| Team | Key Departures | Key Acquisitions | Summary | Grade |
| Holbrook Hawks | LF Jose Canseco, LF Mark Smith, RP Toby Borland, SS Carlos Rodriguez, 1B Rico Brogna, 3B Ed Sprague, 2B Bill Spiers, RP Mike Myers, RP Jay Powell | SP Brett Saberhagen, CF Jim Edmonds | The tear-down rebuild is nearing completion in Holbrook, but don’t look for them to be serious contenders for at least one more season. Look for young slugger Carlos Lee and young gun Mac Suzuki to make some noise. | C+ |
| Pittsburgh Champions | SP Omar Olivares | None | A quiet offseason, but the Champions will still reign supreme in the AC East. A strong rotation will overshadow a mediocre bullpen, and the heart of their lineup is one of the toughest to get through. | B- |
| Florida Flamingos | 3B Scott Brosius, 1B John Mabry, RP John Johnstone, SS Jose Viscaino, SS Ricky Gutierrez | None | More needed to be done to put Florida into talks of contention. The ML roster has too many weak spots, and their top prospects are not projected to receive the call until at least 2001. | C- |
| Philadelphia Brotherhood | LF Craig Monroe, 3B Luis Ortiz, SP Mike Grace, RP Kevin Wickander, C Brook Fordyce, 3B Matt Williams, RP Pedro Borbon, RP Willie Banks | 2B Adam Kennedy, RP Jamie Arnold, SS Jose Valentin, RP Ji-hyun Kyung, RP John Hudek, CF Jose Macias, RP Allen Watson, RP Tom Edens, RP Joe Grahe | The Brotherhood’s roster continues to be too top-heavy. They will probably top out around .500 this season. | B+ |
| New Orleans Voodoo | RF Larry Walker, RP Mariano Rivera, RP Todd Van Poppel | 2B Tae-kon Lee, RF Jay Buhner, SP Dong-chan Lee, LF Mark Smith | The Voodoo limped into the playoffs and were quickly eliminated last year and felt the need to make a splash this offseason to try and right the ship. They spent top dollar on international free agent brothers Tae-kon and Dong-chan Lee, and look to have improved a bit over last year’s squad. The team to beat in the AC Central. | A- |
| San Antonio Armadillos | 3B Phil Hiatt, C Chad Kreuter, 3B Dean Palmer | C Jayhawk Owens, 3B Willie Greene | A scary rotation and strong bullpen will bring the Armadillos many wins in 2000. Longmire and Wilkerson will have to do a lot of heavy lifting for their lineup if they want to push for division – a wild card birth could be in the cards, too. | B |
| Houston 36ers | SP Kevin Foster, RF Moises Alou, 3B Scott Livingstone | RP Pedro Borbon, RP Paul Quantrill | After a bit of front office turmoil this offseason, new GM Scott Boychuk hopes to bring stability to the Houston franchise. If their young pitching staff can hold their own, look for the 36ers to be a surprise contender again, as they were in 1998. | B |
| Gobbler’s Knob Turkeys | LF Reggie Jefferson, RP Rod Beck, SP Steve Cooke, LF Mike Greenwell, SP Kent Mercker, SP Ben McDonald | None | The Turkeys don’t have enough ML talent to win much in 2000. Their minor league system has some talent in it, but is not projected to see pro time for another 2 years. | C- |
| Portland Beavers | SP Tom Candiotti, C Jayhawk Owens, CF Glen Barker, 1B Mark Grace, RF Brian Giles | None | After winning 110 games last season, the Beavers couldn’t overcome their divisional rival Pranksters in their Final Four matchup. Still an unbelievably strong team from top to bottom with a deep developing system, the Beavers made no moves to improve their fortunes. They are still heavy favorites to make a deep playoff run. | B- |
| Yellowknife Targaryens | SS Royce Clayton, RP Joe Grahe, RP Dave Burba, SS Tony Fernandez, SS Delino DeShields, SP Ken Hill, CF Jim Edmonds | SP Roger Pavlik, SS Gary Disarcina, 1B Will Clark | Yellowknife is much better this year, but may be a year away from serious contention, as some of their superstars (Halladay, Lawrence and Harang) may need a little more seasoning. Losing DeShields and Edmonds hurts their immediate chances of winning but freed up needed payroll to continue to invest in their youth. | B- |
| Palo Alto Pranksters | RF Kirby Puckett, 3B Todd Zeile, CF Chad Curtis | LF Jeffrey Hammonds, LF Luis Gonzalez | A bit of roster maintenance in the outfield was all we saw out of Palo Alto this offseason. Their lineup is a bit long in the tooth, but hasn’t lost a step yet. They are the favorites to take the wild card spot, again, with the second best record in the AC. | A- |
| Cardiff Bay Barrage | C Joe Oliver, RP Mike Fetters, 2B Mark McLemore, RP Jeff Russell | 3B Tian-bai Liang, RP Todd Van Poppel | Analysts like the signing of international free agent Liang, which is seen as a discount compared to the money New Orleans spent. Their roster has no glaring holes, but no real superstar power, either, and will probably end up around .500 in 2000. | B+ |
| New York City Baseball Club | CF Lenny Dykstra, SS Jose Valentin, CF Ruben Amaro Jr, LF Curtis Pride, C Angelo Encarnacion, RP Paul Quantrill, SP Bob Tewksbury, RP Tom Edens, RP Jim Abbott, RF Jay Buhner, SS Travis Fryman, SP Tom Glavine | SS Ryan Theriot, LF Craig Monroe, 1B Richie Sexson, SP Bobby Jones, SS Royce Clayton | New York City’s roster is still very strong, although a weak left side of the infield could force Theriot into the lineup faster than they’d prefer. They play well in the playoffs making them a good pick for the RC, but face formidable competition within their own division this season. | B |
| Old Bridge Titans | SS Chris Gomez, 2B Mike Lansing, RF Orlando Merced, LF Troy O’Leary, 1B Will Clark | RF Brian Giles, 1B John Olerud | The Titans made a spash by acquiring RF Giles to help protect Piazza. A better than average pitching staff will keep them in plenty of ball games, and analysts have Old Bridge as a strong candidate to knock off NYC as RC East champs this season. | A |
| Coney Island Whitefish | SP Tom Browning, RP John Hudek, SP Kevin Tapani, 1B Eric Karros, CF Stan Javier, 1B John Olerud, SS Frank Menechino | LF Troy O’Leary | The Whitefish have a star studded rotation that is still a bit raw. Their lineup will put up a lot of runs, too, but they may not have a strong enough bullpen to hold leads deep into ballgames. Analysts are predicting 85 wins for Coney Island. | C |
| Charleston Rebels | RP Lao-sheng Chan, RP Doug Bochtler, RP Greg Gohr, SP Dave Mlicki, RF Mark Carreon, LF Pete Incaviglia, RP Rick Huisman, SP Bill Pulsipher | SP Doug Drabek, RF Kirby Puckett, RF Shuncho Kudo, SS Jose Vizcaino, 2B Tony Fernandez, 3B Scott Brosius, SP Kent Mercker, RP Jim Abbott | Charleston is an early favorite for the first overall pick in 2001’s draft, which they may opt to pursue in such a tough division. Their very strong minor league system has a handful of impact players just about ready to go, which could make things interesting if the Rebels win some games in the beginning of the year. | B- |
| Bismarck Otto Vons | 2B Adam Kennedy, 1B Richie Sexson, RP Jamie Arnold, C George Williams, SP Bret Saberhagen, SP Doug Drabek, LF Luis Gonzalez, RP Allen Watson | RP Russ Springer, RP Mike Myers, RP Jay Powell, SS Frank Menechino, SP Kevin Foster | The Otto Vons are oozing with young talent – much of it established in the last year or two, and the rest of it ready to go. History says youth may win a lot of games, but not many in the playoffs: analysts predict the same for Bismarck in 2000. | B- |
| Dallas Daredevils | LF Darren Bragg, SP Bobby Jones, LF Phil Plantier, RP Tom Gordon, SP Brian Bohanon | RP Troy Percival, SP Willie Banks, SP Mike Grace | Dallas will score a ton in 2000, but with a weak starting rotation, they will need to be on the hunt for a mid-season acquisition if they want to make a serious playoff push. | B |
| Toledo Troutheads | RP Matt Whiteside, RP Mike Henneman | RP Mike Fetters, SP Brian Bohanon, 1B Mark Grace | Toledo surprised many last season with 88 wins by playing strong fundamental baseball. Look for more of the same from the Trout this season – a good pick for a ‘surprise team’. | B+ |
| Eden Prairie Landsharks | SS Cal Ripken Jr, SS Denny Hocking, 1B John Jaha, LF Derrick May, 1B Hal Morris, RP Mel Rojas, SP Donovan Osborne | None | Eden Prairie came out on top of the most competitive division last season. Given the strength of the AC Central, analysts are leaning towards a regression from last season’s 98 wins, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they remained division champs. | C |
| Hollywood Stars | SP Jimmy Haynes, SP Juan Guzman, LF Al Martin | SP Bob Tewksbury, SP Donovan Osborne, RF Larry Walker | Hollywood is predicted to play league average this year. They are improved over last season’s team, but not complete enough to make a playoff push. | B+ |
| Seattle Steelheads | SS Ryan Theriot, LF Jeffrey Hammonds, RP Mike Dyer, RP Chuck McElroy, C Scott Hermond | SP Bill Pulsipher | Seattle can field a decent team this season, but are probably one or two pieces away from serious contention. Luckily for them, those pieces are one or two years away developing in their system. | B- |
| Phoenix Firebirds | 2B Keith Lockhart, C Don Slaught, SS Jose Offerman | None | The Firebirds still have a healthy lineup, and don’t look to have serious divisional competition. However, they needed to look for pitching improvements if they wanted to get over their playoff hurdle. | C- |
| Oregon Ducks | RP Don Florence, SS Mike Sharperson, RP Roberto Hernandez, CF Ellis Burks, RP LaTroy Hawkins | SP Tom Glavine, MR Mel Rojas | Like Phoenix, Oregon’s lineup is very strong. But a weak starting rotation will lead to lots of high scoring contests, with not enough wins at the end of the day. Look for the Ducks to be active traders near the deadline. | B- |
