1. Detroit Tigers
So the Tigers come out of nowhere last year and they're going to repeat? Yes, why? Young arms and the addition of a little beef in the middle of the order. Sure Magglio was nice but a pissed off Chef in the middle order certainly makes the lineup more intimidating. The worry for the Tigers like most teams is the health of their pitching, the Gambler Kenny Rogers will start the season on the DL and Verlander might have been overworked last year.
Key Player: Gary Sheffield, Name something missing from the Tigers last year. An absolutely intimidating hitter. Sheffield when healthy certainly fills that void. And helped by the fact he is a pissed off mo fo this season he is bound to have monsterous numbers.
Player to Eye: Justin Verlander, the Tigers shut him down in September for a few weeks last year because they were concerned about his workload. That sometimes leads to a complete breakdwon the next season. Throw in the fact that he hasn't been very impressive during spring training and the Tigers might have something to worry about.
Record Prediction: 90 - 72
2. Chicago White Sox
The White Sox are a bunch of mashers right now, where as with their World Series team they had the deepest starting rotation in the bigs. Now they have a bunch of question marks throughout the whole pitching staff. Will they be good sure, can they win the division, of course, will they? I don't think so.
Key Player: Mark Buehrle, This staff which was the absolute stong point during their World Series run took a large turn for the worse last season. And the biggest example of this was Mark Buehrle who went from top of the rotation type to mostly bad starts. The White Sox will desperately need him to get back to form.
Player to Eye: Scott Podsednik if Pods can stay healthy he could be a catalyst again at the top of the order. And hitting in front of Thome, Konerko and Dye is a friendly place to be. If Pods doesn't consistantly get on base for the Sox, then having those big boppers turns less important.
Record Prediction:88-74
3. Cleveland Indians
The Indians are a lot of peoples sheek pick to win the division or the Wild Card and even a few peoples crazy idea that they are going to win the World Series. But they just don't have the pitching past Sabathia to make a big time push to win the best division in baseball.
Key Player: CC Sabathia, Fatassia got hit by a line drive on his second pitch in his last outing of the spring, and while X-rays have come up negative it certainly isn't a good sign when your ace is questionable to start the season. Sabathia just might be the most underrated pitcher in the lague right now after posting a 3.22 era and 174 Ks last year despite missing almost the whole first month of the season.
Player to Eye: Jhonny Peralta, he flat out stunk last year but his manager refused to move him from the pressure packed 3 hole in the lineup until he was in a slump that was too harsh for him to get out of. Now he will most likely slide down in the lineup and with a better spring he could be more the Peralta of 05 than the one of 06.
Record Prediction:86-76
4. Minnesota Twins
The Twins pulled out the division last year after a hot second half combined with the Tigers melt down, so why the 4th place finish this season? They got career years from Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau (I'm not a believer) and of course they had the unhittable Liriano spark midseason. They won't get any of that this year, and thus 4th place.
Key Player: Johan Santana, obviously when you have the best pitcher in baseball he is the key player on your team. He was the MVP of the Twins last year, not Morneau, and will be the MVP of the Twins this year. Without him this rotation consists of Carlos Silva, Boof Bonser, Sidney Ponson??? Imagine how bad this team would be if he were ever to go down.
Player to Eye: Matt Garza, Garza posted a 1.50 era this spring, Carlos Silva posted an 11 era this spring so naturally the Twins sent their top prospect down to the minors, even though he threw 50 innings in the bigs last year, in favor of throwing Carlos Silva. It makes so much sense. When Garza gets called up, probably no later than the end of April, he will have a big impact.
Record Prediction:78-84
5. Kansas City Royals
If this was the NFL or the NBA the Royals would be right there in the race to get that first pick. Too bad there are no Greg Oden's or Kekin Durant's waiting as saviors at the end of the tunnel. The good news for the Royals is they have some young talent with Gordon, Teahan and Butler waiting in the wings. The problem, they still have no pitching and their in the best division in baseball.
Key Player: Alex Gordon, so why would I have a rookie as the key player of any team it's simple he's the future of the organization. They have no chance of competing this year they don't have the pitching or the overal talent. If Gordon comes out and puts up big numbers in his rookie campaign it gives Royal fans some hope for the future.
Player to Eye: Zack Greinke, This kid was good enough to be kept in my league in 04, on the roster I inherited no less, which explains why my pitching blew to no end last year. Anyway, Greinke has been named the Royals number three starter and minus injuries and mental breakdowns he could post a sub 4 ERA which would make him the best pitcher on the Royals roster.
Record Prediction:58-103
So the Tigers come out of nowhere last year and they're going to repeat? Yes, why? Young arms and the addition of a little beef in the middle of the order. Sure Magglio was nice but a pissed off Chef in the middle order certainly makes the lineup more intimidating. The worry for the Tigers like most teams is the health of their pitching, the Gambler Kenny Rogers will start the season on the DL and Verlander might have been overworked last year.Key Player: Gary Sheffield, Name something missing from the Tigers last year. An absolutely intimidating hitter. Sheffield when healthy certainly fills that void. And helped by the fact he is a pissed off mo fo this season he is bound to have monsterous numbers.
Player to Eye: Justin Verlander, the Tigers shut him down in September for a few weeks last year because they were concerned about his workload. That sometimes leads to a complete breakdwon the next season. Throw in the fact that he hasn't been very impressive during spring training and the Tigers might have something to worry about.
Record Prediction: 90 - 72
2. Chicago White Sox
The White Sox are a bunch of mashers right now, where as with their World Series team they had the deepest starting rotation in the bigs. Now they have a bunch of question marks throughout the whole pitching staff. Will they be good sure, can they win the division, of course, will they? I don't think so.
Key Player: Mark Buehrle, This staff which was the absolute stong point during their World Series run took a large turn for the worse last season. And the biggest example of this was Mark Buehrle who went from top of the rotation type to mostly bad starts. The White Sox will desperately need him to get back to form.
Player to Eye: Scott Podsednik if Pods can stay healthy he could be a catalyst again at the top of the order. And hitting in front of Thome, Konerko and Dye is a friendly place to be. If Pods doesn't consistantly get on base for the Sox, then having those big boppers turns less important.
Record Prediction:88-74
3. Cleveland Indians
The Indians are a lot of peoples sheek pick to win the division or the Wild Card and even a few peoples crazy idea that they are going to win the World Series. But they just don't have the pitching past Sabathia to make a big time push to win the best division in baseball.Key Player: CC Sabathia, Fatassia got hit by a line drive on his second pitch in his last outing of the spring, and while X-rays have come up negative it certainly isn't a good sign when your ace is questionable to start the season. Sabathia just might be the most underrated pitcher in the lague right now after posting a 3.22 era and 174 Ks last year despite missing almost the whole first month of the season.
Player to Eye: Jhonny Peralta, he flat out stunk last year but his manager refused to move him from the pressure packed 3 hole in the lineup until he was in a slump that was too harsh for him to get out of. Now he will most likely slide down in the lineup and with a better spring he could be more the Peralta of 05 than the one of 06.
Record Prediction:86-76
4. Minnesota Twins
The Twins pulled out the division last year after a hot second half combined with the Tigers melt down, so why the 4th place finish this season? They got career years from Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau (I'm not a believer) and of course they had the unhittable Liriano spark midseason. They won't get any of that this year, and thus 4th place.Key Player: Johan Santana, obviously when you have the best pitcher in baseball he is the key player on your team. He was the MVP of the Twins last year, not Morneau, and will be the MVP of the Twins this year. Without him this rotation consists of Carlos Silva, Boof Bonser, Sidney Ponson??? Imagine how bad this team would be if he were ever to go down.
Player to Eye: Matt Garza, Garza posted a 1.50 era this spring, Carlos Silva posted an 11 era this spring so naturally the Twins sent their top prospect down to the minors, even though he threw 50 innings in the bigs last year, in favor of throwing Carlos Silva. It makes so much sense. When Garza gets called up, probably no later than the end of April, he will have a big impact.
Record Prediction:78-84
5. Kansas City Royals
If this was the NFL or the NBA the Royals would be right there in the race to get that first pick. Too bad there are no Greg Oden's or Kekin Durant's waiting as saviors at the end of the tunnel. The good news for the Royals is they have some young talent with Gordon, Teahan and Butler waiting in the wings. The problem, they still have no pitching and their in the best division in baseball. Key Player: Alex Gordon, so why would I have a rookie as the key player of any team it's simple he's the future of the organization. They have no chance of competing this year they don't have the pitching or the overal talent. If Gordon comes out and puts up big numbers in his rookie campaign it gives Royal fans some hope for the future.
Player to Eye: Zack Greinke, This kid was good enough to be kept in my league in 04, on the roster I inherited no less, which explains why my pitching blew to no end last year. Anyway, Greinke has been named the Royals number three starter and minus injuries and mental breakdowns he could post a sub 4 ERA which would make him the best pitcher on the Royals roster.
Record Prediction:58-103
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