AL West
This isn’t the same David Eckstein, Adam Kennedy-energized Angels that won the World Series in 2002, but in a talentless AL West, this Angel squad has enough pitching to get the job done.
A rotation of John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, Jon Garland, Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana, with K-Rod saving games in the ninth, remains one of the American League’s best staffs top to bottom.
The infield is average at best, but an outfield of Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Garret Anderson (assuming he can stay healthy), plus Gary Matthews Jr. as No. 4, completes one of the deepest outfields in baseball.
Seattle — The addition of Erik Bedard to the top of Seattle’s rotation could be enough to keep the Mariners in the AL West race, assuming “King” Felix Hernandez and Jarrod Washburn pitch like they are capable of.
Texas –Typically, the Rangers scouting report is very simple: They’ll score runs, but a lack of pitching will eventually do them in. This season, their lineup isn’t even that impressive, plus the one-two punch of Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla at the top of their rotation just doesn’t scare anyone either.
Oakland — It’s hard to go against A’s GM Billy Beane’s philosophy. Every year he doesn’t resign his best players, and every season the A’s go on a tear after the All-Star break and compete in the AL West.
Unless Chris Denorfia becomes the next Willie Mays overnight, it’s hard to see this year’s A’s team doing much damage in the West, although knowing Beane, he’ll have the team competing by next season.
AL Central
The AL Central is the Tigers’ to lose. Detroit has arguably the top pitching staff in the division, with youngsters Justin Verlander (18-6, 3.66 ERA) leading the way. Veteran Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and former Marlin Dontrelle Willis round out the rotation. The Tigers hope Bonderman (11-9, 5.01) can return to his 2006 form, when he went 14-8 with a 4.08 ERA.
In the infield, Detroit has a pair of infielders — first baseman Carlos Guillen and third baseman Miguel Cabrera — capable of hitting better than .300 with 20 and 30 homers, respectively. Jacque Jones joins an already solid outfield consisting of speedy center fielder Curtis Granderson (26 stolen bases in 2007) and the dangerous Magglio Ordonez (.363 with 139 RBIs last season).
Jim Leyland’s Tigers have too much talent not to win the Central.
Cleveland — Talk about one-two pitching punches. Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona put up better numbers than any other team’s top two pitchers last season. If those two can repeat last year’s performances, there’s no reason the Tribe shouldn’t compete for the top spot in the Central.
Chicago — The White Sox didn’t do anything this offseason to make the climb to catch Detroit and Cleveland. Mark Buehrle (10-9, 3.63 ERA) and Javier Vazquez (15-8, 3.74) are really the only reliable options on the mound for the Sox. The ageless wonder Jim Thome (35 homers in 2007) provides power at the DH spot, but he’s getting old at 37.
Minnesota — It could be a long season in the Twin Cities. They lost their ace pitcher Johan Santana in a trade with the Mets and star center fielder Torii Hunter to free agency.
What little chance manager Ron Gardenhire’s club has of making the playoffs may rest on the arm of left-handed pitching sensation Francisco Liriano.
Kansas City — Poor, poor Royals. For years they’ve been the laughingstock and the cellar dwellers of the AL Central. Unfortunately for them, 2008 won’t be a whole lot better. The addition of Jose Guillen gives them essentially their only reliable bat. But keep an eye on Alex Gordon, a 24-year-old third baseman who hit 15 home runs and played in all but 11 games last season as a rookie.
AL East
Last season’s World Series champion returns almost the exact same roster as it had a season ago. Once again the Red Sox pack a powerful punch in the middle of the lineup with David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell and have a couple of high-percentage guys in Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. The lineup should also feature center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury this season, a threat to steal 30+ bases at the top of the lineup. The pitching staff is once again led by Josh Beckett with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield offering a veteran presence to young arms Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. Jonathon Papelbon will once again anchor the bullpen that also features last year’s surprise star Hideki Okajima. With last year’s team almost entirely intact the Red Sox should be the favorites to win it all again.
New York — It will be interesting to see how the Yankees handle the loss of longtime manager Joe Torre. With a loaded lineup, though, New York should be a playoff team assuming the young pitching can perform up to its potential.
Toronto — The Blue Jays have a talented lineup and a solid rotation, but if they can’t stay healthy it doesn’t matter. If the Jays can avoid major injuries, though, Toronto can compete with the Sox and Yankees for the division title.
Tampa Bay — Young and talented, the Rays have a roster that could make Tampa a contender in the near future. Unfortunately, a lack of pitching depth as well as questions in the bullpen should mean another losing season in Tampa Bay.
Baltimore — Overall, this team is unimpressive and unlikely to finish anywhere but the AL East’s cellar. Spotty pitching and a lackluster lineup should doom the Orioles to another disappointing season.
NL West
The Diamondbacks’ strength once again this year will be pitching. With the addition of Haren, Arizona can throw out two possible Cy Young candidates at the top of the rotation when you pair him with Brandon Webb. The rest of the rotation is really strong with Randy Johnson coming back from injury and Doug Davis and Micah Owens rounding it out. If the D-Backs falter this season, it will be because of their hitting. They return the same lineup from last season’s division-winning team that finished dead last in the NL in team batting average. It shows how bad this team is offensively when their best hitter is probably Owens. However, the pitching should carry this team again to another division title.
Los Angeles — In Joe Torre’s first season out west, the Dodgers should be in the division race all year. They have an above-average pitching staff and a good mix of young and veteran talent throughout the lineup.
Colorado — After a surprising run to the World Series last year, the Rockies are hoping to repeat the success they had at the end of the year throughout the season. If the pitching can perform as well as it did in the second half of the year, this team can get back to the playoffs as scoring runs won’t be a problem.
San Diego — Just like Arizona, the Padres will rely on pitching to be successful in 2008. The Padres have a good one-two punch in Cy Young winner Jake Peavy and Chris Young, but the rest of the rotation isn’t as good as the Diamondbacks.
San Francisco –The Giants are the only team in the West that doesn’t have a shot a winning the division. Despite getting rid of Barry Bonds, San Francisco will still be one of the oldest teams in the league with the only bright spot being young pitchers Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum.
NL Central
The Brewers will score plenty of runs this year, as everyone in the starting lineup with the exception of Jason Kendall has the possibility of hitting 20 home runs this year. The addition of Mike Cameron, which set off the move of Bill Hall to third and Ryan Braun to left, should improve the team’s defense. Now if the reworked bullpen can perform well and Ben Sheets and the rest of the pitching staff holds up for the entire season, this young Brewers squad could make the playoffs for the first time since 1982.
Chicago — The Cubs have almost the same team that won the division last season. With the addition of outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, expect the Cubs to have a more balanced lineup. While they have depth, for the Cubs to be successful Rich Hill and Ted Lilly need to repeat their performances of last season. If the pitching succeeds again, Chicago could repeat as champions but most likely will be in a season-long fight with Milwaukee.
Cincinnati — The Reds blew more games than every team except Colorado last season, so in the offseason Cincinnati went out and signed All-Star closer Francisco Cordero to a record contract hoping he can help the bullpen. If Cordero improves the bullpen like expected, then the Reds might be a surprise team in their first year under Dusty Baker.
Houston — The Astros lack starting pitching behind ace Roy Oswalt. The one advantage for the Astros is the strong middle of their lineup. Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee will be joined by Miguel Tejada and Hunter Pence to provide the spark for this team. But unless the Astros pick up another top-notch starter, it likely will be a long year in Houston.
St. Louis –The Cardinals have one of the best players in baseball in Albert Pujols, and their season will rely a lot on his health. He enters the season not at 100 percent, and should he go down for a long period of time, it could be a long year for the Cardinal faithful.
Pittsburgh –After making no real changes to the team in the offseason except the manager, the Pirates aren’t likely to improve much from last season’s record. The lone bright spot on this roster is the young core of starting pitchers the Pirates have. Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny both had ERAs under three last season but because of lack of run support only managed a combined 23-22 record.
NL East
Two words: Johan Santana. The acquisition of the two-time Cy Young winner automatically makes the Mets favorites in the NL East, and possibly in the entire National League. The No. 2 starter, Pedro Martinez, will need to be the pitcher that went 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA in 2006, not the one that went 9-8 and 4.48 last year.
The only question with the pitching staff is that New York might use a six-man rotation, which would mean Santana would likely see less starts than on a team with a typical five-man order.
Offensively, third baseman David Wright is one of the best young talents in the game, and has batted over .300 with more than 25 homers in the past two seasons.
Philadelphia — You can’t ask for a much better infield than Ryan Howard at first, Chase Utley at second, Pedro Feliz at third and Jimmy Rollins at short. Brad Lidge (19 saves in 27 opportunities), acquired in a trade in November, will close things out in the ninth.
Atlanta — John Smoltz, Tim Hudson and Tom Glavine all know how to win and should make the Braves’ pitching staff one of the best in the division. Mark Teixeira was a nice midseason addition last year, and his production saw an increase after being traded by Texas (13 homers and 49 RBIs in 78 games with the Rangers, 17 and 56 in 54 games with Atlanta).
Florida — The Marlins lost their star in Miguel Cabrera when they traded him and pitcher Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers. Jorge Cantu has big shoes to fill at third base, where he’ll try to replace Cabrera. Good luck.
Washington — The Nationals seem to be pretty high on Lastings Milledge, a center fielder who played 56 games last season but only hit .241. They also acquired Odalis Perez from Kansas City. Perez went 2-4 in 12 starts last season and posted an ugly 5.64 ERA. Not exactly ideal numbers for a No. 1 starter.
