Previews? What Previews?

Friday, March 20 2009 @ 01:15 PM EDT

Contributed by: Mick Doherty

Season previews have been a popular staple here on Batter's Box for the past several years, and given that it's March 20, some Bauxites are starting to ask, "Hey, where the *&^% are the team-by-team season previews?"

Well, we're doing things a little differently this year, but it all starts on Monday. And we come to you now with an invitation to help. Updated (again) 3/30.

Rather than doing 30 separate team previews, we will offer divisional previews for the "other five" big league divisions, then roll into team previews for every squad in the American League East, concluding with our traditional three-part breakdown of the hometown favorites and a 2009 post-season awards prediction contest.

Now, speaking of predictions, we noticed last year that among the nine or 10 of us who wrote previews, we projected something like twenty-six playoff teams (okay, that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea) ... so this year, instead of a breakdown and preview/projection of each division or team, we will be presenting a series of "Key Questions About ..." So you might see headlines like "10 Key Questions About the NL West" or "Nine Key Questions About the Boston Red Sox." (As tempting as it might be, you will NOT see the headline "$400M Key Questions About the New York Yankees" ...)

At which point, we will turn the blogwaves over to you, reader-Bauxites, to give answers to those questions proffered. First, though, you are also invited to make suggestions about what questions should be asked ... just click the name of the previewer(s) below and send them your thoughts and demands. (Legal note: "demands" must be worded politely or risk being ignored or deleted.)

Here's the working schedule. Let's have fun with this 14-part discussion, everyone!

Ed. note ... sorry for the bizarro problems with the e-mail links originally posted. There's something going on weird with our HTML tool and it did not work properly, inserting addresses as page links rather than mailto: prompts. Have never had this issue before, and because I can't figure out what's causing it -- and, honestly, am too lazy on a Saturday to go write out the code long-hand -- the addresses above can be copied and pasted into any e-mail client. Please note one additional correction -- your co-author for the leadoff NL West feature is Dave Rutt, not Dave Till. As a Hall of Names piece once proclaimed, momma told me there'd be Daves like these! Additional ed. note .... slight changes to the days of some of the divisional previews made 3/26.

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