EASTERN CONFERENCE

COLUMBUS CREW

* Owner: Lamar Hunt.

* Stadium: Columbus Crew Stadium.

* Coach: Tom Fitzgerald.

* 1998 record: 15-17, lost to D.C. United in conference final.

* 1998 offensive ranking: third, (67 goals, 2.09 per game).

* 1998 defensive ranking: fifth, (56 goals, 1.75 per game).

* Key players lost: Ricardo Iribarren.

* Key players gained: None.

* Three to watch: Brian McBride, Andy Williams, Stern John.

* Outlook: Columbus starts with seven road games and could be in a hole before its stadium unveiling May 15. After that, things will look up. Stern John led the league in scoring last season with 26 goals and five assists. The loss of goalkeeper Juergen Sommer until midseason due to a torn knee ligament will not help.

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MIAMI FUSION

* Owners: Kenneth Horowitz and John Stoll.

* Stadium: Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale.

* Coach: Ivo Wortmann.

* 1998 record: 15-17, lost to D.C. United in first round of playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: eighth (tied), (46, 1.44).

* 1998 def. ranking: 11th, (68, 2.13).

* Key players lost: None.

* Key players gained: Roberto Gaucho.

* Three to watch: Carlos Valderrama, Diego Serna, Leo Cullen.

* Outlook: The story in Florida is Jay Heaps, the former Duke backup guard who abandoned Coach Mike Krzyzewski, March Madness and a shot at an NCAA title to attend MLS training camp. He could be starting in defense for Miami when it plays the New York/New Jersey MetroStars on Saturday. Gaucho is a Brazilian striker who, with Serna, is expected to turn Valderrama’s passes into goals.

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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

* Owner: Robert Kraft.

* Stadium: Foxboro Stadium.

* Coach: Walter Zenga.

* 1998 record: 11-21, did not make playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: seventh, (53, 1.66).

* 1998 def. ranking: 10th, (66, 2.06).

* Key players lost: Raul Diaz Arce, Ian Feuer.

* Key players gained: John Harkes, Dan Calichman, Giovanni Savarese.

* Three to watch: Zenga, Joe-Max Moore, Jamar Beasley.

* Outlook: Zenga took the team to Italy for preseason training and has beefed up the defense by adding former U.S. national team players Harkes and Calichman. The signing of Savarese, the league’s No. 3 all-time scoring leader, is intended to compensate for the loss of Diaz Arce.

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NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY METROSTARS

* Owners: John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick.

* Stadium: Giants Stadium.

* Coach: Bora Milutinovic.

* 1998 record: 15-17; lost to Columbus Crew in first round of playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: sixth, (54, 1.69).

* 1998 def. ranking: ninth (tied), (63, 1.97).

* Key players lost: Tony Meola, Alexi Lalas, Giovanni Savarese, Diego Sonora.

* Key players gained: Mark Chung, Roy Myers, Mike Ammann.

* Three to watch: Tab Ramos, Eduardo Hurtado, Myers.

* Outlook: Milutinovic is the fifth coach in four years. Sunil Gulati’s guaranteeing Tab Ramos a $250,000 contract caused Gulati’s downfall as MLS deputy commissioner. Ramos has since promised to earn that salary. Milutinovic turned to Costa Rica, his old stomping ground, to find Myers, but it won’t be enough, even after a preseason in Italy.

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TAMPA BAY MUTINY

* Owner: MLS.

* Stadium: Raymond James Stadium.

* Coach: Tim Hankinson.

* 1998 record: 12-20, did not make playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: eighth (tied), (46, 1.44).

* 1998 def. ranking: sixth, (57, 1.78).

* Key players lost: Frankie Hejduk, Thomas Ravelli, Frank Yallop.

* Key players gained: Alejandro Sequiera, Jefferson Gottardi.

* Three to watch: Mauricio Ramos, Sequiera, Gottardi.

* Outlook: The Mutiny came close to being relocated to Rochester, N.Y., or Portland, Ore.. This season is the team’s last chance. If it doesn’t attract fans at its new stadium, MLS will send in the moving vans. The addition of forwards Sequiera of Costa Rica and Gottardi of Bolivia are unlikely to make younger fans forget surfer-dude Frankie Hejduk.

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WASHINGTON D.C. UNITED

* Owner: Washington Soccer.

* Stadium: RFK Stadium.

* Coach: Thomas Rongen.

* 1998 record: 24-8; lost to Chicago Fire in championship game.

* 1998 off. ranking: second (74, 2.31.

* 1998 def. ranking: third, (48, 1.50).

* Key players lost: John Harkes, Tony Sanneh, Scott Garlick.

* Key players gained: Diego Sonora.

* Three to watch: Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Eddie Pope.

* Outlook: Will the team find the buyer it is searching for? Can Rongen, fired near the end of a dismal season at New England and then hired to replace now U.S. national Coach Bruce Arena, get D.C. United to the championship game for the fourth year in a row? Salary-cap woes cost D.C. United Harkes and Sanneh, and national team commitments will hurt.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

CHICAGO FIRE

* Owner: Philip F. Anschutz.

* Stadium: Soldier Field.

* Coach: Bob Bradley.

* 1998 record: 21-12, MLS champion.

* 1998 off. ranking: fourth (tied), (62, 1.94).

* 1998 def. ranking: second, (45, 1.41).

* Key players lost: None.

* Key players gained: None.

* Three to watch: Chris Armas, Lubos Kubik, Zach Thornton.

* Outlook: Winning the MLS championship and the U.S. Open Cup as a first-year team means the Fire’s only hope of improvement is to match the feat and improve attendance (home average: 17,887) at the same time. No easy task. The Fire might regret not adding a top-notch goal scorer. Goalkeeper Jorge Campos is unlikely to return from Mexico, but defensive discipline and organization remain Chicago’s calling card.

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COLORADO RAPIDS

* Owner: Philip F. Anschutz.

* Stadium: Mile High Stadium.

* Coach: Glenn Myernick.

* 1998 record: 16-16, lost to Chicago Fire in first round of playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: fourth, (62, 1.94).

* 1998 def. ranking: 12th, (69, 2.16).

* Key players lost: Chris Henderson, Adrian Paz, Waldir.

* Key players gained: Jorge Dely Valdes, Anders Limpar, Ian Feuer.

* Three to watch: Wolde Harris, Dely Valdes, Jason Bent.

* Outlook: The Rapids lost speed on the wings when they traded Henderson and Paraguay’s Paz decided not to return. But Colorado added a midfield playmaker, Limpar of Sweden, and attacking flair by signing Panama’s Dely Valdes. Feuer comes in as the league’s tallest goalkeeper. A move looms in the future with Mile High scheduled for demolition.

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DALLAS BURN

* Owner: MLS.

* Stadium: Cotton Bowl.

* Coach: David Dir.

* 1998 record: 15-17, lost to Galaxy in first round of playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: 12th, (43, 1.34).

* 1998 def. ranking: seventh, (59, 1.84).

* Key players lost: Gerell Elliott, Alain Sutter.

* Key players gained: None.

* Three to watch: Jason Kreis, Jorge Rodriguez, Dante Washington.

* Outlook: In three regular seasons, the Burn has gone 48-48, and then only because of the play of goalkeeper Mark Dodd. The team seems unable to rise above the average, and it didn’t help in ’98 that Colombia’s Leonel Alvarez had a sub-par season or that there was friction between players and coach. The Burn is a candidate for relocation, but it won’t be to France, where the team spent its preseason.

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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

* Owner: Lamar Hunt.

* Stadium: Arrowhead Stadium.

* Coach: Ron Newman.

* 1998 record: 12-20, did not make playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: ninth, (45, 1.41).

* 1998 def. ranking: fourth, (50, 1.56).

* Key players lost: Mark Chung, Mike Ammann.

* Key players gained: Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola, Chris Henderson.

* Three to watch: Preki, Meola, Vitalis “Digital” Takawira.

* Outlook: Having endured the worst season in his 30-plus-year coaching career, Newman managed to get Hunt to let him try to fix what was broken. The result is a team heavy on present or former U.S. national team players that might appeal to mid-America and put some fans into Arrowhead. Lalas already has earned the Wizards more publicity than they got in three previous seasons.

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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

* Owner: Philip F. Anschutz.

* Stadium: Rose Bowl.

* Coach: Octavio Zambrano.

* 1998 record: 24-8, lost to Chicago Fire in conference final.

* 1998 off. ranking: first, (85, 2.66).

* 1998 def. ranking: first, (44, 1.38).

* Key players lost: Dan Calichman, Martin Machon.

* Key players gained: None.

* Three to watch: Cobi Jones, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Robin Fraser.

* Outlook: Having the best offensive and defensive records in the league in 1998 caused the Galaxy to stand pat. Carlos Hermosillo won’t be back from Mexico until May, if at all. Cienfuegos’ six-week holdout forced a reshuffling and might have long-term negative impact, especially with the fans. A force in the regular season, the Galaxy has always come unstuck in the playoffs. There is no reason to suspect this season will be different.

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SAN JOSE CLASH

* Owner: Robert Kraft.

* Stadium: Spartan Stadium.

* Coach: Brian Quinn.

* 1998 record: 13-19, did not make playoffs.

* 1998 off. ranking: seventh, (48, 1.50).

* 1998 def. ranking: eighth, (60, 1.88).

* Key players lost: Richard Gough, Victor Mella.

* Key players gained: Raul Diaz Arce, Diario Brose.

* Three to watch: Ronald Cerritos, Diaz Arce, Eddie Lewis.

* Outlook: The Kraft family bailed out the team when its sale to Alan Rothenberg and a Japanese conglomerate fell through. Signing all-time MLS scoring leader Diaz Arce to accompany fellow Salvadoran Cerritos was a plus, but Eric Wynalda’s return is now moot since a knee injury has sidelined him until September.