Jason Bartlett

Adrian Gonzalez? Gone. David Eckstein? History. The Hairstons? Adios.

Miguel Tejada? Auf Weidersehen. Yorvit Torrealba? Movin on..

You get the picture. The Padres will be a different team in 2011.

The question becomes "Is different better?" I know that what I see on paper right now looks much better than the last two seasons teams did at this same point. Lets take a look at what should be the Padres starting line up for opening day.

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With spring training around the corner, coupled with being snowed in here in Little Rock, Arkansas, I thought it’d be a perfect time for my take on the Padres in 2011.

The 2011 opening day lineup will most likely look similar to this:

1.     Jason Bartlett – SS

2.     Orlando Hudson – 2B

After their offseason fire sale, the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays lost a lot of key players from their multiple playoff teams. In order to recover, they will need new players to step up to a more prominent role.

These power rankings take into consideration how much the loss hurts the Rays and if they have a viable replacement. 

The key losses to the Rays roster are mostly in their bullpen. The reason being that they do not have many proven players to fill in. In other areas they have players that have at least a year or more experience in the majors. 

The Tampa Bay Rays have gone through baseball's version of a liquidation sale in the 2010 offseason. It is almost as if any player with any value has left the team or has been rumored to be traded with few exceptions.

Starting with the expected departure of Carl Crawford to the Boston Red Sox and the subsequent departures of players including Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett the team will look very different in 2011.

When a fan asked David Price on twitter about how the team will be different in 2011, he responded jokingly by saying, "the field will still look the same."

I will say, if nothing else, the San Diego Padres have had one interesting offseason.

I really believed that after surprising baseball by winning 90 games, finishing just two games behind the San Francisco Giants and seeing a close to 200,000 attendance increase, the Padres would capitalize on their 2010 by adding to their team for 2011. Instead, well, I have really have no idea what they are doing.

The past two days were extremely busy at the winter meetings, highlighted by some shocking developments.  Let’s take a look at everything that happened (for my thoughts on Days 1 & 2, click here and here): 

The Boston Red Sox Signed OF Carl Crawford

In baseball, divisions can be won or lost based on what a team does in the winter months, and perhaps more so than any other division, the NL Central could be decided by a few key off season moves.

The division looks to be a three team race between the Cardinals, Reds, and Cubs. The Brewers are also capable of making some noise, while the Astros and Pirates are in the middle of rebuilding and could see marked improvement in the years to come.

This upcoming offseason marks an offseason of transition for the Tampa Bay Rays.

As part three of a six part series, the biggest underachievers in Major League Baseball this year are being called out. The AL East is no stranger to the disappointment that a handful of players have brought to their team.

The AL East has had its own battles. There's a close division race, a team struggling with plentiful injuries, and a home run happy club. Each has seen their fair share of those who have not been producing like they have in the past.

Here are eight beasts from the East who seem to have been tamed for most of the 2010 season.