4. NEW YORK METS

For all the concerns regarding Pedro Martinez's health, the Mets' new ace hasn't exactly been sitting down on the job. In fact, he's made 29 or more starts in each of the last three seasons. (Rick Silva -- AP)

New general manager Omar Minaya -- who left the Montreal Expos last September -- made sure no team made a bigger splash in free agency than the Mets, who signed the best pitcher (Pedro Martinez) and player (Carlos Beltran) on the market. That, in turn, ratcheted up expectations in Flushing, where the Mets have averaged nearly 91 losses the past three seasons.

But this equation is ripe for disappointment. Most people consider Beltran one of the rising stars in the game. But he has never finished among the top 10 in his league in either homers or RBI and has failed to hit .300 in four of his six full seasons. If he starts slowly in New York, how long before the boo-birds come out? Mike Piazza provides the bat behind Beltran, but he's 36 and coming off a year in which he established career lows for average (.266), homers (20) and RBI (54) for seasons in which he played more than 100 games.

Martinez still has ace-like qualities, and the return to the National League -- where he won his first Cy Young Award, with the Expos in 1997 -- could do him some good. For all the talk about his frail nature, he has made at least 29 starts in each of the last three seasons. He's only 33. On a staff which boasts a crafty, over-the-hill veteran (Tom Glavine), unrealized potential (Kris Benson) and a potential stud (Victor Zambrano), can Martinez be a true ace again?