The Boys of Summer Are Back Again - Part I

Prediction: 1st place AL East 99-63

The Boston Red Sox didn't lose a thing from their World Series team of 2007. The Sox carry over almost the exact same squad, but now the younger players like Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, and Clay Buchholz were able to get an extra year of experience under their belts. Also, banger Manny Ramirez is said to have returned to camp this year in better shape and I just don't see anyway possible that he won't improve on his weak 20 HR, 88 RBI season of a year ago. The lone worry for this club right now is the health of starting pitcher Curt Schilling. Schilling's return is said to be expected some time towards the middle of the season. If Schilling returns healthy, then there's no reason the Red Sox can't repeat again in 08'.

Prediction: 2nd place AL East 96-66

The New York Yankees enter the 2008 season in the exact same situation they were in a year ago. The good news is the Yankees have plenty of offense, but the bad news is they have very little pitching. New York can rely on some good starts from Chien-Ming Wang fairly consistently, but veterans Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina will only have their good stuff every now and then. The Yankees could've cleared up their pitching problems if they had landed Johan Santana. Unfortunately, the deal for Santana feel through and now the Yankees can expect a second straight finish in the AL East because of it.

Prediction: 3rd place AL East 83-81

One of the more exciting teams in baseball to watch this season will be the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have a great group of young guys who are very talented on offense. Tampa Bay is not only a team that can beat you with the long ball (Pena, Upton, and Gomes), but they can also steal bases (Upton, Crawford) as well as any team in the league. Unfortunately, their pitching staff leaves much to be desired. Tampa Bay's first two starters (Kazmir and Shields) can be very good at times, but both of them would have to win 20+ games for this team to even have a shot at winning in this division. Still, I think this year's Rays team has a shot at finishing third, which would be a big step up from a 66-win season just a year ago.

Prediction: 4th place AL East 82-80

The Toronto Blue Jays have a solid lineup, as well as a decent pitching staff. With names like Rios, Wells, Rolen, and Thomas the Blue Jays will have someone up almost every inning who has a legitimate chance of going deep. The only reason I chose Tampa Bay to finish above Toronto in this division is because I think when you have that many older players you're going to experience some injury problems along the way. Let's face it, Rolen and Thomas have no shot of playing a full year ever again and closer B.J Ryan is still going to be out for awhile with his injury. Luckily, the Blue Jays may not need Ryan too often because former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay is on the mound every five days. The Blue Jays will be fun to watch, but I think we'll end up seeing just about the same result for this squad as we did last season.

Prediction: 5th place AL East 69-93

The loss of Miguel Tejada in the off-season really starts to make this Baltimore Orioles' roster look rather thin. Tejada was definitely on the decline, but now the only two bright spots on this lineup are Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis. Markakis had a great season last year, but he's so young that I question whether he can really lead this offense. Furthermore, the Orioles have been trying to trade leadoff hitter Brian Roberts to the Cubs, so how exactly does management ever expect this offense to get kick-started? On the other side of things the pitching doesn't get much better. Backup closer George Sherrill has been asked to fill in for Chris Ray until he recovers, but at least the Orioles won't have to expect to get into too many save situations until then. The bottomline is this team will be a pinata for the four other AL East teams this season.

Prediction: 1st place AL Central 100-62

The Detroit Tigers have made more off-season noise than any other club in the league. Detroit added the likes of Edgar Renteria and Miguel Cabrera on offense, while adding former Marlins' ace Dontrelle Willis to their already nasty pitching staff. Detroit's lineup now consist of at least three players than can hit over 30 homeruns and three more that can hit over 20 bombs. The Tigers now not only have the ability to score with any team, but they also have one of the top five pitching staffs in the majors. Anything less than the ALCS for this group would be a disappointing season in my opinion.

Prediction: 2nd place AL Central 93-69

The Cleveland Indians have all the tools offensively and defensively to get right back to the postseason again this season. However, the Indians, like the Cubs, have a history so rich of choking that they made a few movies about the club back in the late eighties and early nineties. Call me crazy, but I just see a letdown coming this season because Detroit is so good and the odds of Cleveland getting back to the postseason in back to back seasons are about as good as Mark McGwire finally admitting to using steroids. I hope I'm wrong simply because this team is a lot of fun to watch on offense due to their power and speed. The Indians certainly could win the division again, but I wouldn't count on it.

Prediction: 3rd place AL Central 87-75

The Chicago White Sox have four players (Thome, Swisher, Konerko, and Dye) that hit over 30 homeruns last season. Unfortunately, there are two other power teams in their same division that have more pitching than they do. I think Chicago won't have any problems scoring runs this season, but the real questions is will their starters be able to return to their World Series pitching form of just a few short seasons ago? I don't see this club winning the division, but if they get hot enough we could see them sneak in as the wild card winner possibly.

Prediction: 4th place AL Central 72-90

You can't go through an offseason losing the best pitcher in the game (Santana) and one of your best offensive weapons (Hunter) and not expect a down season. The loss of Santana is obviously the biggest disappointment, but losing Hunter also hurts your defense because he can't get to almost anything in centerfield. The Twins did manage to lock of closer Joe Nathan long-term, so if they do ever manage to get a lead at least they'll be able to hold it. All in all, the Twins are now extremely weak on offense and their pitching isn't much better. This is going to be one of the longest seasons that Minnesota fans have seen in a while.

Prediction: 5th place AL Central 66-96

As much as we'd all like to see the Royals get better, it just doesn't seem like it's ever going to happen. I've predicted them to win 66 games and I'm probably being nice. Offensively, young third basemen Alex Gordon seems to be developing well, so at least the Royals will have one threat in their lineup this year. Unfortunately, as soon as Gordon does have his breakout year you can bet that the Yankees, Red Sox, or some other big name team will snatch him up. The pitching in Kansas City is downright bad. Even I made it to final cuts at the open tryout and I can barely register 75 mph on the gun. The one bright spot for KC is closer Joakim Soria. With a 2.71 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP (Walks + Hits divided by innings pitched), Soria should be lights out on all five save opportunities that he may get this season.

Prediction: 1st place AL West 91-71

The Seattle Mariners are my pick to win the West Divsion this year. I know that most analyst are selecting the Angels, but I just think the addition of starting pitcher Eric Bedard and the expected improvement of starter Felix Hernandez will be the difference this year. The Mariners already have a good enough offensive lineup with Ichiro, Ibanez, and Beltre to compete in this division. However, if the pitching can improve there's no reason that this team can't make a push for the divisional title.

Prediction: 2nd place AL West 90-72

The addition of Torii Hunter for the Angels makes this team much better in my opinion. I guess that gives you a good idea of how much more improved I believe that the Seattle Mariners will be if I picked Los Angeles/Anaheim to finish behind them this year. Still, the Angels have Vlad, Hunter, Anderson, Figgins, and an exciting young talent in third basemen Howie Kendrick. The downside is I definitely think the Angels have a few more questions on their pitching staff. Jered Weaver has been solid since he's arrived in the majors, but beyond him it gets thin in a hurry. Los Angeles can win the divison again, but I'll stick with a bit of a sleeper pick this time in Seattle.

Prediction: 3rd place AL West 81-81

The Texas Rangers added former Cincinnati red Josh Hamilton to their roster in the offseason. Hamilton's fresh off of his first somewhat full season in the majors in which he hit 30 bombs and drove in 90 runs. It's actually amazing when you look at Texas' lineup because the loss of Texiera last season and the decline of Michael Young makes it appear pretty weak. Hamilton is basically the centerpiece for that offense now. The Rangers pitching staff remains weak once again this year. Basically, they've got a starting five of guys with ERA's sitting at 5. I think this may be one of Texas' worst seasons in a long time.

Prediction: 4th place AL West 70-92

The Oakland Athletics seem to lose a significant piece to their team every season. This past season the player they lost was Nick Swicher and his 32 homeruns to the White Sox. When the A's play the Giants in the middle of the season there's no doubt that it will be a game between the two worst offenses in baseball. What the A's can smile about though is the fact that they still have at least two solid pitchers on their staff in Rich Harden and Joe Blanton. Harden and Blanton will really have to carry this team this season in order to make things fun for everyone else.