Here's my take at the upcoming season:
AL EAST: Yanks, BoSox & TB battle it out for 1st place. Everyone and their brother have written the BoSox off. Not me. Lot of Potential we didn't see out of Boston last year. TOR has a huge amount of potential here too. Not to win the division but as a handicapping team. They are one of the biggest UNIT bet winners the past few seasons. Baltimore, well, good luck.
AL Central. DETROIT TIGERS. Should win this Division by 10 games or more. CLV isn't too bad but Sizemore is toast. That loss has me downgrading CLV. KC has no money to put up big numbers, young talent alllows them to win in streaks from time to time. MIN, I'm still waiting for these guys to bounce back. I don't see any real relevant moves for MIN. And Mauer and Morneau just can't stay healthy and thrive. Morneau lost his bat or something last year. ChiSox....If they do anything it would be a surprise. I love Dunn though. New manager. My Aunt is a ChiSox fan, A BIG PLUS!!!
AL WEST: ANGELS & TEXAS. oak and sea suck. Bet against them. LAA should have a good pitching staff and although experts are saying their hitting isn't there, I believe it is. Hunter is not what he used to be BUT he is surrounded by talent. He isn't the best hitter anymore on his team but good and GREAT hitters surround him. This team WILL score runs. Texas will score runs AND has a competative pitching staff. I believe the Angels though have better pitching and more pop to their line-up than most realize. The 2nd runner up for rookie of the year, next to eventual winner Hellickson (TB Pitcher) was Marc Trumbo. He's moving to 3rd base this year; not good for Trumbo I've heard. Pujols, Morales, Hunter, Trumbo, Weaver and the Scioscia expertise sounds like a division winner to me. LAA will have good Offense and Pitching. Texas will compete but behind LAA.
NL EAST: PHI: who can bet against PHI? Even with Howard on the sidelines? Pitching is always a positive. ATL, great team. I don't know if they will challenge PHI for the division but I believe they can. NYM=suck. Bet against them. NYM could lose 100 games. WAS: Strong talent but just not quite there. MIAMI: WHO???? Miami!! This team is Jekyl n Hyde. Probable losers though.
NL CENTRAL: CIN & MIL both have a chance to win this. STL was a bet against all last year until the end. I stopped betting against STL the end of AUG. Something clicked with them. Not very good, btw, last year but battled when it mattered. Barely made playoffs. Won when it mattered. I hate when that happens. Loser team wins it all. Nothing against STL, Love Albert (Im an Angels fan) but STL was just in the right PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. I saw it coming. Don't believe me? Go look here on COVERS at my blog posts. STL RULES, yes because they are World Series Champs. But, I don't think they will this be year. Right around .500 winning percentage is my prediction for STL. MIL & CIN will battle for NL Central supremacy. As for CHI, PIT AND HOU???? Bet against those losers.
NL WEST: Arizona and SF have this division. A couple years back I couldn't figure out why AZ wasn't winning more. Too young I guess. Bad pitching maybe. Looks like they have matured and pitched better. Picked up Trevor Cahill in the offseason too. Stud. AZ should win this if SF Giants can't score runs; which was their problem last year and even in their World Series year. But SF did pick up some much needed offensive help in Melky Cabrera. I don't think it's enough though. SF has one of the best, if not the best, pitching staffs around. LAD are a .500 team and the Padres and the COL Rockies will not compete. SD is terrible still. Poor Bud Black, the SD manager. Great coach and all but is surrounded by triple A talent at the offensive level. Average pithcers have a great ERA at PETCO Field in SD so don't be fooled by the macho ERA's Padres pitchers have. Colorado should be just like they have the past few years....Mediocre.
Best teams in 2012, my opinion and in order:
1. DET
2. LAA
3. PHI
4. TB
5. BOS
6. TEX
7. NYY
8. ATL
9. AZ
10. SF
WORST TEAMS:
1. Pit
2. NYM
3. Hou
4. KC (some think they could be good. IDK though)
5. SD
6. Sea
7. Oak
8. BAL
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