American League Predictions

Nobody predicted the type of break out season the Rays were going to have last year. Neither did anyone expect the Detroit Tigers of '06 to be successful. Predictions are just that ... predictions. That is why they play 162. Someone may be a juggernaut on paper *cough* Yankees ... but they may not have the chemistry to be successful over an entire season.

Here are my predictions on how the AL will play out in 2009:


AL West

1. Los Angeles Angels


2. Texas Rangers


3. Oakland A's


4. Seattle Mariners

The Angels will once again show how the west was won in '09. I predict that it won't be a close race either. Despite the talent the Rangers have with Hamilton, Young and Kinsler, I believe pitching will be their downfall.

The A's are just about in the same boat as Texas. If not the same boat, they are in the same size boat right next to them. They added Holiday and Giambi in the offseason, but I challenge you to tell me 3 starters for Oakland ... No - Haren, Mulder, and Zito are long gone. The top of Oakland's rotation is Justin Duchscherer, Dana Eveland and Sean Gallagher.

Seattle will be just like the Seattle we saw last year, with the addition of a little nostalgia. Sorry to say it, but Griffey's presence will not be moving the M's up in the standings.

AL Central

1. Minnesota Twins


2. Chicago White Sox


3. Cleveland Indians


4. Detroit Tigers


5. Kansas City Royals

The twinkies have their work cut out for them. Other than the Royals, this division is up for grabs. There is not one completely dominant team in the AL Central. The Tigers will fight hard but come up a little short.

The big fight for the division championship will be a three way fight between Chicago, Cleveland and Minnesota. Morneau and Mauer will do the damage against opposing pitchers and Nathan will preserve the leads in the ninth. I predict that those three will provide the boost to push the Twins past the rest of their division.

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox


2. Tampa Bay Rays


3. New York Yankees


4. Toronto Blue Jays


5. Baltimore Orioles

First of all I don't want anybody to think that I am completely disregarding the great season Tampa had last year. I fully expect them to be very competetive again in '09. I just think that the Red Sox got caught off guard by the Rays success last year. Every year, the AL East winner is Boston or New York. And last year, Boston beat New York; but the Rays surprised them all and finished first.

I predict that the AL Wild Card winner will also be coming from this division. Maybe my putting the Yankees third is a little biased - as there are few things in this world I hate more than the Yankees - but I truly do believe that Tampa will be able to continue right where they left off last year.

To recap: My three division champs are the Angels, the Twins, and the Red Sox, with the Rays taking the Wild Card. The seeding in the playoffs will look like this:

1. Red Sox
2. Angels
3. Rays
4. Twins
   

I know I didn't really go out on a limb anywhere. But we'll revisit these predictions and see how well I did in September.

Go Cards.