[ThePundit]

These are rankings of Newsday Baseball Columnist Ken Davidoff of Newsday:

Sorry Florida, I guess I'm not the only one who wasn't a big fan of the Marlins giving their whole team away.

(Last year's final regular-season rank in parentheses)

1. White Sox (2) Defending champions made bold moves during the winter.

2. Athletics (9) Their starting rotation is ridiculously stacked.

3. Yankees (3) The organization has made a significant turn, in the right direction, since last year at this time.

4. Angels (6) The farm system, highly touted, gets put to the test.

5. Red Sox (4) The toughest good team to read, even after a full spring training.

6. Indians (5) Bad winter, but very smart front office.

7. Mets (11) Love the Brian Bannister-Aaron Heilman decision. Heilman strengthens the bullpen considerably.

8. Astros ( It's good that the Jeff Bagwell situation is resolved.

9. Blue Jays (19) Big question is whether the top pitching duo of Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett can stay healthy.

10. Braves (7) The person most on the spot is new pitching coach Roger McDowell.

11. Cardinals (1) Plenty of fun to be had at new Busch Stadium, surely, but the team will be a disappointment.

12. Dodgers (25) So many new players, and most of them (not Nomar Garciaparra) should help.

13. Brewers (16) Looking forward to seeing Prince Fielder play every day.

14. Twins (15) Can't completely write them off, not with such a strong pitching staff.

15. Phillies (10) They, like the Braves and Mets, will enjoy 38 scheduled games against the Nationals and Marlins.

16. Padres (14) A fantastic team ... if this were 1998.

17. Giants (21) Barry Bonds' right knee aches from merely standing up, so a full season is unrealistic.

18. Tigers (24) Between Jim Leyland's return as skipper and young pitchers Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya, they should at least be more interesting to watch.

19. Rangers (17) Adam Eaton was never going to work out. Meanwhile, the clock ticks for Buck Showalter.

20. Orioles (23) It's time for young arms Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera to blossom.

21. Diamondbacks (20) New GM Josh Byrnes has a handle on things. This will be a positive season.

22. Devil Rays (27) Free parking for the fans, and given the Rays' pitching staff, free runs for the opponents.

23. Nationals (12) Next year at this time - pray for this - there will be an actual owner, a new GM and new manager, and a plan for the future.

24. Pirates (29) May they at least be respectable at the All-Star break, when they'll host the Midsummer Classic.

25. Cubs (1 With Mark Prior and Kerry Wood both injured, they appear doomed.

26. Reds (22) Bronson Arroyo will help a little, but they still can't pitch.

27. Mariners (26) GM Bill Bavasi must be canned so Felix Hernandez doesn't spend his career on a loser.

28. Rockies (2 Maybe by next year, they'll be a real factor.

29. Royals (30) So little to offer to these starving fans.

30. Marlins (13) Someday, as a veteran manager, Joe Girardi will look back and say, "2006, that was miserable."

[Lefty Noob]

Wow, he sure is a lot higher on the A's and Astros than I'd have expected. Sure, Oakland's got a excellent staff now, but how many of them will be there to end the year? And Houston, I'm predicting, is headed for a big drop off in terms of production. Also a little surprised to see the Mariners so close to the bottom and the Tigers near the middle of the pack. Can Leyland really make that big a difference? Can't wait to see how this season plays out!

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by ThePundit

28. Rockies (2 Maybe by next year, they'll be a real factor.

29. Royals (30) So little to offer to these starving fans.

30. Marlins (13) Someday, as a veteran manager, Joe Girardi will look back and say, "2006, that was miserable."

MLB should be like Soccer in Europe, where the bottom three teams are relegated to the minors... ...And the top three minor league teams are promoted for one glorious season!... ...That would fix a few things...

[BigBadBuc]

Gotham,

The real question here is this. Do you think Davids(on) or is Davidoff?

BBB

[MVB]

Yanks should be higher......... I am not prejudice!!!

Anyway, the A's shouldn't even be in the top ten. Yeah, the pitching is good ( not as good as the Angel's or White Sox's), but the offense is very lacking. Indians should be lower. They had a TERRIBLE offseason..... Brewers are too high..... Pirates are too low.... they'll be better then the D' Rays and Orioles at least.

[ThePundit]

The thing that stuck out at me was that the first 6 teams are all from the AL and his topped ranked NL team is the Mets..He even has the Blue Jays ahead of the Card and Braves.....I agree with MVB that the Pirates should be higher. I think the Brewers are too high and the Reds not high enough.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by ThePundit

The thing that stuck out at me was that the first 6 teams are all from the AL and his topped ranked NL team is the Mets..He even has the Blue Jays ahead of the Card and Braves.....I agree with MVB that the Pirates should be higher. I think the Brewers are too high and the Reds not high enough.

One man's list, is another man's water cooler fodder...