Arizona Diamondbacks
1. Can the D-Backs push off the ravages of advancing age?
Young teams tend to get better without much tinkering from the front office, and old teams tend to get worse. The Snakes have a roster of key players that includes Randy Johnson (age 39), Curt Schilling (36), Steve Finley (38), Luis Gonzalez (35), and Matt Williams (37). It'd take a pretty impressive stroke of luck for all of them, or even most of them, to be both healthy and effective in 2003.

	Erubiel Durazo First Base Arizona Diamondbacks Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R OPS AVG 76 16 48 46 .944 .261

2. Who's on first?
Erubiel Durazo sure didn't look particularly comfortable in the outfield, the D-Backs haven't fallen over themselves to exercise their option on the aging Mark Grace, and Lyle Overbay isn't going to be able to either shift positions or remind anyone of Jim Thome. Given management's previous reticence to commit to Durazo, one wonders whether they'll ship their best first-base option out of town.

3. Whither Greg Maddux?
The D-Backs rotation has a notorious two-and-out image, and the D-Backs and Maddux's agent, the esteemed Scott Boras, appear to have some mutual interest. There would be worse No. 3 starters in the league, but can the D-Backs invest in another player born during or before the Johnson administration?

4. Can Byung-Hyun Kim be an effective starter?
True submarine starters are few and far between, but Arizona seems determined to find out. Kim's been extremely effective out of the bullpen, and it's a gutsy move to pull him out of there and throw him into the rotation. If it works out, Bob Brenly and GM Joe Garagiola Jr. will look like geniuses.

5. Is it finally John Patterson time?
Patterson, he of the famous signing bonus, appears to have recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery, and is throwing hard and nasty. Will he stay healthy enough to fight through the rough patches and contribute? One AL general manager thinks so: "If I could get John Patterson right now, there's pretty much no one I wouldn't give up."

San Francisco Giants
1. Should Kent stay, or should he go?
Jeff Kent, the other guy on the Giants who can actually hit, is a free agent, and there's a lot of interest. Barry Bonds wants Kent back. GM Brian Sabean and owner Peter Magowan want Kent back, at the right price and under the right circumstances. Does Kent want to come back, or will he take the money from elsewhere (the Dodgers?) and run?

2. So long, Dusty?
Dusty Baker is one of baseball's most respected managers, and there's no shortage of opportunities for him to move elsewhere. Will the Giants come up with the money and situation necessary to keep Baker? If not, who replaces him?

3. Can Magowan keep the front office intact?
It's not just Kent and Baker that can walk away. GM Brian Sabean is also a free agent, and there's interest in Sabean from clubs a long way from San Francisco. Will Magowan be able to pay him enough to stay? If Baker and Sabean both command big contracts, will there be enough money left to pay Bonds and fill out the roster with players that can win a championship? Mr. Magowan has a thin line to walk.

4. Why pitch to Bonds?
Even if Kent returns, the Giants need to find a way to force opposing teams to pitch to Bonds. The Giants' concentration of their offensive prowess is ridiculously off the charts. They need two more guys that get on base, and that doesn't mean more Darren Bakers.

5. Where's the farm system?
The Giants' farm system has a few arms in it, but they haven't developed a legitimate hitter in some time. If they think Pedro Feliz and Tony Torcato are success stories, they need a perception adjustment in a big hurry. The Giants have some arms in the minors, like Jerome Williams, Boof Bonser, and Kurt Ainsworth, but they need to come up with a way to actually turn out the occasional hitter.

Los Angeles Dodgers
1. Can they maintain their league-leading dollar/healthy ligament ratio?
Darren Dreifort and Kevin Brown will receive $26 million between them this year, no matter how often or effectively they pitch. Andy Ashby will pull in an additional $8 million. If it wasn't for Odalis Perez and Hideo Nomo, the Dodgers rotation last year would have been an expensive catastrophe of Pluto Nash proportions. L.A. needs one of the injured to step forward, at the very least.

2. Will the corporate culture of Fox allow them to start building from scratch?
Hard to believe that watching a parade in Disneyland sits too well with the Dodger brass. Given the Dodgers' recent penchant for the overexpensive, undereffective quick fix, will they have the discipline to focus on player development?

	Kazuhisa Ishii Starting Pitcher Los Angeles Dodgers Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM W-L IP H K ERA 28 14-10 154 137 143 4.27

3. What can they get out of Kazuhisa Ishii?
Ishii was at least three different pitchers last season for the Dodgers, and only one of them was any good. Ishii is recovering from surgery after being struck by a line drive late in the season which fractured his sinus cavity. Betting on him to be a good starting pitcher is probably unwise.

4. What's up with Adrian Beltre?
Beltre will play next season at either 23 or 24, depending on which birthdate you believe. He lost a season of development to appendicitis and complications from associated surgery, but there's still plenty of reason for concern. No part of Beltre's game is progressing. And from a Dodger perspective, if it progresses now, it's going to cost a fortune to keep him as a free agent.

5. Can anyone on this team besides Shawn Green actually hit?
Jim Tracy has worked some magic, but he can't reasonably be expected to lead L.A. to the promised land when Green's surrounded by a bunch of guys who don't hit for average or power, and don't walk. Even taking Dodger Stadium's fabled bias towards pitching into account, this team needs some bats.

Colorado Rockies
1. How do you win at altitude?
No one's really figured that out. Even when the Rockies had some success in 1995, it's clear they didn't understand why. Instead of crediting one of the best bullpen years ever, they still believed it was because of the altitude-inflated numbers of overrated sluggers. GM Dan O'Dowd is still looking for something to hang onto, having now tried pitching, defense, power, and Juan Pierre.

2. Who will save the Rockies from themselves?
Denny Neagle's got them on the hook for $37 million over the next four season. Mike Hampton? $84.5 million through 2009. Larry Walker? Minimum of $38.5 million through 2006. Todd Helton? $119 million through 2011. Even the good players are grossly overpaid. Can O'Dowd find anyone to take any of these stones from around his neck? Would it matter, or would the savings just go to picking up middle relievers for $3 million apiece?

3. Does it make sense to tear everything down?
A 73-win season in a division with teams with more money, more youth, and better management makes it hard to do. In addition to having to trade undumpable contracts, there needs to be a future to build toward. Are Jason Jennings, Aaron Cook, Chin-Hui Tsao, Garrett Atkins, Jack Cust, and Brad Hawpe enough?

4. Can they stop or slow the attendance dropoff?
As the Rockies slowly fell out of the race, fans no longer crammed Coors Field on a nightly basis. Given the salary load the Rockies face, what kind of belt-tightening will have to occur if the revenue starts to really dry up?

5. How many runs can they put up?
Yes, Walker can hit when healthy, and Helton's a good first baseman, but beyond that, who's going to produce? Juan Pierre? Gabe Kapler? Jose Ortiz? The Rockies need a lot of guys to play to the level of potential they once showed, and they need some guys to perform even better than that. This is not a good offensive team, and they need to either find a place for guys like Cust, get better at developing offensive players, or go get a couple of bats. If possible, they should do all three.

San Diego Padres
1. Will the pitchers mature?
No team has nastier young pitching than the Padres, who could potentially have an entire rotation of great starters who are barely old enough to vote. If Oliver Perez, Jake Peavy, Dennis Tankersley, Brian Lawrence, Adam Eaton, and Brett Tomko are all healthy and effective, San Diego will have a great problem to deal with -- too many good, young starting pitchers. Managers hate that.

2. Will the hitters mature?
A lot of Padre hopes are pinned on young hitters like Tagg Bozied, Xavier Nady and Sean Burroughs. It's a good bet that all three will be productive major-league hitters, but when that will actually happen is not something the Padres will control. If they all hit, the Padres will find ways to get them PAs.

3. Who plays middle infield?
The Padres have abandoned the Burroughs-to-second experiment, leaving them with an abundance of players at the corners in the majors and minors, including Ryan Klesko, Phil Nevin, Burroughs, Bubba Trammell, Nady, and Bozied. Meanwhile, the middle infield choices include Deivi Cruz, Ramon Vazquez, and Cesar Crespo, none of whom strikes fear into the hearts of the opposition.

4. How large is the window?
With a new stadium in the works, the heart of the offense in its late prime, and a mixture of great young pitching, will the Padres be able to put it all together, and build a team that fills a ballpark and wins pennants before the young talent gets too expensive to retain? It's a tough but possible balancing act.

5. Will Nevin return to form?
Nevin suffered a broken arm in 2002, and his production dropped across the board. He's 32 next season, and the Padres have made a financial commitment to him through 2006. They need Nevin to bounce back and be among the elite offensive performers in the league.

You can check out more work from the team of writers of the Baseball Prospectus (tm) at their web site at baseballprospectus.com. Gary Huckabay can be reached at ghuckabay@baseballprospectus.com.