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TRUMP CARDS
- Aces of diamonds- Pedro Martinez - Bob Gibson - Walter Johnson - Rick Ankiel - Aces discuss aces - Red Sox aces - Former aces
MORE STORIES
- Channel 25 at bat- Sold on pitchmen
ANALYSIS
- AL East- AL Central - AL West - NL East - NL Central - NL West
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The Reds return to glamour-team status by adding native son Ken Griffey. They already were a very good team, winning 96 games before succumbing to the Mets in a one-game playoff for the wild-card spot. Now, GM Jim Bowden is searching for a front-line pitcher to complement a solid if unspectacular rotation. Bowden has made no secret of his interest in Minnesota's Brad Radke, but lefty Denny Neagle, who missed two months with a bad shoulder, appears to be throwing the way he did when he was with the Braves, which should ease the burden on staff ace Pete Harnisch. The bullpen is anchored by co-closers Scott Williamson and Danny Graves, and the everyday lineup, which also will feature newcomer Dante Bichette, should put up big numbers.
All the moonshots in the world by Mark McGwire haven't translated into winning for the Cardinals, so GM Walt Jocketty poured his energies into remaking the team's pitching. He traded for ex-Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen from Toronto and Darryl Kile from the Rockies, picked up new closer Dave Veres from Colorado as well, and brought back Andy Benes from the Diamondbacks. With developing young pitchers like Garrett Stephenson and prodigy Rick Ankiel, Jocketty felt he had enough depth to trade 18-game winner Kent Bottenfield for Anaheim CF Jim Edmonds. Edmonds's arrival moves J.D. Drew to right, while LF Ray Lankford hopes he's over the sore knees that hindered him last season. The Cardinals are keeping their fingers crossed that Veres is the answer in the bullpen.
A cynic would say that Astros owner Drayton McLane, assured of full houses because his team is moving into a new ballpark (Enron Field), was willing to tear apart a winner because he knew he could get away with it. The Astros would argue that they traded OF Carl Everett and lefty ace Mike Hampton because both were eligible to walk as free agents after the season, with Jeff Bagwell's freedom only another year away. But it's hard to make a case that the Astros, minus a player (Everett) that teammates say was their MVP last season and a 22-game winner in Hampton, will be better. Bagwell, who looks like Rasputin's lost cousin with his exaggerated goatee, should love Enron, which is just 315 feet down the left-field line, and with Jose Lima and Shane Reynolds, Houston still has some big-time pitching. A healthy Moises Alou should help offset Everett's absence, and Roger Cedeno plays a fine center field. But the Astros can't afford to have old warhorse Ken Caminiti falling out of trees, as he did last fall while hunting.
They don't have the glamour boys like Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, or Houston's Killer B's, so it's easy to overlook the Pirates in this division. Don't. This club has an ace-in-training in Kris Benson and other solid starters in Jason Schmidt, Todd Ritchie, and Francisco Cordova. They also welcomed back C Jason Kendall from an ankle injury. GM Cam Bonifay is taking some chances on rookie 3B Aramis Ramirez (42 errors in Triple A) and rookie CF Chad Hermansen; some would add that Bonifay was out of his mind giving Wil Cordero a three-year, $9 million deal. But SS Pat Meares is healthy again after last year's hand injury, and if closer Mike Williams develops some consistency, this could be a very interesting club.
It's a long road back to respectability for the Cubs, and not just because the journey begins in Japan. Losers of 95 games, they replaced manager Jim Riggleman with Baylor, and GM Ed Lynch has retooled the infield, bringing in a new second baseman (Eric Young), shortstop (Ricky Gutierrez), and third baseman (Shane Andrews) to join holdover 1B Mark Grace, who fractured his right middle finger in camp. Joe Girardi, late of the Yankees, is a big upgrade behind the plate, but the veteran can do only so much for a thin pitching staff. Ismael Valdes, acquired from the Dodgers to be staff ace, developed shoulder stiffness in spring and will open the season on the DL. Strikeout prodigy Kerry Wood may not be back until June, and Kevin Tapani was 0-9 down the stretch and had back problems. But Sammy Sosa will still hit home runs, and Wrigley Field will be filled on a daily basis.
New GM Dean Taylor, who gave the deserving Lopes a long overdue shot at managing, promised Brewers fans that he'd upgraded the pitching, too. Guess again. The Brewers were awful this spring, with a staff ERA that hovered around 7, and injuries helped make a shambles of Taylor's plan. RHP Jamey Wright, who figured to be the club's No. 2 starter, tore his rotator cuff and could miss the season. John Snyder, who beat Pedro Martinez last April when he was with the White Sox, had a rib-cage problem in camp, while new additions Jaime Navarro and Jimmy Haynes have simply been awful. It remains to be seen how Jose Hernandez, who played shortstop for the Cubs and Braves, fares as the replacement at third base for Jeff Cirillo, one of the team's best hitters, who was traded to the Rockies. , while 2B Ron Belliard has been sidelined by a dislocated thumb. One forecast tabbed the Brewers as 10 million-to-1 shots to go to the World Series. That may have been optimistic.