AL CENTRAL

It's time for the final MLB division preview at the eleventh hour. With all the talk of the competitive AL East this offseason, the AL Central might end up being just as competitive with the number of teams vying for a division title late in the season. I said just as competitive as the AL East, not necessarily better. I think three or four teams could all be within striking distance of each other come September, which will make for a great pennant race and who knows, maybe a second straight AL Central playoff.

Despite numerous injuries that lingered with them all season, the Indians managed to finish 81-81 in 2008, just 7.5 games out of first place. So you'd have to expect a better record with all that's coming back for them, including their additions in the offseason. Sluggers Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez will be return for the Tribe to go with the suddenly potent lineup of Grady Sizemore, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko and the up-and-coming Shin-Soo Choo. Also, the Indians went out and signed super-utility man in Mark DeRosa that I don't think should be overlooked. DeRosa is a great talent that can move around the infield, he's coming off his best season in which he hit 21 homers with an on-base percentage of .376. Plus, he'll pretty much play everyday for your team...I think the Cubs will miss DeRosa's versatility on their team. Also, Matt LaPorta (can't miss prospect that was traded for Sabathia) should be up with the team by July. With all that said, the Indians should mash the ball this summer at the Jake (yes, I'm still calling it that). The Indians welcome back the Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, who in no way can duplicate his unbelievable season, but he'll hold his own as ace of this staff. Look for Fausto Carmona to rebound after a terrible 2008 and he'll need to for this team to win consistently. The Indians also have former massive prospect Anthony Reyes, who actually pitched well in the final month of the season for Cleveland last year. Kerry Wood should be a good signing for a team in need of a closer. I think the Indians will rebound after an off 2008 and get the AL Central crown back.
Prediction: AL Central Title

The "dink and dunk Twins." That's what I call the Twins because that's just what they do...a dink hit there, a dunk down the baseline and next thing you know the Twins are 12 games above .500, playing their kind of baseball and competing for the playoffs. If your not a fan of say any other team in the AL Central or the A's, how can you not love how the Twins play baseball? This team brings up homegrown talent, pitches well, plays defense and slaps the ball all around the field to beat you. And they just keep coming after you every inning. They have guys who will never be superstars, but get the job done effectively...Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, etc. If the Pirates were ever to take a model of a team on how to build, it should be the Twins. They continue to be the national media's claim that small market teams can compete! The Twins also have their share of superstars to round out this team...Justin Morneau will hit his 40 home runs this year, Joe Mauer will hit .320 plus, speedster Carlos Gomez should continue to improve his game and Francisco Liriano is key to returning to his dominant form. The Twins seem to hang around every year and this year will be no different. Minnesota is loaded and the race with Cleveland should go down to the wire once again.
Prediction: 2nd

I hate the White Sox. So just know that there's probably some of that bias going on while I write this. The bar was set high in Chicago after the Palehosers won the division title last season, which now sets them up for a big disappointment. This team lot some key pieces this season in Orlando Cabrera, Nick Swisher, Joe Crede, Ken Griffey Jr. and Juan Uribe. While that's not devastating, the problem is the White Sox didn't really add anyone with potential in free agency. They seem to be rolling the dice and going with a younger lineup this year giving guys like Chris Getz, Josh Fields and Dewayne Wise a chance to show what they can do. I don't know if this was the right decision to go this route, but this is a team that's going to have to reinvent itself in a couple years because the bulk of this lineup Paul Konerko, Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye are a year older and I don't know how long they can keep it up. The rotation got productive seasons from Gavin Floyd and Jose Contreras...I don't really see that happening again. Carlos Quentin remains a young, bright spot on this team, but if he struggles at some point this season, the White Sox could be in trouble. This team will hang around like usual, but I think fall away from the pack down the stretch and have a disappointing finish.
Prediction: 3rd

Everyone loves an underdog right? Well, the Kansas City Royals are just it. This team did finish ahead of the Tigers last year and I see them doing the same once again and maybe even ahead of the White Sox. The Royals made two nice trades this offseason, acquiring Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs for their lineup to go along with star in the rising Alex Gordon. Gordon should take off in his third full season in the Majors with Jacobs and Jose Guillen added some protection in the lineup. They also have young shortstop Mike Aviles who hit for a high average last year. It's easy to see that this lineup is coming around and it might just in time to go well with their rotation. If the Royals are to build on last season and become a legitimate team in the American League, it'll be because of Zack Greinke, Gil Meche, Kyle Davies, Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez. Ponson's a bit of a wild card here, but if he falters, there's plenty of talent to pick this team up. Greinke put together a solid season and should continue to improve while Davies and Meche could have big years for this club. The bullpen is solid with closer Joakim Soria, Juan Cruz, Kyle Farnsworth, Ron Mahay and others. I like what this team is doing and right now they seem to be the sexy pick for a surprise team in the American League. I don't know if they're there yet to contend for anything, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them near the top of this division late in the season. Prediction: 4th

And then we have the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were destined for the World Series in 2008, right? Wrong. Their last-place finish could be one of the biggest disappointments in MLB history. Turns out, you can't underestimate the value of having a decent pitching staff no matter how many runs you score. The Tigers have bats, I'm not going to argue against that. What they still lack is pitching. The rotation is a mess and their bullpen might even be worse. For this reason, I have Detroit bringing up the rear in the AL Central again in 2009. I do expect Justin Verlander to bounce back after a trying 2008 season for him. But after him, there's not much. The Tigers traded a young hitter in Matt Joyce for Edwin Jackson, which should do his job and eat some innings, but the problem is he's slated as their number 2-3 pitcher. Jeremy Bonderman's injured still and I have serious reservations about what kind of pitcher he'll be when he returns. Zach Miner is a joke and shouldn't be starting for any MLB team out there. Armando Galarraga had a nice season last year...can you say sophomore slump. And then there's the young gun Rick Porcello, who made the team despite never pitching about High-A level. Here's why this is a bad decision for the Tigers to rush Porcello to the Bigs. Their decision was not because they thought he was 100 percent ready to pitch in the Majors and they wanted to do the best for him. They put him in the rotation already because the team is absolutely desperate for pitching and add the fact in that the Tigers are still clinging to hopes that they win now. It seems as great as the 2006 World Series run was for the Tigers, it's almost setting them back years now because the front office is scrambling to make it happen so fast again that they are either trading away young talent for veterans or they are rushing the young players up when they might not be ready. In essence, they went from being a small market win with the young guys team, to a big market try to buy everyone team in a matter of two years. Until ownership figures out a direction that want to move in, the current team will continue to suffer.
Prediction: Last place...again.

AL EAST PREVIEW

What can I say about the AL East that the rest of America hasn't already said? The Yankees are stacked despite the A-Rod injury and scandal, the Red Sox are always a trendy but solid pick, the Rays have captured the attention and heart of millions of casual and front running fans in the US, and the Blue Jays remain competitive up in our northern neighbors domain.

The Yankees abandoned their recent approach of promoting young prospects and went hog wild in free agency. Looking at this team you wouldn't know that we were in a recession. CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Teixiera all inked monster deals with the Bronx bombers. More experience for young guys like Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera, and Robinson Cano (no way he's as bad as his numbers showed last year), along with returning all stars Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Mariano Rivera and a healthy Hideki Matsui should spell a ton of runs with stellar pitching for this team. I don't like the Yankees but I just feel like they're due to return to their position on top of this division and the top of baseball in October. If they make the playoffs I don't know that anybody can mess with their rotation and power. My prediction: First and front runners for the whole thing in October.

The Rays are the sexiest pick in all of baseball. I'm not sold. I love their team and their potential, I just worry about how much they're relying on youngsters like Evan Longoria. Longoria is on his way to being a stud but young players seem to take a step backwards in their second year. Still, with the most underappreciated player of the last decade (Carl Crawford) and a nice rotation, the Rays will compete with the BoSox for first runner up behind the Yankees and probably a wild card position.

The Red Sox could be in trouble this year. David Ortiz struggled last year and will sorely miss Man Ram's protection in the lineup. Beckett seemed to have lost his dominance last year and Dice K will be easier to figure out in his second year in the US. I love Jacoby Ellsbury and his speed, Pedroia and how he reminds me of Craig Biggio with some more pop, and Jason Bay. It's more of a gut feeling and a desire to see "The Nation" bitch and moan about the Yankees "buying players" than anything, but I think this is the year that the Sox relinquish their spot in October.

The Blue Jays lost AJ Burnett which will hurt because the guy just eats innings and gives solid results when healthy. They have some solid players that will keep them competitive and it'll be interesting to see if Halladay gets dealt if they're out of contention in July. They could compete in the West but there's just way too much in NY, Boston, and TB for the Blue Birds to hang in there this year.

Well that's all I have for the Al East.
Wait...
I'm forgetting something...
Oh yeah!
The Orioles.
Yepp, that's all I have to say about them.

Look for the last update from Ryan before tomorrow night's season opener.

AL WEST

Well folks...Considering Ryan and I are both a high level mixture of busy and lazy, you'll be getting three division previews between now and tomorrow night.
The AL West is...well...a joke. There's the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (they should put that on their uniforms) who just seem to get it done every season. I see no reason why this season should be any different. The Angels have a very nice rotation that should only get better now that Jered Weaver has another year of experience under his belt. On offense the Angels lost Mark Teixeria to the Yankees during Free Agency. There were rumors circulating that the Angels would counter by signing Man Ram this offseason but his asking price was way too high and he resigned with LA rival Dodgers. Ultimately, they ended up with Bobby Abreu. Abreu is aging and not what he once was, but I think a smaller spotlight away from Zoo York will be welcoming to Abreu. The Angels did say farewell to two staple players of their franchise this offseason when K-Rod bolted for the Mets and the player who has been so underrated through his career that he's bordering overrated, Garrett Anderson to the Braves. Anderson is replaceable but K-Rods presence may be missed in late games. However, the Angels can afford to lose some late games and still take this division by double digits.

The Oakland A's brought in Matt Holiday and brought Jason Giambi home. They're the one wildcard team in this division that could challenge the Angels. However, while I expect big numbers from Giambi and Holiday, there's just not much else to be excited about. Giving up Huston Street in the Holiday trade was necessary but will hurt the A's because they're not in a position where they can afford to lose many late games and Street was a reliable closer. Still, I could see this team hovering around .500 and if the Angels rotation suffers a few injuries it could be closer than expected, but I doubt it.

The Texas Rangers got great attention last year for the resurrection of Josh Hamilton. This year, they bring up stud prospect Elvis Andrus at SS. He's potentially so good that the Rangers are moving Michael Young to 3B just to let the kid come up and play. The Rangers gambled and brought in Andruw Jones for a lowball contract which I think was a good move. He's obviously a shell of his former Atlanta Braves self, but he's not half as bad as he showed last year. If he doesn't produce this year his career is over. I think AJ will shed some pounds and give some average production given his playing time. The problem with the Rangers is their pitching. I don't understand how a team who has had the same major weakness for the last decade still can't seem to address it. Rangers fans will be entertained with many high scoring affairs at the Ballpark at Arlington. Unfortunately, I don't think the Rangers will be on the winning side of many of them.

The Seattle Mariners could arguably be the worst team in MLB. Reasons to like them: Felix Hernandez. Reasons to watch them: Sentimental value seeing Griffey in an M's uniform (this will ware off by June). Reasons not to like them: Everything else. This team is just a mess. I like Jose Lopez and Yunelesky Betancourt (great name bro) but aging overpriced players like Adrian Beltre just aren't going to help you win now or in the future. There's no excuse for a team with this kind of payroll not to be competitive. While teams like the Pirates are bad because they have no money, the Mariners have all the resources but just can't get it done. I'd like to make a movement to remove all professional sports from Seattle at this point.