The Yanks are proof that while you can buy talent, they don't always form a TEAM. CC Sabathia has had his arm overused so badly the last 2-3 years he MUST slow down or he's going to be on the DL ala Pedro. The Yanks didn't address their middle relief and Rivera ain't no spring chicken (39). Joba just ain't up to the task if Mariano goes down. A-Roid is out until July, and that's going to make opposing batters pull (righties) all day long.
People aren't going to take the Rays as lightly as they did last year. And that's a good thing, because now we'll see what a lower-budget ballclub is REALLY capable of. They dumped Cliff Floyd and signed Pat Burrell to DH, BJ Upton will be back by May, and locked up Shields for a couple of years. They also got a setup guy who can fill in as a closer in case Percy goes down. Former Angel/Cardinal Adam Kennedy should be an interesting fit in the infield as well.
While the Angels didn't resign Teixeira (more like he bolted for bigger money--he was never serious about playing in LA) it hurt, and they lost a fan favorite in Anderson, but keeping Santana, resigning Juan Rivera, extending Scioscia's contract 10 YEARS, and signing Fuentes to replace K-Rod in addition to picking up Abreu for a song makes it all a wash. Oh, and the Angels STILL have the best starting rotation in baseball, and Escobar is coming back.
The biggest question in the AL East are the Sox. Yes, Pedroia is coming off an MVP year. Yes, they locked up Youk for four years. Yes, they signed Smoltz and Penny. Neither is going to make that much of an impact. The biggest question on offense is Papi. Without Manny, and without him at 100 percent (remember the knee, kids) he might be cheating on getting the bat around. According to Massarotti, when Papi changes his stance to get the bat around sooner, he might be able to hit the fastball, but he's going to miss the changeups, curves, and sliders, and miss them badly. Look for his strikeouts to skyrocket in April and May over this time in previous seasons. And with no real backup with power in the lineup besides Youk (who didn't even reach 30 HR last year) they're not going to be among the AL leaders in runs scored as they've done recently (3rd in 2007, 2nd in 2008). 'Tek is old, tired, overpaid, and underperforming. He needed to retire after 2007, but he's still behind the plate, and it'll be interesting to see if he isn't replaced by Kotteras full time or, if the Twins are out of it by July, make the move for Joe Mauer that they need to make lest the Yanks grab him after the season. Finally, they never really addressed the horrific middle relief.
In the Central, look for another battle between the White Sox and the Twins. The Tigers simply won't be that much of a factor.
