American League Predictions: Sorry Orioles Fans, Not This Year

Hello Everybody!

The season is off and running and starting out great! The Florida, excuse me, Miami Marlins kicked off their season with a bang by almost getting no-hit by the Cardinals "ace" Kyle Loshe. Roy Halladay had a typical start by giving up two hits in the first inning and nothing else for the other seven he pitched! Any who, I gave my predictions for the NL East so it's only right I predict the outcome of the other divisions starting with the American League.

AL East: When you think about the AL East the teams that come to mind are the "Evil Empire" and the "Nation," but this year you should start off by thinking about the Rays. With strong starting pitching led by "Big Game" James Shields and David Price the Rays seem ready to reclaim the title of best in the mighty AL East. The Yankees will have something to say about that though, with a revamped rotation to go with that deep line-up. The Red Sox last year were bit by the injury bug and had a little bit of a collapse at the end of the year causing them to miss the playoffs. With that being said, exit Terry Francona enter Bobby Valentine and his ego to save the day, too bad the Sox are once again bitten by the injury bug (Carl Carwford, John Lackey & Andrew Bailey all start the season on the DL and Lackey is gone for the year with Tommy John surgery). As for the Blue Jays and Orioles, the future may be bright but the present is kind of bleak. Don't expect much from either team, the only race they will be in is the one for last place. Prediction to win the division: Tampa Bay Rays

AL Central: Prince Fielder was the second best position player on the market and also the second best first baseman available so was it a natural fit for the Tigers to back up the brinks trunk for him? No! Not when you have maybe the best first basemen in the league on your team already however with that being said I think that it was a great move! With Fielder and Miguel Cabrera the Tigers probably have the best 3-4 hitters in baseball and along with Justin Verlander they are a very dangerous team. The rest of the division will not lay down though (old Bud Selig would not stand for that). The White Sox & Twins look to be the chief opposition for the Tigers. With Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, the Twins have a  pretty good 1-2 punch themselves, unfortunately there is not much to go with it. The same can be said for the White Sox who look to start the post Ozzie Guilen era off with a bang. The bad news is the only bang that will come from the Southsiders are their playoffs hopes although I think Adam Dunn (Will Ferrell's twin) will have a bounce back year but when you only hit .159 for a season you can only get better....right? The Royals have a lot of young talent and will be a team that surprises some people but when Bruce Chen is your ace pitcher you should not expect to do much. As for the Cleveland Indians, good starting pitching but a very lackluster line-up so unless Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome from 1996 are batting I don't expect much from them. Prediction to win the division: Detroit Tigers

AL West: The Texas Rangers have gone to back to back World Series and should have won it in 2011. Nonetheless they look very strong going into 2012 with a very deep line-up led by Josh Hamilton and a equally deep rotation, they don't have a true number one pitcher but have 5-6 good starters including closer turned starter Nefali Feliz (great baseball name). The main foe for the Rangers and only one in this division are the L.A. Angels and their new additions of C.J. Wilson (former Rangers Ace) and "King" Albert. Another key addition for the Angels is Kendrys Morales who is returning from a broken ankle. The Mariners and Athletics don't have a punchers chance to win this division. Prediction to win the division: Los Angeles Angels

Wild Card Winners: Yankees & Rangers

My National League predictions will come tomorrow.