AL Predictions

Its time to tackle the junior circuit. While its widely accepted that the AL is the tougher of the two leagues most of the big stars in MLB now seem to reside in the NL. In our draft 6 of the first 7 players were taken from the NL. With that being said its still much more difficult to get thought an AL lineup than one from the senior circuit. But I am curious to see if during inter league play the results won't be as lopsided as previous years.

AL EAST
1.Red Sox
2.Rays
3.Yankees
4.Blue Jays
5.Orioles

The best three teams in the AL all reside in this division. Its a shame that one of them will have to miss the playoffs. I believe the Red Sox have the best team in baseball. And with the possibility of a healthy John Smoltz and some point this season they will be that much better. The Rays should have another strong season. Their schedule in April is absolutely brutal. If they are hanging around when April turns to May watch out. The Yankees spent a zillion dollars to fix the pitching but three things would concern me 1.AJ Burnett can go down at anytime 2.The defense is way below average 3.They have alot of older players and older players get hurt. The Jays starting staff which was so good last year was decimated by injuries and free agent defections. Finally the Os will probably play good baseball for the first half like they usually do then fall apart in the second half. They have a few kids in the high minors ready to come up and at least make things interesting.

AL Central
1.Twins
2.Indians
3.Royals
4.Tigers
5.White Sox

This should be the closest division from top to bottom. You make make an argument for each team and then point out each teams faults. If pitching and defense win games than Minnesota is the best bet. I really like the Twins pitching, both starters and pen. The question will be can they score enough runs. The Tribe should not have much problems scoring runs its preventing them that may by the problem. I don't like their starting pitchers at all. Luckily the bullpen is deep because they will get alot of work. KC is the up and coming team in the division. Its been a very long time since I could have said that. Meche and Grienke are a very under rated duo. And they should score enough runs to earn a winning record. The Tigers went for broke last year and it did not pay off. The starters broke down and they have an awful defensive team. The talk of 1000 runs is now nothing but a memory. Finally the White Sox are in rebuilding mode. I'm expecting them to move their veterans like Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko before the trading deadline.

AL West
1.Angels
2.Rangers
3.As
4.Mariners

The short stack is a very mediocre group. I'm picking the Angels but have no faith in the selection. They overachieved to 100 wins last year. The key will be 1.when Lackey,Santana and Escobar return 2.can they score enough runs without Mark Teixeira. I can see them only winning about 85 this season. Texas will pound people. They have a fantastic lineup. If they get even league average pitching they can pull off a surprise. The As are a very interesting team. with Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson starting in the bigs we are seeing the future. This duo is very good. I expect the As to move Matt Holliday at the deadline for more prospects. This team is a year away but they are positioned to be good for years to come with a very small payroll. Haven't we seen this before???? As for the Ms they are going the Rays route with rebuilding their defense first. They have have the best defensive outfield in all of baseball. But unfortunately everything else lags behind.

AL Playoffs
Boton over Minnesota
Tampa over Angels

ALCS
Boston over Tampa

AL MVP-Josh Hamilton-Last year was what baseball people were expecting from this guy for years now. Like I said Texas will score often and he should have monster numbers. Runners Up-Miguel Cabrera and Nick Markakis

AL Cy Young-Joakim Soria-I thought long and hard about this and came to the conclusion that I can't see any AL Starters being that dominant. The Royals will play alot of close games and Soria should be lights out. Runners Up-Josh Beckett and Felix Hernandez

AL ROY-Travis Snider-This has the potential to be one of the best rookies classes in many years. Everyone knows David Price and Matt Wieters. I imagine their stay in the minors will be very short. Oaklands pitchers are also extremely talented. But I'm going with Travis Snider. This guy is very young but everyone says he has professional hitters written all over him. Like Jordan Schaffer he will start the season hitting at the bottom of the order but won't stay there long.