STARTING PITCHING … Cliff Lee anchored Philadelphia's rotation all season and was its lone bright spot in the World Series, but the Phillies traded him away to Seattle. In his place is Roy Halladay, acquired from Toronto, who is actually an upgrade over Lee. The rest of the rotation remains intact: Cole Hamels, perhaps second only to Jennie Finch among female pitchers, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyer. Moyer is ancient and can rarely hit the low 80s on the gun, but he can still give hitters problems with his location and old-man smell.

STARTING PITCHING … Longtime ace John Lackey left via free agency to Boston, but Jered Weaver shouldn't have too much difficulty stepping into that role. The rest of the rotation — Scott Kazmir, Joel Pineiro, and Ervin Santana — is a bit of a concern, however. All three have struggled with consistency in their careers. The Angels need that to change if they hope to return to the playoffs. (The Angels should also probably clarify to those guys that they want them to be consistently good, not consistently bad.)

STARTING PITCHING … Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley both have the stuff to be a No. 1 starter, but neither one has displayed enough on the mound yet to be given that role. In fact, the Dodgers are so lacking an ace, that on Opening Day they started Vicente Padilla. (Thanks to Joe T. of Los Angeles for submitting this joke. Via lineup card.)

STARTING PITCHING … Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are as good as any two starters in baseball. But the rest of the rotation — Kyle Lohse, Brad Penny and Jaime Garcia — give the Cardinals a rotation that looks like it's built more for winning the NL Central than the World Series. You know what the Cardinals should do? Get five really good starting pitchers. It's simple. There's no reason to over-think it.

STARTING PITCHING … Although Minnesota is the defending AL Central champion, there is nothing remarkable about their starting rotation. Guys like Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn don't cause anyone to lose sleep. Well, actually, I suppose that's not completely true. Some opponents might be up late Googling stuff like "Who is Nick Blackburn?".

STARTING PITCHING … With Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Bucholz, Boston already had a strong rotation. But then management went out and signed John Lackey, who has toiled for seven years in Anaheim, compiling a 102-71 record, as well as 3.12 ERA in 14 postseason series, including a World Series ring. Expect Lackey to raise his performance level now that he finally plays for one of the two teams in baseball that actually matter. It must be so exciting for him!

STARTING PITCHING … The Rockies have a solid rotation in Ubaldo Jimenez, Jorge De La Rosa, Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis and Jason Hammel. In fact, Colorado had the tenth best ERA in baseball last year at 4.22. Hey, remember back when everyone said it would be impossible for the Rockies ever to have good pitching because of the thin mountain air? It turns out their pitchers just sucked. Really! Denny Neagle did not deserve to be an ace. It's true.

STARTING PITCHING … Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are outstanding. Barry Zito, with his massive contract,remains the rotation's big question mark. Zito needs to follow the lead of Lincecum and Cain. He needs to be a total pothead like Lincecum or all clean-cut like Cain. One or the other. You can't go halfway, Zito. Stoner or straight-edge? Pick one and turn your career around. (Psst. Free tip: Go stoner!)

STARTING PITCHING … The Marlins are strong at the top of the rotation with Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco. After them it's Anibal Sanchez and Chris Volstad, young pitchers who have a ton of potential but need to produce if Florida is going to win. Sanchez and Volstad need to show they can compete with Johnson and Nolaso. Remember, guys: The Yankees and Red Sox can only sign so many future Marlins free agents.