This is my Sports World News (@SportsWN) American League preview. This will feature how the standings play out, plus a team MVP for each club. Some of the MVPs will be obvious, others won't.
In addition I'll give my playoff picks, awards predictions, and make five bold calls for you guys to call me out on later.
American League East:
- Tampa Bay Rays (David Price)
- New York Yankees (Jacoby Ellsbury)
- Baltimore Orioles (Adam Jones)
- Boston Red Sox (Dustin Pedroia)
- Toronto Blue Jays (Jose Reyes)
If I'm wrong: It will be the Red Sox who fooled me. I don't think they can lose Ellsbury to a division rival and be okay...but maybe their pitching is better than I think, and a strong bullpen can supplement the O.
American League Central:
- Detroit Tigers (Miguel Cabrera)
- Cleveland Indians (Yan Gomes)
- Kansas City Royals (James Shields)
- Chicago White Sox (Chris Sale)
- Minnesota Twins (Glen Perkins)
If I'm wrong: The Royals would switch spots with Cleveland. The haves and have-nots in this division are fairly clear, with Chicago maybe improving by 2015. Minnesota just needs their prospects to come up.
- Los Angeles Angels (Mike Trout)
- Texas Rangers (Adrian Beltre)
- Oakland A's (Yoenis Cespedes)
- Seattle Mariners (Robinson Cano)
- Houston Astros (Dexter Fowler)
If I'm wrong: The injuries to several Rangers, and the A's rotation won't have a crazy impact and will keep them in front of L.A. However, because those teams won't be whole I'm back on the Angels bandwagon.
PLAYOFFS:
Division Winners: Rays, Tigers, Angels
Wildcards: Yankees, Rangers
AL MVP: Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano
AL Cy Young: David Price, Chris Sale, Felix Hernandez
AL Rookie of the Year: Xander Bogaerts, Jose Abreu, Addison Russell
Five bold calls:
- Robinson Cano's homers will dip, but he'll bat .330 in Seattle.
- Dexter Fowler will hit 15 HRs, steal 30 bases, and help Houston go OVER 62.5 wins.
- Jacoby Ellsbury and Joe Mauer will combine for 35 home runs.
- Taijuan Waker wins more games than James Paxton, despite missing first month.
- CC Sabathia wins 18 games
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