More on team previews.
What do Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Nick Markakis, Roy Halladay, Lance Berkman, Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn, Chipper Jones, Josh Hamilton and Ichiro Suzuki have in common?
They're all really good players. And they all play for bad -- in some cases awful -- teams.
Baseball fans tend to count up the stars when evaluating teams' prospects, but it's more often the absence of holes that determines the final standings. Nearly every team has a trio of guys who can pound in the middle of the order and a couple of live arms at the top of the rotation. Most decent relievers can rack up saves. How hard is it to get three outs before the other team scores three runs?
The real measure of your favorite side is in the margins. Check the team's fourth starter, its number seven hitter, its second-best set-up man. How good is the fourth outfielder and the backup catcher? Their level of play tells you about the players in front of them as well as the team depth. That's where I look to determine a team's strength.
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