Can Ryan Dempster successfully go back to starting?

National League East

Atlanta Braves

The rotation for the Braves still is not shaping up. Mike Hampton has already suffered a minor injury and Chuck James is still not a sure thing to be ready to start the season. Jo-Jo Reyes is helping by pitching himself out of the running though. Jair Jurrjens faded after a few starts last year, but stands a good chance to have a rotation spot while the injuries sort themselves out.

Florida Marlins

It seems likely at this point that Dallas McPherson is going to lose out on the third base battle, but how much time Jose Castillo spends there over Jorge Cantu remains to be seen. Sergio Mitre will miss the beginning of the season, but should be able to get by with Ricky Nolasco or Rick Vanden Hurk until he is ready. They should be fine for a team in the Marlins situation, even if not for your fantasy team.

New York Mets

With Moises Alou out for a minimum of the first month of the season (with this injury), Endy Chavez will likely be the beneficiary (again). However, the Mets might be willing to pursue a trade for a veteran – Juan Rivera was with Omar’s team once before – or one of the dwindling supply of free agents. The Mets have denied looking at Barry Bonds, but…

Philadelphia Phillies

I do not think there is anyone that does not realize that Chase Utley is the premier player at his position, but in an effort to drive up his bid price in my local auctions, now is when I start talking up his potential to be 2008’s MVP. Three different MVP’s in the three years would be historical. Okay, the Big Red Machine having the MVP’s in 1970, 1972 (Johnny Bench), 1973 (Pete Rose), 1975, 1976 (Joe Morgan), and 1977 (George Foster) is actually more impressive, and the Yankees had three in a row in the early 60’s starting with Roger Maris’ second MVP, but those were different times.

There is no doubt that the Phillies will put up runs. After the Wes Helms experiment proved to be a failure, bringing Pedro Feliz in to probably hit 25 home runs near the bottom of the order should be an improvement.

Washington Nationals

Given the team’s short history, it should not be a surprise that their middle infield situation involves having the most talented, Felipe Lopez, probably being the odd man out despite having the fifth highest salary on the team. His spring numbers are the worst, but who really looks at those?

The pitching rotation has lots of options, some injured, some trying to establish themselves, and some trying to re-establish themselves – a repeat of last year seems likely.

National League Central

Chicago Cubs

The experiment to flip Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood is actually going well right now.

Mark DeRosa returned from his setback only to have Felix Pie suffering from an injury that is too, well, I cannot even describe it. If Pie is out for a significant period, the Cubs will have to look elsewhere – could it be Coco Crisp? Rumor has it that the Sox and Cubs are talking…

Cincinnati Reds

With the signing of Corey Patterson, the Reds have pretty much consigned Jay Bruce to another year in the minors – with Bruce 20, it seems like a good idea. Whether Patterson fits the team better than either Norris Hopper or Ryan Freel does remains to be seen, but you have to wonder how many speedy light-hitting outfielders they will need. The Reds still have a ton of pitchers in camp, and it seems like there will not be a decision on the final three starters after Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo until nearly the last minute.

Houston Astros

Weird injuries are going around as one of last year’s surprises. Hemorrhoids, probably the weirdest of his many injuries since he came to the National League, have debilitated Kaz Matsui. This should not be enough of an injury to prevent them from dealing Mark Loretta, who is potential trade bait, especially with the Orioles possibly trading away Brian Roberts.

Pittsburgh Pirates

It looks like Nate McLouth will indeed be the starting center fielder for the Pirates. It is possible they will be able to trade Xavier Nady, which would open up time for Ryan Doumit, or hopefully Steven Pearce, who is only 24, but seems capable of taking over an outfield spot now.

St. Louis Cardinals

Well, Albert Pujols still is not injured enough to worry about, but a nagging suspicion that this could be the year that it becomes a problem pervades my NL draft strategy. Obviously, the Cards are worried too, since they signed Josh Phelps as a potential backup. Laugh if you will – that happened the last time I drafted him as my starting DH, back in 2005. Well, to be honest, that did not work out so well. However, he does have a little power, and sufficient on base skills that I think he should have found a job as backup first baseman/DH somewhere.

After Joel Piñeiro scrubbed out for the Red Sox and did so well for the Cards, it only makes sense that Matt Clement would go to St. Louis. Look for him to unseat someone from the pitching staff eventually this summer.

National League West

Arizona Diamondbacks

So far, Chad Tracy has not lived up to the promise of 2005, though injury certainly played a part last year. This year he is doubtful for Opening Day, leaving the door open again for Mark Reynolds. Reynolds is not building a good case for himself this spring, but did hit 17 homers last year.

Colorado Rockies

Marcus Giles had an incredibly disappointing year in 2007 in San Diego, but he is the best option at second this year. Jayson Nix will be there for the future unless either Ian Stewart or Jeff Baker, both of whom have most of their experience at the corners, unseats him. They both have a lot of future potential, which could possibly happen this year.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Well, just when it looked like Andy LaRoche would beat out Nomar Garciaparra for the starting role, he goes and gets hurt for a couple of months. Garciaparra of course is already battling a minor injury.

Veteran Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda has been impressing with his stuff so far, despite the numbers not exactly going along with that.

San Diego Padres

Jim Edmonds’ injury may actually help the Padres. Edmonds is likely out for the first two weeks of the season, at least. With Scott Hairston and Brian Giles at the corners, they probably had the weakest offensive outfield in the National League. This gives them a chance to audition Chase Headley. Kevin Kouzmanoff was blocking his playing time at third, when he had a good chance of being able to produce at a major league level.

San Francisco Giants

With Noah Lowry out for a while, Jonathon Sanchez will probably be the No. 5 starter. He has been inconsistent this spring. Last year he proved he could strike out batters at least and maintain a K/BB over 2:1. Kevin Correia has improved over the spring, and was largely successful last year – he could certainly end up with the last spot in the rotation over Sanchez after Lowry comes back.