The Football Fan Spot

1. Boston Red Sox

The Good: They won 89 games last year despite being raped by injuries. They add Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to their lineup as upgrades over Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez.

The Bad: Who is the closer? Jonathan Papelbon led the league in blown saves last year, but he keeps the job into this season. How many saves will he have to blow to lose the job to either Bobby Jenks or Daniel Bard?

2. Philadelphia Phillies

The Good: A surprise move to sign Cliff Lee gives them 4 legitimate front line starters in the rotation with Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels to compliment their lineup, which was 7th in the league in runs scored last year.

The Bad: Brad Lidge at the end of the ‘pen is always questionable and they don’t have the Red Sox bullpen depth. Jayson Werth is gone. Can Dominic Brown and Ben Francisco replace him?

3. New York Yankees

The Good: Their #1 ranked lineup from 2010 is still intact and Rafael Soriano gives them a talented, high paid bridge to Mariano Rivera.

The Bad: The only starting pitcher who isn’t a question mark is CC Sabathia. Phil Hughes has never had a sub 4 ERA. AJ Burnett had an ERA in the 5s last year. Their #4 and #5 starters are still unknown.

4. San Francisco Giants

The Good: With the exception of replacing Juan Uribe with Miguel Tejada, their 2010 World Series winning team is almost completely intact. Pablo Sandoval’s weight loss as fans believing he can produce like he did in 2009.

The Bad: Last year’s win is widely regarded as a fluke and both the Red Sox and the Phillies have drastically improved this offseason. The last team to repeat as champions was the 2000 Yankees.

5. Chicago White Sox

The Good: Adam Dunn gives them what Manny Ramirez was supposed to give them, another bat to go with Paul Konerko in the middle of that lineup. A healthy Jake Peavy could help their rotation in a big way.

The Bad: Losing Bobby Jenks left their bullpen awfully thin. Paul Konerko is 35 and Adam Dunn has never played in the AL.

6. St. Louis Cardinals

The Good: Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Jake Westbrook, and Jaime Garcia might be the most talented pitching rotation they’ve had in the Dave Duncan era and Duncan’s done a lot more with a lot less before.

The Bad: Other than Pujols and Holliday, their lineup is pretty thin. They thought John Jay was good enough to replace Ryan Ludwick, who they sent to San Diego at the deadline in 2010. He wasn’t and now they’re relying on Lance Berkman. The Pujols contract situtation could be distracting.

7. Los Angeles Angels

The Good: With the exception of last year, this team always finds a way to win the division and I can’t imagine them losing it twice in a row. Vernon Wells might be expensive, but he gives them a much needed bat and a full season of Dan Haren helps their cause.

The Bad: Kendry Morales might not be ready for the start of the season and Scott Kazmir is a huge question mark in their starting rotation. What’s their fallback plan?

8. Cincinnati Reds

The Good: They won the division in surprise runaway fashion last season, leading the NL in runs and could take the next step this season.

The Bad: Young teams that could take the next step often don’t. It’s called a sophomore slump. Also, who is the stopper in their rotation?

9. Atlanta Braves

The Good: Jason Heyward has a full year under his belt and Dan Uggla gives them another power bat in the middle of their lineup. They can still pitch with the best of them

The Bad: Bobby Cox is gone and he was the best at making something out of nothing. Can this team continue their surprise 2010 run without him?

10. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Good: They stole Juan Uribe from the Giants and their young pitching staff should continue to improve. A full season of Ted Lilly as the #3 starter helps.

The Bad: Their offense might be relying too much on the health of Rafael Furcal and Andre Either, as well as a bounce back year from Matt Kemp.

11. Oakland Athletics

The Good: On paper they have the same formula as the 2010 Giants, great young pitching staff and a patchwork offense of overachievers, adding my favorite underrated player, Josh Willingham, to the mix, as well as David DeJesus and Hideki Matsui.

The Bad: Other than the 2010 Giants, when has that formula ever worked?

12. Minnesota Twins

The Good: Ron Gardenhire is still the best coach in the AL and perennially makes something out of nothing. Justin Morneau missed half of last season and they still won the division. Now he’s back.

The Bad: The White Sox are better and Carl Pavano seems to be only good in contract years. Is he still going to have an ace like season now that he’s gotten paid?

13. Milwaukee Brewers

The Good: Zach Grienke gives their starting rotation much needed life and he moves to an easier league to pitch in.

The Bad: Prince Fielder is a free agent after the season and Rickie Weeks is a potential one year wonder candidate.

14. Texas Rangers

The Good: This team made the World Series last year and they still have AL MVP Josh Hamilton.

The Bad: Cliff Lee’s gone. Vladimir Guerrero is gone. Michael Young has been chased to DH, where he might split time with Mike Napoli. Adrian Beltre is only good in contract years. They overacheived last year.

15. Tampa Bay Rays

The Good: They still have one of the league’s best young pitching staffs. They also have Evan Longoria and potential bounce back years from Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez.

The Bad: Carl Crawford is gone. Carlos Pena is gone. Rafael Soriano is gone. Joaquin Benoit is gone. The Yankees and Red Sox aren’t. They got the 2011 versions of Manny and Johnny Damon, not the 2004 versions.

16. Colorado Rockies

The Good: Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez are locked up longterm and this team always seems to make a run at the division late, even last year when they came up short. Oh, and of course, Ubaldo Jimenez is pretty decent.

The Bad: Jorge De La Rosa was overpaid. He’s not a #2 starter. Their #3-#5 starters are even more questionable. Todd Helton might be on his last legs.

17. Detroit Tigers

The Good: After finishing sub .500 last year, they broke open their paychecks to add Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit.

The Bad: Martinez is a DH who has never topped 25 homeruns and Benoit is a setup man who has only gone under an ERA of 3 twice in his career at age 33.

18. New York Mets

The Good: Maybe Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, Oliver Perez, and Jason Bay will all stay healthy and play up to their contracts.

The Bad: They probably won’t.

19. Houston Texans

The Good: They were one of the NL’s best teams after the trade deadline, with young talent flourishing after Berkman and Oswalt were traded.

The Bad: Playing well when you’re out of it is one thing. Playing well when you’re expected to do good things is something completely different, especially for young players. On paper, they look pretty bad.

20. Florida Marlins

The Good: They always seem to win the World Series just when you least expect it and this year, no one’s expecting it.

The Bad: There’s a reason no one’s expecting it. Dan Uggla is gone leaving their lineup thin after Hanley Ramirez and 2nd year outfielder Mike Stanton.

21. Chicago Cubs

The Good: After a 24-13 finish to last season, Mike Quade could be the manager that finally wins the World Series with the Cubs.

The Bad: The last 48 managers failed. Why wouldn’t Quade? Carlos Pena and Matt Garza help, but they’ll need Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano to play up to their paycheck to even have a shot at the division.

22. San Diego Padres

The Good: Their young pitching staff is still intact and they allowed the fewest runs in the league last year.

The Bad: Gonzo is Gonzo so as bizarre as them ranking 22nd in runs last year and still almost winning the division was, doing the same this year with Gonzo would be ten times more bizarre. The strength of their pitching staff was their bullpen and bullpens are notriously streaky from year to year.

23. Toronto Blue Jays

The Good: They had 48 more homeruns than any other team in the league last year.

The Bad: Does anyone really think Jose Bautista hits 54 homeruns again? His previous career high was 16 and he’s 30 years old. Vernon Wells’ contract may be gone, but so is Vernon Wells’ bat. Their pitching wasn’t very good last year and I don’t see it improving having lost Shawn Marcum.

24. Baltimore Orioles

The Good: Vladimir Guerrero represents their most high profiled signing in years!

The Bad: A 36 year old Vladimir Guerrero represents their most high profiled signing in years…

25. Washington Nationals

The Good: They opened the checkbooks to sign Jayson Werth. Bryce Harper could be up by the summer.

The Bad: They could have just resigned Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn for less than what they paid Werth and gotten more production. Stephen Strasburg isn’t expected back until 2012.

26. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Good: They didn’t trade Justin Upton. Daniel Hudson showed potential as a starting pitcher last year.

The Bad: They had a strong rotation with Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, and Edwin Jackson going into 2010. All 3 of those guys are gone and they’re left with a bunch of young guys, Hudson, Joe Saunders, and Ian Kennedy. Their lineup isn’t good enough to make up for that.

27. Cleveland Indians

The Good: Carlos Santana could be ready for the start of the season. Maybe Grady Sizemore will stay healthy.

The Bad: Even if Sizemore and Santana stay healthy, their lineup isn’t very good and their pitching staff certainly isn’t good enough to compensate, especially if Fausto Carmona becomes a mid-season trade.

28. Kansas City Royals

The Good: With the league’s top farm system, they might be really good in the future.

The Bad: It’s not the future yet.

29. Seattle Mariners

The Good: Felix Hernandez is the reigning Cy Young award winner.

The Bad: Their lineup had 74 fewer runs than any other team in the majors last year and they didn’t fix that.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Good: Uh…

The Bad: They suck.

1. New York Yankees

The good: Offseason assisted robberies of Javier Vazquez and Curtis Granderson from the Braves and Tigers respectively add new talent to last year’s World Series team.

The bad: Every one in the league is going to be gunning for them. There’s a reason no one has repeated since the Yankees of the late 90’s and most of the players from those teams are no longer on this roster.

2. Philadelphia Phillies

The good: The entire core, with the exception of a few players, from their ’08 championship team is still in tact, as is most of the core from last season’s runner up team.

The bad: Cliff Lee is gone. I know they get Roy Halladay in exchange for him, but if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Lee was the only pitcher that they had that beat the Yankees last year in the World Series and he did it twice.

3. Boston Red Sox

The good: Possibly the best rotation in baseball with Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, a maturing Clay Buchholz and hopefully Dice-K Matsuzaka, whose 2009 was lost do to injuries.

The bad: Many of their hitters are over 30 and injury prone and Victor Martinez behind the plate has one of the worst arms in baseball.

4. St. Louis Cardinals

The good: Matt Holliday protecting Albert Pujols gives them the best 3-4 lineup punch in the bigs and the pitching is always good no matter what. Two of the top 3 in 2009 NL Cy Young voting last season should make sure that they don’t have to struggle to find good pitching either.

The bad: Besides the middle of their order, their lineup doesn’t match up with the 3 teams above them on this list and maybe even a few of the teams below them on this list.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers

The good: Their offense was so much better last season with Manny in the lineup and assuming he doesn’t try to impregnate himself again, they should have him for 150 games. Since he came to town in ’08, the Dodgers have made the CS twice.

The bad: An offseason plagued by martial disputes between Owner Frank McCourt and his ex-wife and CEO Jamie made any offseason additions tough. Losing Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson hurts. They only really started making signings recently when they brought back Eric “Gag Me” Gagne on a minor league deal, but it could be too little too late in a competitive NL West.

6. Los Angeles Angels

The good: They win this division every single year. They always find some way to get the job done, while the teams below them in the division are known for their awful luck.

The bad: No team has been hurt more by free agency in the past 2 years than this team. After losing both Mark Teixiera and Francisco Rodriguez in 2008, they lost Chone Figgens, the energy of their lineup, Vladimir Guerrero, the former face of the franchise, and John Lackey, their ace, this offseason. It doesn’t help that the first two guys I mentioned went to division rivals while Lackey went to the one team they always seem to face in the playoffs.

7. Seattle Mariners

The good: The best 1-2 pitcher combo in the league with Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee add to a team that appeared to be on the verge of good things last season.

The bad: Every time they are on the verge of good things, they suck. King Felix has a history of injuries issues and their lineup overall lacks pop.

8. Minnesota Twins

The good: They return most of the core from their 2009 playoff team and get slugger Justin Morneau back from injury. Francisco Liriano should be better this year than last as that Tommy John surgery moves farther and farther into his past.

The bad: The team, overall, looks like a .500 team talent wise. I know that’s always the case, but you have to figure eventually once, they might not overachieve.

9. Chicago Cubs

The good: The talent is there and if they stay healthy and out of fights with each other, they have the talent to do good things. With Milton Bradley gone, they almost have the exact same core as their 2008 playoff team. Say what you want about Carlos Silva, who they got for Bradley in a trade, he isn’t going to cause any problems in the clubhouse. Just as long as they don’t let him on the field.

The bad: They haven’t won for 102 years. Why would this year be any different? Something always goes wrong.

10. New York Mets

The good: Getting David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana back from injury helps, as does the addition of Jason Bay. After all, they can’t have worse luck than they did last season.

The bad: Or can they?

11. Tampa Bay Rays

The good: Teams who have a sophomore slump often do better things the next season. Their young bats are still the same for the most part as they were in ’08 when they made the series.

The bad: The difference between 2008 and 2009 was not necessarily a sophomore slump. Their bullpen just went from great to awful. They didn’t fix their ‘pen that much this offseason so its hard to predict better things from it.

12. Texas Rangers

The good: This is a 95 win team if you combine their 2008 offense with their 2009 pitching.

The bad: Their pitching staff overall lacks proven guys and the bullpen isn’t much better. I could see them struggling in the deep summer in Arlington when the ball is flying.

13. San Francisco Giants

The good: If Matt Cain continues what he did in 2009 and Jonathan Sanchez builds on his late season success and finally fulfills his potential, their rotation is going to be the best in the NL.

The bad: They did the best they could adding Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa to their lineup, but I don’t think it’s enough for them to improve what was a very subpar offense in 2009, at least not enough.

14. Colorado Rockies

The good: They always seem to surprise. Last season they started off awful and made it to October. A few years ago they made the World Series when no one gave them a shot.

The bad: This team has sophomore slump written all over it. Jim Tracy cannot continue to have this success. It just doesn’t make sense. Their pitching staff lacks an ace and could struggle after losing Jason Marquis to free agency.

15. Florida Marlins

The good: They have young talent up to their eyeballs once again and are always in position to make a surprise run.

The bad: They lack any veteran leadership. Very few of their players have even made the playoffs and I can’t see them stacking up well head-to-head against some of the NL’s powerhouses.

16. Chicago White Sox

The good: A full season of Jake Peavy in that rotation is a good thing for a team that almost won the division last year.

The bad: The powerhouse that won the World Series is all but gone and replaced with a lot of new faces. The talent is there, but how will it all work together?

17. Arizona Diamondbacks

The good: Brandon Webb is back from injury, to go with Dan Haren and the recently acquired Edwin Jackson in what should be a very good rotation. Their offense has its moments too.

The bad: Their offense lacks consistency and strikes out way too much. Their defense was awful last season.

18. Cincinnati Reds

The good: After finishing 6 games under .500 last season, the Reds quietly had a good offseason adding guys like Aroldis Chapman to a mix of already good young talent and appear on the verge of being above .500.

The bad: Lack of veteran leadership, plus they been on the cusp of .500 for a while talent wise and have never gotten there.

19. Detroit Tigers

The good: A good young pitching staff lead by Justin Verlander who is under contract for the future after signing an extension. Plus they have a few potential bounce back guys in their lineup.

The bad: Losing Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson hurts. They didn’t even make the playoffs last year and now they are without two of their best players. That is not good.

20. Atlanta Braves

The good: A bunch of talented young prospects almost ready for the show could add some new life to this team and mix with some of the young talent they already have up in the majors.

The bad: They seem to be unnecessarily rebuilding after trading their ace Javier Vazquez to the Yankees for 35 cents on the dollar.

21. Milwaukee Brewers

The good: That addition of Randy Wolf to their pitching staff and one of the best farm systems in the majors which is full of talent almost ready to be plucked.

The bad: Most of those prospects play positions already taken care of at the major league level. Their rotation is still thin and their bullpen could have issues bridging the gap to Trevor Hoffman.

22. Cleveland Indians

The good: A lot of young talent in a lineup that could have a nice bounce back year. With the exception of a few players, their lineup is the same one that 96 games in 2007 and was a sleeper pick of mine last year (oops).

The bad: The pitching staff  lacks an ace, and for that matter a good #2 starter, and the bullpen isn’t much better so while they have upside, their downside is very clear.

23. Houston Astros

The good: Two powerful bats in the middle of their lineup in Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee and one of the most interesting ballparks in the majors.

The bad: Their pitching staff is a joke after Roy Oswalt, who had his share of issues last year. Their offense has promise but is nowhere near as formidable as it once was. Even losing Miguel Tejada will hurt.

24. Baltimore Orioles

The good: A lot of good young talent coming in from the Miguel Tejada and Eric Bedard trades a few offseasons ago, both of which they won. Plus, Tejada is back as a free agent, adding a veteran leader to their offense and fixing a shortstop position that has been struggling to produce runs since Tejada was traded. He’s not his MVP self, but he’ll help.

The bad: They're not ready yet. They have a lot of promise, but they aren’t ready yet. They’ll climb out of the cellar, but they’re still looking up at the Yanks, Sox, and Rays.

25. Oakland Athletics

The good: The addition of two veteran guys atop their rotation who weren’t there last year, Ben Sheets and Justin Duchscherer, adds to a young pitching staff full of talent.

The bad: I’ve never even heard of most of those guys in their lineup. Plus, neither Sheets nor Justin Duchscherer threw a pitch last year so their talent is only upside based on what they done in the past.

26. Kansas City Royals

The good: A lot of young talent led by Zach Greinke, 2009 AL Cy Young award winner, has them on the cusp of good things.

The bad: We say the same thing about them every year and they still end up in last place.

27. Toronto Blue Jays

The good: Young talent from the Roy Halladay deals adds to a core of young talent that could surprise.

The bad: But most likely they won’t surprise until 2012. Losing your ace hurts. Halladay carried that team last year and I don’t see anyone in that pitching staff who can do that. Their offense also lacks major pop, so much so that they were considering bringing back Carlos Delgado. Barring a major turn around from Vernon Wells, they will also struggle to score runs.

28. Washington Nationals

The good: Intriguing offseason additions of Chien Ming Wang and Jason Marquis help their young pitching staff while Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn add some nice pop to the middle of their lineup. Stephen Strasburg should be ready by midseason and they have the upcoming #1 pick in the draft.

The bad: Pure lack of talent in uniform. Besides the guys I named previously, they don’t have enough talented guys to do much this year, as was the case last year.

29. San Diego Padres

The good: Adrian Gonzalez

The bad: Everything else

30. Pittsburgh Pirates

The good: As far as I can tell, there are no talented players on the roster that the team can trade for pennies on the dollar at the deadline.

The bad: They did that so much last year that the team lacks any talent whatsoever.