Major League Baseball has several strong teams in the American League. They hold a slight edge over the past 10 World Series, 6 – 4.
With a 162 game regular season things can fluctuate more than Oprah’s weight. All of the teams have the same uniforms but some teams have very different looking rosters.
The Yankees are still the team to beat in the AL even though they didn’t have the big free agent signings they did a year ago.
I believe that the AL will produce two different teams into the playoffs. What teams will come close but fall short in the end?
Yanks Feast in the East
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Toronto Blue Jays
The Yankees are the favorites from this division for three very obvious reasons; they have a top three lineup, a top three pitching rotation, and the games all-time best closer. Anyone who disagrees with this should see a doctor because you may have suffered some recent brain damage.
The Soxs will battle for the wildcard with Tampa Bay and Texas. They will come up a little short because of injuries and lack of bats in the lineup. Soxs fans will be “wicked pissed” when they realize that they shouldn’t have traded Manny Ramirez.
The Rays had their chance two years ago and went belly up against the Phillies. This team is made up of fighters so they will be competitive, but most likely dismantle before the trade deadline to try and get some young prospects.
The last two teams in this division, the O’s and Jays have no shot to compete for anything but the worst record in this division. The O’s are still searching for an identity since the retirement of Cal Ripken Jr. The Jays traded Halladay, and the only people who want to go to Canada are 19 year old kids looking to get drunk.
81 – 81 Will Get it Done
1. Minnesota Twins
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Cleveland Indians
I am picking the Twins because they win this division 60% of the time, all of the time. In actuality this division is like a door knob, three teams could have a turn. I like the leadership from a guy like Joe Mauer to put the Twins over the top.
The White Soxs are as unpredictable as the personality of their manager Ozzie Guillen. They battled some injuries last year but this year they could do some damage in this division. They need to reclaim that south side tough guy image that they projected in their World Series run of a couple of years ago.
Just when the people of Detroit thought things couldn’t get anymore depressing, they loss the AL Central to the Twins in a one game playoff last year. The Tigers have the slimmest chance of these three to win the Central. Most likely the Tigers will fade out like the automotive industry has.
The Royals are so bad that they might not even win the championship in triple A. I will however go out on a limb and say that they win 75 games this season.
The Indians are a lot like the team in the movie “Major League”, except they won’t turn it around. The only chance they have is if LeBron James pulls an MJ, retires from basketball to play baseball, and can actually hit a major league pitch.
Sailors Catch The West
1. Seattle Mariners
2. Texas Rangers – WILDCARD
3. Los Angeles Angels
4. Oakland Athletics
The Mariners had the best off season of any team; signed Felix Hernandez, traded for Cliff Lee, and signed Chone Figgins. I believe that they will send Ken Griffey Jr. out with a chance to play for a title. Now if they could only get their fans to care about baseball this would be a franchise.
Nolan Ryan went on record as saying that the Rangers would win 92 games this season. If in fact they do and I believe they will, that many wins will capture the AL wildcard. If they can reflect the personality of Ryan than they could possibly win this division.
The Angels have over achieved for to long and this will be the year it catches up to them. They lost to many vital parts to the team in Figgins and Lackey. Vladimer Guerrero may need a walker just to get to home plate and their pitching staff has more injuries than an emergency room.
Even though GM Billy Bean is a genius, he is not a miracle worker. The A’s are going to be a punching bag for the rest of the teams in this division. If your wondering how the season is going to work out, just look at Oakland’s other professional sports franchise, the Golden State Warriors.
And The Award Goes To…
AL Cy Young – Felix Hernandez
AL MVP – Alex Rodriguez