Los Angeles Dodgers

Last year’s NL West champs have a bunch of guys fighting for a spot in the rotation. Eric Stults, Charlie Haeger and Carlos Monasterios all pitched in the spring opener, with James McDonald set to go later in the week. Monasterios is a Rule V pick, so if he doesn’t make the Dodgers big league club, he’ll be returned to Philadelphia which seems extremely likely. James McDonald is the odds on favorite to win the spot like he did last year. He promptly lost that spot last season, but with another year under his belt he may have turned a corner. Other things to keep in mind, here, are that both Stults and Haeger are out of options and would have to clear waivers to be assigned to the minors.

New York Yankees

Joba or Hughes. If you turn on ESPN and happen to catch some kind of baseball coverage, this is probably going to be brought up at least once. This battle is interesting for fantasy teams, because in most leagues, one will have good value and the other won’t have much. Keep an eye on this one.

Chicago Cubs

This battle is for both the fourth and fifth starting spots to start the year, due to Ted Lilly’s shoulder/knee/flu/fever problems early this spring. The candidates are Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, and with a very outside chance, Andrew Cashner. The pitcher that should win this is Gorzelanny. The Cubs will likely need a few starts to fill in for Lilly and Marshall or Silva could probably fill in there. Tom Gorzelanny has the ability to be a good starting pitcher in the major leagues. As long as his velocity and location is sharp, he could even be a fantasy sleeper.

St. Louis Cardinals

Ryan McClellan, Jaime Garcia, and Rich Hill are the major candidates. Hill comes with former success in the bigs with the Cubs. If he can find his control again, he’s an absolutely nasty pitcher who has the potential to be a #3 starter. McClellan will try to make the conversion from relieving to starting this season. There is no clear favorite here since all have major question marks. Jaime Garcia has battled injuries, but was a highly touted minor leaguer. He could surprise some people this year.

Cincinnati Reds

The candidates are Mike Lincoln, Micah Owings, Matt Maloney, Justin Lehr and Travis Wood, as well as Aroldis Chapman who has an uphill battle to break camp with the Reds. You’d have to think Owings has the edge here, due to his past success. His ability to swing the bat doesn’t hurt, either. If Chapman does end up winning the battle, look for him to be a good source of strikeouts for your fantasy team.

Oakland Athletics

All of the candidates here have had major league experience despite all being under 24 years old. Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Vin Mazzaro are the candidates. The edge as of now looks to be with Cahill, although in his Cactus League opener, he struggled. As is the A’s M.O., whoever breaks camp with the team likely won’t pitch all season long in an effort to monitor their innings pitched closely. All three of these pitchers will probably see time in the major leagues next season.

There are plenty of other fifth starter battles in the big leagues, but these seem to be the most interesting and have fantasy value in deep leagues. Keep an eye on these six teams as March moves forward.

Key losses- Doug Davis, Max Scherzer, Eric Byrnes

Key additions- Edwin Jackson, Bob Howry, Kelly Johnson, Adam LaRoche

Off-season grade- C+

Justification- I don’t quite understand trading Max Scherzer for Edwin Jackson. I feel Scherzer is a better pitcher than Jackson. It’s possible they view Scherzer as a reliever. I like the signing of Kelly Johnson a lot. I think he will have a bounce back season and should be a bargain at $2 million. LaRoche should add some power to their lineup.

Colorado Rockies

Key losses- Jason Marquis, Garrett Atkins, Matt Murton

Key additions- Rafael Betancourt (re-signed), Miguel Olivo

Off-season grade- C

Justification- They didn’t lose anyone significant, but they didn’t add anything either. Their bullpen should continue to be a strength with the re-signing of Betancourt.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Key losses- Randy Wolf, Juan Pierre, Jon Garland, Orlando Hudson

Key additions- Russ Ortiz, Doug Mientkiewicz, Andre Ethier (re-signed), Matt Kemp (re-signed)

Off-season grade- C-

Justification- They lost some decent starters and didn’t replace them. Orlando Hudson had a nice season for the Dodgers last year and filed for free agency. Re-Signing Kemp and Ethier is a plus.

San Francisco Giants

Key losses- Brad Penny, Bob Howry, Ryan Garko

Key additions- Mark DeRosa, Aubrey Huff, Bengie Molina

Off-season grade- C-

Justification- The DeRosa signing is a plus. He gives the Giants versatility.  I’m not sure what Aubrey Huff adds to the team. I’m also confused as to why any GM would give Bengie Molina decent money for production that a minor leaguer could give you. This also blocks Buster Posey from getting playing time. They are also wasting his service time. I’m not sure what Sabean is trying to accomplish.

San Diego Padres

Key losses- Kevin Kouzmanoff

Key additions- Jerry Hairston, Scott Hairston, Heath Bell (re-signed)

Off-season grade- D

Justification- I don’t like the Padres trading Kouzmanoff because he is an above average defensively. Jerry Hairston gives the Padres versatility. Scott Hairston can provide a nice bat versus left-handed pitching. I question the Padres desire to put a winning product on the field. They were able to sign Heath Bell to a reasonable contract and he could become a valuable piece around the trade deadline.

Awesome speed. Good bat. Great range, but needs to work on his hands. Rafael Furcal might be on his way out if Gordon has as good a 2010 as he did 2009.

2) Ethan Martin-SP

Live fastball with a good breaking ball. I like his control a little more than Chris Withrow’s. I think he could eventually be as good as a 2.

3) Aaron Miller- SP

Good left handed starter that knows how to pitch. I know alot of projections have him being a 3/4 guy, but I see more potential in him. Could be another 2.

4) Chris Withrow-SP

Has all the tools in the world. He’s kind of all over the place which will hurt him a bit, but he’s got the stuff you look for in an ace. I just don’t know when or if he’ll ever be able to harness it.

5) Scott Elbert-SP

Left handed power guy. The only reason he’s ranked so low on my list is his health issues.

6) Josh Lindblom- CP/RP

Sinkerballer that’s deadly on righties. So deadly that he could be a late inning option by 2011.

7) Allen Webster-SP

A young power arm that made amazing strides in 2009. He’s on the way, and could turn out to be the best one out of everyone on here.

8) Trayvon Robinson-OF

Another young guy that had an awesome 2009. He’s got all the makings of being a major leaguer for a long time. I’d like to see him duplicate that success this year before I start calling him the next Matt Kemp.

9) Andrew Lambo-OF

Had a tough time in 2009. Not to worry- I think he’ll rebound.

10) Kyle Russell- OF

I couldn’t decide who I liked more between like…4 players so I’m going with my 5th as a potential sleeper. He’s got a nasty amount of power- I know he struck out a TON last year- but that’s why I’m going with him as a sleeper.