Albert Pujols' pending free agency is one of spring training's biggest storylines.
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Guess what everybody? Baseball is back!

Baseball fans across the country have an extra spring in their step now that the hot stove has finally cooled and spring training has begun.

Granted, players haven't played in months, starters are gone after a few innings and the games include a bunch of scrubs you will likely never hear of again - unless, of course, you root for the Royals or their National League counterpart, the Pirates, in which case your entire team is made up of unknown scrubs.

At spring training, the score is only kept because it wouldn't seem like a game if it wasn't (and because teams want to shill those do-'em-yourself scorecards to overpaying fans), results are essentially meaningless and the only players exhibiting real effort are the ones playing for a roster spot.

Forget all that, though. Let's get to the important part: the spring training storylines.

Last time we did this, it was in a power poll format. For the sake of consistency, I say we do it that way again.

Here we go. The MLB from bottom to top...

31. FREE AGENTS - There are still enough well-known players on the market to field a full team, albeit not a very good one. Players like Carlos Delgado, Gary Sheffield, John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez and Jarrod Washburn are still stuck without a home.

30. PIRATES - There is absolutely no reason to watch or root for this team unless you're a masochist or you root for a good team that might make a trade for one of the Pirates' marginally good players later in the season. In the last few years, Pittsburgh has gotten rid of Xavier Nady, Jason Bay and a few others. Is it going to be Andrew McCutchen this season? Who knows. I hear the Yankees might be in the market come midseason.

The other reason to watch this team would be to follow a fantasy player you have on your roster. Speaking of which, if you play fantasy sports without any actual ability to play the sport or a working knowledge of the game, I urge you to unplug the computer, turn off the TV, get off the couch and get the hell out of the house. Learn the real thing.

29. REDS - At least the Reds managed to drum up a bit of interest during the offseason by unexpectedly signing Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman. Chapman has been highly touted as a front-line starter. Now let's see just how much havoc Dusty Baker can wreak on him and the rest of the rotation.

28. ROYALS - Kansas City is clearly royal in name only. This team is interesting for one reason: ace starter Zack Greinke emerging from the dugout every fifth day to work his magic. Well, that and the team's decision to turn hotheaded reliever Kyle Farnsworth into a starter. Square peg, meet round hole.

27. NATIONALS - Nationals president Stan Kasten was president of the Atlanta Braves when they stockpiled all those good, young pitchers a few years ago. It worked pretty well then. Let's see how it goes now.

The team drafted starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg and paid him a record salary. Now fans are eagerly waiting to see what this kid can do when he makes his first start on Tuesday, March 9. Washington has drummed up more hype with the Strasburg signing than the division rival Mets have all season. Then again, the government, the auto industry and Toyota have probably received a better response for their recent moves than the Mets have.

26. PADRES - This team has been pretty bad in recent years with no clear strategy in place. But they are also in the NL West, so there's always an outside chance of winning the division. The Padres also play their regular season games in San Diego, which is always a plus.

25. ASTROS - The Astros' star is falling, especially considering their indecision about whether or not to trade key starter Roy Oswalt; at least they have him as a key piece to start building around.

24. INDIANS - The Indians traded away Cy Young winners C.C. Sabbathia and Cliff Lee over the last two seasons, and haven't found suitable replacements. They still have outfielder Grady Sizemore, but he is getting a lot less hype after a few years of struggling. Cleveland probably won't rock this season.

23. ORIOLES - The hype has started to build already for catcher Matt Wieters. Between their prospects and the veteran starter they signed this offseason to mentor the younger players, Kevin Millwood, the Orioles definitely have a solid plan for the first time in years. Of course, as is the case with all prospects, we have yet to see just how well this plan will work.

22. BLUE JAYS - Fans in Toronto definitely have reason to be blue this season as the team traded away the single best pitcher in the league, starter Roy Halladay. J.P. Riccardi is out as general manager. Unfortunately, the team is still stuck with the terrible contracts Riccardi signed, like Vernon Wells, and the owners have made it no secret that they are trying to clear money off the books.

21. CUBS - The Cubbies are fielding a roster of overpriced old guys. They are still stuck with Alfonso Soriano's albatross-of-a-contract, and have more jinxes working against them than a guy who broke a mirror while walking under a ladder on Friday the 13th. They did manage to get rid of malcontent outfielder Milton Bradley. So they've got that going for them, which is nice.

20. ATHLETICS - Billy Beane seemed a lot smarter a few years ago when he had Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito in the starting rotation. Since then, he's made a habit of signing retread veterans and risky prospects who are schlepped to teams still in contention by the trade deadline.

This year Beans signed risky starter Ben Sheets, who comes to the A's with injury concerns and a high upside. My money is on him being on the Mets by July. If not, it means the Mets are out of it too. But you can fill in virtually any team in need of a starter as Sheets' home this summer.

19. DIAMONDBACKS - Starting pitchers Dan Haren, Edwin Jackson and Aaron Heilman have the potential to be a formidable rotation, but outfielder Justin Upton is their only exiting position player. Arizona traded for Yankees pitcher Ian Kennedy last season, so USC fans have a reason to follow the team. Without a strong lineup, Arizona probably can't contend though.

18. BREWERS - The best news for the Brew Crew is that first baseman Prince Fielder and his agent Scott Boras may break form and re-sign with the team before Fielder hits free agency. Fielder can certainly mash. Now if only we could put a stop to those awful home run celebrations...

17. METS - The Mets are crumbling, literally. Pieces of the Citi Field sign started falling to the ground this winter. In terms of the actual team, there is no structure or semblance of a plan.

The main piece the Mets needed this offseason was a starting pitcher to stand beside ace Johan Santana. Instead, the team signed one big bat in Jason Bay and one aging, underperforming slugger in Gary Matthews Jr. That's not going to cut it.

Another of the Mets' main problems last season was all of the strange injuries they suffered. That hasn't been fixed either. New York got into a very public argument with outfielder Carlos Beltran over his decision to pursue knee surgery; decided to sign oft-injured pitcher Kelvim Escobar, only to see him suffer shoulder soreness that will delay his arrival to spring training; and recently sent infielder Jose Reyes back to New York for a battery of medical tests.

The best thing that could happen to this organization would be finishing worse than the Nationals. Fans in New York would take to the streets, flock to the stadium and force the Wilpon's to clean house - that is, if the Wilpon's are even allowed to stay.

16. MARLINS - Aside from the recent slap on the wrist the organization got from Commissioner Bud Selig for being too cheap, the Marlins are on the right path. With excellent, cost-controlled players like Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Emilio Bonofacio and Josh Johnson leading the team, Marlins fans have reason to be excited. Remember, it was just a few years ago that Florida came out of nowhere with young starters Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett to win the World Series.

15. RANGERS - The Rangers have a strong pitching staff, headlined by Neftali Feliz, for the first time in years. What remains to be seen is if outfielder Josh Hamilton, and catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden can rebound on offense.

Another big story for the Rangers will involve their ownership situation. Last season, they pulled a GM and asked the league for a bailout. The Rangers are expected to have new ownership by opening day, as a group including team president Nolan Ryan look to finalize a deal for the team. Anything that gets Nolan Ryan back into the game is a great thing for the sport. Up next: let Mark Cuban buy, and save, the Cubbies.

14. GIANTS - Everybody is sure young phenom Tim Lincecum can work his magic again this season. Now the team needs to see if their hitters have any interest in swapping out their bats for wands. Otherwise, the Giants don't have enough offense to be a formidable team.

13. WHITE SOX - Ozzie Guillen is going to appear in a reality show, so things just got a lot more exciting in Chicago. Personally, I can't wait. Added bonus: Guillen has a Twitter account now too. The owners can't be happy about this.
Enough about Ozzie, let's get to the actual roster. The Sox have what should be a strong starting rotation with Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy, but, like the Giants, they lack that big bat that is necessary to truly be scary.

12. BRAVES - This team is well balanced. The young pitching staff is promising, and outfielder Nate McLouth has already showed that he is worth the attention he has received. The last time Atlanta's staff had this much potential was when they had names like Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz on the roster. The year was 1995, and they won the World Series. Let's see if the Braves can give Bobby Cox another one as a retirement present.

By the way, if Nate McLouth isn't one of your favorite players already, he should be. This year he decided to change his number to 24. The reason? "It's my favorite TV show and Lost isn't a number."

11. DODGERS - The Dodgers let starter Randy Wolf walk this offseason and still haven't found a front-line starter to replace him. They do have an excellent outfield with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, though. Hopefully, Manny Ramirez can rebound this season and remember what it means to be a productive power hitter. Catcher Russell Martin got into shape this offseason, which should probably give him more strength and durability behind the plate this season. Oh wait, he's expected to miss four to six weeks with a groin injury. Nevermind.

Between Martin's injury and the holes in their rotation, the Dodgers are in trouble. Luckily, they have the entire McCourt mess to distract from the troubles the team has on the field. Of course, that plan could backfire. The McCourt divorce could end up being blamed for the daily struggles of the team. It remains to be seen

10. ROCKIES - The Rockies definitely have a much deeper roster with Seth Smith, Ryan Spilborghs and Melvin Mora joining shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in the lineup - not to mention Matt Daley and Esmil Rogers joining the bullpen. Now let's see how long it will take for them to take themselves seriously.

Colorado has a habit of not turning it on until the last two or three weeks of the season, when they realize their league is no good and they still have a shot at winning the wild card. Only this year they will be in serious consideration for the pennant in the NL West.

9. TIGERS - The Tigers look to sober up this season, as first baseman Miguel Cabrera announced that he has stopped drinking and a new stadium-wide ban means manager Jim Leyland is going to be forced to cut out cigarettes. I can see the bubblegum, sunflower seeds and coffee cups strewn about the dugout already.

The Tigers are definitely going to be a tenser club this season, especially after trading star center fielder Curtis Granderson. Good thing they just signed Johnny Damon. He'll loosen the place up. If the rest of the roster can keep up, Detroit has the rotation to be a contender, with Jeremy Bonderman, Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer.

8. TWINS - The only thing the Twins have to worry about this season is locking up catcher Joe Mauer with a long-term deal. They proved last season that they have a competitive team, but if Mauer leaves, Minnesota would be devastated. Of course, every other team is anxiously waiting to see if Mauer becomes available. If he does decide to hit the market, Mr. Mauer will become a rich, rich man this offseason.

It will also be interesting to see how this whole playing outdoors in Minnesota thing works out; the team built a new stadium without a roof. Who thought that was a good idea?

7. ANGELS - The longstanding powerhouse of the AL West lost many key pieces this offseason - namely starters John Lackey, Vladimir Guerrero and Chone Figgins - without signing any replacements. Of course, manager Mike Scioscia always seems to make the right decision, and they have that evil monkey working in their favor. Oops. Wrong monkey. I have a feeling this team will still be competitive.

6. MARINERS - The Mariners saw incredible improvement last season. They have a solid defense and two of the best pitchers in the league in Feliz Hernandez and Cliff Lee. Like the Giants and White Sox, it's the offense that is problematic for Seattle. With the great Ken Griffey Jr. years removed from relevance and Milton Bradley in the lineup, things could get interesting. On the plus side, the team has an excellent general manager who is making smart moves. The only problem is that his name rivals Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski in its difficulty to be spelled. Zduriencik? I should win a spelling bee.

5. CARDINALS - Sluggers Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday will make for a formidable lineup. Just like Minnesota, the biggest story in the Cardinals' camp will be whether or not they can get Pujols to sign a long-term deal. The other thing to keep an eye on is whether or not the Cards can keep hitting coach Mark McGwire away from the perpetual league MVP. In case nobody noticed, McGwire sucked until he did steroids.

By the way, I find it baffling that McGwire is more demonized than manager Tony La Russa, who insists he knew nothing about steroids in his clubhouse. La Russa is either more oblivious than Jessica Simpson or he is lying. Between that and his DUI a few years ago, he isn't exactly an upstanding citizen.

McGwire broke the rules and cheated in a game. But what's the worst that could happen? A case of 'roid rage? La Russa broke the law and endangered innocent people on the road.

4. RAYS - The Rays still have a good, young core with pitchers David Price, James Shields and Andy Sonnanstine; and position players Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria on their roster. The problem is that their division is just too damn competitive. Look for Crawford to become available over the summer if the team is out of contention. If not, he is going to draw interest from teams everywhere when he hits free agency in the offseason.

3. PHILLIES - By trading for Roy Halladay, the Phillies got the best pitcher in the league. They're also coming back with virtually the same lineup that took them to the World Series last season. The only problem fans have with the organization is that they didn't keep ace starter Cliff Lee. Why didn't they keep Lee? That's like asking why they didn't sign John Lackey, Randy Wolf and Rich Harden. At some point there is such a thing as a surplus of riches, especially when you consider their division. They simply don't need Lee to contend, so why waste the money?

1b. RED SOX - General manager Theo Epstein began the offseason by saying this would be a bridge year for Boston. Then he went out and signed John Lackey, Mike Cameron and Adrian Beltre to fill out the roster. I guess he lied. Of course, now there is panic within Red Sox Nation that the team is too defense-oriented. It's always something, right?

Unless David Ortiz pulls a disappearing act again, the Sox have a pretty formidable lineup. The only reason they aren't the best team in the league is because they aren't the returning champion, they still have insufferable closer Jonathan Papelbon on their roster and their fans are a bunch of irrational, drunken miscreants who are perpetually bitter about life.

1. YANKEES - The Yankees adhered to a budget this offseason - if staying under $200 million can be considered adhering to a budget. The team suffered backlash from almost everyone for using this strategy. Some fans wanted them to spend the rough equivalent of the GDP to sign every name on the market. Others said New York was still spending too much. Gotta love consistency, eh?

The team will miss certainly free agents Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. But they got a star outfielder in Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson will make a solid DH.

This spring the Yankees' camp will be all about figuring out who the fifth starter is. Last season the team used "Joba Rules" to ease young pitcher Joba Chamberlain into the rotation. Could it be the "Hughes Rules" this year to protect Phil Hughes? Will the loser of the Chamberlain/Hughes battle go to the bullpen? To the minors?

Either way fans will be convinced the team is making the wrong move.
 
The other thing that will drum up a lot of noise is the fact that shortstop, and face of the franchise, Derek Jeter is currently in the last year of his contract. So is the greatest closer on the planet, Mariano Rivera. So is manager Joe Girardi.

The team is not currently negotiating with Jeter or Rivera - at least not publicly. We are certainly privy to a lot more celebrity information than we used to be, but really? Do you think the Yanks haven't basically signed Jeter to, or agreed with him on, terms for an extension behind closed doors?

I certainly hope so. Because if Jeter walks at the end of the season...wow. I don't even know what I would do. I simply can't fathom it. I'd probably be forced to drink myself into a coma. Or drop out of school, become the general manager of the Yankees and re-sign The Captain myself. Whichever seems easiest at the time.