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On paper, there’s no question the Western Conference will remain the tougher side of the league and while there hasn’t been any truly startling new signings to replace the departures of some key players, nearly every team has upgraded their roster overall. So, here we go, in alphabetical order.

ChivasUSA – 4th in West last year: Lost Jesse Marsch (retired), Pablo Nagamura (Tigres in Mexico), and Sharvar Thomas to Philly in the expansion draft, but picked up a couple midfielders in Salvadoran Osael Romero, and a young American Cesar Zamora. Certainly a net loss, but new coach Martin Vasquez will be hoping Chivas’ ridiculous run of injuries eases up and that would be a huge improvement for a team that led the league early on before fading down the stretch to finish fourth in the West. However, no doubt Superliga will be a bit of a distraction in 2010.

Colorado – 6th in West last year: Lost Cory Gibbs, Jacob Peterson, Jordan Harvey, Preston Burpo, and Martin’s favorite player, Ty Harden in trades or expansion draft, but they did get Larentowicz (and the hapless Wells Thompson) in the Gibbs deal, signed a Colombian defender Oscar Murillo, drafted Andre Akpan, and snagged leftie defender Danny Earls from Rochester, so it’s probably a push all in all. No real improvements except the hope that Colin Clark returns from a knee injury as good as before and that Jamie Smith lives up to his hype.

FC Dallas – 7th in West last year: Lost Kenny Cooper late last year and loaned out left back Blake Wagoner, then parted ways with a couple stiffs in Ray Burse and Daniel “Ole” Torres. They did bring in a Ghanaian defender Aziz Ansah as well as yet more young talent from the draft in Weiderman and Lloyd, but more important is Hyndman’s youth and athleticism movement as well as increased chemistry of his late signings last year, Benitez, Pearce, and Ihemelu on defense. Likely the mercurial Cunningham is the bell weather on their season though.

Houston Dynamo – 2nd in West last year: Vicious losses in central midfield as Holden and Clark bolt to Europe, and not really any new faces except the Canadian hack Harmse. Still, if Davis and Cameron can plug the holes in midfield well enough and Eddie Robinson returns to form, it will only be a small net loss. However, the Mexican Luis Landin’s attitude and appetite are as big a question mark as his belt size, as well as the fact the entire team is rapidly heading downhill from their glory days. Could be trouble in Houston especially as Superliga hits in August, although they mercifully aren’t in next year’s CCL.

LA – 1st in West last year: Lost Miglioranzi in the expansion draft and will be without Donovan in the pre-season and Beckham until August, but did pick up a trio of Brazilians with famous names at least. Defenders Leonardo and Alex, as well as midfielder Juninho, certainly sound promising, but we’ll see. The Bruce’s talent searches in NY didn’t pan out so well, so it’s tough to say how well these three mesh in with his somewhat lopsided team. Plus, with all the drama Beckham entails as well as Donovan’s possible departure in August right when the CCL group stage kicks into high gear could hammer the end of their season.

RSL – 5th in West last year: Lost Movsisyan to Denmark, and Mathis and Seitz to LA and Philly respectively. But picked up Argentine forward Nelson Gonzalez, and undoubtedly will look to get late season pickup Khalifi fit in better. Still, no real changes, but then as defending MLS Cup winners, why mess with success? However, they now have a target on them and have to prove they can win on the road, as well as adjust to the CCL group stage which just might slap them upside the head like a wet fish right when they are gearing up for a playoff run.

SJ – Last in West last year: Lost only Shea Salinas to philly, but picked up Brazilian forward Eduardo, midfielder Joey Gjertson from Montreal, and the consensus best defender in the draft in Ike Opara, so that’ obviously a huge net gain. Then again, they had nowhere to go but up. However, Yallop’s signings late last year in midfield Luiz and Sanchez as well as Cornell Glen getting fit in better could also be huge gains, especially if SuperBobby finds where he left his cape.

Seattle – 3rd in West last year: Lost LeToux to Philly and didn’t really pick up much beyond Estrada from the draft, but then again, Seattle was pretty good last year in their first year of existence, so just having that year of experience under their belts could boost them this year. But, then again the expectation to defend their Open Cup as well as deal with CCL group stage will add to their schedule quite dramatically, so welcome to the big time Seattle. You already had the most travel of any team in MLS, now add in a few trips to Mexico and Central America right as the playoff push starts. Good luck with that.

Unitedmania’s Predictions first to last in the West:

Mike: Seattle, RSL, Chivas, FCD, Colorado, LA, Houston, and SJ

Chris: LA, Seattle, RSL, Houston, Chivas, FCD, Colorado, and SJ

Martin: Seattle, RSL, Houston, LA, Chivas, Colorado, FCD, and SJ

All of us agree on Seattle and RSL being at the top, and none of us think that SJ has improved enough in the very tough West (although I think we may rue that decision), nor has Colorado done much to improve on being a playoff bubble team at best. Martin and Chris agree on the playoff teams, although LA is either first or last, while I have Chivas and FCD in there instead of LA and Houston.

As always, we will disavow any knowledge of this report should any of this be thrown in our faces later. This article will self-destruct the moment it becomes clear our predictions are worse than if we’d simply thrown darts at the MLSnet homepage.