1. The emergence of Miguel Tejada. This guy is for real. A 24 year-old shortstop that may move up into second place among current shortstops in the next few seasons. I don’t know if he will ever challenge A-Rod for the title, but I think he will be ahead of Nomar by the end of next season. He is a five-tool player with acrobatic abilities in the field and a hammer at the plate. If they would let him, he could steal 20-30 bases a year also. Keep your eye on this kid; he's going to be a lot of fun for a long time.

2. The downfall of Tom Glavine. Now by downfall I mean the start of the slide. I expect this year to be similar to his '99 campaign of 14-11-4.12 and then in the following years: 12 and 8 wins before he hangs it up after the 2003 season. His biggest undoing this year will, oddly enough, be the high strike. I think as he tries to use it, his stuff just will not be able to get it past people and they will hit him harder. Just a feeling, but I think it's the beginning of the end for one of my favorite pitchers.

3. More base stealing. This may be an effect of number two below. Lower scoring ballgames make for a need to manufacture more runs. This along with some new managers from the days when SB's ruled the world (1975-1985), lead me to believe that we will have some high stolen base totals. I don't think any one person will be setting any records, just that the trend will be to run more often.

4. The high strike zone. I'm not saying that people don't think it will have a big impact, I'm saying it will have a huge impact. My guess is ERA's may drop by 0.5 runs in both leagues. I think it will lead to a new style of managing, well not new, but recycled from the mid 70's and early 80's when scoring was not quite as easy as it is today. You never know, we may see the second coming of "Billy Ball". Personally, I think it will be a good thing.

5. A deal. Yep - I think there is gonna be a deal between the players and owners. The reason? Neither side can afford not to make one. If we have the predicted long, drawn out strike, baseball will have to start from a place much deeper than where it came back from in '95. The animosity from that strike is just barely beneath the surface of all baseball fans and another one could do damage that will never be undone. The media predicted the same thing after the last strike ended and it took Cal Ripken and then Sammy and Mark McGwire to bring people back to the game. The only thing on the horizon that would equal that is McGwire's chase of Hank Aaron, but a lost season would probably end that dream forever. Everyone has way too much to lose to let a strike happen. My personal preference would be to put in a minimum payroll, a maximum payroll and luxury tax above it. Along with this would have to be some type of revenue sharing between clubs. Sorry, George, I know you like all those bought and paid for championships, but it's time to level the playing field.

Well there it is: two players, two game changes, and the biggest news in the game in the past six years. You can bank on it...

Article first appeared at www.e-sports.com

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