Predicting the Divisions - AL today, NL tomorrow

After having not blogged on this site since last June I've decided to start again, exciting, huh? I've deleted all the old stuff to have a nice fresh start.

I'll start with the expected division winners, I won't be doing the MVP, etc stuff; there is no way to predict that, purely lucky guess stuff.  At least with predicting team success one can use thought & reason. American League today, National League tomorrow.

AL East - Red Sox, Rays, Yankees, Orioles & Jays

Kind of a toss up here, there are probably three 90 win teams here. The Sox have quality veterans all over the place and above average top three in the rotation; they have "age issues" with Lowell & Varitek, Ortiz has to comeback as well.  I'm least worried about he question marks with the Red Sox, so they get the nod.

The Rays could easily win this, Burrell is better than any DH they had last year, Crawford & Kazmir will probably be better, you have to assume Longoria all year will make a difference; Upton could take a step back though.

The Yankees third because I don't think Burnett will stay healthy; he's started 30 games three times in his career including 2008, will this year be different than the four start & 21 start years he had following the previous two? Throw in Pettitte's &Posada's age and the fact that Matsui can only DH until June, it doesn't bode well for the Yankees. Teixeira will replace some lost offense, Cano has to rebound and they need offense out of CF.  Oh yeah, that A-rod guy is out until May, maybe June (I've got him on two fantasy teams, I'm hoping six weeks, not nine).    

Orioles will be good in 2010, and better than that in 2011.

The Jays are in a sad state right now & will probably get worse before getting better.

AL Central - Twins, Indians, White Sox, Royals & Tigers

Going against the Twins proves dangerous.  They have solid young starters with Liriano coming back.  Mauer being out for an extended period will hurt, but they have solid pitching and play solid defense which is enough in this divisioin. 

The Indians obviously will be better with Martinez & Hafner back in the lineup, the back of their rotation worries me, and there's no way Lee repeats his 2008. 

The White Sox are a bunch of slow footed power hitters, it's tough to win consistantly with station-to-station baseball.  Even if Danks & Floyd progress after that is nothing.  I love Alexei Ramirez, but other than that everybody in the lineup is the same type of hitter...all or nothing. 

The Royals might get the third place if they get enough starting pitching; their lineup is better, but Alex Gordon needs to finish learning how to hit with a wooden bat if this team is going anywhere. 

The Tigers have NO pitching; there could be some nice players available here at the trading deadline.

AL West - Angels, Mariners, A's & Rangers

Angels are a no-brainer, even with Lackey & Santana out for the first month and Escobar back after that.  They're the only team in the division that's well rounded enough to play consistantly. 

The Mariners could surprise.  Hopefully for them Hernandez won't be burned out from the WBC; Bedard healthy in that big ballpark could be a success. A .500 record could happen for them. 

The A's still don't have enough healthy players.  Holliday won't be the same type of premium hitter in Oakland, his home/road splits say he'll still be very good but he won't be the same guy.  They have to wait until Gallagher & Gonzales are ready before they can compete for the division; they'll probably pick up a good young players for Holliday at the trading deadline. 

The Rangers will be bad this year while their young starters learn, but they could do a Rays type jump in 2010.