The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers, has released their annual baseball preview edition and it's no surprise that the two teams that top the list are the Federation Cup representatives from last fall.  Despite losing the Cup to Venezuela, France tops the list.  Many felt that after two Cup wins, France took a step back during the regular season last year.  They finished with the 3rd most wins in the Eastern Hemisphere after Japan battled China all the way to the final day of the season, but they also stormed past China in the EHCS to earn the right to face Venezuela in the Federation Cup.

The rankings are not without controversy, either.  China (4th) and Australia (6th), both division winners from a year ago, are particularly insulted over the selection of the Netherlands as the 3rd ranked team despite a losing record last year.  The paper seems to feel they're headed in the right direction, though.  Australia is further annoyed by being picked behind Germany, who had an even worse record than their flat landed counterparts to the west.

The biggest insult was reserved for the local Japanese squad, which has cause quite a stir among rival press outlets throughout Japan.  The Osim finished 2004 with 91 wins, which were the 3rd most in baseball, but were picked all the way down in 9th behind England.  Yes, the Shimbun picked Japan as a worse team than any team in Europe.

OVERALL PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
1) France
2) Venezuela
3) Netherlands
4) China
5) Germany
6) Australia
7) New Zealand
8) England
9) Japan
10) United States
11) Turkey
12) Brazil
13) Canada
14) South Africa
15)Mexico
16) Colombia