pathetic but there is hope to those who wait.

Players like Nate McLouth, Andrew McCutchen, and Andy LaRoche are coming into their own and soon enough, if they don't get traded them and pitchers Ian Snell, Zach Duke, and Tom Gorzelanny will blossom. This year is not the year though.

Keep an eye on: Steve Pearce, of

Yes, the Mets will finally hold off the Phillies to win the NL East this year, I swear.

As the waning weeks of spring training come to a close, we are reminded of the troubles that Philadelphia Phillies have trying to fill openings in the starting rotation, and bullpen.

A lot of players' major league lives are on the line. A bad outing here, a blown game there, and the next thing you know your back to triple-A trying to figure out what exactly went wrong, and how to fix it.

The Marlins will have a lot of young help this year, with the returning Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Jeremy Hermida, and Cameron Maybin looking to make significant contributions.

They also acquired third baseman Emilio Bonifacio from Washington for pitcher Scott Olsen. However, Florida did lose closer Kevin Gregg, who had 29 saves last year. Replacing him is Matt Lindstrom.

The reason why I have the Marlins in third place is because they will not compare to the Phillies or the Mets in terms of their pitching staff.

Whoops, I guess this is the danger of writing for public consumption—you run the risk of looking like an utter jackass. Even when you think you're taking the necessary precautions, every now and then, risk yanks your card.

Today is apparently 'every now and then.'