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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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Every year there's always a marquee team in the West, and every year the Giants seem to wind up challenging them for supremacy. Injuries were a big reason they fell 14 games short of the Diamondbacks last season, but they were in first place at the All-Star break and have tinkered little with their core. Injury concerns remain, most notably the elbow of closer Robb Nen and the knees of outfielders Barry Bonds and Ellis Burks, while starter Shawn Estes had an inflamed shoulder in spring. The only additions this winter were 3B Russ Davis (from Seattle) and C Bobby Estalella (Phillies). With a rotation that also includes 18-game winner Russ Ortiz, '97 World Series MVP Livan Hernandez, and lefty Kirk Rueter, a 15-game winner in each of the last two seasons, the Giants have the pitching to hurt some people. They also have two great intangibles in manager Dusty Baker and the new Pac-Bell Park, where Bonds already has practiced hitting home runs down the short right-field line (307 feet) and into San Francisco Bay.
The Diamondbacks spent $118 million on free agents last season and won 100 games, an improvement of 35 wins from 1998. Bang for their buck? Well, boss Jerry Colangelo would have felt even better if the team hadn't been bounced out of the playoffs by the Mets in the first round, but there's no reason to think Arizona won't be back for more. The changes have been few: Free agent Russ Springer was signed to set up for closer Matt Mantei, Brian Anderson took Andy Benes's old spot in the rotation, Tony Womack is shifting from right field to shortstop, and Travis Lee, the first baseman two years ago, has first dibs on right. The Womack shift is unusual, to be sure, but he was a second baseman with the Pirates. Randy Johnson, who matched Pedro Martinez's feat of winning the Cy Young Award in both leagues, has been lit up a couple of times this spring, but that's only giving false hope to hitters. Luis Gonzalez and Jay Bell probably won't match the career years they had last season, but they don't have to. This the team had four players who hit 25 home runs or more, and its pitching staff had an ERA (3.77) second only to the Braves'.
A humbled GM Kevin Malone, whose bold predictions before the '99 season made him an easy target for ridicule when the Dodgers went into the dumper, is low-keying it this season. Well he should, for even though the Dodgers have a $90 million payroll, they are still riddled with holes. They traded leadoff man Eric Young, leaving them with no other option than 37-year-old Devon White, who walked just 38 times last season and hit a mediocre .268. They were hoping that defensive whiz Alex Cora would claim the shortstop job, but are now rookie not hitting this spring, it appears they're turning to veteran Kevin Elster, who was out of the game for a year. Another rookie, Eric Gagne, didn't pitch well enough to win a spot in the rotation, so it falls to returning hero Orel Hershiser is back, almost a decade removed from his glory days in Chavez Ravine. Kevin Brown remains the pitcher with the nastiest stuff this side of Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, but the Dodgers need a comeback season from Chan Ho Park, whose ERA soared last season. Newcomer Shawn Green gives the Dodgers the lefthanded bat they were lacking, and should be a devastasting complement to righthanded boppers Gary Sheffield and Eric Karros. but this remains a misshapen team.
New GM Dan O'Dowd needed surgery to detach his cell phone after a winter in which he did an almost total makeover of the roster, beginning with manager Bell, who replaced Jim Leyland. New pitching coach Marcel Lachemann inherits a staff that features veteran righthanders Pedro Astacio, Rolando Arrojo, and Masato Yoshii, and lefties Brian Bohanon and Scott Karl. Astacio set club records for innings, strikeouts, and complete games. , but this spring was threatened with expulsion by the INS because of a domestic abuse incident back home in the Dominican Republic. Jerry Dipoto was set to succeed Dave Veres as closer but has a bulging disk in his neck and won't be ready for the start of the season. 2B Mike Lansing, who is recovering from back surgery, SS Neifi Perez, and 1B Todd Helton are the only players back from last season's Opening Day lineup (OF Larry Walker was on the DL). Walker will miss traded bashers Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla, but newcomer Jeffrey Hammonds , imported in the Bichette deal from Cincinnati, could have a bustout year in Coors Field. Former manager Don Baylor says Helton is future MVP material.
Assuming he isn't traded on the cusp of the season, LHP Sterling Hitchcock will become the Padres' fifth Opening Day starter in five years. The Padres long ago abandoned the idea of keeping his immediate predecessors, Kevin Brown and Andy Ashby. All three pitchers who came to San Diego from the Phillies in the Ashby deal were out of commission this spring: Carlton Loewer dislocated his ankle in an offseason fall from a hunting blind, Steve Montgomery complained of shoulder pain, and Adam Eaton is recovering from shoulder tendinitis. Those problems pale, of course, next to the bizarre tale of newly acquired OF Al Martin, who was supposed to be a leadoff man and veteran leader but instead gave the Padres their first player facing felony bigamy charges. The only thing certain in San Diego is that 40-year-old Tony Gwynn will compete for another batting title and Trevor Hoffman will save 40 games.