Greetings Baseball Fans. This is I.P.Daily reporting on the American League North today. The American League is a division of many questions. Will New York Repeat? Will Detroit's "big signings " vault them ahead of New York? Will Boise have a winning season in "Bed Wetter Country". Will Chicago's Hit men eliminate the rest of the division? Well as much as it hurts to say, I do not see anyone over taking New York this season. I have to give respect for the defending champs. I do see a closer division than New York expects though.
New York...... The pride of the Yankees have added bullpen help to last season's World Series Champs. They also added Bronson Jefferies to their rotation, replacing Morgan Clark. I do think the pitching staff will eventually catch up on the Yankees. Last season they struggled at times, but got hot in the end. With the improvement of many teams in the league, we do not see them as repeating. However until they are proven wrong , we still see them winning the division. They will rely on the arm of Evans, and the bat of Mr. Martinez again.
Detroit..... Detroit raped the free agent market this year. They want to contend now, and they spent more money than Joan Rivers on face lifts. They went out and signed Munoz and Pong to contracts that would make them there until around 40. By the time the contracts end, both men will be able to buy their "mid-life crisis cars". They also acquired Jack Bottalico from Sacramento, signed Mo Speizo to a 1 year deal, Carlos Gonzalez, and the head scratching contract of Del Aguilera. With Emilio James anchoring their line-up and Anthony Gordon dominating as closer, I see them contending for most of the season.
Chicago..... Chicago has been very quiet this off season. Making 1 trade to acquire Ted Covleski and Pete Dodd was all the noise they have made thus far. They are content on the team they had last year, that went 76-86.With the development of Darrell Wright in the wings, young players, and the friendly confines of Wrigley, we see them about .500 this year.
Boise..... Well Boise went through a face change in the off season. First they moved the franchise to Boise. Fans are extremely excited to see what the franchise is all about. The GM went out, and revamped the offense, to possibly one of the best in the division. Pitching will be a question this season. They went out and signed a few veterans to anchor their staff. Morgan Clark, Dick Randall and Ignacio Rodriguez. They also have a few young arms......and a rule 5 draft pitcher to help them get to the future stud closer. Estrella should be a dominant closer for seasons to come. The only question is "How often will he get the ball?"
The GM concentrated on offense this season, and just to get pitching to get by this year. The offense is (10x )better than last season. They went out and got the leader in runs scored (Ed Morris). They also got huge power in Ronnie Bannister, Daniel Russell and Kevin Byrd. They also went out and got solid bench players. Anchoring the bench, is world series champ Arthur Montgomery. Sitting beside Montgomery is: Mendy Washington, gold glove catcher Alvin Burke, and the very dependable Jake Maxwell. Maxwell has only missed 2 games in the last 4 seasons combined. Maxwell also will hit about 25-30 home runs to go along with his solid defense. I really do see this offense as the best in the division. I mean this in statistics. I see them in alot of high scoring games, thus reminding us of the 1995 Colorado Rockies. To my surprise I also see them around .500 as well.
The predictions are:
New York 88-74
Boise 84-78
Detroit 81-81
Chicago. 79-83