| 1. | Boston Red Sox | No A-Rod, but Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke cement the Pedro Martinez-led staff. |
| 2. | Chicago Cubs | Young pitching matures. Note the "time-to-beat the curses" theme. |
| 3. | Anaheim Angels | Add Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon to a solid nucleus, then dig the rally monkey out of the closet. |
| 4. | Houston Astros | Can Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte help Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggo reach elusive postseason success? |
| 5. | Philadelphia Phillies | A big payroll boost thanks to a new ballpark rebuilds the bullpen, with Billy Wagner at the end. |
| 6. | New York Yankees | Were they worried about the Red Sox? Guess so - to the tune of, oh, $150 million or so for Alex Rodriguez. |
| 7. | Florida Marlins | Defending champs lose catcher-of-fortune Ivan Rodriguez, but so what? It's about the young arms. |
| 8. | Cincinnati Reds | OK. We confess. Just checking to see if you were paying attention. |
| 9. | San Francisco Giants | Can they really remake this team, again? Two words: Barry Bonds. |
| 10. | Atlanta Braves | Where were you in 1990, the last time they didn't finish first? |
| 11. | Oakland Athletics | Shortstop Miguel Tejada's gone, but Hudson-Mulder-Zito made up for loss of Jason Giambi, too. |
| 12. | Seattle Mariners | Until proven otherwise. Randy Johnson, Junior Griffey and A-Rod leave, but winning doesn't. |
| 13. | Minnesota Twins | Shannon Stewart and the Baggy stay; Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins go. |
| 14. | Kansas City Royals | Funny how this small-market team can come up with cash for players (Juan Gonzalez). |
| 15. | Chicago White Sox | Enough talent to join Twins, Royals in AL Central slugfest. |
| 16. | Los Angeles Dodgers | New owner might yet spend money. Get a lead, hand the ball to Eric Gagne. |
| 17. | San Diego Padres | Another new ballpark, another team putting its money where its hopes are. |
| 18. | Montreal Expos | No Vlad, but never underestimate manager Frank Robinson's magic. |
| 19. | St. Louis Cardinals | Pitching staff suspect, but Albert Pujols just might be the next Bonds. |
| 20. | Toronto Blue Jays | Added Pat Hentgen and Miguel Batista, presumably to help overcome loss of Cory Lidle. |
| 21. | Baltimore Orioles | Javy Lopez, Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro and Sidney Ponson mean one thing: another fourth-place finish. |
| 22. | Arizona Diamondbacks | Getting old, but there are some live young arms behind the Big Unit. We'll miss you, Mark Grace. |
| 23. | New York Mets | Typical. Yankees add Godzilla Matsui, Mets add pip-squeak shortstop Matsui. |
| 24. | Colorado Rockies | Todd Helton putting up Lou Gehrig numbers, Coors Field or not. |
| 25. | Cleveland Indians | Battle of Ohio. Who can rebuild with youngsters more quickly, the Tribe or the Reds? |
| 26. | Milwaukee Brewers | Richie Sexson is gone; the Selig family is soon to follow. |
| 27. | Tampa Bay Devil Rays | Don Zimmer is Lou Piniella's senior baseball adviser. Can't wait for the first co-tantrum. |
| 28. | Detroit Tigers | Nice move, Pudge. Sure, it's not about the money. |
| 29. | Pittsburgh Pirates | Quick, name three players not named Jason Kendall. |
| 30. | Texas Rangers | Alex Rodriguez leaving AL West cellar, but you can bet he'll keep his wine cellar. |
