American League outlook

[travistwinstalk]

AL East

1. New York Yankees- Yankees have toomuch pitching and offense and will be helped by the return of Andy Pettitte.

2. Tampa Bay Rays- Will be carried bytheir pitching behind Price, Shields, and Moore. The Question is will they score enough towin.

3. Boston Red Sox- They have plenty ofoffense and should get a bounceback year by Carl Crawford. The question is who is going to step up afterBeckett, Lester, and Bucholz.

4. Toronto Blue Jays- Have a brightfuture and one of the best hitters in the game in Jose Bautista. The question is who will step up after RickyRomero and Brandon Morrow.

5. Baltimore Orioles- Are talentedoffensively led by Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy. However, their pitching is young and inexperienced so looks like anotherlong year for the Orioles.

 

AL Central

1. Detroit Tigers- Probably the most completeteam in the American League after adding Prince Fielder. The question is the defense after MiguelCabrera moved to 3^rd base and Fielder is not known for his defense.

2. Minnesota Twins- The Twins will bedetermined if Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau perform this year. They could be a playoff team or be a lastplace team depending on injury and their starting staff that needs to step up.

3. Cleveland Indians- The Indians areanother team that are up and down. Theycould challenge Detroit if Jimenez can be the ace the Indians thought they weregetting last year.

4. Kansas City Royals- The future isbright for the Royals as they have a bunch of great players like Eric Hosmerand Mike Moustakas who are only going to get better and better. The question is who is going to pitch for theRoyals this year.

5. Chicago White Sox- The White Sox areanother team who could challenge for a divison title or battle for lastplace. They will be led by their big 3in Jake Peavy, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd. The question is how does Adam Dunn respond after a rough opening year inChicago.

 

AL West

1. Texas Rangers- The Rangers arestacked and look to improve on their back to back World Series losses by addingJapanese phenom Yu Darvish. The key isstaying healthy as they are stacked.

2. Los Angeles Angels- The Angels improvedbig with the signings of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. The key for them is who steps up afterWeaver, Haren, and Wilson.

3. Seattle Mariners- The Mariners arerebuilding around Miguel Montero, Dustin Ackley, and most importantly FelixHernandez. They are a couple years away,but the future is bright.

4. Oakland Athletics- The A’s arebuilding their roster around Yoenis Cespedes. They have a lot of young players and some good young pitchers that giventhe time will develop.

 

1^stRound Angels vs Rays- Rays

DivisionRound Rays vs Yankees- Rays

Rangers vs Tigers- Rangers

ALCS Rangers vs Rays- Rangers

I have the Rangers returning to the World Series for the third straight year because they have too much offense and after adding Yu Darvish they will be excellent.

 

I will do the National League tomorrow and then give the pick for the World Series. Let me know if you agree with it or not and your picks.