The roadmap to the 2018 MLB American League regular season

American League
The order of each division will show my opinion of how each team will finish respectively. At the end of this article, I will give my division winner and wildcard predictions.
AL East

1. New York Yankees - It pains me to say that the Bronx bombers are back. After purging their roster in 2016 of geriatric contracts that will over bloated. Yankees GM Brian Cashman opted for a youth movement to bolster the Yankees farm system. These brilliant roster additions have afforded the Yankees with a talented farm system and the major-league club that is loaded with young talent. Did I mention that this team has a cheaper payroll than the Boston Red Sox? From top to bottom the Yankees batting order looks sought. This team will not be hurting for runs because they will score them in an abundance in 2018. With a rotation of Severino, Tanaka, Sabathia, Gray, and Montgomery the Yankees seem to be formidable from the pitching standpoint. They carry one of the best bullpens in baseball with at least 3 to 4 legitimate arms that could be closers on any other team. The one-two punch of Chatman and Batances should give teams fits this summer. I see the Yankees winning the division and making the playoffs. Regardless of what they do in 2018, let the Bryce Harper watch for 2019 begin!
   
2. Boston RedSox- The BOsox come into 2018 will question marks in the rotation in terms of health. They open the season with three prominent pictures from their rotation drew Pomerantz, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Stephen Wright beginning the season on 10-day DL. Other notable players on the DL for the Red Sox include Dustin Pedrioa who had off-season knee surgery and will be expected to return to the lineup in May. Eduardo Nunez will be holding down the Keystone position for the Red Sox and Padroia’s absence. New edition JD Martinez will be the primary DH for the Red Sox with Hanley Ramirez in a platoon with Mitch Moreland. The rest of the batting lineup bolsters a wealth of young talent with the key change being that Mookie Betts will bat leadoff this year adding some extra pop to the top of the lineup. The Red Sox have a decent bullpen with Kimbrell at closer and Seth Smith returning in an eighth inning role. This team does have the talent to make a wildcard and possibly when division. Hopefully, new manager Alex Cora to have this team playing much looser than John Farrell had them playing in 2017.
   
3. Baltimore Orioles - There ain’t much good to say about this franchise at this point. The countdown on Manny Machado signing a big contract elsewhere is now on the clock. Time is of the essence oriole fans. Your core is getting old and their play is degrading, just look at Chris Davis, Cody Rasmus, and Adam Jones for this decline. Aside from Manny Machado the best player on your team and Jonathan Schoop, who I believe can take his game to another level this year. Your pitching staff has Dylan Bundy as the ace. Bundy pitched well at the beginning of 2017 but began to falter late in the season as his ERA ballooned. The pitching staff is held has Andrew Cashner, Gausmen, Chris Tilman, and Alex Cobb. I have a feeling that Cobb will be the bright spot of the staff with the other pitchers being underwhelming. The Orioles will be conducting a closer by committee approach between O’day and Brach to man the eighth and ninth inning. This team wont sniff the wildcard and if you’re a fan, good luck watching them in 2018.
   
4. Toronto Blue Jays - I find myself hating the veteran nucleus of this ballclub. It’s probably because of my bias for their young talent in the farm, in particular, Vladimir Guerrero JR, and Dante Bichette. The fact of the matter is the Jays future is not on this roster right now, it is best for this team to tank and fast. There underwhelming underachiever/old man outfield consisting of Kevin Pillar, Curtis Granderson, and Randall Grichuk screams a team that’s going to fade down the stretch, this I am hopeful for. I’m not a Jays fan but I think their future is on their farm plain and simple. Hopefully there bad enough where the fire sale for Josh Donaldson and other viable talent editions are taken from the Jays so that they embrace the tank. Good luck in 2018 you can and need it!
   
5. Tampa Bay Rays- This team will be in last place based on what they have on paper. The fire sale commenced over the winter with the Rays dealing away Evan Longoria to SF Giants. He was the heart and soul of their team for quite a long time now the only holdover is Chris Archer the Tampa ace pitcher. The lineup is very underwhelming with new additions like Dennard Span, CJ Cron, Matt Duffy, and Carlos Gomez are not enough to make noise in this division. Tampa is last place bound in 2018.

AL Central

1. Cleveland Indians – Ah yes the Cleveland Indians, the choke by the lake! It’s a shame how this team rolls over and dies when October comes around. If the division wasn’t so weak I would pick someone else other than the Indians to win it. The only competition in the division is the Minnesota Twins everyone else’s and rebuild mode. The strength of the Cleveland Indians team is their pitching staff led by ace Cory Kluber. They boast one of the most talented bullpens in baseball with Cody island as closer and Andrew Miller anchoring the eighth inning. The Indians have a sound lineup that creates opportunities. Essentially, they will be in the playoffs, but I expect them to falter on the grand stage once they face real competition.
   
2. Minnesota Twins- I like the club that the Minnesota Twins are comming into the 2018 regular-season. They improved their pitching staff with the additions of Jake Odorizzi and Lance Lynn. There young upstart ace Berrios looks to anchor the staff in 2018 with last year’s ace Erving Santana on the DL with a finger injury. With Joe Mauer in the last year of his insanely high contract and Logan Morrison platooning at DH and first base along with Brian Dozier and Miguel Sano, the twins have enough power in their lineup to compete with the AL powerhouses. I would love to see the development continue for Brian Buxton and Max Kepler as these two young upstarts have plenty potential to be key cogs in the twins quest to be contenders in the American League. I see a potential wildcard birth this fall for the Minnesota Twins. Let’s see if their pitching can hold up through the season!
   
3. Kansas City Royals - The young core that brought this franchise a championship in 2015 was gutted in the off-season. The only core players returning from that championship run are Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon, and Salvador Perez. However, Perez is starting the season with a grade 2 MCL left tear which will keep him on the DL for 4 to 6 weeks to begin the season. New additions to the ballclub this year are Jon Jay in left field and Lucas Duda at first base. Whit Merrifield will be taking control of 2B and will be looking to continue his development as one of the top 2B in the American League going into 2018. The pitching staff has a ragtag bunch led by ace Danny Duffy, with Ian Kennedy, and Jason Hamill as their main firepower in the rotation. This team is in full rebuild mode with little to speak of in terms of depth in the farm to help speed up the rebuild in the short term. Not much to say here, other than thankfully they got a championship out of their young core when they have the chance!
   
4. Chicago White Sox - the rebuild has been going as planned. The Chicago White Sox last year embraced the tank, loaded up their farm system to be one of the top three in major league baseball and now are looking to see what their young talent has to offer in 2018. Old man James Shields will be the staff ace on paper but young upstart Lucas Giolito and Rolando Lopez other pitchers to pay attention to on the major-league roster for the White Sox in 2018. In my opinion, 2018 for the Chicago White Sox is all about progress, development, and improvement. Pay attention to second baseman Yohan Moncada in 2018. This top international prospect has been hurled for the last few years and the White Sox are looking for him to pay dividends after they acquired him by trading away Chris Sale to the Red Sox previous to the 2017 season. The Chicago White Sox are definitively MLB’s version of “trust the process”.
   
5. Detroit Tigers - This teams window of opportunity to win the World Series has officially closed with their veteran core being dealt for prospects with the only holdover being future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera. Former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski has really left this team in a bad way. In his quest to win a championship gutted the farm system for major league talent with no championship to show for. Now the franchise is left with no choice but to embrace tanking. The only thing to look forward to as a Tigers fan is the development of third baseman Jeimer Candelario and to see if he can continue to improve as an emerging star of the Tigers. Another thing to be hopeful for is Miguel Cabrera being healthy and 2018 and not breaking down. Nothing else to see here, this team is a car crash plain and simple.

AL West

1. Houston Astros -The cream of the crop in the AL resides in Houston! The defending American League champions come into 2018 with one of the deepest lineups in all of baseball. This liner can hit for days top to bottom, you’re hard-pressed to find any holes. With superstar José Altuve at the top, George Springer and centerfield, Alex Bregman at 3B, young superstar Carlos Carrere at SS, and Marvin Gonzales at 1B good luck finding out! The pitching staff is led by ace veteran Justin Verlander, along with Keuchel, McCullers, Morton and new addition Garrett Cole. Yuli Gurrel will open the season on the suspension list and will be ready until early May. Other than that there’s really nothing bad to talk about when it comes the Houston Astros. Look for them to be one of the teams to be in 2018 out of the American League and a possible return to the World Series!
   
2. Los Angeles Angels - the Los Angeles Angels were busy this winter making additions to the roster that help Mike Trout in 2018. With the signings of Justin Upton, Zach Cozart and international star Shohei Ohtani Angels are looking to make a run at the playoffs in 2018. The key to this team’s success lies in their pitching staff. Garrett Rich is coming off a Tommy John surgery a year ago is looking to be the ace of the staff along with Tyler Staggs, Ohtani and Matt Shoemaker the Angels are hopeful that they can snag a wildcard spot in the American League. If this team can escape off a collapse in late August and September the playoffs may be in their future, we can only wait and see.
   
3. Oakland Athletics - open a stroll into 2018 the lowest payroll in major league baseball. Billy beings Moneyball payroll is costing him like poultry $67.4 million this year, with the only 2 free-agent additions to speak of is Jonathan Lacroy at catcher and Stephen Piscotty in RF. The A’s are looking for their young players to emerge in 2018 for their ballclub, with players such as Matt Olson at first base, 3rd year pitcher Sean Manaea. With Khris Davis at DH and Chapman at 3B and the rest of their batting order, they could make some noise this year but will have a hard time contending in a top-heavy American League.
   
4. Seattle Mariners - The window for playoff contention is beginning to close for the Seattle Mariners. The court of the Mariners team in 2017 is pretty much intact in 2018, with key free-agent acquisitions of Ryan Healy at first base, and second baseman Dee Gordon has been converted to a centerfield position. Edwin Diaz will be closing games for the Mariners with free-agent acquisition Juan Nicasiso holding down the eighth inning duties. With the core of their lineup being Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seger, and Robison Cano, the Mariners have a suitable order to compete with their supporting cast and pitching staff must overachieve for them to make the playoffs 2018. Also, in order for the Mariners to make the playoffs, they must have a bounce back season from King Felix, let’s see how it unfolds!
   
5. Texas Rangers - There is no need for hard-hitting analysis or commentary about the 2018 Texas Rangers, this team simply is mediocre at best. If you look at the pitching staff of the Texas Rangers, you can see that this staff is a mishmash of 3rd and 4th starters on their staff. Old man Cole Hamels comes in is the ace of the staff, along with Doug Pfister, Matt Moore, and Mike Minor, to round out the staff. The ranges also signed Tim Linceum in the off season but will start the season the 10-day DL. The bright spots in the batting order are Adrian Beltran, Elvis Andrus, and Joey Gallo if he can get over his strikeout problems. With the lack of pitching depth and a shaky bullpen the Texas Rangers will more than likely be the bottom feeders of the AL West in 2018.

My picks to make the Playoffs in the American League
Division Winners
AL East – Yankees
AL Central – Indians
AL West – Astros

Wildcard Winners
RedSox
Twins

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