This is going to be a different type of week here at Cards Droppings.  As part of our affiliation with United Cardinal Bloggers, we’ve been asked to make a set of predictions.  Today’s prediction deals with the American League. Many of you may not be interested in hearing about other teams, but to us it’s important for us to understand who our potential World Series’ opponent may be.  What follows is our predicted order of finish in each division, followed by a brief summary of each team.

AL East

Boston
New York
Tampa
Baltimore
Toronto

Probably the toughest division in all of baseball.  If not the toughest, definitely the most expensive.  Boston takes the prize for biggest off season splash with their acquisitions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.  Although it hasn’t been officially announced due to luxury tax restrictions, Boston will most likely lock up Gonzalez for 7 years $140 million plus.  Boston’s pitching staff is unmatched within the division.  They have a potential Cy Young candidate in Jon Lester and a former winner in Josh Beckett. Beckett has struggled recently, but he could be due for a big year.  Boston also has John Lackey, Clay Bucholz and Daisuke Matzsuzaka.  They’re solid, if not spectacular at the back end, and their bullpen is almost as much of a juggernaut as their office (anchored by Jonathan Papelpon and former closers Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler.  They also have flamethrower Daniel Bard as an option.  Their offense makes even the Yankees shudder.  They could have a potential lineup of Ellsbury, Pedroia, Crawford, Gonzalez, Youkils, Ortiz, Drew, Varitek / Salty and Scutaro.

The biggest news from the Yankees’ camp this off-season was their inability to acquire Cliff Lee.  Their rotation has major question marks after CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes.  A.J. Burnett could bounce back, but Ivan Nova and either Bartolo Colon or Freddy Garcia at the back end won’t scare a Boston lineup.  The Yankees have an offense almost as dangerous as Boston, but they’ll definitely have to out slug their opponents on most days.

Tampa took a major hit this winter, losing Carlos Pena, Rafael Soriano and Carl Crawford to free agency.  They also traded away their #2 starter in Matt Garza.  Their farm system is stocked with prospects, but you can’t lose that many quality players and hope to compete in this division. 

Baltimore took a major step up after they hired Buck Showalter.  Their lineup has been vastly improved.  Matt Wieters could break out in a big way this year.  At first, Derrek Lee is still a threat.  Brian Roberts at second is a major injury question mark, but if he’s healthy, he could still provide a lot of value. Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Vlad Guerrero will also help lengthen their lineup quite a bit.  Baltimore’s problem is their lack of pitching.  They’ll get there eventually, but 2011 will not be that year.

It’s hard to pick a team as talented as Toronto to finish last, but their young pitching is still unproven.  They also traded away Vernon Wells and Shaun Marcum.

AL Central

Detroit
Chicago White Sox
Minnesota
Cleveland
Kansas City

It’s hard to pick against a team that has a staff anchored by Justin Verlander and an offense including Miggy Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Magglio Ordonez.  Detroit also has a decent amount of pitching depth with the ever-improving Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello as well as Brad Penny and Phil Coke.

Chicago probably would have been our pick to win the division this year, but the recent news about Jake Peavy’s shoulder makes me worry that their pitching depth won’t be enough to compete all year.  Their offense should be fun to watch, with new acquisition Adam Dunn fitting in nicely along with Paul Konerko, Carlos Quentin and Gordon Beckham.

Minnesota always seems to surprise everyone, and it wouldn’t surprise me much at all if they’re at the top of the division at the end of the year.  It’s just hard to pick them given the big question marks around the health of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.  Their pitching staff is deep, but other than Francisco Liriano, I don’t see an ace here.  Liriano has also been facing shoulder soreness this spring.

Cleveland is in rough shape, but it will be fun to watch Carlos Santana and Shin Soo Choo.  play for many years to come.  Grady Sizemore is trying to bounce back from major knee surgery, and it would be a great story if he can indeed return to his pre-surgery form.

Kansas City is staring another 100 loss season right in the face after the trade of Zack Greinke and the retirement of Gil Meche.  Their rotation is a mess, but their farm system is absolutely loaded for bear.  By 2012 or 2013, the likes of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas will be propelling the Royals back to relevance once again.

AL West

Oakland
Texas
Anaheim
Seattle

This was the toughest division for me to pick.  I think any of the top three teams in the division could easily win if they can stay healthy.

I picked Oakland because I love their starting pitching.  Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez may not be household names yet, but they soon will be.  They also have a very nice bullpen if Andrew Bailey can stay healthy. 

Texas will be right in the fight for the division all year, but I have concerns about the team chemistry given their inability to trade Michael Young.  I also have concerns that the lack of conviction on what to do with Neftali Feliz could play a part. 

Anaheim had a strange off-season, to say the least.  They missed out on Carl Crawford then made a crazy play for Vernon Wells and the albatross of a contract that comes with him.  Their offense is questionable given the fact that Kendrys Morales will start the year on the DL.  Their pitching is very solid at the top, with Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana.

Seattle is a mess as well.  Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez isn’t surrounded by much talent in the Pacific Northwest.  Their lineup is abysmal and Ichiro isn’t getting any younger.

Here are our predicted playoff matchups:

ALDS:

Boston over Oakland in 4
Detroit over New York in 5

ALCS:

Boston over Detroit in 5

Filed In: Outside Cardinal Nation | Tags: American League Predictions, Red Sox, United Cardinal Bloggers

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