In the middle of February the seed is planted. The pictures of excited grown men running around fields full of the most perfect green grass you have ever seen begin to slowly sprout up on your TV and in your newspaper. As the weather begins to get warmer, the frequency of those images increases, and before long you notice that the annual anticipation for the return of America’s pastime is beginning to take shape. Then, as the madness of March wilts away, the excitement and enthusiasm for the Boys of Summer becomes full grown. Baseball is in full bloom.

With Opening Day right around the corner, here are the storylines that will determine how memorable the ’08 season will be.

CAN JOHAN SANTANA GUIDE THE METS TO THE PLAYOFFS AFTER LAST YEAR’S DISAPPOINTMENT?

After last year’s monumental collapse in the final month of the season, the Mets needed to make a major change to help eliminate that painful memory. With the addition of baseball’s best pitcher, the Mets did just that. The acquisition of Johan Santana brings a dominant ace to the pitcher-friendly confines of Shea Stadium. Santana, who has already won the Cy Young Award twice, will be counted on to bring stability to a rotation that was often in flux throughout the ’07 season. By not trading any major league talent to acquire Santana, the Mets have virtually the same roster as last season outside of catcher and right field, where Brian Schneider and Ryan Church will fill the voids, respectively. If Santana pitches like he has the past few seasons, he should singlehandedly make up the one game that kept New York out of the playoffs last season.

WITH CABRERA AND DONTRELLE, ARE THE TIGERS THE TEAM TO BEAT IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE?

In the season following their surprise trip to the World Series, the Tigers proved to be one of the major disappointments in baseball. However, by trading for third baseman Miguel Cabrera and starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis, General Manager Dave Dombrowski has his team back in World Series conversation. Cabrera, who is just 24 years old, never had less than 110 RBIs in his four full seasons with Florida, and he should be an immediate force in the American League. On the other hand, Willis will be more of a question mark for the Tigers. Willis, who finished second in Cy Young Award voting just three years ago, is coming off a season where he posted an ERA of 5.17. The Tigers hope that the lefty starter will be rejuvenated by the trade to Detroit and return to his old form. If that is the case, October baseball will be back in Comerica Park.

AFTER 100 YEARS, WILL THE CUBS FINALLY WIN THE WORLD SERIES AGAIN?

In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt was president, there was no such thing as a World War, Mother’s Day was observed for the first time and Bob Barker was 12. While that last statement may not be entirely true, what is true is that the Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since that time. This year could be the one that ends the drought at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are coming off a division championship, and the addition of Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome could be the last piece of the championship puzzle. Chicago’s northside team is looking good, but no one on the team would ever predict that they would actually win it all, would they? They would. Shaky closer Ryan Dempster has done the unthinkable and said that this is the year the Cubs finally win it all. It’s a bold statement to make, but anything is worth a shot when a team has not won a championship in a century.

TRADING ACES: IS HAREN OR BEDARD NOW A PART OF PITCHING’S MOST DYNAMIC DUO?

Lost beneath the story of Santana getting traded to the Mets was that two other aces changed uniforms this offseason. Dan Haren, who started the All-Star Game for the American League last season, went from Oakland to Arizona, while emerging star Erik Bedard came to Seattle from Baltimore.

The trades set up arguably the two best pitching duos in all of baseball. Haren will be Arizona’s No. 2 starter behind Brandon Webb, who won the NL Cy Young Award in 2006 and possesses the best sinkerball in all of baseball. Bedard will join Felix Hernandez atop the Mariners’ rotation. King Felix has shown that when he is healthy he has the stuff to be baseball’s best pitcher. With the addition of these two aces, Arizona and Seattle have given themselves an edge in any postseason series. Now the only question is getting there.

WILL THE A’S AND MARLINS GIVE THE ’62 METS A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY?

In 1962, the New York Mets set the gold standard for losing by finishing a pathetic 40-120. By unloading the majority of their talent in trades, Oakland and Florida could turn out to be equally awful. For those who are not aware of how terrible these teams are, see if you have even heard of any of the following players, who will contribute for these teams. The A’s projected outfield is Travis Buck, Chris Denorfia and Emil Brown. Meanwhile, the Marlins will go with Scott Olson, Sergio Mitre and Andrew Miller at the top of their rotation. No team is truly as bad as it looks on paper, but nevertheless, it will be hard for the fans in the Bay Arena and South Florida to get excited.