Spring Bounce-Back: Players to Watch

That time of the year is upon us once again. All the players have reported to their respective camps, with the exception of the always fashionably-late Manny Ramirez. The bats are cracking and the mitts are popping. Spring training is back and all the residents of Florida and Arizona can now rejoice.

The spring is a time of rebirth and renewal in nature and the same can be said of baseball players. Several of Major League Baseball's biggest stars are looking forward to shaking off the memories of an injury-plagued 2005 and each hold high hopes for a turnaround in 2006.

Barry Bonds

2005: .286 batting average, 5 HRs, 10 RBI in 14 games

Bonds missed nearly all of last season after going under the knife several times to try and repair his aging knees. Barry will turn 42 in July and has said that he will most likely retire at the end of this season. Bonds is just six homers away from passing Babe Ruth and 47 away from the all-time mark set by Hammerin' Hank Aaron.

It won't be that simple for Barry as he's dug quite a hole for himself over the last few seasons. His age and health, the steroid scandal, his much-publicized financial dispute with his ex-mistress, and the constant hounding he will get from the media and fans outside of San Francisco will be tough to overcome.

But the baseball field has always been a sanctuary for Barry and he can still crush the ball. The man has averaged 35 homers a year for his career and set a record with 73 homers in 2001. Barry's knees, psychological well-being, and walks will ultimately determine whether he can reach the greatest record in sports, 755 homers.

Scott Rolen

2005: .235 batting average, 5 HRs, 28 RBI in 56 games

Rolen has not played since July 21 because of a shoulder injury he sustained in a collision on the first baseline with Dodger first baseman Hee-Sop Choi. Rolen has been a crucial part of the Cardinals' franchise since coming over from the Phillies in 2002. In 2004, Rolen was a MVP candidate when he hit .314 with 34 homers and 124 RBI. That year, he also won his sixth Gold Glove while helping the Cardinals to 105 wins and a trip to the World Series.

The Cardinals' success this season will be largely dependent on Rolen's recovery. The Redbirds lost quite a bit of offense when Reggie Sanders, Mark Grudzielanek, and Rolen's backup, Abraham Nunez, departed via free agency, and when Larry Walker retired. The Cardinals need the vintage Rolen bat to protect Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds in the lineup. They also need his glove on the corner of the infield. There is no other third baseman in the league that can compare to Scott Rolen defensively when healthy. He has won six of the last seven gold gloves at the hot corner.

Team doctors have cleared Rolen after his latest shoulder surgery in August. He's fielding and swinging pain free. But his timing will take awhile as he hasn't seen live major league pitching since July. Look for him return to form by midseason.

Torii Hunter

2005: .269 batting average, 14 HRs, 56 RBI in 98 games

Torii Hunter is arguably the best center-fielder in the game today. He is at the very least on an elite short list that includes Andruw Jones and Jim Edmonds. Hunter's defense didn't trail off last season as he won his fifth straight AL Gold Glove. However, his offensive numbers did suffer. Hunter played in only 98 games because of a fractured right ankle he sustained scaling the center-field wall in Fenway Park July 29. The injury kept him out the rest of the season.

Torii posted the fewest RBI last season since the 2000 season when he knocked in only 44. Health will always be a question for Hunter because of his fearless defensive nature and his complete disregard for his body when chasing down balls in the outfield. Hunter says he's fully-recovered from last season's set back and is poised for another big season in Minnesota.

The Twins didn't add much over the offseason, so they will be dependent on his bat to try and take a run at the defending world champion Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. They also have a young up-and-coming Cleveland Indians team to worry about this season, as well.

Keith Foulke

2005: 43 games, 5-5, 5.91 ERA, 15 saves, 34 strikeouts in 45 innings

Keith Foulke had a turbulent and injury-plagued 2005. He finally shut it down towards the end of last season due to his knees. He has since had surgery on both knees. But it wasn't just his knees that were injured. Foulke lost a lot of confidence on the mound as he got hit around last year quite a bit from the start. His 5.91 ERA was the highest since his rookie year in San Francisco and his 15 saves was the lowest since 1999.

The Red Sox don't have another true closer and they desperately need for Foulke to return to his 2004 form. The Red Sox say that Foulke is in great shape, and he claims that he feels great. Foulke was one of the biggest reasons the Red Sox were able to pull off their magical World Series run in 2004. He posted a 2.17 ERA that season with 32 saves and 83 innings logged. But in the playoffs, he was untouchable. He went 1-0 with three saves and gave up only one earned run in 11 games. And he was on the mound for the final out of the World Series.

Foulke's absence was a big reason for the Red Sox getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs last season by the Angels. If he can regain his confidence and stay healthy, the Red Sox will have a great shot of going back to the playoffs.

Roy Halladay

2005: 19 games, 12-4, 2.41 ERA, 108 strike outs in 141.2 innings

Halladay had his season ended just before the All-Star Break last year when he caught a line drive off his shin. He suffered a broken leg and was shut down for the rest of the season. When he went down, Halladay was on his way to replicating his performance in 2003 when he won the Cy Young award. He went 22-7 that year with a 3.25 ERA. He was supposed to be the AL starter in the Midsummer Classic last season, but instead, he had to watch.

The right-hander said the leg hasn't been an issue since about a month after the season ended, and coaches have been impressed with him early on in spring training. Halladay will be the ace of a reloaded Blue Jay staff this season. The Jays added free agent hurler A.J. Burnett and closer B.J. Ryan to a pretty decent staff that includes Gustavo Chacin, Ted Lilly, and Josh Towers.

With a healthy Halladay and the new acquisitions of Ryan, Burnett, Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay, and Bengie Molina the Blue Jays have become contenders on paper in the AL East. The AL East should be more competitive than ever, and Halladay should have a great bounce-back season.

Eric Gagne

2005: 14 games, 1-0, 2.70 ERA, 8 saves in 13 innings

Since becoming a closer in 2002, "The Goon" has saved 160 games, including a NL record 55 in his Cy Young award-winning season in 2003. Last season, Gagne was lost early in the year when he underwent elbow surgery. As Gagne went down, so did the Dodgers. L.A.'s real team, not the other one from Anaheim, finished 71-91 last season compared with a playoff trip the year before when they finished 93-69.

Gagne had been the NL's version of Mariano Rivera prior to last season. Since 2002, he has held his ERA below 3.00 and posted two seasons (2002: 1.97, 2003: 1,20) below 2.00. It was initially feared that Gagne would have trouble ever recovering from his most recent surgery that he underwent in late June of last season to repair an entrapped nerve. But he's come into this spring training with great pop on his fastball and a pain-free delivery.

The Dodgers went out and spent some money this of-season after a disappointing 2005. They added some depth in the bullpen around Gagne as protection when they picked up former Tampa Bay Devil Ray closer Danys Baez. Baez had his best season as a pro last year in Tampa when he saved 41 games for one of the MLB's worst teams. The addition of Baez should ease the transition for Gagne and also give the Dodgers a nice setup man to get to Gagne. Look for Gagne to return to dominance in '06.