Sizing up the AL

April 14 , 2007 | By Chris White | Discuss

What a great time of year! Last weekend I knocked back a bunch of pints with fender bendin’ Nascar in the background, and watched my Metropolitans sweep the first series of the season.

On Monday, a beautiful day for a ride on the cycle, and a few more pints while enjoying the Phils knock off those suck holes from Atlanta. The NCAA finals entertained us that night, and now I’m thinking baseball of the American League variety. Ain’t life grand!?

Quick point before I take a whack at the AL. I don’t think Greg Oden is going to be all he’s cracked up to be in the NBA. First of all, I’d like to see a birth certificate to prove this guy isn’t already in his mid thirties. Secondly, I think his college dominance is due to his size, not his game. I think he plays smaller then his size, and see him as somebody who can disappear in games. All the talking heads are implying how smart the kid is too. I still don’t see where that improves his stock. We’re talking about the NBA, remember?

That’s my two cents.

AL East
It’s easy to pencil in the Yankees for the division pennant every year, for reasons everyone is well aware of. Again this season I see them as a top threat and playoff gimmie, but I don’t think they take the crown in 2007.

The Red Sox had a stronger off-season. Daisake Matsuzaka looks like he’s the real deal thus far, and should come out of the box strong as hitters get their first glimpses. Picking up JD Drew (who I still don’t like) was a decent addition, and Julio Lugo is a very nice bat. In a short series, Beckett, Shilling, and Matsusaki are very intimidating.

The Yankees on the other hand said goodbye to Mr. Personality Gary Sheffield, and basically swapped Randy Johnson for Andy Pettite, which is a wash.

Toronto and Baltimore made some decent acquisitions for the 2007 season, but does anyone actually think they can compete with the big boys? Too bad you can’t combine their rosters, as that would be the only way they can compete with MLB’s elite pair.

Then there’s the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. First of all, too many syllables for that team to ever be good. Secondly, they’re a Division II school playing in the pros. When Danny Almonte is the oldest guy on the team, you know you have issues.

Boston 98-64
New York 97-65
Toronto 79-83
Baltimore 78-84
Tampa Bay 70-92

AL Central
Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the best division in baseball this year. Four teams can win this sucker. Minnesota has an All-Star core, Chicago has balance, Cleveland has youth, and Detroit has young pitching and veteran power. Oh yeah, then there’s the Royals. They have pretty nice uniforms.

The Cleveland Indians are the darlings in the pre-season polls, but I’m a ‘Doubting Thomas’. I’ve always been a firm believer in hunger. I think the Detroit Tigers did a lot of soul searching after their World Series flop, and are probably at a nice simmer right about now, in time to recapture their AL Central Banner. Losing Kenny Rogers will only solidify this group who both surprised and under performed last year.

Jim Leyland is one of baseball’s best. They went out and added more pop in Gary Sheffield, have an emerging star in Curtis Granderson, and still have all those young arms. I know the pen is shaky, but Todd Jones is a professional thrower who I think is just buying time for Joel Zumaya to blossom. That kid throws smoke.

Next I’ll take the classy Twinkees for second, and perhaps again with a shot for the Wildcard. Mauer, Mourneau, and the games best starter Johan Santana are three pretty good reasons to be high on Minnesota. The rest of the staff is a bit shaky though, and even with Joe Nathan closing out games, its 2-5 guys I worry about.

Cleveland is definitely on the up and up, with young bats and a decent staff. I’m not a big fan of CC Fatbastia though, never have been. Big mouth, can’t figure out how to wear his hat, and will be on the DL for significant time again this year I’m sure.

I predict this as the final year for Ozzie Guillen as the skipper of the White Sox. All is great with him when they are winning. When things go sour, I think his antics are detrimental to the squad. Plenty of talent on that team too, but the team that comes out of this division will be the one that stays out of trouble and makes a clean run. It won’t be the boys on the south side.

Detroit 89-73
Minnesota 88-74
Cleveland 86-76
Chicago 84-78
Kansas City 62-100

AL West
Lots of people are big on the “California of Anaheim just outside of Los Angles Angels ” (Napoleon Dynamite “Idiots!” inserted here) this year. I’m lukewarm on them, more so because the rest of the division sucks. The lineup outside of Vladimir Guerrero doesn’t scare anyone. Starting pitching is the best in the division, but that isn’t saying much. They win by default, and are easily bounced in October.

The A’s might get a spark from new manager Bob Geren, but losing Zito was tough and Rich Harden hasn’t shown he can go a full season. Oakland is already using a patchwork lineup, with Bobby Crosby, Mark Ellis, Milton Bradley, and Eric Chavez all due for the DL by May. Mike Piazza looks pretty cool though in the new duds. He’ll have a nice season as the DH. Decent pitching, holes in the lineup, no playoffs.

The Rangers trotted out Kevin Millwood as their ace in the opener. Kevin Millwood should probably be matching up against team’s 4th or 5th starters, but Texas has never really been serious about pitching. They do have some solid hitters in Michael Young and Mark Teixeira, and I think Ian Kinsler may have a nice breakout season, but lose points for picking up Kenny Lofton and Sammy Sosa.

The Mariners are bland.

California 85- 77
Oakland 79-83
Texas 74-88
Seattle 72-90

Don’t quote me on the math of the above record predictions, as I was too lazy to break out the calculator. With that said, the division winners will be Boston, Minnesota, and Cal State. The Wildcard will be a great run right through September with New York, Detroit, and Cleveland. In the end the Yanks will take that, but get knocked off by Boston in a tremendous series. Minnesota will oust the Angels in four games.

The Red Sox will handle Minnesota four games to one, to set up the 1986 World Series rematch. Kevin Youkilis stars as Bill Buckner. Jose Reyes plays Mookie Wilson.

The rest is history…

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