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Will key injuries be avoided for another year? Will they be able to come close to the draft/claim success of 1999? Is there any excess to deal for picks to improve the pitching chances?  RH Factor has a different look this offseason. Gone are the days of saving five arms. Chipper and Giles significantly improve the hitting. Do Bonds, Canseco, and Edgar still have gas left in the tank? Jay Bell, O'Leary and Stairs are repeat risks. Easley, Sexson and the catchers are not sure fire savers. Thats a lot of save spots dedicated to hitting, with great potential but not without questions. Pedro is the best pitcher in baseball, but Daal projects to be the only other saved arm. There is not much excess to deal and there is no free saver help other than the acquired Giles. Is the hitting improved enough to pull 60 points? Will a bullpen be needed and are there enough draft picks left to get one? Will position problems work out, and who will be in the next group of one year positional wonders? The Swillers return most of the same vaunted hitting attack, led by Bagwell, Jeter, Green, Delgado and Bernie. Injured stars Javy Lopez and Rolen also should be ready to contribute. Tony Clark rounds out a hitting group that looks to be second to none. The question is how much steam did the failed 1999 title run take out of the pitching staff. Lima and Hampton do not have the name value and track record of most saved starters, but did post very solid numbers. Wettleland and Uggy form a solid bullpen, although Uggy is slated to be dealt in July. Free saver help is available in Tejada and Benson, and there is some high quality excess to package in deals. Can the sticks avoid injuries and line up holes to realize its potential? Has this squad taken its best shot at a championship? Will the pitching staff crumble without veteran leadership? Notorious CUZ finally started to build on the Sloths foundation in 1999. Magglio Ordonez has the look of a future stud. Giambi, Young, Salmon and Knoblauch provide very solid across the board numbers. The offense still revolves around Piazza, AROD, and Belle. The remaining six offensive spots will determine if this squad ends up at the top of the hitting heap. The saved pitching has potential but is unpredictable. Figure on three getting saved from the group of Smoltz, Colon, Garcia, and Harnisch. The bullpen returns only Benitez, although he may be even better after his breakthrough season. Free savers will not have much impact in 2000 and there is not much dealable excess. Will the incredible advantage of having Piazza at catcher last much longer? Will the franchise be able to take the next step into title contention? How much difference would a healthy AROD and Salmon make? The Monarchs are without a single top shelf hitter and therefore can't match the raw hitting numbers of others. Alfonzo and Kendall are top three at their positions. Palmer, Tino Martinez, Durham, Greer, and Jordan are nice complimentary players but seem incapable of putting up monster numbers. Rondell White, Justice, and Thomas have been injury prone and are questionable savers. Drew looks like a project. Brown is the only saved pitcher and should put up a few more big years. Urbina will return at midseason. The free savers show promise but are unlikely to provide much 2000 help. There is some dealable excess but all seem to be repeat risks. Will Thomas ever bounce back anywhere near his mid 90s form? How long will it take Kendall to get back on track after his serious injury? What are the chances of adding Alfonzo/Hampton like talent in the draft again? The Beagles top four hitters can compete with any team. Guerrero looks to be an emerging superstar, while Palmeiro, Matty Williams, and Biggio continue to be very productive as they get up in years. There is not much hitting support from the second tier. Brady Anderson is still solid, but Lofton, Fryman, and Snow are very questionable. Durazo is a projection risk, while Travis Lee and Todd Walker were very disappointing savers. Millwood, Rocker, and Mantei look like certain keeper arms. Cone and Roberto Hernandez are probably better suited to trade bait, while Park looks like he has finally worn out his welcome. Carlos Guillen might provide some free saver middle help, and depending on save decisions there may be some dealable excess. How long can the veteran hitters stay productive while waiting for help to arrive? Is there enough pitching to form a potential 50 point staff? Will deals land the two or three solid sticks that are sorely needed? PC 1st Cousins have plenty of hitting pieces, but it seems like they never come together at the same time. Juan Gonzalez and Sosa have been monsters the past two years. Castilla, Offerman, Karros, and Larkin put up solid predictable saver numbers. The kiddie corp outfield of Grieve, Abreu, and Damon looks primed to take that next step. There does not seem to be enough room for Jenkins, Brogna, and David Bell. The three man pitching staff is loaded with big name potential. Maddux, Schilling, and Orlando Hernandez may be past their prime time starters, but should have plenty of gas still left in 2000. The hitting could receive a huge boost from free savers Galarraga and Kapler, and there looks to be some hitting excess to package in upgrade deals. Is the hitting overloaded with outfielders and corners? How productive will Galarraga be, will Castilla still be in Colorado, and how will Gonzalez adjust to Detroit? Will resources be dedicated to build a bullpen from scratch? The Humpbacks would really be loaded offensively with the 4 sticks sent packing in the Unit deal. Lieberthal, Sheffield, Helton, and Vaughn still form a very nice nucleus. Jaha is a repeat risk, while Nevin and Cirillo round out the saved lumber. That leaves Edmonds, Wilson, Aurilia, and Velarde available for bargain hunters. It is time to cut bait with Buhner. This is probably the top rated winter pitching staff. Unit is old and injury prone but still a top 3 starter. Ashby and Hudson are nice solid B starters. The bullpen has two of the best with Hoffman and Shaw. Greene continues to tie up a roster spot as the only free saver. The excess available should be either included in an upgrade package or worth a draft pick. Will replacements be found for the productive no-name middles? How much gas is left in Unit's tank and what happens to the staff if he stumbles? Where does Vaughn end up and can Lieberthal repeat? The La-z-Boyz talent level slipped in 1999. Sean Casey joined Griffey and Garciaparra, but Mo Vaughn started to show signs of aging. The potential of Mondesi and Andruw Jones gets talked about year after year, yet they never put up the expected numbers. Olerud can be counted on for steady, unspectacular numbers. Daubach is a projection risk, but is the only other hitter on the squad that is close to saveable. Koch was a nice find for the bullpen, but Percival and Nen had arm problems and are injury risks for 2000. Valdes and Elarton are the best of the starters. Pettitte and Hermanson were saved previously but both had lousy seasons. The team has two nice free savers in Rookie of the Year Beltran and Ramon Martinez. There is no dealable excess. Will Mondesi and Jones ever realize their potential? Will the banged up bullpen come up with 100+ saves to warrant three save spots? Will the last three roster spots be upgraded or filled by default? The Freaks don't seem to have a rebuilding plan in place. Roberto Alomar bounced back to stud status, while Bichette put up his usual numbers. Dye and Everett emerged as saveable outfielders. There is an option on Surhoff, but he is not the answer. McGriff, Gwynn, and Caminiti are no longer predictable because of age. Lawton and Erstad disappointed and no longer look like savers. Martin and Henry Rodriguez were not bad but are never optimum savers. Chavez and Posada did not justify their lofty draft spots. Radke and Leiter are both solid B starters, but Rosado and Hitchcock would be serious reaches as savers. Jones and Howry are better suited to be first round selections. Good news for 2000 is that the team has two top quality free savers in Alou and Wood. There is obviously no excess to deal. When will the team hit on some draft picks to start the much needed infusion of youth? Will the senior citizens be healthy enough in first half to make them marketable? Was finishing fourth in 1997 a blessing or a curse? The Bombers strategy of saving loads of pitching was a disaster. The only blue chip hitter on the roster is Burnitz. O'Neill, Ripken and Finley are still saveable but probably won't be for long. You could also make an argument for Vizquel and Sanders. Widger would be the only other stick on the roster that should even be considered. The pitching went POOF. Stottlemyre, Hentgen, Appier, Beck, Olson, and Benes were all saved arms with very lousy results. Rivera is a top three closer, and Wells still has enough potential to be saved. Sele and Chen might provide some free saver help. Excess? NO Will a partner be brought in to take over the daily operations? Where do you start? Do you save the same group of arms and hope for a huge bounce back? 
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