Twenty players who could have breakout seasons:

1. Lance Berkman, Houston. He still has some issues batting right-handed, but he hit 21 homers in half a season with an OPS higher than Junior Griffey.

2. Eric Chavez, Oakland. The new strike zone may necessitate an adjustment, but after hitting 26 homers at age 22 and with a winter of hard conditioning, he's ready to enter the 35-40-homer, .290-.300 arena. One can debate for hours about which of the young Oakland players will be the best 10 years from now -- just don't count out Chavez.

3. Matt Morris, St. Louis. One relief year off surgery. Best stuff on the Cardinals staff. He's ready.

4. Tomo Ohka, Boston. In 10 of his 12 starts, the slight right-hander shut down opposing teams. His teammates think he's a 12-15 game winner, and if he comes up with a breaking ball -- and he has the makings of a nice curveball if he'll stick with it -- he could do just that.

5. Dmitri Young, Cincinnati. All it will take for him to move to another plateau from .303/18/88 is better plate discipline (just 36 walks) and continued progress elevating the ball. The man can hit.

6. Adrian Beltre, Los Angeles. Check his progression: .215-.275-.290 average, 7-15-20 homers, .493-.700-.835 OPS. Star.

7. Ben Petrick, Colorado. Not only has he batted .322 with a .901 OPS in slightly more than 200 major-league at-bats, but he's a good athlete, can run and at 24 is ready to take off.

8. Paul Wilson, Tampa Bay. Everyone who's ever met this man roots for him after three serious arm injuries. By the end of last season he was throwing in the mid-90s, his curveball was coming back and he had more strikeouts (40) than hits allowed (38) in 51 innings. Great, great story.

9. A.J. Burnett, Florida. It's been a long road back for the colorful right-hander with top-of-the-rotation stuff. He has 20 big-league starts under his belt, and by midseason could take off like Ryan Dempster.

10. Rondell White, Chicago Cubs. Sure, he's 29 and a career .294 hitter. But Rondell has yet to have that .300/30-homer season -- and now, healthy, off turf and happy as he's ever been, he's ready to have it.

11. Randy Wolf, Philadelphia. On a weak team, 11-9, 4.36 was pretty good. But in 20 of his 32 starts he went seven innings. In nine of those he allowed one or fewer runs, but in those nine games was 3-1 with five no-decisions. Give this man a bullpen!

12. LaTroy Hawkins, Minnesota. Yes, he's 28-49, 5.76 lifetime. But Bob Tewksbury always believed in him because he's got a good arm, he's an exceptional athlete, he listens and wants to be good. At 28, he may have found his role as closer, and will be given every opportunity to blossom.

13. Juan Pierre, Colorado. The prototypical Coors center fielder. This winter, he missed only five days of 7 a.m. workouts at the park -- and those five days were for his wedding and honeymoon. After adding 13 pounds of muscle he may be strong enough to take the rigors of that open space and the long season.

14. Juan Encarnacion, Detroit. He hit .289 with 14 homers, and his teammates believe that he will learn to be more selective and hit for power and average.

15. J.D. Drew, St. Louis. It's hard when you're compared to Mickey Mantle and you haven't hit with a wood bat. But J.D. is a very skilled player who may come out of his shell more this year. One less trip to Philly won't hurt.

16. Doug Davis, Texas. The 7-6, 5.36 record wasn't impressive, but his catchers swear by him and the opportunity is there.

17. Vernon Wells, Toronto. There are few better defenders, and he's coming into camp looking as if he could play for the Ravens. He dawdled last season because he was sent down, and it won't happen again. If he has a monster spring, look for the Jays to trade Raul Mondesi or Junior Cruz for pitching; they'd prefer to move Mondesi, who's never knocked in 100 runs.

18. Peter Bergeron, Montreal. He was rushed and overwhelmed, but had a big winter getting on base. That's what he has to do.

19. Jim Parque, Chicago White Sox. After going from 7-15 to 13-6 and lowering his ERA nearly a run, GM Ken Williams is convinced that he'll improve his consistency throwing strikes and have the kind of season Mike Sirotka had.

20. Jeff Weaver, Detroit. After being rushed too quickly, he's gone from 9-12, 5.55 to 11-15, 4.32 and now can win 15 games with an ERA in the threes. He's got No. 1 makeup, and may be there in 2002.