Spring Training Part 1

Spring training officially gets underway for many teams tomorrow for pitchers and catchers. Many pitchers including CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett for the New York Yankees have already begun working out in Tampa, FL.They aren't the only team getting a head start with the slightly shortened off-season due to the weather during last years October. Every year this day happens, and I never anticipate the excitement until it arrives. Spring training is a huge tease leading up to the season, and a very long tease at that. It takes a lot of conditioning to get ready for a 162 game season!

I'm going to give some predictions (as I said that I would after my first article) as to the winners the each division, followed by my pick for world series teams. These are very early picks for an MLB season and with all the madness that occurs during that time-frame, a lot of this will be incorrect I assure you. This is strictly to rank where the teams are at the begging of spring training, and give some educate guesses on where everyone will end up. Feel free to join in the discussion using the comments at the bottom of this article.


We'll start with the American League in the East:

The New York Yankees wound up with their 27th World Series Championship last fall, and it was quite the story. The first year in the new stadium with a second year coach who is following in Joe Torre's footsteps made for a heated environment under the close watch of the Steinbrenner family. With the big free agent signings of Mark Texiera, AJ Burnett, Nick Swisher, and CC Sabathia, along with the old guys from the four championships past, the Yankees got it done. The team is a little different with Curtis Granderson and Javier Vasquez coming to the Bronx, but much of the talent and 2009 championship team remains intact.

I mentioned in another article that I feel that the Boston Red Sox are one of the most improved teams this off-season, but the chemistry has yet to be seen. The starting pitching will be exceptionally strong, and I think that they will probably win the wild-card spot or the division. It will be a tough race as always.

The Orioles lost Melvin Mora in the off-season, but picked up Kevin Millwood and Miguel Tejada among others. They are headed in the right direction, and I believe that Dave Trembley is an active and knowledgeable manager. This year isn't going to be the year that they make it back to the playoffs, but they will make some noise offensively. Starting pitching is going to be improved and aged another year for the Orioles. The strength of the staff will be seen during the season.

Tampa Bay is now two years removed from their amazing world series run in 2008. Unfortunately guys like Pat Burrel and Gabe Kapler didn't come through in the outfield spot after being signed before the season. Also pitchers like Matt Garza and Scott Kazmir were not throwing their best stuff for the better part of the year. Kazmir was eventually traded to the Angels for their post-season run. With Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria on the team the offense will be producing, and I expect Tampa to compete for a wild-card spot this year.

Last up is Toronto who had another disappointing season last year that lead to a Roy Halladay trade during the off-season. This was clearly a product of Halladay wanting to win big games, and the Blue Jays trying to get their money's worth before Roy Halladay begins his contract year. Halladay was 17-10 last year with a 2.79 ERA and over 200 strikeouts. At this point in time he is the best pitcher in the game, and he is no longer with the Jays. They received three prospects and eventually traded one away for another infielder. They picked up Kevin Gregg who is competing for the closer's job, but are mostly rebuilding from the inside as of now. They don't have a lot of options, and bringing players up the way they want them from a younger age is their best chance at getting some real talent.

I am predicting the Yankees to win the division, and I think that the Red Sox will have a good chance at the wild-card spot. Nothing changing from last year.