I have to say, it does not take much to pick the NL winners. And based upon the, somewhat, biased opinion of my friends we are all aligned on the best 6 teams in the NL. Everything changes for the AL this year. Here are my thoughts:
AL East
Baltimore
Toronto
New York
Tampa Bay
Boston
I'll try to defend my picks here, but it honestly was a crap shoot. If you said that Tampa or New York was the best and backed up your argument, I would have a hard time fighting your thoughts. But, with that said, I am going for an overhaul in the east. Baltimore had a strong season last year and I am going to say that they are going to add on that big year with experience. Who does Baltimore have, you ask? Great question...but those no names can play ball as a team. Sticking my neck out there, Baltimore to win the east. Why? Toronto is not buying a champion in year one. They made tons of moves and some amazing moves...but it takes time to gel. It is not their year. Exactly why I have Baltimore in first. They have gelled. If I could have picked all 5 teams to finish 3rd, I would have. But the best of the rest will be NY. Mainly because they will do what they have to do not to lose. Next I have Tampa Bay clawing at the heals of NY. Longoria and Price are amazing, but I don't think they have the depth. There is other talent there, but not to the level of the elite. Then comes the rebuilding Boston club. There is just not enough there this year to compete, and I see another implosion. All of the teams will have good records and beat each other up, but Boston is in the cellar.
AL Central
Detroit
Kansas City
Cleveland
Chicago
Minnesota
Another tough division to handicap after you put Detroit in a class of their own. Seriously, who is going to compete with Detroit? Kansas City made some great moves, but not enough for the division. Maybe making a Wild Card run...but that is still remarkable. Cleveland has removed dead weight with some solid role players. They will compete for awhile, but they are not in Detroit's league and Kansas City was better in the offseason. Chicago and Minnesota will find themselves at the bottom. A far cry from where they were just a few seasons ago when the two of them led the division year after year.
AL West
Los Angeles
Oakland
Texas
Seattle
Houston
The west will be interesting and it is hard to not go with LA. Hamilton to the mix is enough to give them the west alone. But, you can't count out Oakland. They have no business being part of the race, but like Baltimore, they have chemistry of their no names. They will feast on Houston and scare up enough wins to make LA uncomfortable. Texas had a tough offseason and falls back to earth and the middle of the division. Seattle will try to bring in more offense with shorter fences, but they only stacked their team with DH's and random 1B who are only good for the long ball. They don't have enough, even with King Felix, to be .500. Then there is Houston...let's just say that 100 loses would be a good season.
Here are my NL predictions.
Serge
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