National League.(2005 Division Previews)(baseball)

The Braves are favored to win their 14th consecutive division title in the East with the Cardinals capturing the Central and the Padres the West

LOOK UP THE WORD "CHANGE" IN THE DICTIONARY and chances are you won't find a mention of this year's National League anywhere in the definition. Maybe it's time for that to, um, change.

Change is the buzzword for the 16 N.L. teams this year. Not even the defending league champion St. Louis Cardinals are immune to the word.

After getting swept in four games and helping the Boston Red Sox reverse a curse, the Cardinals changed some recognizable faces, losing four of the five players up the middle from Game 1 of the World Series. Only center fielder Jim Edmonds remains from a group that once included Mike Matheny, Woody Williams, Tony Womack and Edgar Renteria.

The other half of the N.L. Championship Series, the Houston Astros, also are familiar with change--all too well. They lost a bidding war for Carlos Beltran, the marquee player on the free-agent market, while also saying goodbye to Wade Miller and Jeff Kent, but were able to convince Roger Clemens not to file retirement papers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers showed how the West was won, then changed the nucleus of the roster, watching Shawn Green, Adrian Beltre, Steve Finley and Hideo Nomo, among others, depart for other destinations.

Even the Atlanta Braves, winners of yet another East title, lost two-thirds of their outfield and 60 percent of their starting rotation. They also changed closers and turned John Smoltz back into a starter.