Whoa, look what happened to the American League West when nobody was paying attention.

As usual, eyes were focused on the ongoing turf battle in the beastly AL East and for good reason—the two best squads and possibly the three finest call it home.

With the first game of the MLB season tonight and the full slate kicking off tomorrow, it's time for everyone to make their picks for the season.

NL East: Phillies

The Phillies are the consensus choice to win the National League East for the fourth year in a row. Roy Halladay could win 25 games with that offense backing him up. Their lineup is still one of the best in baseball, and their rotation is good enough to get them back on top of the division.

The A's always seem to have a surprise up their sleeve when announcing the Opening Day roster. Usually the big news is some hotshot rookie made the team.

This year that hot shot is Tyson Ross. Not bad for a starting pitcher who was only drafted in the June 2008 draft. Ross will make the club trying to help out a rather depleted bullpen.

I am not trying to be a buzz kill.

I am not anti-Heyward.

I am not doubting the Braves' decision to start the McDonough Manchild out in right field.

I am, however, saying what I think needs to be said.

Jason Heyward is a rookie .

Not so dramatic there, was it?

There is zero doubt that Jason Heyward earned his spot on the Opening Day roster with his more-than-solid Spring Training.

How could you deny an .846 OPS and more hype than that movie with all of the blue people (you know, Avatar )?

Now that the rosters are set, we’ll take a look at what should be a very prolific Rays offense in 2010.

Manager Joe Maddon likes to shift his lineup around more than most, but this is a good guess as to what the typical batting order will look like. The first six spots are more sure-things, while the bottom three will be moved around more as everyone in those bench spots should see significant time.

1. Jason Bartlett – SS

2. Carl Crawford – LF

The Houston Astros will take the field for their first game of the 2010 season on Monday, April 5 against the San Francisco Giants at 6:05 p.m.

The Astros dropped their final spring training game 13-6 to the Toronto Blue Jays at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, completing spring training with a 13-15 record.

Let's look at the opening day starting lineup and how they performed in spring training.

Begin Slideshow

Working in a local supermarket, I have a front row seat for all the latest hollywood gossip and glamour. There are upsides and downsides to this.

For example: downside, I can name about twenty celebrities who have cellulite, and how many plastic surgeries Heidi Montag has had.

A clear upside: the Swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, or any magazine that has Kim Kardashian on the cover.

The 2010 Major League Baseball season begins Sunday night with the Yankees in Boston to play the Red Sox. Fast forward six months, and here you have it, the final standings...

American League East

My “Key” player series concludes today with looking at the “Key” player for each American League West team. There are a lot of question marks in this division, so let’s take a look at who the “Key” player will be for each team.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Scott Kazmir

Kazmir is a great talent—there is no doubt about that, but he is always hurt. He will be entering his seventh year now in the majors and he has only made 30 plus starts twice in his career.

They used to be scattered all over the state, particularly in the tri-county area.

The tony suburbs of Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills were popular for them, but towns like Washington and Livonia were home to some of them as well.

Theirs was a time when you not only played baseball for the Detroit Tigers, you stuck around to experience our winter months, too.