Now that we've heard from Yankees, Mets and Red Sox fans, I thought I'd chip in from the Great White North. Yes, friends and neighbours, there are some passionate ball fans north of the 49th. We're not all hockey pucks up here. The Toronto Blue Jays will not be battling for a wild card this year, or perhaps, for a few years to come, but I do enjoy watching a hungry young ballclub. They have some young hurlers who still have to earn their spurs in the bigs, and with Delgado gone, this team will shun the Moneyball aspect of the game that J.P. Ricciardi has espoused since his tenureas GM. Despite the success of the small market clubs like the Twins and A's over the past few seasons, their fans had to endure some pretty lean times. Billy Beane and Terry Ryan are astute GMs. In MLB, it is not a level playing field in financial terms between the clubs, and probably never will be. A lot of the high rent district teams will continue to spend. In other words, don't look for a salary cap now or in the near future. The Cubs have pitching, but they'd better hope Prior's injury is not serious. Kerry Wood has to stay healthy, as well. Also, the Cubbies will have to scratch and claw for runs in '05. In the AL, I hope Alan Trammell has a good year in Motown. I'm not a Tiger fan. However, he had to watch his Bengals play some lousy ball since he took over the reins as manager, but Detroit now has some decent young arms. Also, I think Mr. Trammell is a class act and deserves success. (just not against the Jays) Back to the NL, the Cardinals can still hit the hell out of the ball, but I think they lost some depth in their pitching, particualrly their relief corps. I don't know about everybody else, but I'm sick of hearing about steroids and seeing Jose Canseco mug on the tube, so I'm ready for the men in blue to shout, "PLAY BALL".