Man this offseason went by fast. That’s what happens when the NFL, NBA, and NHL have you constantly hooked to the TV screen or mobile device nearly every single night. With the World Baseball Classic also going on as well, baseball is starting to gain the headlines again. Let’s get to the American League.
Baltimore Orioles (A Fresh Wind): It certainly feels good to say that Baltimore isn’t tanking for the first time in about 5 years. Last season showed us a sign of what might be to come. Now the question is will the Orioles take that next step towards being legit contenders? They are still a very young team and most of their key players haven’t reached their primes, and this will be the first full season for both Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman who have the potential to be game changers. The hitting core other than adding Adam Frazier is set for the most part. (DH might be a concern, but they could put Santander in that role) Another sign of optimism in Birdland comes in the form of their rotation. Remember John Means and Grayson Rodriguez? Both of them should be back and healthy come June. (Plus they signed a sinkerballer in Kyle Gibson) They already have a rock solid bullpen led by Felix Bautista, but if the rotation is healthy and producing, there’s a good chance that playoff baseball will be returning to Camden Yards. Now how long until we see Jackson Holiday get called up? I’m guessing another year or so. (Please ignore the chaos going on between the Angelos family. Don’t let that distract you of their on the field product)
Boston Red Sox (Land of Challenge Hitting): What was once a mighty superpower has now become a team searching for the identity that made them great. Losing two franchise faces in JD Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts will definitely sting but at least Rafael Devers didn’t dump them in the offseason. The Red Sox tendency to cut payroll over the past few years has featured mixed results. This time to fix this mess they are trying to bring in a bunch of old Dodgers. Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen. Each on 1 year deals. And Adam Duvall because they need a replacement for JD. The big move though was a potentially generational player in Masataka Yoshida. If he pans out like most of their Japanese acquisitions over the years, they’ve got a special player. I would have more optimism for Boston if they were in almost any other division. The AL East is a gauntlet and everyone has massive expectations now. Even if they are in the basement of the division it does come with an asterisk I’ll give them that.
New York Yankees (Desperation Time): Hal Steinbrenner must have had the spirit of his late father inserted into not only his body but that of Brian Cashman. They know that the prize of a World Series Title has eluded them for nearly 15 years. Their solution was to keep key pieces around and get more help for the pitching staff no matter the cost. Bringing back Anthony Rizzo wasn’t a need but it made sense considering that they don’t have many left handed bats in their lineup. However they were able to get Aaron Judge to resign which was a true victory for the organization. All it cost them was (DRAMATIC MUSIC) $45.5M a year for 9 years. In the long run it may be as bad as the Stanton contract but hey he’s coming off a year where he broke Roger Maris’ Yankee record for home runs in a season. Judge shall be rewarded with the title of being the 1st Yankee captain since Derek Jeter. They shall celebrate by signing Carlos Rodon to aid the rotation. CRACK! And then he got hurt in spring training. CRACK! Copy and paste the same thing for Nestor Cortes. If the Bronx Bombers are going to get past Houston they are going to need health and fate to be on their side. I can’t imagine Hal’s reaction if they come up short again.
Tampa Bay Rays (When Will You Replace The Trop): This is a very hard team to crack. On paper the Rays have a chance to make another deep push towards a division title. Wander Franco is healthy again and him being injured last year was the reason why they lost early. With him returning to the lineup to go along with Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe, they should be able to get that run per game average back up. But like most years all the attention towards this team will be in pitching. Shane McClanahan is coming off a Cy Young season, Tyler Glasnow should be 100% come the summer, and oh yeah they added Zach Eflin to it as well. I said it before and I’m saying it again, Tampa should be getting more much respect on the field despite everything going on with their stadium situation. There’s no news on it right now, and I’m not sure what their fate in St Petersburg will be long term. This team deserves better attendance numbers big time.
Toronto Blue Jays (LeafsNet In Another League): Slowly but surely the Blue Jays are becoming what their inner city brothers in the Maple Leafs are. A squad that boasts plenty of High End Talent on the mound and at the plate yet can’t come through when things matter. However, that won’t stop them from trying again. They saw that their biggest issue was defense, and they got a low risk signing Kevin Kiermeier who is free from the trash heap of the Trop. (The stadium not the team) The big moves though were trading for Chris Bassitt and an elite bat in Daulton Varsho. (Brandon Belt too) All this talent is nice but consistency will be the key to any success this season. Not to mention another upgrade that they made this offseason was in the renovations at SkyDome. Just like their longtime rivals from Baltimore they must make it harder for other teams to hit home runs. Hopefully it doesn’t affect their lineup just saying.
Chicago White Sox (A Lost Identity): You guys wasted what could have been a special year last summer thanks to living with dinosaurs in your dugout. Now SouthSide is literally dealing with old school mumbo jumbo as they must quickly fix the mess they dug. And it will be harder since Jose Abreu has left for the enemy in Houston. Although Andrew Vaughn should be ready to take that next step. The only reason why this team should have any optimism at winning the division is because they have quite possibly the best pitching staff on paper in the American League. Their rotation of Cease, Giolito, Lance Lynn, Michael Kopech, and Mike Clevinger if healthy should be deadly for any team. The problem is going to be the hitting core. And losing Abreu will put pressure on Eloy Jimenez, and Tim Anderson to put up those kinds of hitting numbers. They have talent that can’t be denied, but can they prove last year was a fluke? If not Jerry Reinsdorf will probably go into panic mode just like he did with the Bulls. And this time there will be no injury excuse, WE NEED RESULTS DARN IT!
Cleveland Guardians (Don’t Rock the Baby): For a majority of the past half decade the fate of the Guardians has been the inability to get past those Damn Yankees in the playoffs. They are trying not to let that happen again. Cleveland did lack an elite DH during last postseason, and hopefully they found that with Josh Bell. Despite that quality signing they didn’t really do much. They kinda didn’t simply because most of their young hitters are maturing. Exhibits A and B are Oscar Gonzalez, and Andres Gimenez. I would say Josh Naylor as long as he doesn’t rock a baby like last year. (He will receive Pedroism from Yankee fans when they come to the Bronx) What looked like a lost era has been swung back open for the Guardians. And with the top of the rotation and bullpen set to reach their primes, they have a shot to get revenge on New York. That is if they don’t let a certain team from the Windy City get to them.
Detroit Tigers (The Only Way is Up): 2022 can best be described in Detroit as the equivalent of Humpty Dumpty falling off a brick wall into an area of spikes. In fact, one of the worst offensive teams in baseball history was the result. Now the Tigers are trying to get out of that year-long slump any way they can. It certainly doesn’t help that they play in hitting hell that is Comerica Park either. The development of Spencer Torkelson and Akil Baddoo hasn’t been smooth either. At least the rotation added Eduardo Rodriguez from Boston, and they are hoping for Matthew Boyd to not be a man that serves up cookies. We still have no idea what we will see out of the Tigers this year just because we thought they would be around 500 last year. Will that ugly season be a mirage, or will the tanks come out again?
Kansas City Royals (Chiefs Kingdom): Can anything be worse than it was a year ago. We thought the rebuild was done with the Royals after 2021. All that happened was another in a long line of tanks that has consumed this franchise for a majority of the past 35 years. (Excluding 2014-15) They have some nice prospects coming through the farm system. And Bobby Witt Jr should be a treat to watch, but it’s still going to be a few years before Kansas City is ready to compete for playoff berths. At least they have the Super Bowl Champs and the NFL Draft to look forward to.
Minnesota Twins (Correa Shall Never Leave): The Twins are trying everything they can to get back to the top of the AL Central. Even if it appeared as if Carlos Correa was leaving town, management said you’re going to see this playoff push and you’re gonna like it. You wanna know how Minnesota convinced their gifted shortstop to stay. Well they traded Luis Arraez to Miami for a pitching stud in Pablo Lopez. (His brother Jorge is also on the Twins) Signed Christian Vazquez, and are trying to revive Joey Gallo’s career. Correa then agrees to a 6 year extension. It also comes with new uniforms as well. Is it me or are they trying to cram the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators uniforms into one? I could be wrong. Regardless, the road back to the postseason will be tough, and the health of Byron Buxton will be the key to their season. If he’s injured again, it could get ugly yet again.
Houston Astros (The Mega Empire): It’s not often in sports that a defending champion gets better in the offseason. That’s the case with the Astros. Even if Justin Verlander is gone, they have new reinforcements to help defend their crown. One of them just happens to be a former MVP in Jose Abreu. It was tough to lose an impact player in Yuli Gurriel, but Abreu has plenty of gas left in the tank even after a down year last season with the White Sox. The biggest question for Houston will be which of their young starters becomes the ace of the pitching staff. Framber Valdez, and Cristian Javier look to be strong candidates to take the mantle from Verlander. The good news for the Astros is that Michael Brantley should be back sometime in the summer from season ending surgery a year ago. If he returns to form, a potent offense just got even stronger. (Especially with both Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez in their primes plus Altuve still kicking ass)
Los Angeles Angels (The Hell of Moreno): Will this team ever break out into their full potential? Every year it’s pretty much the same song and dance with the Angels. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani will lead this team to the playoffs, they have a solid supporting cast, the pitching staff isn’t terrible. Here’s my response. We’ve said this every year for the last 5 years. Like most years the backend of the rotation is my concern. You want to know why they have the highest ERA in baseball excluding Ohtani’s starts. It’s because they can’t develop starters. Which shouldn’t be hard because Angel Stadium is a pitcher friendly ballpark. They have a long way to go before becoming legit contenders, and as long as Arte Moreno is owning this franchise it won’t happen. Oh you thought you’d be free from him, Anaheim. Well too bad because he’s still here.
Oakland Athletics (Arizona Coyotes of Baseball): The less said about this franchise the better. Oh if you thought last year was bad. I got news for you Oakland. Get ready for the biggest tank your franchise has seen since your time in Kansas City during the 60s. All that’s left is Ramon Laureano, and a declining Jesus Aguilar. It’s only a matter of time before the A’s either build a new stadium and save their future in the Bay Area or move to Las Vegas. Choose wisely. (What are they gonna do next? Play in a college baseball stadium? Maybe)
Seattle Mariners (The Return from Darkness): Imagine saying this a year ago. The Seattle Mariners are legitimate championship contenders. The run they had to the postseason last year for the first time since 2001 captured the imagination of their fans. Now the question in the Emerald City is what will they do for an encore? That answer is simple. The M’s have the pitching to compete with the big boys but they lacked depth at the plate. So, the front office decided to improve the hitting core. Seattle did lose an ace in Chris Bassitt, but in that trade with Toronto they nabbed a legit power bat in Teoscar Hernandez to fill a need in right field. Plus they acquired two veterans in Kolten Wong, and AJ Pollock. In my opinion the biggest question on the roster will be the development of Jarred Kelenic. Will he finally break out into his full potential after years of promise? If he does, they will have perhaps the best outfield in the AL with Kelenic, Hernandez, as well as a generational talent in Julio Rodriguez delighting fans everywhere. Just don’t gut punch your fans this time around.
Texas Rangers (SHOW ME THE MONEY!): It’s a Rangers tradition like no other. THROWING MONEY AT EVERYTHING THAT MOVES! The Corey Seager and Marcus Seimen signings last year worked out well for them. The problem was that it didn’t translate into a winning season. That won’t stop management from trying to add to this roster, even if they have a new regime. They may not have brought Clayton Kershaw back home, but they did get the biggest pitcher on the market in Jacob DeGrom. Yes he’s in his 30s, but when healthy is perhaps the most dangerous starter in the game. The plan that Texas has right now is for DeGrom, and fellow acquisitions Nathan Eovaldi, and Andrew Heaney to improve the pitching staff. Even if they have weaknesses in the middle of their order excluding Seager, Seimen, and Adolis Garcia, the Rangers are gunning for the big boys even if pundits like myself don’t believe they have enough. Can this team really compete for a playoff spot in the same division as the Astros and Mariners? PAUSE.
The top of the AL looks like something that is very predictable to the naked eye, the rest is chaos, see for yourselves.
AL East
- Yankees 98-64 #2
- Blue Jays 93-69 #5
- Orioles 90-72 #6
- Rays 87-75
- Red Sox 81-81
AL Central
- Guardians 88-74 #3
- White Sox 85-77
- Twins 80-82
- Tigers 73-89
- Royals 67-95
AL West
- Astros 105-57 #1
- Mariners 99-63 #4
- Rangers 81-81
- Angels 69-93
- Athletics 59-103
AL Wild Card
#6 Orioles over #3 Guardians 2-1
#4 Mariners over #5 Blue Jays 2-0
ALDS
#2 Yankees over #6 Orioles 3-1
#1 Astros over #4 Mariners 3-2
ALCS
#1 Astros over #2 Yankees 4-2
AL MVP: Yordan Alvarez, Astros
AL Cy Young: Dylan Cease, White Sox
AL Rookie of the Year: Gunnar Henderson, Orioles
AL Manager of the Year: John Schneider, Blue Jays
Bragging Rights Sports 