Baseball: The American League Prediction Post!

Let's do this thing!

AL East: Yes, it's official. This is NOT a 2-team race! Woohoo! Rejoice for competition! Go Toronto?

The Boston Red Sox are still the favorites, for no other reason than: They're the defending champions. But hey, they've get their best in place, and with youth (Jacob Ellsbury, Clay Bucholz, Dustin Pedroida) proving they can play and mesh with everyone else, they're still the team to beat.

The Yankees (what color am I SUPPOSED to put?) of the Bronx are a different story: They're just getting old. Melky Cabrera is the only starter I see as young on that squad, although I'm not saying A-Rod or somebody is old...you get it, hopefully. Anyway, Joba Chamberlain is starting in the bullpen-mistake. Hank Steinbrenner can't keep his mouth shut-mistake. The rotation has a 19-game winner in Chein-Ming Wang, and the controversy surrounding Andy Petitte had died for the most part, so the distraction factor should be low...except for idiots with big mouths, anyway. New York seems to be full of 'em (Looking at you, Pedro Martinez).

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays have the youth and maybe a fighting chance in the East this year. The offense is a concern: Can Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells bounce back from disappointing seasons in 2007? Alex Rios is an underrated talent, but otherwise the offense doesn't seem to be able to produce much. Starting pitching looks good, with Roy Halladay leading a rotation of AJ Burnett, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum, and Jesse Litsch, and if McGowan/Marcum can produce like they did in '07 (12-10, 12-6 records, respectively) then they're solid. The bullpen has Jeremy Accardo and B.J. Ryan, two very capable closers-if Ryan goes down again, Accardo can fill in nicely like last year.

The Pick: You know I love the upsets. But I think Toronto just doesn't have the necessary offensive firepower to stay at the top. They'll finish over .500, but third, behind the East winning Red Sox by 3 over NY.

AL Central: Still think it's a two-team race? Can't blame you: I do too. Minnesota will be crap, so that leaves the White Sox to makes things interesting. Can they?