Pitchers dominate list of AL players to watch

	Daniel Cabrera showed flashes of brilliance in 2006, but his high walk total (104) could be cause for concern. J. Meric/WireImage.com
	RELATED • VERDUCCI: NL Players to Watch • Athlon's 2007 team-by-team previews

Eight years ago the Cubs established in spring training that a 21-year-old named Kerry Wood was not going to make their big league team. "Congratulations," Angels manager Terry Collins told Chicago manager Jim Riggelman one day that spring.

"For what?" Riggelman said.

"For going to the World Series," Collins said. "Because if you've got five pitchers better than that guy, nobody's going to beat you."

The Cubs waited all the way until April 12 to have Wood make his big league debut. Due greatly to the arrival of Wood, the Cubs, who lost 94 games the previous season, won 90 games and the wild card that year. Justin Verlander helped facilitate a similar turnaround by Detroit last year.

Nothing turns around a team quicker than the emergence of a top starting pitcher, which is reflected in part two of my list of the top players to watch this spring training. Half of the players in this installment, the American League version, are starting pitchers.

East

Blue Jays: Tomo Ohka, P. For $1.5 million, Toronto signed exactly the kind of low-risk, high-reward pitcher all teams should consider: a mid-career guy (he turns 31 in March) with some history of success who has something to prove. The problem for the Blue Jays is they are counting on two such pitchers, with John Thomson fitting the same mold. Can they both pan out? Not likely. It might mean nothing, but Ohka is 7-2 with a 1.97 ERA against AL East teams.

Devil Rays: Elijah Dukes, OF. The Rays like Duke's skills so much they will consider carrying him on the major-league roster even if they can't guarantee him regular time -- a rarity for a young player with such a high ceiling. Tampa Bay seems set in the outfield with Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and Delmon Young, but a big spring and continued maturity as a professional might earn Dukes a promotion. And if Young and Dukes each establish themselves as prime-time ready, Tampa Bay can shop from its outfield surplus to find pitching.

Orioles: Daniel Cabrera, P. Sure, when he's on Cabrera can be as nasty as just about any pitcher in the game. But you can't like this trend line: the pitches he needs to get through an inning have increased each year of his career (16.9, 17.8, 18.1). Pitching coach Leo Mazzone already has had a full year to work with Cabrera. Now the Orioles need to see more efficiency from a guy who turns 26 in May and is nearing 100 career big league starts.

Red Sox: Coco Crisp, CF. Crisp gets something of a pass for his injury-shortened 2006, but he still has a long way to go to prove Boston's faith that he can be a close facsimile to Johnny Damon. After more than 2,000 big league at-bats his on-base percentage is .329. But if J.D. Drew can stay healthy, the need for Crisp to become a better offensive player is diminished.

Yankees: Carl Pavano, P. The same guy who won 30 games and threw 423.1 innings for Florida in 2003-04 has won four games and started only 17 in two seasons as a Yankee. Pavano is either a 31-year-old power pitcher who should be hitting his prime or a gigantic flop who knows he's not cut out for New York and pitching in the AL East. Having earned no slack with teammates and fans, he can't afford a slow start.