FanHouse ThingsToWatchForIn2008

Things to watch for in 2008 is, well, FanHouse's attempt to keep track of what's worth keeping your eye on as we roll into the 2008 season, be it good, bad, or ugly.

This off-season, the Cardinals actually put bringing Tony La Russa back into the fold above hiring a new GM after Walt Jocketty left. They re-signed La Russa over a week before hiring John Mozeliak as their new GM. This was strange, as Mozeliak has since spent most of the off-season cleaning up La Russa's messes by trading away unhappy players like Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds.

Despite that, when La Russa arrived at camp last week, he had this to say about the missing players: "I'm going to miss them all, and I'll miss Scott, mainly because I think he's going to have a great year." I bet Troy Glaus loved that. Between that and calling out Adam Kennedy for missing an autograph session (did he actually think someone wanted Kennedy's autograph?), it seems like La Russa is already in mid-season form when it comes to "crustiness."

Honestly, I have no idea what brought La Russa back to the Cardinals or why the Cards wanted him back. Last year it seemed like the tension in the Cards' clubhouse was pretty palpable and La Russa certainly didn't talk or act like a guy that wanted to come back. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are in the middle of rebuilding the team in just about all aspects and just replaced La Russa's friend, Walt Jocketty, with a new GM. This really seems to me like a situation that's going to boil over in an ugly way in 2008.

Things to watch for in 2008 is, well, FanHouse's attempt to keep track of what's worth keeping your eye on as we roll into the 2008 season, be it good, bad, or ugly.

Death, taxes and Bobby Cox. For the past two decades in Atlanta, you could set your clock by those three things. The grim reaper and the IRS will be around for the foreseeable future but what about Cox? He's hinted at retirement after this year and the situation seems as ripe for a change as its been in ages.

John Schuerholz left this winter, breaking up a GM/manager tandem that had as much success as any in baseball history, and the Braves have missed the playoffs the last two seasons. Andruw Jones left town as a free agent, leaving few stalwarts from the good old days to join Cox this summer. Yet, despite all that, the Braves should be a team worth watching this summer.

They have an enviable mix of players young, old and in their prime, both on the mound and in the lineup. The Mets and Phillies will be good but if a couple of players break out, Jeff Francoeur seems on the cusp, Atlanta has enough talent to hang with them. If that happens, I'll take Cox in the dugout over Charlie Manuel and Willie Randolph. What better way to go out than on top?

Things to watch for in 2008 is, well, FanHouse's attempt to keep track of what's worth keeping your eye on as we roll into the 2008 season, be it good, bad, or ugly.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that every good young player in baseball was a member of the Red Sox or Yankees. All of the hemming and hawing associated with the Johan Santana trade was about how the two teams didn't want to give up Joba Chamberlain, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy because of how bright a future they had ahead of them. Well, as the Mets package made clear, there are good young players on other teams. Here's a quick primer on potential Rookie of the Year winners.

Evan Longoria - It's fitting that Longoria will never play for a satanically associated club because his talent is a gift from the heavens. He's going to hit for average, power, draw walks and play sound defense that will be a cornerstone of the first Tampa team to ever reach .500, be it this year or in the next few. And no, he's not Tony Parker's brother-in-law.

Jay Bruce - The name most often associated with Bruce is Larry Walker. Since he plays for the Reds he'll be putting up those numbers at sea level, which should make him a strong candidate for awards as a rookie and well beyond.

Things to watch for in 2008 is, well, FanHouse's attempt to keep track of what's worth keeping your eye on as we roll into the 2008 season, be it good, bad, or ugly.

All across Arizona and Florida this week, pitchers and catchers are reporting to camps and kicking off the 2008 baseball season. They've all got goals in mind for the coming season, but one squad faces a more daunting task than any other. While the Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka worry about defending their crown against the rest of baseball, Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny have to work to topple a much more history: their goal is to keep the Pittsburgh Pirates from being the worst franchise in the history of sports.

From 1933 to 1948, the Philadelphia Phillies lost. They lost so much that they changed their name to the Blue Jays in 1943 out of embarrassment (and changed back to the Phillies in 1945 out of even more embarrassment ... and I'm not kidding). They didn't have a winning season at all in that span and it's a record that's stood for 60 years. It's in serious trouble this year, though, as the Pirates have been losing since 1993 and in an attempt to break their fifteen year losing streak one year short of the record ... are trotting out almost the exact same team that went 68-94 last year.

There were a few teams in the NL last year that made the kind of turnaround the Pirates need to break .500 this year. The Cubs jumped almost 20 wins, but spent almost $300 million to do so. The D'Backs and Rockies both jumped 14 wins, but they both had loads of young talent ready to change the direction of their franchise. The Pirates have neither $300 million, nor loads of young talent. There's very little that's stopping this train at this point. At least Pirate fans get to see some history this year.

Things to watch for in 2008 is, well, FanHouse's attempt to keep track of what's worth keeping your eye on as we roll into the 2008 season, be it good, bad, or ugly.

Baseball is often criticized for it's competitive imbalance and it's true that the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" in baseball is wider than it is in any other sport. Still, the league has been doing it's share to expand revenue sharing and last year's playoffs showed that more and more small-market teams are getting in on the act and creating the parity that the league was sorely lacking in the earlier part of this decade.

This year's National League is a great example. Of the sixteen teams, at eight and probably closer to twelve have a real shot at contending in their divisions and the league in general this year. Honestly, I'd only really count out the Pirates, Nationals, Marlins, and Giants at this point. And maybe the NL is the weaker league, but Johan Santana and Danny Haren both switched sides this year and hey, didn't Eli Manning just beat Tom Brady in the Super Bowl?

A breakdown of the parity is coming after the jump.