1. Tigers
There is a lot of good young talent on this team, starting with young aces Verlander and Porcello. It will be a close three-team race, but Detroit just has fewer weaknesses than the other two teams.
2. White Sox
With the Tigers and Twins fighting it out for the AL Central crown late last September, you could have forgotten that it was the White Sox who actually led the division most of the year. However, their "ace" pitcher has never pitched in the American League and is coming off major surgery.
3. Twins
As a Yankee fan, I've go to always root for the Twins to make the playoffs because the team, and especially the manager, hold the Yankees in such awe that they don't give themselves a shot. Still, the only way they make the playoffs is if both Detroit and Chicago collapse for the second year in a row.
4. Royals
Nowhere close to competing, but starting to develop some good young players.
5. Indians
Indians fans are probably the nicest people in the baseball card blogging universe, so it's a shame that they're saddled with a team that doesn't seem to even want to try. Enjoy Shelley Duncan, Cleveland fans!
Love that pro-Tiger optimism! I'm not sure that they actually have fewer weaknesses than the other teams, however, as there are huge question marks for the back end of the rotation, they will be starting two rookies and have tons of offensive holes.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be a three-team race down to the wire, and just hope that the Tigers young talent performs better than you typically expect of young talent.