AL Awards
MVP: Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox-I covered this guy in Pittsburgh and he is a tremendous player. Can post 140 RbI on that team.
Darkhorse:Josh Hamilton, Texas- They get any pitching at all, that team can be a division winner. 150 RBI possible for this amazing talent
CY Young: Francisco Liriano,Minnesota Twins- Fully back from arm surgery and has a great support unit in the pen…..
Darkhorse:Zach Greinke, Kansas City Royals-Started to put it together in the 2nd half and has a vastly improved team behind him
Rookie of the Year: C Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles-Sent down ala Evan Longoria but will be up and hit around .280-20-80
Division Predictions:
AL East:
1- Boston Red Sox (AL Champion)
Strengths: Deep Pitching in both rotation and bullpen plus a good mix of veterans and kids…. Excellent defense…. Solid,balanced lineup…Great management and bench staff led by Tito Francona …No Manny Ramirez distractions
Weaknesses: Not a great power, homer team…. Injury comebacks to key bats and leaders in DH David Ortiz and 3b Mike Lowell…Injury concerns with RF JD Drew… Weak bench/depth of ML position players on roster
2- Tampa Rays
Strengths: Excellent top 3 of the rotation…. Athletic team on both the bases and in the field…. Very deep and talented bullpen until the 9th inning….Won AL last season without an everyday player having a “career” season… Deep talented farm system… Added a solid veteran power bat in Pat Burrell… Great manager in Joe Maddon
Weaknesses: U tell me who doesnt belong: Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, BJ Ryan and 85 yr old Troy Percival. In a word, CLOSER!!!… Average power…Health of LH SP Scott Kazmir is always an issue…. Expectations!!! They will not sneak up on anyone this season
3- NY Yankees
Strengths: $$$$$$$$$, Have far and away the largest payroll in the game and with the nation in economic straits, they can shop at bargain basement prices when teams sell this trade deadline…Potentially dominant top 5 rotation…. HOF closer in Mo Rivera… Solid lineup… 1b Mark Teixeira is an elite talent and shores up a leaky infield D
Weaknesses: A Rod, no further explanation needed…. Older veteran team that is slow and unathletic… Middle infield defensive range… Unsure and unsettled 7th and 8th inning relief corps…Not sold on Manager Joe Girardi,whose thin skin does not fit in NYC… Major questions with every starting pitcher: Can Sabathia pitch that well in the AL? Can Burnett stay healthy?(10 DL stints in 10 seasons)? Can Wang come back from a major injury? When will the NYY realize Joba Chamberlain helps this team more in 80 games than 25? Can Andy Pettitte hold up for 32 starts?
FEARLESS PREDICTION: Girardi joins the millions of unemployed Americans by June(Willie Randolph brought back?)
4th-Toronto Blue Jays
Strengths: Top Pitcher in MLB in ace Roy Halladay… Very good and deep bullpen hi-lighted by Ryan…. Good young players in DH Adam Lind and OF Travis Sinder… Good team Defense
Weaknesses: Lost a lot of starting pitching to both free agency(AJ Burnett) and injuries(Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan) in the offseason, the club is now unsettled 2-5 rotation wise…. Not a very good offensive team that will struggle to score runs
5- Baltimore Orioles
Strengths: Good #1 starter in RHP Jeremy Guthrie…. Very good bullpen with power arms and options… Great team speed, led by 2b Brian Roberts and CF Adam Jones…Solid, better than u think lineup with power and a good blend of vets and kids…. Improved OF defense with Felix Pie
Weaknesses: Awful starting pitching with 2-5 spots a combination of retreads and kids…. Ballpark is a launching pad and not a good place to groom kid pitchers….Division is brutal
AL Central:
1- Minnesota Twins
Strengths: Excellent homegrown team and talent from top to bottom… Team has both great speed and athleticism…Young, deep rotation…. Top bullpen, headed by elite closer in Joe Nathan…. Outstanding veteran no BS manager in Ron Gardenhire… Premier power bat in 1b Justin Morneau… Best homefield advantage in MLB with that arena football type park
Weaknesses: Not much power… No veteran starting pitchers… Injury issues with star C and AL batting champion Joe Mauer… Ownership does not spend money
2- Kansas City Royals(Wild Card Winner)
Strengths: My darkhorse team in the AL… Excellent young rotation and elite closer in Joakim Soria… Added a power 1b Mike Jacobs to a power starved club…. Underrated lineup with both upside and athletes… Coco Crisp greatly improves OF defense and allows David DeJesus to play LF
Weaknesses: No 35-40 homer bat…. Culture of losing… Little or no depth…. 7-8th inning relief corps has been rebuilt with Juan Cruz(NL pitcher) and career coward Kyle Farnsworth
FEARLESS PREDICTION: 3B Alex Gordon has a break-thru season and tops 100 rbi, finishing in top 5 among MVP candidates
3- Chicago White Sox
Strengths: Strong power club that fits their launching pad ballpark…Underrated young players at 4 positons(2b Chris Getz, SS Alexi Ramirez, 3b Josh Fields, CF Dewayne Wise)… Solid 3 top of rotation with Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks…. Outstanding bullpen led by hulking closer Bobby Jenks…Excellent management-coaching tandem in Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen
Weaknesses: 4th/5th spots in rotation unsettled…. Not much team speed, particularily in the corner OF positions…. Manager can be a bit of a time bomb and loose cannon
4- Cleveland Indians
Strengths: Excellent team up the middle with talent at C, SS and CF… Good team athleticism…. Very good top of the rotation in CY Young winner LHP Cliff Lee and RHP Fausto Carmano….Best player in the division in CF Grady Sizemore…. Deep, talented farm system…. Solid pen added closer Kerry Wood…Good manager in Eric Wedge and top flight GM in Mark Shapiro
Weaknesses: Health issues with star bats C Victor Martinez and DH Travis Hafner… Rotation spots 3-4-5 scare me… Team is cash poor… Could use another power bat
FEARLESS PREDICTION: Cleveland fans will fall in love with scrappy 3b Mark DeRosa, who was great in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA. RF Shin-Soo Choo has a big season and challenges for an all star spot.
5- Detroit Tigers
Strengths: Good 1-6 batting order… Potentially solid top 3 of the rotation in Justin Verlander, Armando Galarraga and Edwin Jackson… Improved team D with additions of SS Adam Everett and OF Josh Anderson plus Brandon Inge playing everday somewhere… Team ridded itself of a potential clubhouse cancer in DH Gary Sheffield… Whoever the closer is, his name is not Todd Jones!
Weaknesses: Almost 90 million in bad contracts(Sheffield, SPs Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bonderman & Nate Robertson and Inge(Good player without a home)… No starting pitching depth or established 4–5th starters…Headcase end of a pen in often injured Joel Zumaya and opening day closer Fernando Rodney… Awful bottom of the batting order
FEARLESS PREDICTION: This team will have a major fire sale with the Tigers being potentially awful and Michigan in horrible financial times. Look for Any and everyone to be available including fan favorite RF Magglio Ordonez. One bright spot for Tigers fans? Kid Pitchers, SP Rick Porcello and RP Ryan Perry, made the club & have been among the top pitchers in all of MLB during spring training.
AL West:
1- Oakland As
Strengths: Greatly improved team with great signings(SS Orlando Cabrera,1b Jason Giambi) and trades(LF Matt Holliday)…. Deep Lineup that draws walks and hits homers…. Great young rotation with talent and ability… Deep, versatile bullpen that attacks with different arms and approaches… Best GM in the game in Billy Beane
Weaknesses: Litte or no money…. Could use another veteran starting pitcher…Health issues with closer candidate Joey Devine…. Could trade Holliday at the deadline…. Cannot sustain any injuries, particularily to the rotation
2- Los Angeles Angels
Strengths:Deep, talented lineup… Excellent bullpen that added underrated Brian Fuentes…..Great game manager in Mike Scioscia … Signing LF Bobby Abreu is an underrated move and will help the offense… Good team speed
Weaknesses: Team has had major injury issues with several key starters in Jon Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvin Escobar…. Team has some age in stars Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter…Replacing Mark Teixeira with Kendry Morales just does not cut it… Team is always afraid of making a big move with its prospects, ala the 90s Cleveland Indians, preventing this group from winning multiple titles
3- Texas Rangers
Strengths: Great lineup with power and speed, led by 2b Ian Kinsler and CF Josh Hamilton…New pitching coach in Mike Maddux, who helped build the Milwaukee Brewers….Solid top 2 of the rotation in veterans Vincente Padilla and Kevin Milwood…. Excellent farm system loaded with both arms and position players
Weaknesses: Team allowed 967 runs!!!!!…. Not a great glove team either… Moved star SS Michael Young to 3b to clear a spot for uber-prospect Elvis Andrus, which could cause some growing pains for both…. 3-4-5 spots in rotation up for grabs
FEARLESS PREDICTION: OF Nelson Cruz has a huge year and tops 100 rbis. Veteran FA signee RHP Kris Benson wins 10 games and helps this team A LOT.
4- Seattle Mariners
Strengths: Ichiro remains one of the games brightest stars…. RH SP Felix Hernandez is special….Team should excellent defensively with Gold Glove candidates at SS(Yuniesky Betancourt),3b(Adrian Belte) and 2 OF(Ichiro, Endy Chavez-TRUST ME, I AM A METS FAN! ASK ANY ST. LOUIS CARDINALS FOLLOWERS! ) spots.. New Management appears open to rebuilding with some of the offseason trades and moves
Weaknesses: Not much star power hitting wise…. Health issues with #2 starter Erik Bedard…. Finesse type pitchers throughout the rotation after Herandez, usually not a recipe for success in the AL… Huge loss in free agent defection LF Raul Ibanez
