Team Capsules National League • East • Central • West American League • East • Central • West

1. Chicago Cubs
• 2003 Finish: 88-74, 1st.
• Manager: Dusty Baker (12th season overall, 928-789).
• Ace: Is there any doubt? Mark Prior led the staff in wins (18) and the starters in ERA (2.43), but won't pitch until May because of a strained Achilles' tendon. Still, the Cubs are better equipped than any other team to suffer an injury to a top-of-the-rotation starter.
• Best Young Arm: Prior will turn 24 in September. Carlos Zambrano (13-11 with a 3.11 ERA last season) will turn 23 in June.
• Closer: Former Oriole Joe Borowski established himself as a reliable closer last season with 33 saves, becoming the first Cub to reach 30 since Rod Beck in 1998.
• Key Acquisition: Greg Maddux, 11 victories shy of 300, will start in the middle of the rotation.
• Core Question: The Cubs haven't had back-to-back winning seasons since 1971-72. The Cubs folded after the famous foul ball in Game 6 of the NLCS. The season is long, and things will go wrong. Will the Cubs be able to recover when they do?
• Projected Finish: First. If a team with a starting rotation this deep can't win the division, then pitching and defense don't win championships.

2. Houston Astros
• 2003 Finish: 87-75, 2nd.
• Manager: Jimy Williams (12th season overall, 866-746).
• Ace: Roy Oswalt, who battled a groin injury that limited him to 21 starts last season, has a better ERA during the past three years (2.92) than newcomers Andy Pettitte (3.82) and Roger Clemens (3.90) -- and the former Yankees didn't have to pitch at Minute Maid Park. Oswalt will start Opening Day.
• Best Young Arm: Oswalt will turn 27 in August, and he'll only get better after sharing a clubhouse with Pettitte and Clemens.
• Closer: Octavio Dotel (four saves) is the only player on the Astros' roster who had more than one save last season.
• Key Acquisition: Pettitte and Clemens will bolster a rotation that was last in the major leagues last year in innings pitched. Pettitte and Clemens each pitched more than 200 innings last year.
• Core Question: Will Clemens really be a different pitcher now that he has to hit? Probably not. Under what scenario does Clemens back down?
• Projected Finish: Second. The Astros improved, but not as much as the Cubs did.

3. St. Louis Cardinals
• 2003 Finish: 85-77, 3rd.
• Manager: Tony La Russa (28th season overall, 2,009-1,789).
• Ace: Matt Morris (11-8, 3.76) should be the ace but has topped 200 innings only three times in six major league seasons. Woody Williams (18-9, 3.87) led the Cardinals in victories and innings pitched (2202/3).
• Closer: Jason Isringhausen missed most of the first half of last season and only appeared in 40 games. But he had 22 saves as opponents hit .200 against him.
• Best Young Arm: This is an aging staff. Morris will turn 30 this year, and Williams 38. Does Rick Ankiel count? He's on the 40-man roster and will turn 25 in July but hasn't pitched in a major league game since 2001.
• Key Acquisition: Jeff Suppan (13-11, 4.19) should eat innings.
• Core Question: This team can hit, but how many runs will it allow before getting 27 outs?
• Projected Finish: A distant third. It's not that the Cardinals got that much worse; it's that the Astros and Cubs got that much better.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates
• 2003 Finish: 75-87, 4th.
• Manager: Lloyd McLendon (fourth season, 209-276).
• Ace: Kip Wells (10-9, 3.28) is better than his 42-44 record indicates. If he can escape Pittsburgh, he should flourish.
• Best Young Arm: Wells, acquired from the White Sox in 2002, has been the Pirates' most consistent starter.
• Closer: Jose Mesa (24 saves, 6.57 ERA with Phillies) should make the ninth inning interesting.
• Key Acquisition: They failed to trade Jason Kendall and his $8 million salary during the offseason. Does that count?
• Core Question: Will former No. 1 pick Kris Benson (14-15 in 43 starts during past two seasons) stay healthy long enough to be traded?
• Projected Finish: Fourth. The Pirates didn't get better, but they're still not as bad as the Reds or Brewers.

5. Cincinnati Reds
• 2003 Finish: 69-93, 5th.
• Manager: Dave Miley (second season, 22-35).
• Ace: Can this team get anyone out? Cory Lidle (12-15, 5.75) arrives from Toronto to bolster a staff whose ERA (5.09) was better only than the Rockies', and this staff didn't have to pitch half its games at Coors Field.
• Closer: Danny Graves saved 94 games from 2000 to '03. Then the Reds made him a starter. He's back in the bullpen this season.
• Best Young Arm: Brandon Claussen (will turn 25 in May) struck out five and allowed one earned run in 61/3 innings with the Yankees last season. Claussen was thought to have a good chance to make the rotation, but the Reds decided to send him to Class AAA to pitch every five days.
• Key Acquisition: Lidle had a 3.59 ERA in 2001 and a 3.89 ERA in 2002 with the A's. Despite his poor showing with Toronto last season, he's a proven starter on a team that needed pitching.
• Core Question: Will Ken Griffey Jr. spend more time in the training room or center field?
• Projected finish: Fifth, perhaps sixth if Barry Larkin, Griffey and Austin Kearns can't stay healthy.

6. Milwaukee Brewers
• 2003 Finish: 68-94, 6th.
• Manager: Ned Yost (second season, 68-94).
• Ace: Ben Sheets (11-13, 4.45) led the team in wins, but his ERA crept up, and he has only three complete games in 93 starts.
• Closer: Dan Kolb saved nearly a third of the Brewers' wins last season (21), and was impressive doing it, with a 1.96 ERA.
• Best Young Arm: Sheets starts his fourth major league season and will turn 26 in July.
• Key Acquisition: The Brewers got six players from the Diamondbacks for 1B Richie Sexson (.272, 45 HR), and not one hit more than 15 HR last season.
• Core Question: Wasn't the opening of Miller Park supposed to mean the Brewers would be fielding better teams?
• Projected Finish: Sixth. The next time Bud Selig talks about contraction, he should look in the mirror.

-- David Murray

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