With Spring Training games starting on Thursday, I thought I'd take a look back at the off-season, giving credit where credit is due.

Most Improved American League Team: Boston

Although I believe GM Theo Epstein was misguided in his dogged pursuit of Kevin Millar, he absolutely improved the team as a whole, upgrading the starting lineup and the bench while adding depth to the bullpen. They are much stronger at first base and DH this year. Many felt the Red Sox needed to add a high profile starting pitcher, but I believe their current group will serve them very well and they were quite right to hold onto Casey Fossum.

The White Sox and Yankees also deserve credit in this category. Adding Bartolo Colon, Tom Gordon, and Rick White to the team significantly upgraded Chicago's pitching staff, despite the swap of Keith Foulke for Billy Koch. Armando Rios is also a nice addition to their roster.

New York fiddled around quite a bit, but the net result was an improvement. Hideki Matsui may not reach the superstar status some expect, however he upgrades their outfield. The Yankees also made some improvements to their bench, while their bullpen and rotation moves likely end in a wash. Few teams in the AL actually improved significantly

Most Improved National League Team: Philadelphia

The acquisitions of Jim Thome and Kevin Millwood alone put the Phillies at the top of this list. When they first began to spend money, I wasn't certain that they were going to do much besides raise payroll. However while they overspent to bring in several of these players, they upgraded the offense and plundered a division rival for while improving their rotation, making them the favorites to win the NL East.

Other teams that significantly improved in the National League include the Rockies, Astros, and Giants. Colorado's improvement has been overlooked to a large extent, but simply by removing Mike Hampton from the team they became better and despite the tangle of competition for roster spots and playing time, they also improved the offense.

I had difficulty placing the Astros above the Giants, as they did little besides add Jeff Kent. However, the fact that most of San Francisco's acquisitions replaced departing players combined with the impact I believe Kent will have on Houston, makes me believe that Houston improved more overall. My expectations for the Giants are also somewhat tempered by the likelihood that they're going to use a less than optimal lineup.

While I'm discussing upgrades, I feel obligated to mention the Pirates, who I think will be a much better team next season, though their changes don't quite rate with these other clubs. Pittsburgh has done an excellent job of adding depth to their pitching staff. The Pirates also substantially upgraded their offense by bringing in Matt Stairs and Randall Simon as platoon partners for Craig Wilson and Kevin Young, respectively.

Biggest Decline in an American League Team: Tampa Bay

Just when you thought they had no where to go but up, the Devil Rays discard three of their better starters and their closer without receiving anything in return. They also went from Chris Gomez to Rey Ordonez at shortstop, while selling Steve Cox and Andy Sheets to Japan. I'm still amazed that they actually gave up players to acquire Ordonez and view him as a substantial upgrade. Tampa is definitely a team in trouble.

Kansas City may have some young pitching talent to help compensate for the loss of Paul Byrd, Jeff Suppan, and Roberto Hernandez, but several of the players they'll be turning to need additional development time in the minors. Consequently, while their offense has thus far basically remained in tact, they too have declined since the end of the regular season.

Although I believe Cleveland is a team heading in the right direction, they must be listed among the teams that declined over the off-season, if only because of the substantial loss of Jim Thome. The acquisition of Travis Hafner will help compensate for that loss, but overall the team is slightly worse than when they began the off-season.

Biggest Decline in a National League Team: Atlanta

Tim made a strong push for Florida in this category, but I feel that Atlanta's pitching losses will have more of a negative affect on their team than Florida's offensive losses. Mike Hampton, Paul Byrd, and Russ Ortiz are all worse pitchers than those they replace and acquiring Robert Fick doesn't necessarily improve the offense. I don't believe they needed to keep the relief staff entirely intact, and I think they did a good job of reassembling the bullpen, but it isn't as good as the one with which they closed the season.

Moving from Preston Wilson to Juan Pierre hurts the Marlins offense as does Kevin Millar to Todd Hollandsworth. However, they upgraded at catcher and didn't really lose anyone from their pitching staff.

Montreal must be counted among those teams that declined due to the loss of Bartolo Colon. However I don't think that was a bad trade for them, as I expect Orlando Hernandez to have a strong season and I'm quite concerned about Colon's health. I also like the pick up of Jeff Liefer in that deal, but the Expos haven't done anything to really improve their offense.

We'll continue this discussion tomorrow with a look the most improved rotations, bullpens, lineups, and benches.