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Hey there boys and girls! We are back to review and predict the American League. All 3 parts of the mega baseball podcast are linked below by title: Please listen and enjoy!
AL Predictions
NL Predictions
Memo to Bud Selig
Let's get moving, again starting with the west coast:
Texas Rangers 98-64
Anaheim Angels 96-66
Oakland A's 77-85
Seattle 69-93
For Texas, it represents another win improvement for the umpteenth consecutive year, but only by 2 over 2011. Honestly, it's hard to predict anything else. They return their entire offense from last year and 3/5s of their awesome rotation from last year. They replaced Ogando and Wilson with Darvish and Feliz. While it is tough to replace two all-star starters, Feliz has the pedigree and Darvish has the stuff. Maybe not this year completely, but with the expected growth of mid-20s guns Holland and Harrison I don't think Texas misses a beat. It will come down to the wire but i give the overall balance to the Rangers.
For Anaheim, every talking head's darling of the AL West, I am still skeptical about a couple of things. I don't know how reliable the offense will be this year. Sure they have Pujols now and he is the studliest studs, but relying on some combination of Wells, Hunter, Abreu, Kendrick, Aybar, etc....to produce on a consistent basis could be farfetched. Also, while they added Wilson to the staff, their back end pitching in the bullpen is still suspect. Needless to say though adding the bets offensive player of the last 10 years and an ever improving Cy Young candidate pitcher to your 25 man roster, you can expect a big jump in wins.
Oakland gutted its strength (pitching) by getting rid of Cahill, Gonzalez and Bailey and yet I still have them winning more than last year? First, I think they were unlucky, it is rare to see a team with a -34 run margin finish 14 games under .500. Second,and in correlation with the first, their offense can not be any worse than last year. They made the most interesting foreign signing in Yoenis Cespedes and who knows what they will get out of him. He rates as a 5 tool player but may need time to catch up to A's pitching. Regardless, if he can hit .220 and mash 25-30 home runs the A's will have something to cheer for. I dont think they are good, but i can definitely see improvement this year over last year.
Seattle blows. The only question is where King Felix will end up. This is such a young team offensively that there is hope for the future but not this year. One thing they seemed to do right is get rid of Pineda. He has been miserable in the spring and was shut down for 6 weeks at least before starting a single game for the Yankees. Good job Seattle!
Moving on to the AL Central:
Detroit Tigers 101-61
Chicago White Sox 81-81
Minnesota Twins 80-82
Kansas City Royals 75-87
Cleveland Indians 72-90
Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet. Worst. Commercials. Ever. Look, Detroit is a good team, they were in the final four last year, they signed Fielder to replace Martinez for the year. Do I think they are the best team in the AL? Mmmm probably not. I think they have a smoke and mirrors rotation that gets obscured by Verlander's greatness. Buuuuut, I think they also play in the worst division in baseball 2-5. Detroit will win this division by 20 games and that requires me to give them 101 wins, I dont think they are the best but I think they have the easiest road to the playoffs in all of baseball. Look for them in the ALCS again this year.
Chicago lost its fiery soul when Ozzie went to Miami and really this is simply a mediocre team. Mediocre pitchers (Peavy, Danks, etc..), mediocre bullpen (Thronton, Reed, etc...), mediocre offense (Konerko, de Aza, Rios, Dunn). But in the AL Central, mediocrity is excellent! Middle of the road team gets .500 record.
Minnesota was ravaged by injuries last year: Morneau, Mauer, and Span arguably 3 of their most valuable offensive players missed something like 1,300 games last year. They are all back and have reported a healthy spring. I think its hard to ask for pre-2011 levels from all 3 but it will be a big improvement over last year. I just worry about the rotation. Liriano has shown brilliance this spring for what it's worth, but the same old tired rotation of Pavano, Blackburn, Marquis just doesnt inspire confidence for me. They are also probably a middle of the road team.
Kansas City no longer cellar dwellers! They finished 4th last year and i think they can do it again. They have a blossoming offense and absolutely no pitching. They should be fun to watch this year, but in an offensive driven AL they will only get so far. 4 win improvement for you Kansas City!
Cleveland was one of the biggest shockers last year record wise and i think it was a fluke. I think they are terrible this year. There is hardly any real recognizable offense there (Santana and maybe Choo notwithstanding), and their staff relies on Ubaldo Jimenez recapturing one half of one season's worth of success and Justin Masterson continuing to grow. I think every other team in the division has more aggregate talent and that's why Bob Uecker will be downing a fifth every broadcast come May 15th.
Lastly the big bad beast, the AL East:
New York Yankees 96-66
Tampa Bay Rays 93-69
Boston Valentines 90-72
Toronto Blue Jays 84-78
Baltimore Orioles 69-93
The Yankees are older yet another year, and every time you think they are about to fall off a cliff they go and put up the best record in the AL. I'm not falling for it this year. I think enough of the AL East is significantly flawed that age isn't a factor here. They still have a monster lineup, they still have CC they still have a good bullpen they win the division. Thats it. I hate their guts but you can't argue with the consistency.
Tampa Bay has a very nice pitching staff and in the offense rich AL i think that translates into some good wins. Their offense doesn't change much other than BJ Upton being out for a few weeks and the return of Carlos .240 40 home runs Pena. I think they have a good amount of talent (despite what i thought was a compeletly fluky bullpen last year) and could win more than this and the division. But i'm not picking against New York.
The Red Sox can either win 90 because of their talent or lose 90 because Bobby Valentine was the worst managerial hire ever. Bobby has already started his loud mouth this spring picking on everything from Jeter's postseason flip to Varitek beating up resident prissy boy Alex Gonzale to banning beer and chicken and making the team ride the bus during spring training. Boston is going to hate his guts come June 1. Bobby has carte blanche this year, but wouldnt be surprised if he got canned right after the season.
Toronto is everyone's super hyped team to be the sleeper in the East. Why? I don't get it. They sport a nice offense with Bautista, Lawrie, Johnson, Lind and Encarnacion, but that is still probably only good for 3rd best in their own division. Their rotation isn't any better with Romero, Morrow, super post hype sleeper Drabek, etc...I dont know why people think they can win 95 games and win the division or 90-92 to get a wild card. Nope. They can be happy with their 80-84 wins every year until the Red Sox inevitably implode.
Baltimore is just not good. One of the worst rotations in baseball and bunch of underachieving offensive players. In 2009 this would have been a super hyped offense with Markakis, Adam Dont Call Me Pac-Man Jones, JJ Hardy, Nolan Reimold, and Matt Wieters. This team was built to be good on offense in 2012 and everyone has just not quite gotten to the level many expected. Too bad, I have a soft spot for them and Cal Ripken, Jr. so I'd liek to see a return to prominence for them. But it isn't coming this year.
My selections for the playoffs are clear: Texas, Anaheim, Detroit, New York and Tampa Bay. Pretty status quo with last year and everyone's predictions this year. Texas takes out Detroit yet again in the ALCS setting up a World Series where they get revenge on Cliff Lee and finally win their first World Series in franchise history and become the first team to go to 3 straight World Series since thew Yankees won all 3 from 98-00. Not bad company. Enjoy the marathon everyone!
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