AL Preview: The Beasts of the East

I am scared shitless this year, but it should also be noted that I am not above the reverse jinx by any means. Draw your own conclusions.

New York Yankees:
Acquisitions: Curtis Granderson, Randy Winn, Javier Vazquez
Departures: Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Brian Bruney, Chien-Ming Wang, Melky Cabrera, Jose Molina
Well, the rich just get richer, don't they. It's fine with me when it's the Sox, but not the dreaded Yanks, anything but that! But wait, have they, really? Sure, Granderson is an all-star and will take their lineup from the deadliest in baseball to the deadliester in baseball. What else can you say? They are truly bruising at the plate, even after losing Damon and Godzilla. Honestly, as long as they have Nick Swisher, the sky's the limit. Oh, you didn't know that? That’s right, Nick Swisher is the key to this team. He is what changed the culture in that clubhouse and forced them to have fun again. Last year was totally fucked because of the stark role reversal of the two big dogs of the decade. The Sox were a quiet, professional assortment of big names that went out and did their jobs but had no collective character, while the Yanks were all of a sudden a loose, fun-loving bunch of guys who believed in each other and played as a team. The results speak for themselves, and Nick Swisher, that goofball, eccentric, enjoyable, carefree character, is to thank. He's the Tino Martinez of the New Yankees, and I am not sure the Sox have the answer for that right now. Still, they have no fifth starter, and I stand firm on the theory that those long deals for Sabathia and Burnett will bite them in the ass. And Pettitte? How long can the HGH keep him and his huge ass going? They will also be debating the fates of Hughes and Jaba the Hutt endlessly until both of them will end up as neither great starters nor great relievers. Even so, they cut a lot of fat in the offseason, and they are so good right now that things have to break against them for them to do poorly, not the other way around. Here's hopin'. Projected Record: 100-62

Tampa Bay Angel Rays:
Acquisitions: Raphael Soriano
Departures: Gabe Gross, Greg Zaun, Akinori Iwamura
Well they dropped the Devil from their name and the dividends paid immediately, but oh how far away 2008 seems already. The 47 true Rays fans in Florida watched in horror last year as the team struggled with injuries and the free agency market (as well as some pitchers coming back to earth) and land right back in the pack. The band-wagoners deserted in kind. But all is not lost. In fact, far from it. Hell, “the pack” is the second best finish in Rays history, and they are just starting to tap some of their potential. The outfield is solid left to right, with Gabe Kapler the weak link (a roll player on the Sox for many years) but a reliable fielder and great clubhouse guy. Speed out there is unmatched with Crawford and Upton. Eva Longoria's marriage to Tony Parker has not seemed to effect her range at third nor her bat. Moving across the diamond, Bartlett and Zobrist are fiends, just hitting their stride, and Carlos Pena, well, he's still pretty friggin good, as is Navarro. Of course, defense and offense weren’t really their demise last year, it was supposedly pitching. The word on the Rays is that in 2008 outstanding starters concealed weaknesses in the bullpen, but that got exposed but good, starting with the World Series and carrying right over to the next season. I don't see it. This is a young team that played out of their mind in '08 and probably did well to finish over .500 in '09, and they keep getting better. This year the rotation doesn't look a whole lot different, but it need not. Look out for Jeff Niemann. They got a reliable closer off of Atlanta in Rafael Soriano (named after the greatest of the Ninja Turtles, good sign) and there are a lot of old faces in the pen, but some of them actually performed well last year, and with a ninth inning anchor man, they will have a chance to get in a rhythm. I mean, hell, they are in the AL East with the juggernaughts. This team is getting to where they don't need to exceed their potential to win a lot of games. Projected Record: 90-72

Boston Red Sox:
Acquisitions: John Lackey, Marco Scutaro, Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre, Jeremy Hermida
Departures: Jason Bay, Casey Kotchman, Alex Gonzalez, Rocco Bladelli, Billy Wagner, Nick Green
I wrote this last, because frankly I was dreading it. Boston has been busy this offseason, there is no doubt, but I really don't think they have moved forward, and might be set up for a disappointing campaign in 2010. Their rotation looks even better than it did to start last year, when we made a lot of risky gambles only needing one or two to pan out, and not only did we cash in on none of them, but our sure things like Dice-K crapped out on us as well. But it's a new year, and In Theo We Trust. He addressed our biggest problems from last year in the winter meetings, i.e. starting pitching and defense. John Lackey will join a potent staff that, if it performs up to its potential, can be the best in the majors. But what of the bullpen, which melted down in the latter half of the season like a stick of butter on the sidewalk, starting even before the all-star break? We seem to be hoping that that was just an aberration. Fine (though I am skeptical), but what of the offense? We won two long-awaited championships with the greatest hitting tandem of all time. Ownership ran half of that duo out on a rail and replaced it with Jason Bay, who, admittedly, is a sabermetrics god, with win-shares and runs created coming out of his ass. That was (almost) palatable, but now, in our third season since that second title, we have again traded down to the likes of Mike Cameron. Mike Cameron?!?! WTF, mate? Yeah yeah, Putting Cobi in left will save his body and might allow him to climb another rung up the Greatness Ladder, but seriously, is it gonna be small-ball now for the second highest-paid team in baseball? Youk and Pedey and Victor would say no, but the concerns are legitimate. Off topic a bit, but equally concerning: that clubhouse is way too tight, so Pedroia or someone needs to take on a leadership roll and loosen things up in there or that team is going nowhere. So, look for Theo to deal for a bat before the 31 July deadline, and for some dugout shenanigans to take place, or look for the Sox to sink hard and fast. I'm frankly terrified of the Yankees, and I see the Rays poised for a run, so I am gonna reluctantly place the Red Sox a painful third in the division and out of the dance. Projected Record: 84-78

Baltimore Orioles:
Acquisitions: Kevin Millwood, Miguel Tejada, Garrett Atkins
Departures: Melvin Mora, Danys Baez
With a bullpen that looks more like the cast of a Telemundo soap, I am not holding my breath on the O's turning that elusive corner and becoming a contender. They did take the offseason seriously, though, getting Kevin Millwood off Texas for some guy named Chris and another guy with no name at all. But he can only pitch every five days, and there is a lot of hope that he will somehow spread his wisdom to a shaky rotation. Again, I'm not banking on it. Their outfield can hit a bit and I like that kid Pie, who needs to give up and let us pronounce it like the delicious treat. He has game-changing speed and I think he will develop into an every-day player, giving them some options come trade deadline time if they are contending. They put a guy named Aubrey at first base this year to replace the aging Huff, who they seem to have dealt just in time, and overall are a young team with unknown potential. After all, their elder statesman, the absurdly loyal Brian Roberts, is only 32. Oh yeah, except for Tejada, who is triumphantly (perhaps) returning after a sojourn in the West. They need a few breaks, like all the small markets in the East, but if their proven guys have big years and they get some timely pitching from the homegrown talent they have been banking on forever, then maybe, just maybe, they can take fourth in the division. Projected record: 78-84

Toronto Blue Jays:
Acquisitions: Alex Gonzalez, A bunch of future Players to be Named Later, Kevin Gregg and Brandon Morrow?
Departures: Roy Halladay, Marco Scutaro, Kevin Millar
Well, they finally gave up. The Blue Jays clung to their one blue chip longer than I would have thought they would, but Roy Halladay has finally left Canada for a real chance to win and the Blue Jays have finally contented themselves with the bottom of the AL East. And that is where they will finish. At least before they could go out knowing they had a better-than-average shot of winning one out of five. He was a stopper, he was a starter, he was everything good for that staff and that team, but now he's gone. In his place is something just short of open tryouts in Spring Training for the "ace" position in Toronto's rotation. The Jays are in trouble. Their bullpen was crappy last year and will be again, their starters might be me and Alex at this point... They could hit some last year, and they will bring some of that back. Perennially inconsistent Vernon Wells only hit .260 last year, but he hit .300 the year before that, so who knows. Alex Gonzalez is a wizard at short and may have broken out at the plate with the Sox. Then again, Travis Snider came back to earth last year after a big half-season in 2008 and Encarnacion hit a little better for the Jays in 09 than he did for the Reds, but was still underwhelming by the numbers. Overall they have a few decent run producers, but no really good ones. In this division, with arms races reminiscent of the Cold War, taking as big a step back as losing Halladay without any big step forward to make up for it will land you in the basement faster than you can say Cy Young, and that's where the Jays are headed. Projected Record: 69-93

So At the end of my forseen season, you have a couple good races; one for the West, and one for the Wild Card, in which Seattle is fighting for both. The Angels outlast the Mariners in the division, but in a race that comes down to the very end the Mariners squeak out the Rays and head to the postseason. The first round would see those same Mariners obliterated by the Yankees, while the Angels go down to the White Sox in 4. The Yanks have a hard time with the Other Sox in the ALCS, but knock them off in 7 games to face… well, if it was up to me, I'd say maybe the Phils again, but its just a crime to predict a World Series rematch. We'll see what Alex says. So there ya go. The 2010 American League baseball season, done and done. No need to watch the games now, so we’ll have plenty of time for World Cup and WNBA action.