AL East
1st – Boston Red Sox: The acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford will give the Red Sox an opportunity to win their third World Series title since 2004. With returning All-Stars Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz atop the rotation, the Sox have a pair of aces capable of carrying them to a division title.
2nd – New York Yankees: Yankee staples Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez are starting to show their age. Still, this is a team capable of making an October run. If that is going to happen, New York will need big seasons from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano. They’ll also need a strong performance from a rotation with plenty of question marks after CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes.
3rd – Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays have been very competitive in recent years, boasting some of the best young talent in baseball. Expect them to take a step back in 2011, though, after losing Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Jason Bartlett, Rafael Soriano and Matt Garza.
4th – Baltimore Orioles: While a division title likely isn’t in the cards, the O’s may have a shot to end their skid of 13 straight losing seasons. Baltimore will look to pick up where it left off after finishing the 2010 season 34-23 under manager Buck Showalter.
5th – Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays haven’t been to the postseason since winning it all in 1993. Only the Pirates, Royals and Nationals have experienced longer droughts. Unfortunately, it looks like the Jays could be bringing up the rear in baseball’s toughest division.
AL Central
1st – Minnesota Twins: While the Twins continue to struggle in the postseason, they have had no problem getting there. Minnesota has taken the Central six of the last nine years, but it has lost its last 12 postseason games. The Twins have two of the best players in the game in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, but pitching is holding them back.
2nd – Chicago White Sox: The Sox were one of four teams in the American League that had four players with at least 70 RBIs last season. Of those four clubs, Chicago was the only one not to make the playoffs. With the addition of Adam Dunn, we should see even more pop at the plate on the South Side, maybe enough to give the Twins a run for the money.
3rd – Detroit Tigers: After landing catcher Victor Martinez and reliever Joaquin Benoit in free agency, and resigning Jhonny Peralta, Brandon Inge and Magglio Ordonez, the Tigers have enough pieces to contend in what should be a tight division race. Their fate will likely be decided by how well the bottom half of the starting rotation performs.
4th – Kansas City Royals: It’s hard to think the Royals, which haven’t finished better than fourth in the Central the last five years, will make any big leaps after trading former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke.
5th – Cleveland Indians: The Tribe has been on the decline since winning 96 games to take the Central in 2007, and they could fall even farther in 2011. The Indians are just too young to be considered a title contender. The pitching staff exceeded expectations in 2010, but will it be able to do it again?
AL West
1st – Texas Rangers: I don’t foresee any letdown following the best season in franchise history. This team has enough pieces to once again rule the West. Unfortunately, its World Series chances took a major hit when ace Cliff Lee was lost to the Phillies.
2nd – Los Angeles Angels: The Halos fell to third in 2010 after three straight division titles. I anticipate improvement in 2011, but likely not enough to dethrone Texas. Still, this club should be much more competitive with a healthy Kendry Morales in the lineup.
3rd – Oakland Athletics: After three straight seasons with 76 wins or fewer, the A’s played .500 baseball in 2010 thanks to the best statistical pitching rotation in the bigs. Now, the offense needs to hold up on its end of the bargain. Perhaps it will now that Hideki Matsui, David DeJesus and Josh Willingham have been brought aboard.
4th – Seattle Mariners: The M’s became the first $100 million team to lose 100 games last season. The last time Seattle won 61 games (2008) it rebounded to win 85 the following year. A similar turnaround seems far less likely this time.
NL East
1st – Philadelphia Phillies: After just missing out on a third straight trip to the World Series, I expect the Phillies to be a hungry baseball team in 2011. With Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay at the top of the rotation, this is one team you don’t want to see come October.
2nd – Atlanta Braves: The Braves begin a new chapter under Fredi Gonzalez in 2011, and year one should give fans plenty to cheer about. It may be asking too much for Atlanta to end Philly’s run of four straight NL East titles, but the Braves should be in the running for another Wild Card slot. I really like the addition of Dan Uggla, who has hit more than 30 home runs each of the last four seasons.
3rd – Florida Marlins: It’s hard to think the Fish can challenge in the NL East after letting Uggla go to Atlanta. Stars Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson remain. They will do their best to make Florida a contender, but this team is missing a few too many pieces. A third straight season with at least 80 wins is still a possibility.
4th – New York Mets: Since three consecutive finishes of second or better from 2006-2008, the Mets have dipped to fourth in the NL East each of the past two seasons. It will be difficult for them to do much better in 2011 with ace Johan Santana likely not back from shoulder surgery until June at the earliest. There is a good chance he won’t be the same when he does come back.
5th – Washington Nationals: The Nats won 10 more ball games than they did in 2008 and 2009, but they still have a long way to go before they’re contending in the competitive NL East. With that said, more improvement should be on the way with the maturation of some of the youngsters and the addition of Jayson Werth.
NL Central
1st – Milwaukee Brewers: After back-to-back third place finishes, the Brew Crew will have a chance to contend for an NL Central title thanks to the addition of former Cy Young Award Winner Zack Greinke. Oh yeah, they also landed Shaun Marcum, who was 34-21 for the Blue Jays the last three seasons.
2nd – St. Louis Cardinals: Motivated by a late season plunge that cost the club a second straight division title, the Cards will be very hungry in 2011. The additions of Lance Berkman and Ryan Theriot should held provide the offense with the consistency it lacked at times last season, but the loss of ace Adam Wainwright will likely be too much to overcome in terms of winning the division.
3rd – Cincinnati Reds: The Reds were a nice story last season, making a leap from fourth place to first to end a 15-year postseason drought. It will be hard for them to duplicate last year’s performance, however. The Cards and Brewers both made impact moves during the offseason which should help them lead frog Cincy.
4th – Chicago Cubs: After three straight seasons finishing either first or second in the division, the Cubs fell to fifth with only 75 victories in 2010. While a 24-13 finish under manager Mike Quade is grounds for some optimism, this team appears to have more questions than answers as the season nears.
5th – Houston Astros: Houston’s offense was among the worst in baseball last season. The additions of Clint Barnes and Bill Hall will help, but likely not enough to make much noise in the Central.
6th – Pittsburgh Pirates: The Bucs have brought up the rear in the NL Central each of the last four seasons. Things were really bad in 2010 when the club won only 57 games. It was their 18th straight losing campaign. All I have to say is thank God for the Steelers and Penguins.
NL West
1st – San Francisco Giants: The Giants made a surprise run to a Wold Series title in 2011 behind the right arm of Tim Lincecum. Not even a division title looked likely when Lincecum lost five straight starts in August, but he went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA in September to help seal the deal.
2nd – Colorado Rockies: The Rocks boast three of the brightest young stars in baseball in shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and ace pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. They’ll look to ride these studs to a playoff berth for a third time in the last five years.
3rd – Los Angeles Dodgers: After back-to-back division titles, the Dodgers only won 80 games and fell to fourth in 2010. They don’t have the arms that San Francisco has, and they don’t have the offense that Colorado boasts. Still, this is a good baseball team capable of yet another season with 80 or more wins.
4th – San Diego Padres: A disappointing collapse kept San Diego from winning the West in 2010. Still, winning 90 games was plenty to be proud of after recording just 75 victories in 2009. Unfortunately, it will be difficult for the Padres to challenge again after dealing All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.
5th – Arizona Diamondbacks: After finishing first and second respectively in 2007 and 2008, the D-backs haven’t been able to get out of the basement the last two seasons. Unfortunately, a third straight season in the NL West gutter is a very likely scenario. It’s just too bad the once promising one-two punch of Brandon Webb and Dan Haren never really panned out.
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Kyle Hunter
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