With Brandon Phillips possibly facing his final year in a Reds uniform, and with Joey Vottounder contract only through 2013, and with last year’s NL Central leaders weakened bythe loss of two of the game’s best hitters (Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder), the Redshave taken an “all in” approach to 2012. Free-agent signings and trades gave manager

Dusty Baker, above, some help in left field (Ryan Ludwick), some back-end bullpen depth(Sean Marshall), a new closer (Ryan Madson) and a new No. 2 starter (Mat Latos).

Madson’s season-ending elbow injury spoiled some of the plan, but made the Marshall acquisitionlook all the wiser. And Baker still is holding some nice cards. Will it be enough to win the Central? Thatstory begins to unfold Thursday, when the Reds open the season against the Miami Marlins.

COVER STORYThis season, more than

ever, Reds are in itto win it, H2

MEET THE NEW REDSWho was a military brat?

Was married by ErnieBanks? Keeps reptiles? H2

EYE ON CENTRALWhich of the Reds’ division

rivals got better? Whotook a step back? H3

ROSTEROLOGYYour 2012 Reds regulars,rotation, bullpen, benchand top prospects, H4-5

NL, AL PREVIEWSA team-by-team tour

around baseball’sother divisions, H6-7

OUR BASEBALL APPDownload our free app ineither the iTunes store orthe Android Marketplace.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 | SECTION H

PHOTO BY MICHAEL E. KEATING | ILLUSTRATION BY CLAY SISK

H2 SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 /// THE ENQUIRER

MAT LATOSVital statistics: Age: 24, turns 25 Dec. 9. Born: Alexandria,

Va. Resides: San Diego. Height/weight: 6-6, 235. Bats/hits:Right, right. Selected by the San Diego Padres in the11th roundof the 2003 draft, out of Broward (Fla.) Community College.

HowtheRedsgothim: From the Padres in exchange for IFYonder Alonso, RHP Edinson Volquez, C Yasmani Grandal andRHP Brad Boxberger on Dec. 17, 2011.

Baseball resume: Broke into the majors with the Padres in2009 after going a combined 8-1 with a 1.38 ERA at Single-AFort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio. Went 4-5 with 4.62ERA in 2009. Was 14-10 with a 2.92 ERA the next year.

Trivial pursuit: Latos’ wife, Dallas, is a prolific Twitter user.She also writes a blog for mlb.com. Both Mat and Dallas havemultiple tattoos. They also have a extensive collection of rep-tiles, including an albino burmese python named Valentine.“We bought him on Valentine’s Day,” Dallas wrote. “It’s ourlittle tradition. Last year we bought a Nicaraguan boa.”

Numerically speaking: From June 10 to Sept. 7, 2010, La-tos set a major-league record by allowing two runs or fewerand pitching at least five innings in 15 consecutive starts.

Big league breakthrough: “I’ve been told that I’ve gotthe potential. But I never put too much thought into it back inhigh school. I think 2009, the year that I got called up, was theyear I put things together. Things sort of clicked for me.”

Fitting in: “For the most part, I feel like I fit in. It’s still a newexperience for me. The guys have been great.”

SEAN MARSHALLVital statistics: Age: 29, turns 30 Aug. 30. Born: Richmond,

Va. Resides: Chicago. Height/weight: 6-7, 220. Bats/hits: Left,left. Selected by the Chicago Cubs in sixth round of the 2003draft, out of Virginia Commonwealth.

How the Reds got him: From the Cubs in exchange forLHP Travis Wood, OF Dave Sappelt and IF Ronald Torreyes onDec. 23, 2011.

Baseball resume: Broke into the majors with the Cubs in2006. 43 of his first 45 appearances were as a starter. Became afull-time reliever in 2010.

Trivial pursuit: Marshall and his wife Sarah were marriedby Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, an ordained minister. “He’s all aboutfamilies and weddings,” Marshall said. “He was always saying:‘When you going to marry that girl? I can marry you.’ He did it.He did a great job. We got married in Chicago. My wife’s side ofthe family is from Chicago. They’re fans of the Cubs and ErnieBanks. It was extra special for them.”

Numerically speaking: Marshall only allowed one homerun last year, none at Wrigley Field.

Big league breakthrough: “My first opportunity withDusty (Baker) and Chris Speier and the coaching staff in 2006with the Cubs. They were the ones that got me to the bigleagues. I’m forever grateful.”

Fitting in:“It’s been good. I really feel like I came into a niceorganization with bunch of good teammates. Obviously, I’vebeen on the other side playing against these guys, but I didn’tget to know them.”

RYAN LUDWICKVital statistics: Age 33, turns 34 July 13. Born: Satellite

Beach, Fla. Resides: Georgetown, Texas. Height/weight: 6-3,213. Bats/hits: Right, left. Selected by the Oakland A’s in the sec-ond round of the 1999 draft, out of UNLV.

How the Reds got him: Signed as a free agent Jan. 27.Baseball resume: Broke into the big leagues with Texas in

2002. His breakout year came in 2009 (.299, 37,113 RBI with theSt. Louis Cardinals).

Trivial pursuit: Ludwick’s father was in the Air Force. Ryanwas born in Florida, moved to North Carolina, then Virginiaand then Las Vegas. “It wasn’t as bad as my brother; he wasborn in Missouri, went to Alaska,” Ludwick said. “He was allover the joint. I’ll take four spots over seven.”

Numerically speaking: In 2008, he tied a Cardinals recordby homering in five straight games.

Big leaguebreakthrough:“I’ve always thought I could bea good major league player. I thought that when I was 23 . . .But when you have a titanium rod in your leg and two kneesurgeries and wrist surgery all in four years, it’s tough. Thisgame is tough enough when you’re healthy. I was luckyenough that I got another opportunity with St. Louis.”

Fitting in: “This is an easy group. I really haven’t had atough time anywhere. The toughest group I was around withmy rookie year in Texas – Juan Gonzalez, Alex Rodriguez, IvanRodriguez, Rafael Palmiero. It was a ton of veterans. You justtry to keep your mouth shut and mind your own business.”

John Fay

MEET THE NEW GUYS

Mat Latos has a strong right arm, an array of tattoos anda collection of reptiles. THE ENQUIRER/MICHAEL E. KEATING

Sean Marshall’s setup man in Chicago was Ernie Banks,who officiated at his wedding. ENQUIRER/MICHAEL E. KEATING

“This is an easy group,” Ryan Ludwick said of fitting in inthe Reds’ clubhouse. THE ENQUIRER/MICHAEL E. KEATING

In four moves made over 45days, the Reds fairly shouted atthe baseball world: We’re goingfor it in 2012!

On Dec. 17, 2011, the Redstraded three former first-rounddraft picks,Yonder Alonso,Brad Boxberger and YasmaniGrandal, along with last year’sOpening Day starter, EdinsonVolquez, to San Diego for right-hander Mat Latos.

Six days later, they tradedleft-hander Travis Wood andprospects Dave Sappelt andRonald Torreyes to the ChicagoCubs for left-hander Sean Mar-shall. On Jan. 20, the Redssigned closer Ryan Madson. Aweek later, they added outfield-er Ryan Ludwick.

In those moves, they remadenearly a fifth of the roster.ThingschangedabitwhenMad-son went out with an elbow inju-ry before he ever threw a pitch.But the Reds clearly tried to im-prove the club short-term aftertaking a major step backward in2011.

“Decide who you can keepand who you can trade,” Redsmanager Dusty Baker said.“Once you build it, you can sus-tain it for a while. Like I saidwhen I came here, I hope tobuild to be good for a long time.”

When you give up young tal-ent for proven players, you’retelling everyone – your fans,your players, the rest of base-ball – we’re all in for this season.That message came through inthe clubhouse.

“It’s hard to say because youreally never know the mentalityof ownership,” Bronson Arroyosaid. “But I definitely think ifwe repeat last year’s perfor-mance as a whole, especially inthe wins and losses column, Idon’t think you’ll see as mucheagerness from ownership toput this good of a ballclub to-gether next year.

“I could be wrong. That’s justmy opinion. I feel like JayBruce, Joey Votto, BrandonPhillips, Drew Stubbs arelooked on as seasoned enough inthe major leagues, they’re in theprime of their careers. Theytried to surround these guyswith pieces of a puzzle that canwin now. If we get blown out ofthe water by 15 games again, Idon’t know if they’d be willing tostick their neck out any fur-ther.”

Reds management takes ex-

ception to the all-in notion.“I don’t think it’s changed as

much as the media’s explainedit,” Reds owner Bob Castellinisaid. “You’ve got to look downthe road. You always look downthe road. The trade we madewith San Diego, yeah, that wastough. A small-market team hasto give more than they want togive up to stay competitive.”

What has happened with theReds over the last few years isthey built up the farm system tothe point where they couldtrade five prospects and notdecimate the talent level.

The young players in theirfirst camp were impressive thisspring. Didi Gregorius, NeftaliSoto, Henry Rodriguez, DanielCorcino and Donald Lutz alllooked like future big leaguers.

“We scout our own systemthoroughly,” Reds general man-ager Walt Jocketty said. “Weknewwhathehadwhenwetrad-ed those guys.”

True, the signings of Madsonand Ludwick can be viewed asquick fixes. But the tradesshould help over the long run.The Reds control Latos for four

more years. Marshall signed athree-year extension thisspring.

“I feel like the moves wemade have made us a sustain-able contender,” right fielderJay Bruce said. “It would be dif-ferent if we rented a bunch offree agents in the last year oftheir contracts. Walt and owner-

ship have done a good job of giv-ing us something for the futureas well.”

Indeed, the Reds are rela-tively young. They’ll start tworookies in key positions – catch-er Devin Mesoraco and short-stop Zack Cozart. Only one play-er in the starting eight – thirdbaseman Scott Rolen – is over

30. Five of six pitchers compet-ing for rotation spots are 26 oryounger.

“This is the situation youhope for,” Baker said. “It’s diffi-cult if you have a bunch ofyoung guys out there. They endup usually taking their lumps.You prefer to bring in a fewguys at a time. The good teamsI’ve been on add a rookie here, arookie there. They learn whenthere’s not as much pressure onthem when they’re surroundedby veteran guys. Those are thekind of teams I’ve always liked –some veterans, some rookies –so veterans can give them wis-dom and knowledge, or theyounger players can give themenergy.

“Back in the Dodgers’ day,that’s how we had rookies of theyear every year. It’s difficult todo that nowadays because of theyearning and quest for now.

“It’s not like football or bas-ketball where you can draft aLeBron James and have an im-mediate impact on your team.It’s not like you draft a AndyDalton. ... Baseball is not likethat. It takes a while.”

Lights, camera, committedReds serve noticewith busy offseason:This is ‘next year’By John Fayjfay@enquirer.com

Reds CEO Bob Castellini knows the spotlight is clearly on his club after a busy offseason, but despite the trades of many top prospects, he disputesthe notion that the Reds have bet everything on this season. “You always look down the road,” Castellini said. THE ENQUIRER/MICHAEL E. KEATING

Outfielder Ryan Ludwick was the fourth and final addition during anactive 45-day stretch by the front office. THE ENQUIRER/MICHAEL E. KEATING

THE ENQUIRER /// SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 H3

April Opponent Time

Thu/5 Miami 4:05

Sat/7 Miami 7:10

Sun/8 Miami 1:10

Mon/9 St. Louis 7:10

Tue/10 St. Louis 7:10

Wed/11 St. Louis 12:35

Thu/12 @Washington 1:05

Fri/13 @Washington 7:05

Sat/14 @Washington 4:05

Sun/15 @Washington 1:35

Tue/17 @St. Louis 8:15

Wed/18 @St. Louis 8:15

Thu/19 @St. Louis 1:45

Fri/20 @Chicago 2:20

Sat/21 @Chicago 1:05

Sun/22 @Chicago 2:20

Tue/24 San Francisco 7:10

Wed/25 San Francisco 7:10

Thu/26 San Francisco 12:35

Fri/27 Houston 7:10

Sat/28 Houston 4:10

Sun/29 Houston 1:10

May Opponent Time

Tue/1 Chicago 7:10

Wed/2 Chicago 7:10

Thu/3 Chicago 12:35

Fri/4 @Pittsburgh 7:05

Sat/5 @Pittsburgh 7:05

Sun/6 @Pittsburgh 1:35

Mon/7 @Milwaukee 8:10

Tue/8 @Milwaukee 8:10

Wed/9 @Milwaukee 1:10

Fri/11 Washington 7:10

Sat/12 Washington 7:10

Sun/13 Washington 1:10

Mon/14 @Atlanta 7:10

Tue/15 @Atlanta 7:10

Wed/16 @NY Mets 7:10

Thu/17 @NY Mets 1:10

Fri/18 @NY Yankees 7:05

Sat/19 @NY Yankees 1:05

Sun/20 @NY Yankees 1:05

Mon/21 Atlanta 7:10

Tue/22 Atlanta 7:10

Wed/23 Atlanta 7:10

Thu/24 Atlanta 7:10

Fri/25 Colorado 7:10

Sat/26 Colorado 7:15

Sun/27 Colorado 1:10

Mon/28 @Pittsburgh 1:35

Tue/29 @Pittsburgh 7:05

Wed/30 @Pittsburgh 7:05

June Opponent Time

Fri/1 @Houston 8:05

Sat/2 @Houston 7:15

Sun/3 @Houston 2:05

Tue/5 Pittsburgh 7:10

Wed/6 Pittsburgh 7:10

Thu/7 Pittsburgh 7:10

Fri/8 Detroit 7:10

Sat/9 Detroit 4:10

Sun/10 Detroit 1:10

Tue/12 Cleveland 7:10

Wed/13 Cleveland 7:10

Thu/14 Cleveland 12:35

Fri/15 @NY Mets 7:10

Sat/16 @NY Mets 7:15

Sun/17 @NY Mets 1:10

Mon/18 @Cleveland 7:05

Tue/19 @Cleveland 7:05

Wed/20 @Cleveland 7:05

Fri/22 Minnesota 7:10

Sat/23 Minnesota 4:10

Sun/24 Minnesota 1:10

Mon/25 Milwaukee 7:10

Tue/26 Milwaukee 7:10

Wed/27 Milwaukee 12:35

Thu/28 @SanFrancisco

10:15

Fri/29 @SanFrancisco

10:15

Sat/30 @SanFrancisco

4:05

July Opponent Time

Sun/1 @SanFrancisco

4:05

Mon/2 @Los Angeles 10:10

Tue/3 @Los Angeles 10:10

Wed/4 @Los Angeles 9:10

Thu/5 @San Diego 10:05

Fri/6 @San Diego 10:05

Sat/7 @San Diego 10:05

Sun/8 @San Diego 4:05

Fri/13 St. Louis 7:10

Sat/14 St. Louis 7:10

Sun/15 St. Louis 8:00

Mon/16 Arizona 7:10

Tue/17 Arizona 7:10

Wed/18 Arizona 7:10

Thu/19 Arizona 12:35

Fri/20 Milwaukee 7:10

Sat/21 Milwaukee 7:10

Sun/22 Milwaukee 1:10

Mon/23 @Houston 8:05

Tue/24 @Houston 8:05

Wed/25 @Houston 8:05

Fri/27 @Colorado 8:40

Sat/28 @Colorado 8:10

Sun/29 @Colorado 3:10

Mon/30 San Diego 7:10

Tue/31 San Diego 7:10

August Opponent Time

Wed/1 San Diego 7:10

Thu/2 San Diego 12:35

Fri/3 Pittsburgh 7:10

Sat/4 Pittsburgh 7:10

Sun/5 Pittsburgh 1:10

Mon/6 @Milwaukee 8:10

Tue/7 @Milwaukee 8:10

Wed/8 @Milwaukee 2:10

Thu/9 @Chicago 8:05

Fri/10 @Chicago 2:20

Sat/11 @Chicago 4:05

Sun/12 @Chicago 2:20

Tue/14 NY Mets 7:10

Wed/15 NY Mets 7:10

Thu/16 NY Mets 7:10

Fri/17 Chicago 7:10

Sat/18 Chicago 7:10

Sun/19 Chicago 1:10

Mon/20 @Philadelphia 7:05

Tue/21 @Philadelphia 7:05

Wed/22 @Philadelphia 7:05

Thu/23 @Philadelphia 7:05

Fri/24 St. Louis 7:10

Sat/25 St. Louis 4:05

Sun/26 St. Louis 1:10

Mon/27 @Arizona 9:40

Tue/28 @Arizona 9:40

Wed/29 @Arizona 3:40

Fri/31 @Houston 8:05

Sept. Opponent Time

Sat/1 @Houston 7:05

Sun/2 @Houston 2:05

Mon/3 Philadelphia 1:10

Tue/4 Philadelphia 7:10

Wed/5 Philadelphia 12:35

Fri/7 Houston 7:10

Sat/8 Houston 7:10

Sun/9 Houston 1:10

Mon/10 Pittsburgh 7:10

Tue/11 Pittsburgh 7:10

Wed/12 Pittsburgh 7:10

Fri/14 @Miami 7:10

Sat/15 @Miami 7:10

Sun/16 @Miami 1:10

Tue/18 @Chicago 8:05

Wed/19 @Chicago 8:05

Thu/20 @Chicago 2:20

Fri/21 Los Angeles 7:10

Sat/22 Los Angeles 7:10

Sun/23 Los Angeles 1:10

Tue/25 Milwaukee 7:10

Wed/26 Milwaukee 7:10

Thu/27 Milwaukee 12:35

Fri/28 @Pittsburgh 7:05

Sat/29 @Pittsburgh 7:05

Sun/30 @Pittsburgh 1:35

Oct. Opponent Time

Mon/1 @St. Louis 8:15

Tue/2 @St. Louis 8:15

Wed/3 @St. Louis 8:15

REDS SCHEDULE

The Reds are legitimate con-tenders for the 2012 NL Centralchampionship, along with St. Louisand Milwaukee. Pittsburgh, theChicago Cubs and Houston appearto have no chance.

Thus say most baseball fore-casters, with the NL Central talentlines fairly divided between theupper and lower tiers.

The Reds (third in NL Central in2011) could win it because they up-graded their pitching, with starterMat Latos and reliever Sean Mar-shall coming aboard. The outlookwas even brighter before anothernewcomer, closer Ryan Madson,suffered a season-ending elbow in-jury in spring training. Still, Cin-cinnati also has two of the game’selite everyday players in firstbaseman Joey Votto and secondbaseman Brandon Phillips.

The Reds might not win it iftheir starting pitching, after a dis-appointing 2011, does not reboundto its 2010 NL Central champion-ship level. There also is the un-known of replacing Madson. Cin-cinnati also needs Jay Bruce andDrew Stubbs to strike out less andfor Scott Rolen to stay healthy.And, what will the Reds get fromDevin Mesoraco and Zack Cozartover a full season?

The reigning World Serieschampion Cardinals (second in NLCentral in 2011) might win it be-cause ace pitcher Adam Wain-wright returns, after missing 2011with Tommy John elbow surgery.All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltranarrives to bolster what should stillbe a solid lineup (Matt Holliday,Lance Berkman, World SeriesMVP David Freese, et al.).

The Cardinals might not win itbecause they lost future first-bal-lot Hall of Famer Albert Pujols tofree agency. Also gone are long-time manager Tony La Russa andpitching coach Dave Duncan, alsoall-time greats in their respectivejobs. That’s a ton of baseball talentto lose in one offseason.

The Brewers (won NL Centralin 2011) might win it because RyanBraun had his 50-game suspensionoverturned, Aramis Ramirez ar-rives to play third base, and theirpitching remains fairly stout (Yo-vani Gallardo, Zack Greinke, Ran-dy Wolf, Shaun Marcum, et al.).

The Brewers might not win itbecause Prince Fielder left for De-troit. Much like the Cardinals los-ing Pujols, you don’t lose such apremier bat and not feel it. Also,how much time will right fielderCorey Hart lose after having kneesurgery in spring training?

The Pirates (fourth in NL Cen-tral in 2011) could contend for awhile, as they did last year. But thePirates will not win it, becausethey remain several bats and sev-eral arms away from serious con-

tention.Pittsburgh stood first in the

Central as late as July 25 last year,then went19-43 the rest of the way.CenterfielderAndrewMcCutchenis the face of a relatively facelessfranchise. The lineup lacks powerand the rotation lacks that lock-down hammer. Standout pitchingprospects Gerrit Cole and Jame-son Taillon are not ready yet.

Cubs fans expect their club(fifth in NL Central in 2011) to beimmediately better, because of theadded front-office brainpower ofTheo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. Ifonly it were that easy.

Carlos Zambrano finally wasbroomed, but Alfonso Soriano andhis disastrous contract ($136 mil-lion)remainonthebooks.ShorstopStarlin Castro has that perennialAll-Star look, but mostly it is a clas-sic Cubs group of retreads andquestion marks. Last year saw 91losses and this year could seemore.

The Astros were the worst teamin baseball last year (56-106, a run-away sixth in the NL Central). Thisyear could be worse, some believe.Last year, at least Hunter Penceand Michael Bourn were aroundfor half the season.

This year it is Carlos Lee andplenty of Altuves, Schafers andBogusevics. The rotation includesrespectable arms Wandy Rodri-guez and Bud Norris, with BrettMyers now the closer. Other thanthat, we challenge you to name fiveAstros. Or four. Or … one?

NL CENTRAL PREVIEW

It won’t be all smiles when Brandon Phillips and the Reds try to topple Lance Berkman and the 2011 World Serieschampion St. Louis Cardinals and division champion Milwaukee Brewers this season. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Should be a fun chaseRivals’ big lossescould be Reds’ gainBy Tom Groeschentgroeschen@enquirer.com

MILWAUKEE BREWERS2011: 96-66, 1st place (lost to St.Louis in NLCS).Manager: Ron Roenicke (2ndseason).Here: 3B Aramis Ramirez, SS AlexGonzalez, OF Norichika Aoki, RHPJose Veras.Outta there: 1B Prince Fielder, IFCraig Counsell, INF Jerry HairstonJr., 3B Casey McGehee, SS Yu-niesky Betancourt, RHP LaTroyHawkins, RHP Takashi Saito.Projected lineup:2B Rickie WeeksCF Nyjer MorganLF Ryan Braun3B Aramis RamirezRF Corey Hart1B Mat GamelSS Alex GonzalezC Jonathan LucroyRotation:R Zack GreinkeR Yovani GallardoR Shaun MarcumL Randy WolfL Chris NarvesonCloser:R John AxfordOutlook: The Brewers’ chancesgot a huge boost when Braun’s50-game suspension for a positivedrug test was overturned, al-though he has struggled mightilyin spring training. The Brewersmight not score as many runswithout Fielder, but they can relyon a strong rotation and backend of the bullpen. AssumingBraun is back to MVP form andthe Brewers stay healthy, theyshould be contenders. Question:Will the defense be better?

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS2011: 90-72, 2nd place, NL wildcard (World Series champions).Manager: Mike Matheny (1stseason).Here: OF Carlos Beltran, LHP J.C.Romero, OF Erik Komatsu.Outta there: 1B Albert Pujols,RHP Edwin Jackson, IF Ryan The-riot, IF Nick Punto, C Gerald Laird,RHP Octavio Dotel, LHP ArthurRhodes, OF Corey Patterson.Projected lineup:SS Rafael FurcalRF Carlos BeltranLF Matt Holliday1B Lance Berkman3B David FreeseC Yadier MolinaCF Jon Jay2B Tyler GreeneRotation:R Kyle LohseR Adam WainwrightL Jaime GarciaR Jake WestbrookR Lance LynnCloser:R Jason MotteOutlook: There’s change at thetop, with manager Tony La Russaand pitching coach Dave Duncangone and Pujols bolting for theAngels. Players privately weren’thappy with the perception thatthe offense was Pujols or bust.The post-Pujols lineup appears tobe deeper, with Allen Craig adangerous bat once he recoversfrom offseason kneecap surgery.Wainwright’s return fortifies arotation that’ll likely have tosurvive without Chris Carpenterfor a while.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES2011: 72-90, 4th place.Manager: Clint Hurdle (2ndseason).Here: RHP A.J. Burnett, LHP ErikBedard, C Rod Barajas, SS ClintBarmes, 3B Casey McGehee, OFNate McLouth.Outta there: LHP Paul Maholm, CRyan Doumit, C Chris Snyder, SSRonny Cedeno, OF Derrek Lee, OFRyan Ludwick.Projected lineup:LF Alex PresleyRF Jose TabataCF Andrew McCutchen2B Neil Walker3B Pedro Alvarez1B Garrett JonesC Rod BarajasSS Clint BarmesRotation:R A.J. BurnettL Erik BedardR Kevin CorreiaR James McDonaldR Jeff KarstensCloser:R Joel HanrahanOutlook: The Pirates made a15-game improvement last sea-son, even leading the division inlate July but ran out of steamwhen the pitching staff couldn’tovercome a weak offense. ThePirates hope a healthy Alvarezcan provide the power they lackwhile hoping there are third actsfor Barmes and Barajas. The teamcontinued to invest in the futureby signing All-Star McCutchen toa contract extension. The divisionis wide open, but the Pirates havemore realistic goals of endingtheir streak of 19 losing seasons.

CHICAGO CUBS2011: 71-91, 5th place.Manager: Dale Sveum (1st sea-son).Here: LHP Paul Maholm, RHPChris Volstad, LHP Travis Wood, 1BAnthony Rizzo, 3B Ian Stewart,OF David DeJesus, LHP TreverMiller, RHP Andy Sonnanstine.Outta there: Manager MikeQuade, RHP Carlos Zambrano, 3BAramis Ramirez, 1B Carlos Pena,LHP Sean Marshall, RHP AndrewCashner, C Koyie Hill, OF TylerColvin.Projected lineup:RF David DeJesus2B Darwin BarneySS Starlin Castro1B Bryan LaHairLF Alfonso SorianoCF Marlon Byrd3B Ian StewartC Geovany SotoRotation:R Matt GarzaR Ryan DempsterL Paul MaholmR Chris VolstadR Jeff SamardzijaCloser:R Carlos MarmolOutlook: Theo mania still bub-bles on the North Side. Can base-ball operations head Theo Epsteinend a World Series title drought,much as he did for the Red Sox?Owner Tom Ricketts is countingon it. Epstein fired Quade, bring-ing in Sveum, and also jettisonedZambrano. The Cubs want torebuild by bolstering their farmsystem. A .500 season would seemto be a remarkable accomplish-ment.

HOUSTON ASTROS2011: 56-106, 6th place.Manager: Brad Mills (3rd sea-son).Here: OF Jack Cust, IF Jed Lowrie,RHP Kyle Weiland, C Chris Snyder,RHP Livan Hernandez, LHP ZachDuke.Outta there: RHP Mark Melan-con, SS Clint Barmes, LF JasonMichaels.Projected lineup:CF Jordan SchaferSS Jed LowrieRF Brian Bogusevic1B Carlos LeeC Jason Castro2B Jose Altuve3B Jimmy ParedesLF J.D. MartinezRotation:L Wandy RodriguezR Bud NorrisL J.A. HappR Kyle WeilandR Livan HernandezCloser:R Brett MyersOutlook: The Astros have a newowner in Jim Crane and a newgeneral manager in Jeff Luhnow,who insist the team will be betterthan last season, when Houstonhad the majors’ worst record.Young players are going to haveto produce more. The Astros hopethe return of Castro, a first-roundpick in 2008, from a knee injurywill provide a boost. Lee is backfor the last season of a $100million contract, and as virtuallythe only veteran non-pitcher onthe roster, he’ll need to lead thisyoung team as it plays its finalseason in the National League.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

H4 SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 /// THE ENQUIRER

Your Cincinnati RedsThe Reds went into the weekend with 31 players on the active roster, but three (closer Ryan Madson, who will miss

the entire season, and relievers Nick Masset and Jordan Smith) will start the season on the disabled list. That stillleaves 28 men for 25 spots, and some interesting decisions over the final days for final bench and bullpen spots andmaybe the fifth spot in the rotation. Here are the Enquirer’s projections for the players likely to receive the most timein the lineup, and the five most likely to fill out the rotation. If Aroldis Chapman isn’t one of the five starters, he couldopen the season in Louisville or return to the bullpen. A closer look at the likely starters:

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL E. KEATING | PLAYER PROFILES BY TOM GROESCHEN

JOEY VOTTO

AGE: 28 | POS: 1B

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

161 29 103 8 .309 .416 .531

The skinnyThe Reds’ best player is in the prime of hiscareer, having turned 28 last September.

Votto was the 2010 NL MVP, and in 2011 hebecame the first Reds first baseman to win a

Rawlings Gold Glove. Expect the typical.300-plus, 30-homer, 100-RBI season from

the league’s best first baseman.

BRANDON PHILLIPS

AGE: 30 | POS: 2B

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

150 18 82 14 .300 .353 .457

The skinnyPhillips has 124 home runs and 486 RBI as aRed, both totals second to Joe Morgan (152and 612) among Reds second basemen since1900. In 2011 Phillips also won his third Gold

Glove in four years. Signed through 2012with the Reds, and the big question is

whether he will get a contract extension.

ZACK COZART

AGE: 26 | POS: SS

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

11 2 3 0 .324 .324 .486

The skinnyHas played only 11 games in the majors, butthe Reds saw enough (.324 batting average,two homers) to make him the man at short-stop to start 2012. Has shown no ill effects

from Tommy John surgery last August on hisleft (non-throwing) elbow, hitting over .400

through the first 18 games of the spring.

SCOTT ROLEN

AGE: 36 | POS: 3B

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

65 5 36 1 .242 .279 .397

The skinnyFour shoulder surgeries (since 2005) haverobbed Rolen of some bat speed. Turns 37

the day before Opening Day. The Redsmight be happy to squeeze 110 games, 10homers and 50 RBI from Rolen. His career

numbers (.282, 308 homers, eight GoldGloves) make him a Hall of Fame candidate.

JAY BRUCE

AGE: 24 | POS: RF

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

157 32 97 8 .256 .341 .474

The skinnyBruce last year became the third-youngestplayer in Reds history to reach 100 career

home runs, behind Johnny Bench and FrankRobinson. He is turning 25 on Tuesday.

Questions include whether Bruce can reducehis strikeouts (158 last year) and raise his

average (career .256).

DREW STUBBS

AGE: 27 | POS: CF

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

158 15 44 40 .243 .321 .364

The skinnyThe focus is on his strikeouts (205 last year),but Stubbs also last season became the firstRed with 40 steals in a season since Deion

Sanders had 56 in 1997. If Stubbs can cut theK’s and get on base more, you could see 100runs, 20 homers and 50 steals. His range and

arm make him a plus center fielder.

RYAN LUDWICK

AGE: 33 | POS: LF

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

139 13 75 1 .237 .310 .363

The skinnyWhich Ludwick will the Reds get? The .299,37-homer, 113-RBI Ludwick of 2008? Or the.237, 13-homer, 75-RBI Ludwick of 2011? The

Reds would take an approximation of hiscareer norms, including a .261 batting aver-age. The 33-year-old Ludwick is projected to

share time with Chris Heisey in left field.

DEVIN MESORACO

AGE: 23 | POS: C

2011 statistics

GM HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

18 2 6 0 .180 .226 .360

The skinnyThe Reds’ No. 1-rated prospect by Baseball

America, he is viewed as a potential All-Starwith great offensive upside. Also, in 2011

was rated by Triple-A managers as the bestdefensive catcher in the International

League. Look for Mesoraco and veteranRyan Hanigan to share the load.

JOHNNYCUETO

AGE: 26 | THROWS: R

2011 statistics

Record ERA IP K BB

9-5 2.31 156.0 104 47

The skinnyHas lowered his ERA each year

since joining the Reds, finishing at2.31 last year. Made only 24 starts

last year because of injuries.Seems healthy as the year begins.

Known as a hard worker whoruns the stadium steps on off-

days, Cueto at 26 seems poised tobe the Reds’ ace.

MATLATOS

AGE: 24 | THROWS: R

2011 statistics

Record ERA IP K BB

9-14 3.47 194.1 185 62

The skinnyThe Reds’ most significant offsea-

son acquistion. At 6-6 and 235pounds, he is a workhorse whohas started 62 games over the

past two years. A power pitcher,he ranked ninth in the NL last

year in strikeouts per nine innings(8.57). Could win 15-plus gameswith this offense behind him.

BRONSONARROYO

AGE: 35 | THROWS: R

2011 statistics

Record ERA IP K BB

9-12 5.07 199 108 45

The skinnySeems rejuvenated after a poor

2011 season, which includedhealth issues (mononucleosis) anda club-record 46 homers allowed.Arroyo committed to a healthier

offseason regimen and his fastballhas been topping 90 mph in

spring training, after averagingonly 87 last regular season.

HOMERBAILEY

AGE: 25 | THROWS: R

2011 statistics

Record ERA IP K BB

9-7 4.43 132.0 106 33

The skinnyThe Reds want to see what Bailey

can do over a full season, andmaybe this is finally it. Bailey

made a career high 22 starts lastyear but also had shoulder prob-lems. He still has the live arm thatmade him the Reds’ No. 1 drafteein 2004, and he added 15 pounds

in the offseason.

MIKELEAKE

AGE: 24 | THROWS: R

2011 statistics

Record ERA IP K BB

12-9 3.86 167.2 118 38

The skinnyWas quietly one of the Reds’ mosteffective players in 2011, leadingthe pitching staff in wins, ERA

(among qualifiers) and strikeouts.Leake’s fastball is not overpower-

ing but has a natural cuttingmovement. He is a groundballpitcher who seems made for

Great American Ball Park.

THE ROTATION

THE STARTERS

THE ENQUIRER /// SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 H5

cially early in the year – thanthey otherwise might have hadto. The one thing this bullpencannot now endure – whichthey could have endured whenthey had Madson – is the stressof overwork.

Starting eightThis is potentially the best1-

through-8 the Reds have runout since 2000, Ken GriffeyJr.’s first season as s Red.

And, without question, withthe availability in left field ofChris Heisey (who didn’t havea good spring) and newly ac-quired Ryan Ludwick, this is isthe best outfield defense thisclub has had since the WorldSeries championship season of1990. With Heisey-Ludwick togo with Drew Stubbs in centerand Jay Bruce in right thereare no defensive holes. Formore than a generation,through left fielders KevinMitchelll and Adam Dunn andJonny Gomes, left-center field(and at times straightaway leftfield) more resembled theGrand Canyon than it did a ma-jor league outfield spot.

Don’t underestimate the ef-fect of this on a pitching staff.

Joey Votto at first base ap-pears primed for anotherMVP-type season, and themost interesting test is wheth-er Brandon Phillips can matchlast year, which was the bestseason of his career. Zack Co-zart appears to be the bestchance this club has as a long-term answer at shortstop sinceBarry Larkin came up in 1986,and if Scott Rolen can play 110-plus games at third base,chances are this team can bepenciled into the playoffs rightnow.

But the most intriguing po-sition of all might be catcher,because remember what hap-pened going into the 2010 sea-son: Ramon Hernandez andRyan Hanigan turned out to be

deadline. They will haveplayed themselves out of it,and much of the fault would liewith Baker.

Watch how Baker handlesArroyo. And don’t get caught inthe trap of thinking that the ex-tra wild card this year makes iteasier to reach the playoffs.Baker needs to manage asthough every game counts, andas though his team is fightingthree other teams for the lastspot in September.

BullpenJust as it is impossible to

predict who will eventuallyemerge as the starting pitcherthat gets slotted into the No. 5hole, it is impossible to predictwithcertaintywhowillemergeas the closer, now that free-agent pickup Ryan Madson hasgone down.

The guess is that it will benewly acquired Sean Marshall,primarily because his stuff isoutstanding.

But make no mistake. De-spite the attempt by club rep-resentatives and some mediatypes to put a positive spin onthe loss of Madson – “Thedepth can pick up the slack” –the fact is that Madson’s ab-sence is huge, and potentiallydevastating if it keeps the Redsout of the playoffs.

When Madson had to beshelved, the Reds immediatelywent from having a potentiallyelite bullpen to being merelyaverage in mid/late innings.

Over the course of 162games, depth invariablyshows. It suddenly could be-come a huge issue if Bill Brayand/or Logan Ondrusek spendtime on the disabled list, asthey did last year, possibly asresult of overuse when thestarters didn't go enough in-nings.

The loss of Madson meansthe starters have to pitch a lit-tle deeper into games – espe-

When breaking down theReds position by position,there is a tendency to give eachcategory equal weight, but thefact is the Reds improvedthemselves most notably thisoffseason where they needed itmost.

Starting pitchingMuch attention has been

paid to Bronson Arroyo goinginto theseason,which is justifi-able, because you never wantthe pitcher who is, in effect,your fifth starter to be a blackhole. Over the course of a 162-game season, it can kill anychance a team has of contend-ing.

But if your top starters – inthis case, Johnny Cueto, thenewly acquired Mat Latos andarguably Mike Leake – aren’trock solid (and hopefully, ter-rific), the issue of whetheryour fifth starter is keepingyou in games becomes irrele-vant.

Toward this end, the Redsbettered themselves consider-ably with the addition of Latos,who would be the No. 1 onmany staffs. Cueto might dropoff a little bit this year – his op-posing hitters’ batting averageon balls in play was unusuallylow last year – meaning thatthe law of averages figures tocome into play this year andmake for a slightly higher ERAfor Cueto.

But Leake figures to makeup for it with another year un-der his belt, and it stands toreason with Homer Baileypitching a little bit under theradar for the first time in hiscareer that he could very wellblossom and approach 200 in-nings (if he isn't detoured intothe bullpen).

Whoever gets slotted intothe No. 5 hole, a good case canbe made that between AroldisChapman (huge upside) andJeff Francis (dependability),the Reds are in better shapeoverall going into the seasonwith five starters than in anyseason since the last time theywon some games in the post-season (1995).

Much has been made by thepundits that Reds managerDusty Baker has been backedinto a corner by closer RyanMadson being lost for the sea-son with Tommy John surgery.They say it may hamper Chap-man’s development as a starterif he winds up being movedinto the bullpen, but Baker hasmuch more control over his fu-ture here than mere fate wouldindicate.

A huge barometer of howBaker does in this final year ofthis present contract is how hehandles Arroyo. Baker’s tend-ency is to give guys too muchrope, especially veterans. IfBaker runs Arroyo out thereuntil the All-Star break and Ar-royo doesn’t have better re-sults than last season, it prob-ably won’t matter what movesthe Reds make at the trade

an unexpected plus for twostraight seasons. The tandemwas easily in the top quartile ofmajor league backstops in bothoffensive and defensive de-pendability.

The great unknown for thisyear’s tandem is, of course, isnewcomer Devin Mesoraco.Hanigan is again here to pickup any slack, and that’s a goodthing, because it will be astretch to expect Mesoraco tocatch more than 90 to 100games.

BenchNothing can make or break

a team’s chances for the post-season like a bench, becauseinevitably over the course of a162-game season, one goesfrom not worrying about thebench to having to depend on it– whether it be to fill a criticalloss of a regular, or the need forlate-game heroics from apinchhitter.

One of the beauties of thestarting eight is that it’s is sogood defensively that nowhereis there a need for late-inningdefensive replacements.

The acquisition of WilsonValdez by Reds general man-ager Walt Jocketty gives man-ager Baker the security blan-ket of a major league shortstopshould Cozart struggle or weardown a little bit.

Heisey or Ludwick, depend-ing on which one isn’t startingin left field, gives Baker somelate-inning pop off the bench.

It appears going into theseason that the Reds’ benchwon’t be a liability this season,but that could change if thereis a loss of a regular. MiguelCairo is a valuable commodityin that instance because he canplay any of the infield positionsin a pinch, but if it turns out hehas to play 50+ games at thirdbase, not even an extra wildcard is going to advance theReds deep into October.

ROSTER ANALYSIS

Big three hold the keyBy John Erardijerardi@enquirer.com

The Reds know they have a bona fide No. 1 starter in Johnny Cueto. Highly touted rookie catcher DevinMesoraco, on the other hand, is an unknown commodity for now. THE ENQUIRER/MICHAEL E. KEATING

As a defensive catcher, the6-1, 220-pound Mesoraco fornow is rated about average.His arm is decent and his agil-ity is good. His handling of aveteran pitching staff remainsto be seen, but early reviewsare good.

Bench took a little time tobecome Bench, and Mesoracoalso did not set the worldaflame in his first taste of themajors.

Bench first joined the Redsat age 19 in 1967, and he hit .163in 86 at-bats (one homer, sixRBI).

Mesoraco came up late in2011, at age 23. He hit .180 in 50at-bats (two homers, six RBI).

Bench went on to be Nation-al League Rookie of the Year in1968. He was a two-time MostValuable Player and Hall ofFamer. The Reds will be happyif Mesoraco just providesabove-average production,eventually if not sooner.

A look at the Reds’ other topprospects entering 2012, as rat-ed by Baseball America:

2. SS Billy Hamilton (age21): Stole 103 bases at Single-ADayton last season. His blind-ing speed makes Hamilton oneof the Reds’ most excitingprospects in years, but will he

Reds fans still await thenext Johnny Bench, but he’snot coming. Devin Mesoracocould be the most reasonablefacsimile since Bench retiredin 1983. Mesoraco is rated byBaseball America as the Reds’No. 1 prospect, and he figuresto share time at catcher withveteran Ryan Hanigan thisseason.

Mesoraco, who will turn 24in June, was the Reds’ No. 1 se-lection (15th overall) in the June2007 draft. Mesoraco is therare catcher who, according toscouts, has the potential to bean above-average hitter withplus-power.

“He’s gonna hit, but whenyou’re a catcher you’re notcalled a hitter, you’re called acatcher,” Reds manager DustyBaker said. “You get a hittingcatcher, you’ve got an All-Starcatcher. You get spoiled byJohnny Bench and Gary Carterand Carlton Fisk. Where arethose guys at?”

Answer: Hall of Fame.

hit? Hamilton batted .278 lastyear but slugged only .360.Some scouts believe Hamiltonmight wind up at second baseor the outfield.

3. SS Zack Cozart (age 26):Baker has said that Cozart isthe most complete player hehas gotten from the Reds’ sys-tem. Solid in all phases, decentpower, decent arm and softhands. The Reds are expectinga lot from someone who hasplayed only 11 major leaguegames.

4. RHP Daniel Corcino (age21): Frequently compared toJohnny Cueto, he throws a bitharder (92-95 mph) than Cuetodid at a similar point in his ca-reer. Some scouts project Cor-cino as a No. 3 major leaguestarter, according to BaseballAmerica.

5. RHP Robert Stephenson(age19): The Reds’ No. 1selec-tion in the June 2011 draft, outof high school (Martinez,Calif). Fastball generally sitsat 92-95 mph and has touched97. Advanced for his age, po-tential to be a frontline starter.Must work his way up.

6. SS Didi Gregorius (age22): Reached Double-A lastyear and hit .270. BaseballAmerica rates his ceiling high-

er than Cozart’s. Can dazzle de-fensively, with a plus arm thatrates a 65 on the 20-to-80 scout-ing scale. Eventually couldduel Cozart for the shortstopjob.

7. INF/OF Todd Frazier (age26): May not hit for averagebut his best attribute is hispower, with six homers in only112 at-bats for the Reds lastyear. Third base remains hisbest position. If Scott Rolenhas injury troubles again, Fra-zier could get a long look.

8. 1B Neftali Soto (age 23):Hit 31 homers in the minorslast year. Also becoming amore polished fielder. Club in-siders expect to see Soto in aReds uniform at some point in2012.

9. RHP J.C. Sulbaran (age22): Live arm, but still learningto pitch. In three minor leagueseasons, Sulbaran has a strike-out rate of 9.8 per nine innings.Cut his walk rate from 5.6 to 3.3per nine innings last year, buthas a 4.89 career ERA. Has yetto pitch above Class A.

10. OF Ryan LaMarre (age23): Stole 55 bases and hit .278last year. Second-round pick in2010, good baseball instincts.He could be in the long-termpicture.

TOP PROSPECTS

Benchmark high for catcherMesoraco’s defense,power intrigue RedsBy Tom Groeschentgroeschen@enquirer.com

Chris Heisey, OFTantalizes with hispop, but strikes outtoo much anddidn’t have a goodspring. Can play allthree spots.

Miguel Cairo, IFSuper utilitymanplayed third, sec-ond and first; hitbetter as a sub orpinch-hitter (.342)than starter (.251).

Ryan Hanigan, CVeteran will mentorand spell DevinMesoraco, plusprovide a provenoption if theyoungster falters.

Juan Francisco, IFStill just 24, he’s outof options. Beinghurt, overweightand overmatchedat the plate early inspring didn’t help.

Todd Frazier, IFBattling Franciscofor one of the lastspots. His versatilityhelps; hitting themost spring homersdoesn’t hurt.

Paul Janish, SSAnemic bat costhim the everydayjob, though he’shad a good spring.Now trying to stickin a utility role.

Wilson Valdez, SSHe or Janish will beZack Cozart’s back-up. Reds would beseventh majorleague team forValdez, 33.

Willie Harris, OFHarris, 33, one ofthe final two non-roster players incamp, is hoping hislefty bat mightkeep him around.

THE BENCH

JOSEARREDONDO (R)With better control(1.40 WHIP lastseason) he could beoutstanding insituational roles.

BILL BRAY (L)Battled a groininjury in springtraining. Had acareer-high 79appearances lastseason.

AROLDISCHAPMAN (L)The Reds would likehim to start, butothers’ injuriescould return him tothe bullpen.

JEFF FRANCIS (L)Has started 180 ofhis 181 major-league games, butcould become along reliever forthe Reds.

SAM LECURE (R)Reliever has made10 Reds starts overthe past two years.Retired the firstbatter 82 percent ofthe time last year.

SEANMARSHALL (L)The prime candi-date to close withRyan Madson out.ERA for his final 33appearances: 0.89.

NICK MASSET (R)Will start season ondisabled list (shoul-der). ERA has riseneach year since hejoined the Reds(3.71 last season).

LOGANONDRUSEK (R)Effective in his roleof mostly one-inning outings, abridge to the backend of the bullpen.

JORDANSMITH (R)Will start season ondisabled list (el-bow). Has 54 ap-pearances over pasttwo seasons.

THE BULLPEN

H6 SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 /// THE ENQUIRER

PHILADELPHIAPHILLIES2011: 102-60, 1st place (lostto St. Louis in divisionseries).Manager: Charlie Manuel(8th season).Here: RHP Jonathan Papel-bon, 1B Jim Thome, IF TyWigginton, OF Laynce Nix,OF Juan Pierre, OF ScottPodsednik, RHP Joel Pinei-ro, RHP Chad Qualls, LHPDontrelle Willis.Outta there: RHP RoyOswalt, RHP Brad Lidge,OF Raul Ibanez, RHP RyanMadson, OF Ross Gload,OF Ben Francisco, IF WilsonValdez.Projected lineup:SS Jimmy Rollins3B Placido Polanco2B Chase UtleyRF Hunter PenceCF Shane VictorinoLF John Mayberry Jr.1B Ty WiggintonC Carlos RuizRotation:R Roy HalladayL Cliff LeeL Cole HamelsR Vance WorleyR Joe BlantonCloser:R Jonathan PapelbonOutlook: First basemanRyan Howard will start theseason on the DL afterrupturing his left Achilleson the final swing of lastseason. The 2006 NL MVPcould miss the first half,leaving a big void in thecleanup spot. Utley’s kneecondition also is a concern.Anything less than a WorldSeries title will be a dis-appointment for thePhillies, who have won fivestraight NL East titles andthe 2008 World Series.They finished with themost wins in the majorsthe last two seasons, in-cluding a franchise-best102 victories last year. Butthey’ve regressed each ofthe last three seasons,losing the World Series in2009 and the NLCS in 2010and getting knocked outin the first round last year.

ATLANTA BRAVES2011: 89-73, 2nd place.Manager: Fredi Gonzalez(2nd season).Here: SS Tyler Pastornicky.Outta there: RHP DerekLowe, SS Alex Gonzalez,OF Nate McLouth, IFBrooks Conrad, LHPGeorge Sherrill, RHP ScottLinebrink.Projected lineup:CF Michael BourneLF Martin Prado3B Chipper Jones2B Dan UgglaC Brian McCann1B Freddie FreemanRF Jason HeywardSS Tyler PastornickyRotation:R Jair JurrjensR Tommy HansonR Brandon BeachyL Mike MinorR Randall DelgadoCloser:R Craig KimbrelOutlook: Jones, who turns40 in April, announced latein spring training this willbe his final season. Pas-tornicky was handed theshortstop job after theBraves made no effort tore-sign Alex Gonzalez, butthe 22-year-old rookiestruggled at the plate andin the field during springtraining. The Braves mayhave to go with veteranJack Wilson if Pastornickydoesn’t turn thingsaround. Heyward ap-peared to be the next bigthing in 2010, homering inhis first career at-bat,making the All-Star teamand finishing as runner-upfor Rookie of the Year. Buthe slumped badly in hissecond season, a slide heblames on an ailing shoul-der. The Braves need himto get back on track orthey’ll have a big hole in alineup that struggled tofind consistency last sea-son. Fredi Gonzalez, whotook over for Hall of Fam-er-to-be Bobby Cox in2011, could come underfire if the Braves fail tomake the playoffs again.

WASHINGTONNATIONALS2011: 80-81, 3rd place.Manager: Davey Johnson(1st full season with Wash-ington).Here: RHP Edwin Jackson,LHP Gio Gonzalez, RHPBrad Lidge, INF MarkDeRosa, OF Brett Carroll.Outta there: RHP LivanHernandez, OF JonnyGomes, RHP Todd Coffey,OF Laynce Nix.Projected lineup:SS Ian Desmond2B Danny Espinosa3B Ryan ZimmermanLF Michael Morse2B Adam LaRocheRF Jayson WerthC Wilson RamosCF Rick AnkielRotation:R Stephen StrasburgL Gio GonzalezR Jordan ZimmermannR Edwin JacksonR Chien-Ming WangCloser:R Drew StorenOutlook: Everyone wantsto know: When will 19-year-old Bryce Harpermake his major leaguedebut? Washington decid-ed to let the No. 1 overallpick in the 2010 draft get ataste of Triple-A seasoning– and he’ll shift from rightfield to center, too. Theexpectation is that he’ll becalled up sometime in latespring or early summer.Until then, it’s not clearwho the Nationals will usein center – or whethertheir lineup will scoreenough without any up-grades. Werth needs tobounce back from a ter-rible first year of his $126million contract; LaRocheneeds to bounce backfrom a shoulder injury. Fora franchise that’s neverfinished above .500, theresure has been a lot of talkabout the playoffs andcontending. Coming off an80-81 record, the Nationalsthink they can be a factorand play meaningfulgames in September.

NEW YORK METS2011: 77-85, 4th place.Manager: Terry Collins(2nd season).Here: CF Andres Torres,RHP Frank Francisco, RHPRamon Ramirez, RHP JonRauch, INF Ronny Cedeno,C Rob Johnson.Outta there: SS JoseReyes, CF Angel Pagan,LHP Chris Capuano, CRonny Paulino, RHP JasonIsringhausen, OF WillieHarris, 1B-OF Nick Evans,RHP Chris Young.Projected lineup:CF Andres Torres2B Daniel Murphy3B David Wright1B Ike DavisLF Jason BayRF Lucas DudaC Josh TholeSS Ruben TejadaRotation:L Johan SantanaR R.A. DickeyL Jonathon NieseR Mike PelfreyR Dillon GeeCloser:R Frank FranciscoOutlook: There’s a newdouble-play combinationat Citi Field, and it’s a bigquestion mark on bothsides of the bag. Tejada,22, takes over at shortstopfor Reyes, the NL battingchamp and a homegrownfan favorite who boltedfor a $106 million, six-yearcontract with the divisionrival Marlins. Tejada has agood-looking glove andarm, but he has hugeshoes to fill. He hasn’tshown much pop at theplate, though he is gettingstronger and can be apesky out. Collins thinksTejada can develop into aPlacido Polanco-type, butthe youngster needs to bemore steady and consis-tent on an everyday basis.Murphy, on the otherhand, is a hitter without adefensive position. TheMets are trying to squeezehis bat – and surgicallyrepaired knees – into thelineup at second base.

MIAMI MARLINS2011: 72-90, 5th place.Manager: Ozzie Guillen(1st season).Here: SS Jose Reyes, LHPMark Buehrle, RHP CarlosZambrano, RHP Heath Bell,LHP Wade LeBlanc, RHPChad Gaudin, OF AaronRowand, OF AustinKearns.Outta there: RHP ChrisVolstad, RHP Clay Hensley,RHP Brian Sanches, RHPBurke Badenhop, C JohnBaker.Projected lineup:SS Jose ReyesCF Emilio Bonifacio3B Hanley RamirezRF Giancarlo Stanton1B Gaby SanchezLF Logan Morrison2B Omar InfanteC John BuckRotation:R Josh JohnsonL Mark BuehrleR Ricky NolascoR Anibal SanchezR Carlos ZambranoCloser:R Heath BellOutlook: The Marlinshave a new name, newuniforms, a new ballparkand four newcomers whohave been All-Stars, whichgives the franchise a newoutlook. A team thatfinished last in the NL inattendance the past sevenyears expects big crowdsto start the season, andthey won’t be coming justto see the ballpark. Anoffseason spending bingemade national headlines,and the addition of suchpersonalities as Guillen,Zambrano and Bell almostguarantees the team willstay in the news. But tokeep fans coming, theMarlins probably need towin. The hot corner is ahot spot, with Ramirezreluctantly moving from SSto 3B to make room forReyes. Ramirez must learna new position whiletrying to regain the strokethat helped him win the2009 NL batting title.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

ARIZONADIAMONDBACKS2011: 94-68, 1st place (lostto Milwaukee in divisionseries).Manager: Kirk Gibson(2nd season).Here: LF Jason Kubel, RHPTrevor Cahill, LHP CraigBreslow, RHP TakashiSaito.Outta there: RHP MicahOwings, OF Colin Cowgill,RHP Jarrod Parker.Projected lineup:SS Willie Bloomquist2B Aaron HillRF Justin UptonC Miguel Montero1B Paul GoldschmidtLF Jason KubelCF Chris Young3B Ryan RobertsRotation:R Ian KennedyR Daniel HudsonR Trevor CahillR Josh CollmenterL Joe SaundersCloser:R J.J. PutzOutlook: Shortstop Ste-phen Drew’s return has notimetable as he recoversfrom a brutal injury. Drewbroke his right ankle andripped the tendons aroundit when his foot gotcaught beneath him as heslid into home plate in lateJuly. Still, Arizona thrivedwith Bloomquist filling in.The acquisition of JohnMcDonald, a defensivespecialist, along with Hillfrom Toronto gave theteam some depth at theposition. Last spring Arizo-na was expected to beheaded for the cellar againbut instead succeededbehind strong youngpitching, a vastly improvedbullpen and timely hitting.The team only tinkeredwith the roster this offsea-son, adding Cahill, relieverCraig Breslow and out-fielder Kubel. Kubel’sadditon sends Gold GloverGerardo Parra to thebench.

SAN FRANCISCOGIANTS2011: 86-76, 2nd place.Manager: Bruce Bochy(6th season).Here: OF Melky Cabrera,OF Angel Pagan, INF RyanTheriot, RHP Clay Hensley.Outta there: RF CarlosBeltran, CF Andres Torres,RHP Ramon Ramirez, OFCody Ross, OF Pat Burrell,SS Orlando Cabrera, INFMark DeRosa, LHP Jona-than Sanchez.Projected lineup:CF Angel Pagan2B Freddy Sanchez3B Pablo SandovalC Buster PoseyLF Melky Cabrera1B Aubrey HuffRF Nater SchierholtzSS Brandon CrawfordRotation:R Tim LincecumL Madison BumgarnerR Matt CainL Barry ZitoR Ryan VogelsongCloser:R Brian WilsonOutlook: Huff played amajor part in the Giants’2010 World Series title runwith 26 homers and 86RBI. His problems at theplate last year were em-blematic of the team,which scored 572 runs, thesecond fewest for thefranchise in a 162-gameseason. If Huff slumpsagain, Brandon Belt couldstart taking some of hisat-bats. The 2011 seasoncame crashing to a haltwhen Posey tore threeligaments in his left ankleand fractured a bone in hisleg in a frightening homeplate collision with Flori-da’s Scott Cousins on May25. The Giants are count-ing on a healthy Posey andSanchez, whose seasonwas cut short by shouldersurgery, to spark the of-fense and support one ofthe game’s best rotations.The window could beclosing with Cain in thefinal year of his contract.

LOS ANGELESDODGERS2011: 82-79, 3rd place.Manager: Don Mattingly(2nd season).Here: 2B Mark Ellis, LFJuan Rivera, 2B AdamKennedy, LHP Chris Capu-ano, IF-OF Jerry HairstonJr., RHP Aaron Harang,RHP Mike MacDougal, CMatt Treanor, RHP ToddCoffey.Outta there: RHP HirokiKuroda, RHP JonathanBroxton, RHP VicentePadilla, 3B Casey Blake, SSJamey Carroll, C Rod Bara-jas, LHP Hong-Chih Kuo,LHP Dana Eveland.Projected lineup:CF Matt KempSS Dee GordonRF Andre EthierC A.J. Ellis2B Mark Ellis1B James Loney3B Juan UribeLF Juan RiveraRotation:L Clayton KershawR Chad BillingsleyL Ted LillyR Aaron HarangL Chris CapuanoCloser:R Javy GuerraOutlook: Attendancedeclined sharply last yearwhen headlines off thefield dominated anythingthe Dodgers did on it. TheDodgers are in the middleof a bankruptcy auction asthe season begins, and theteam’s finances will bedecided by the new own-ership. Colletti had alimited budget in theoffseason, and signedCapuano and Harang withmoney he saved by lettingKuroda go. But until theownership issue is re-solved, the Dodgers will berelegated to signing af-fordable veterans. NL CyYoung Award winnerKershaw and NL MVPrunner-up Kemp are argu-ably the best pitcher andposition player in theleague.

COLORADO ROCKIES2011: 73-89, 4th place.Manager: Jim Tracy(fourth season).Here: RHP Jeremy Guthrie,OF Michael Cuddyer, 2BMarco Scutaro, C RamonHernandez, RHP TylerChatwood, RHP GuillermoMoscoso, LHP Josh Out-man, OF Tyler Colvin, LHPJamie Moyer.Outta there: RHP HustonStreet, RHP Jason Hammel,RHP Matt Lindstrom, OFSeth Smith, C Chris Iannet-ta, 3B Ian Stewart, RHPCasey Weathers, RHPClayton Mortensen.Projected lineup:CF Dexter Fowler2B Marco ScutaroLF Carlos GonzalezSS Troy Tulowitzki1B Todd HeltonRF Michael Cuddyer3B Chris NelsonC Ramon HernandezRotation:R Jeremy GuthrieR Jhoulys ChacinL Drew PomeranzR Juan NicasioL Jamie Moyer or

R Tyler ChatwoodCloser:R Rafael BetancourtOutlook: As one of the NLWest favorites last season,the Rockies faltered underthe pressure. They startedout well, only to tumbleback. This season, thespotlight isn’t shining asbrightly on them – andthat may be for the better.Still, the Rockies could be asleeper, especially afterGM Dan O’Dowd broughtin more veterans to helpwith leadership inside theclubhouse. Cuddyer, Guth-rie, Hernandez and Scuta-ro will be voices the teamlistens to, along withTulowitzki and Helton. Thelineup will be centered onGonzalez and Tulowitzki.Gonzalez spent more ofthe offseason focusing onbaseball and not gettingcaught up in his celebritystatus .

SAN DIEGO PADRES2011: 71-91, 5th place.Manager: Bud Black (6thseason).Here: LF Carlos Quentin,1B Yonder Alonso, RHPHuston Street, RHP Edin-son Volquez, RHP MicahOwings, RHP AndrewCashner, C John Baker, OFMark Kotsay.Outta there: RHP HeathBell, RHP Mat Latos, 1BAnthony Rizzo.Projected lineup:CF Cameron Maybin2B Orlando Hudson1B Yonder AlonsoLF Carlos QuentinC Nick Hundley3B Chase HeadleyRF Will VenableSS Jason BartlettRotation:R Tim StaufferL Cory LuebkeR Edinson VolquezL Clayton RichardR Dustin MoseleyCloser:R Huston StreetOutlook: While the Padresaren’t expected to beserious contenders, theyshould at least be betterthanks to three big tradesby new general managerJosh Byrnes. He tradedLatos to Cincinnati for fourplayers, including starterVolquez and two topprospects, Alonso andcatcher Yasmani Grandal.Byrnes acquired Quentinfrom the White Sox twoweeks later and then dealtAnthony Rizzo to the Cubsfor reliever Andrew Cashn-er. He also traded forStreet after allowingAll-Star closer Heath Bellto leave as a free agent.Maybin was given a $25million, five-year contractduring spring training.Still, the Padres have a lotto prove offensively, andtheir rotation, while solid,isn’t dazzling. It was tellingthat one of Byrnes’ firstmoves was to sign veteranoutfielder Mark Kotsay toprovide leadership.

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

Dusty Baker wouldlike a do-over.

He’s still pained bywhat happened his firstyearasabig leagueman-ager. His San FranciscoGiants finished with awhopping103wins—yetmissed the playoffs.

“I went to the ball-park every day for 10days to watch on TV,” herecalled this spring. “Fi-nally, my wife told me Ihad to let it go. I washurting.”

No such worries inBaseball 2012.

Heck, Albert Pujolsand his new teammateson the Los Angeles An-gels could finish in thirdplace — in a four-teamdivision, mind you —and sweep the World Se-ries.

Credit (or blame)goes to an expandedpostseason format thatadds two more wild-cardclubs this October.

In Boston, fanssmarting from last Sep-tember’s collapse wantthe 100th anniversary ofFenway Park to becomea yearlong celebrationof Valentine’s Day. InTexas, the two-time ALchampion Rangers are aworldwide attractionwith Yu Darvish.

In Miami, it’s all new:the ballpark, the lineup,the uniforms, the expec-tations and Ozzie Guil-len.

There’s hope, too, inWashington and at Wri-gley Field, where theCubbies’ faithful want tobelieve Theo Epsteinwill end a championshipdrought dating to 1908.

It’s possible. Knowthis: Five of the past 15World Series champshave been wild cards, in-cludingtheSt.LouisCar-dinals last season.

To Detroit managerJim Leyland, whoseteam won the AL Centralby 15 games and thensigned Prince Fielder, abigger postseason fieldis OK.

“There are a lot ofmixed emotions but aslong as the playoffs don’tget watered down, it’sfine, but that won’t hap-pen in baseball,” he said.

Traditionalists, takeheart. The total remainsfewer than the other prosports — 12 of 32 are re-warded in the NFL, and16 of 30 advance in theNBA and NHL.

As it stands, the twowild cards in eachleague will hold a one-game playoff to see whoreaches the next best-of-five round.

Cleveland IndiansPresident Mark Shapirohas changed his thinkingon the subject.

“You look at all of theone-game playoff sce-narios in baseball histo-ry and they have beenclassics. Those areamong the best, mostmemorable games,” hesaid.

Yu Darvish, the prize freeagent pitcher out ofJapan, has landed withthe Texas Rangers.ASSOCIATED PRESS/LENNY IGNELZI

‘Close’countsfor bitmoreExpansion ofplayoffs amongmany changesBy Ben WalkerAssociated Press

THE ENQUIRER /// SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 H7

TEXAS RANGERS2011: 96-66 (lost to St. Louisin World Series).Manager: Ron Washington(6th season).Here: RHP Yu Darvish, RHPJoe Nathan.Outta there: LHP C.J.Wilson, LHP Darren Oliver.Projected lineup:2B Ian KinslerSS Elvis AndrusCF Josh Hamilton3B Adrian BeltreDH Michael YoungRF Nelson CruzC Mike NapoliLF David Murphy1B Mitch MorelandRotation:R Colby LewisL Derek HollandR Yu DarvishR Neftali FelizL Matt HarrisonCloser: R Joe NathanOutlook: . The top-hittinglineup in the majors isbasically unchanged.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS2011: 86-76, 2nd place.Manager: Mike Scioscia(13th season).Here: 1B Albert Pujols, LHPC.J. Wilson.Outta there: RHP JoelPineiro, INF Russell Branyan,OF Reggie Willits.Projected lineup:SS Erick AybarDH Bobby Abreu1B Albert PujolsRF Torii Hunter2B Howie Kendrick3B Alberto CallaspoLF Vernon WellsC Chris IannettaCF Peter BourjosRotation:R Jered WeaverR Dan HarenL C.J. WilsonR Ervin SantanaR Jerome WilliamsCloser: RH Jordan WaldenOutlook: With Pujols,anything less than a goodplayoff run will disappoint.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS2011: 74-88, 3rd place.Manager: Bob Melvin (2ndseason).Here: OF Manny Ramirez,OF Yoenis Cespedes.Outta there: RHP TrevorCahill, LHP Gio Gonzalez.Projected lineup:2B Jemile WeeksSS Cliff PenningtonLF Coco CrispCF Yoenis CespedesDH Seth SmithC Kurt SuzukiRF Josh Reddick1B Brandon Allen3B Josh DonaldsonRotation:R Brandon McCarthyR Bartolo ColonL Tom MiloneR Tyson RossR Graham GodfreyCloser: L Brian FuentesOutlook: Signing Cubandefector Cespedes injectedsome life into the team.

SEATTLE MARINERS2011: 67-95, 4th place.Manager: Eric Wedge (2ndseason).Here: C/DH Jesus Montero.Outta there: RHP MichaelPineda.Projected lineup:3B Chone Figgins2B Dustin AckleyRF Ichiro Suzuki1B Justin SmoakDH Jesus MonteroLF Mike CarpC Miguel OlivoCF Michael SaundersSS Brendan RyanRotation:R Felix HernandezL Jason VargasR Blake BeavanL Charlie FurbushR Hisashi IwakumaCloser: L Brandon LeagueOutlook: Seattle’s ceiling isprobably third place.

Associated Press

AMERICANLEAGUE WEST

NEW YORK YANKEES2011: 97-65, 1st place (lostdivision series to Detroit).Manager: Joe Girardi (4thseason).Here: LHP Andy Pettitte,RHP Michael Pineda, RHPHiroki Kuroda, DH RaulIbanez.Outta there: C JorgePosada, RHP A.J. Burnett,RHP Bartolo Colon, C JesusMontero.Projected lineup:SS Derek JeterCF Curtis Granderson2B Robinson Cano3B Alex Rodriguez1B Mark TeixeiraDH Raul IbanezC Russell MartinRF Nick SwisherLF Brett GardnerRotation:L CC SabathiaR Michael PinedaR Hiroki KurodaR Freddy GarciaR Phil Hughes/Ivan NovaCloser: R Mariano RiveraOutlook: With the extrawild card, the Yankees arewell positioned for their17th postseason berth in18 years. With the roster’sage, health will be a key.

TAMPA BAY RAYS2011: 91-71, 2nd place, ALwild card (lost to Texas indivision series).Manager: Joe Maddon(7th season).Here: 1B Carlos Pena, RHPFernando Rodney, C JoseMolina.Outta there: OF JohnnyDamon, C Kelly Shoppach,1B Casey Kotchman.Projected lineup:LF Desmond JenningsCF B.J. Upton2B Ben Zobrist3B Evan Longoria1B Carlos PenaDH Luke ScottRF Matt JoyceC Jose MolinaSS Sean RodriguezRotation:R James ShieldsL David PriceR Jeremy HellicksonR Jeff NiemannL Matt MooreCloser: R Kyle FarnsworthOutlook: The Rays wereable to address their off-season priorities, like thepower of Pena and Scott,without weakening one ofbaseball’s youngest anddeepest starting staffs.

BOSTON RED SOX2011: 90-72, 3rd place.Manager: Bobby Valen-tine (1st season).Here: OF Ryan Sweeney,OF Cody Ross, RHP AndrewBailey.Outta there: RHP TimWakefield, C Jason Vari-tek, RHP Jonathan Papel-bon, SS Marco Scutaro, RFJ.D. Drew.Projected lineup:CF Jacoby Ellsbury2B Dustin Pedroia1B Adrian Gonzalez3B Kevin YoukilisDH David OrtizC Jarrod SaltalamacchiaLF Cody RossRF Ryan SweeneySS Mike AvilesRotation:L Jon LesterR Josh BeckettR Clay BuchholzR Daniel BardL Felix DoubrontCloser: R Andrew BaileyOutlook: Valentine’senergetic style contrastswith the more laid-backapproach of Terry Franco-na. But will players chafeat Valentine’s tendency tocriticize them publicly?

TORONTO BLUE JAYS2011: 81-81, 4th place.Manager: John Farrell(2nd season).Here: RH Francisco Corde-ro, OF Ben Francisco, LHAaron Laffey.Outta there: RH ShawnCamp, RH Frank Francisco,OF Adam Loewen.Projected lineup:SS Yunel Escobar2B Kelly JohnsonRF Jose Bautista1B Adam LindDH Edwin Encarnacion3B Brett LawrieCF Colby RasmusC J.P. ArencibiaLF Travis SniderRotation:L Ricky RomeroR Brandon MorrowL Brett CecilL Henderson AlvarezR Dustin McGowanCloser:R Francisco CorderoOutlook: They’re sportinga new look this season, athrowback to the back-to-back World Series titles in1992 and ‘93. But it’ll takemore than updated uni-forms to get the Blue Jaysback in the playoffs.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES2011: 69-93, 5th place.Manager: Buck Showalter(2nd full season).Here: LH Wei-Yin Chen, LHDana Eveland, C TaylorTeagarden.Outta there: DH VladimirGuerrero, LF Luke Scott.Projected lineup:LF Nolan ReimoldSS J.J. HardyRF Nick MarkakisCF Adam JonesC Matt Wieters3B Mark Reynolds1B Chris DavisDH Wilson Betemit2B Robert AndinoRotation:R Jake ArrietaL Wei-Yin ChenR Tommy HunterR Jason HammelL Brian MatuszCloser: R Kevin GreggOutlook: Between Hardy,Jones, Reynolds and Wie-ters, the Orioles haveenough power to competewith the big boys in the ALEast. The problem is thepitching, again a hugequestion mark in their bidto snap a streak of 14losing seasons.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

Orioles catcher MattWieters broke throughwith 22 homers and 68RBI last season, but theO’s still struggled.US PRESSWIRE/KIM KLEMENT

Toronto slugger JoseBautista has 97 homersover the past twoseasons after hitting 59over his first six.AP

Bobby Valentine’s brashstyle will be a contrast tothe demeanor of his RedSox predecessor TerryFrancona.US PRESSWIRE/KIM KLEMENT

Tampa Bay’s EvanLongoria had 31 homeruns and 99 RBI lastseason despite beinglimited to 133 games.AP

The Yankees leaned oncenter fielder CurtisGranderson last season.He had a career-high 41homers and 119 RBI.US PRESSWIRE/KIM KLEMENT

DETROIT TIGERS2011: 95-67, 1st place (lostto Texas in ALCS).Manager: Jim Leyland(7th season).Here: 1B Prince Fielder,RHP Collin Balester, RHPOctavio Dotel.Outta there: 3B WilsonBetemit, 2B Carlos Guillen,OF Magglio Ordonez, RHPJoel Zumaya.Projected lineup:CF Austin JacksonRF Brennan Boesch3B Miguel Cabrera1B Prince FielderDH Delmon YoungC Alex AvilaSS Jhonny PeraltaLF Andy Dirks2B Ryan RaburnRotation:R Justin VerlanderR Doug FisterR Max ScherzerR Rick PorcelloR Duane BelowCloser:R Jose ValverdeOutlook: Verlander, Ca-brera and Fielder giveDetroit three MVP candi-dates in their primes, andafter winning the divisionby 15 games, Detroit feelsits time is now.

CLEVELAND INDIANS2011: 80-82, 2nd place.Manager: Manny Acta(3rd season).Here: RHP Derek Lowe, 1BCasey Kotchman, RHPKevin Slowey, RHP DanWheeler.Outta there: OF AustinKearns, RHP Jensen Lewis,RHP Mitch Talbot.Projected lineup:CF Michael BrantleySS Asdrubal CabreraRF Shin-Soo ChooC Carlos SantanaDH Travis Hafner1B Casey Kotchman2B Jason KipnisLF Shelley Duncan3B Jack HannahanRotation:R Ubaldo JimenezR Justin MastersonR Josh TomlinR Derek LoweR Jeanmar GomezCloser:RH Chris PerezOutlook: The Indians onlyhad Hafner, Choo, Cabreraand Grady Sizemore in thesame lineup for 17 gameslast season. Acta has hisplayers believing they cannot only contend, but rundown Detroit.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX2011: 79-83, 3rd place.Manager: Robin Ventura(1st season).Here: INF Osvaldo Marti-nez, RHP Jhan Marinez,LHP Pedro Hernandez.Outta there: LHP MarkBuehrle, OF Carlos Quen-tin, OF Juan Pierre, RHPJason Frasor.Projected lineup:CF Alejandro De AzaC A.J. PierzynskiRF Alex Rios1B Paul KonerkoDH Adam DunnSS Alexei RamirezLF Dayan Viciedo3B Brent Morel2B Gordon BeckhamRotation:L John DanksR Jake PeavyR Gavin FloydL Chris SaleR Phil HumberCloser:L Matt ThorntonOutlook: Peavy wasroughed up early in springtraining after being shutdown early last season.Dunn missed by a fewplate appearances havingthe lowest batting average(.159) in modern history.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS2011: 71-91, 4th place.Manager: Ned Yost (3rdseason).Here: RHP Jonathan Brox-ton, LHP Jonathan San-chez, C Humberto Quinte-ro, SS Yuniesky Betancourt.Outta there: CF MelkyCabrera, LH Jeff Francis.Projected lineup:LF Alex Gordon2B Johnny Giavotella1B Eric HosmerDH Billy Butler3B Mike MoustakasRF Jeff FrancoeurC Salvador PerezCF Lorenzo CainSS Alcides EscobarRotation:R Luke HochevarL Jonathan SanchezL Bruce ChenR Felipe PaulinoL Danny DuffyCloser:R Joakim SoriaOutlook: The Royalsreturn virtually the entireroster from season’s end,when the lineup’s averageage some nights was 24.Being in the race at thebreak, when Kansas Cityhosts the All-Star Game,would be progress.

MINNESOTA TWINS2011: 63-99, 5th place.Manager: Ron Gardenhire(11th season).Here: SS Jamey Carroll, OFJosh Willingham, RHPJason Marquis, C-DH RyanDoumit.Outta there: OF MichaelCuddyer, RHP Joe Nathan,OF Jason Kubel.Projected lineup:CF Denard SpanSS Jamey CarrollC Joe Mauer1B Justin MorneauRF Josh WillinghamDH Ryan Doumit3B Danny ValenciaLF Ben Revere2B Alexi CasillaRotation:R Carl PavanoL Francisco LirianoR Scott BakerR Nick BlackburnR Jason MarquisCloser:R Matt CappsOutlook: Mauer andMorneau, former MVPsand franchise cornerstoneswho were injured in 2011,have been full participantsin spring training. But thedivision is better than itused to be.

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

Detroit signed free agentslugger Prince Fielder toplay first base afterVictor Martinez was lostfor the season. AP

Right-hander UbaldoJimenez figures to bethe ace of a youngIndians pitching staff.US PRESSWIRE/JAKE ROTH

Former Red Adam Dunnmust bounce back froma historically bad 2011season for the White Soxto contend. AP

Billy Butler, 25, drove in95 runs last season andis among the Royals’young core.US PRESSWIRE/JAKE ROTH

Mysterious ailmentslimited Twins catcher JoeMauer to just 82 gameslast season, but he’shealthy again. AP

H8 SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 /// THE ENQUIRER

*Chrysler Town & Country received the lowest number of problems per 100 vehicles among minivans in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Initial Quality Study. SM Study based on responses from 73,790 new-vehicle owners,measuring 234 models and measures opinions after 90 days of ownership. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of owners surveyed in February–May 2011. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com.†Leather-trimmed 1st and 2nd rows. (1) Low mileage lease offer for well-qualified lessees requires an acquisition fee and dealer contribution which may affect final price. Tax, title and license extra. Pay for excess wear and $.25/mile for eachmile over 10,000 miles per year. Option to buy at lease end at pre-negotiated price plus a $2,500 purchase option fee. Each participating dealer’s actual terms may vary. Offer through ALLY. Not all lessees will qualify. Residency restrictionsapply. Must take retail delivery by 4/2/12. (2) Chrysler Town & Country Touring: Amounts based on MSRP example with a 29K package after application of $2,500 lease cash. Total due at lease signing is $2,844, which includes a $2,565 downpayment and first month’s payment of $279. 36 monthly payments total $10,061. (3) Chrysler 200 Limited Sedan: Amounts based on MSRP example with a 29V package after application of $3,000 lease cash. Total due at lease signing is$3,009, which includes a $2,830 down payment and first month’s payment of $179. 36 monthly payments total $6,462. Chrysler and Imported From Detroit are trademarks of Chrysler Group LLC.

20 1 2 CH RY S L E R TOWN & COUNT RY TOU R I NG

L E A S E FO R ON LY:

$279/MO. FOR36MOS.(1)(2)$2,844 DUE AT SIGNING$.25 CHARGE FOR EACH MILE OVER 30,000 MILES

TAX, TITLE AND LICENSE EXTRA. NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED.

NO EM P LOY E E D I S COUNT R EQU I R E D .

20 1 2 CH RY S L E R 200 L I M I T E D S EDAN

L E A S E FO R ON LY:

$179/MO. FOR36MOS.(1)(3)$3,009 DUE AT SIGNING$.25 CHARGE FOR EACH MILE OVER 30,000 MILES

TAX, TITLE AND LICENSE EXTRA. NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED.

Y O U D O N ’ T

S T E A L S P O T L I G H T S.

Y O U E A R N T H E M.

T H E CH RY S L E R TOWN & COUNTRY

“ H I G H E S T R A N K ED M I N I VA N I N I N I T I A L Q UA L I T Y I N 2 0 1 1 ”J . D . P o w e r a n d A s s o c i a t e s*

Some cars are designed to grab your attention. The Chrysler Town & Country was built to deserve it.

Not only is it arguably the most luxurious minivan ever, it also gives you leather† and DVD standard. Not to

mention, J.D. Power and Associates honored it as the “Highest Ranked Minivan in Initial Quality in 2011.”Experience Town & Country for yourself. And see why it grabs the spotlight the old-fashioned way: by earning it.

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