Hello Chief Wahoo !
LINEUP:
1. SS Asdrubal Cabrera
2. CF Grady Sizemore
3. RF Shin-Soo Choo
4. DH Travis Hafner
5. 3B Jhonny Peralta
6. 1B Matt LaPorta
7. 2B Luis Valbuena
8. C Lou Marson
9. LF Michael Brantley
ROTATION:
1. RHP Jake Westbrook
2. RHP Fausto Carmona
3. RHP Justin Masterson
4. LHP David Huff
5. LHP Aaron Laffey
THE INDIANS WILL CONTEND IF ...: RHP Jake Westbrook and RHP Fausto Carmona win at least 15 games each, closer RHP Kerry Wood, who will start the year on the disabled list, saves 30 games, and DH Travis Hafner rebounds from two awful years with a more typical 30-homer/100-RBI Hafner season.
PRIMED FOR A BIG SEASON: RHP Fausto Carmona, after two horrendous seasons, had a sensational spring training, and he finally might be ready to return to something close to his form of 2007, when he won 19 games. Working under new manager Manny Acta and new pitching coach Tim Belcher might help refresh, if not restart, Carmona's career.
ON THE DECLINE: LHP Jeremy Sowers, a former first-round pick who was 7-4 as a rookie four years ago, is coming o
ff three ugly seasons; he posted a combined 11-26 record in that span. Sowers was two weeks behind the other pitchers in training camp due to a sore shoulder, and is out of minor league options. Even when healthy, it's questionable whether there's a spot on the roster for the 26-year-old lefty.
Royalty lives in KC !
LINEUP:
1. RF David DeJesus
2. LF Scott Podsednik
3. 3B Alberto Callaspo
4. 1B Billy Butler
5. DH Jose Guillen
6. CF Rick Ankiel
7. C Jason Kendall
8. SS Yuniesky Betancourt
9. 2B Chris Getz
ROTATION:
1. RHP Zack Greinke
2. RHP Gil Meche
3. RHP Brian Bannister
4. RHP Luke Hochevar
5. RHP Kyle Davies
THE ROYALS WILL CONTEND IF ...: RHP Zack Greinke wins his second straight Cy Young Award and the offense shows up on the days he starts so he would have 20-plus victories, not 16 like 2009. RHP Luke Hochevar, the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, pitches as he did Sept. 19, shutting out the White Sox; July 25, striking out 13 Rangers; and June 12, needing only 80 pitches for a complete-game victory over the Reds, but not as he did most of the last half of the season, when he went 1-10 with an 8.21 ERA in his final 13 starts. RHPs Roman Colon and Juan Cruz can be trustworthy setup men, not blowing leads before the Royals can get the ball to closer Joakim Soria.
PRIMED FOR A BIG SEASON: RHP Zack Greinke won his first Cy Young Award at the age of 25 and could add his second this year. Greinke has all the pitches and pinpoint accuracy. In his eight losses last season, the Royals scored just 13 runs, an average of 1.6 per game. Even if he fails to duplicate his 2.16 ERA from last season, he could win more games.
ON THE DECLINE: DH/OF Jose Guillen turns 34 on May 17, and the bat speed he showed while hitting 43 homers and driving in 196 runs in 2007-08 may be slowing down. Guillen's foot speed has declined enough that the Royals want him DHing most days, not playing right field.
MINNESOTA
TWINS
LINEUP:
1. CF Denard Span
2. 2B Orlando Hudson
3. C Joe Mauer
4. 1B Justin Morneau
5. RF Michael Cuddyer
6. DH Jason Kubel
7. LF Delmon Young
8. SS J.J. Hardy
9. 3B Nick Punto
ROTATION:
1. RHP Scott Baker
2. RHP Nick Blackburn
3. RHP Carl Pavano
4. RHP Kevin Slowey
5. LHP Francisco Liriano
The Twins have great hope that their rotation, led by Scott Baker and veteran Carl Pavano, will thrive this season. Kevin Slowey has been lights out in spring training, quelling any concerns that his surgically repaired right wrist will be an issue this season, and Nick Blackburn, the team's biggest innings-eater in 2009, has been just as impressive.
With Nathan out, the bullpen is shaken up considerably, but the Twins still have Matt Guerrier, who was one of baseball's best setup men in 2009; Jesse Crain, who bounced back from a tough start and a demotion to the minors to pitch well once called back up; and Jon Rauch, the imposing 6-foot-10 reliever who compiled a 1.72 ERA after joining the Twins in late August.
THE TWINS WILL CONTEND IF ...: GM Bill Smith finds a suitable replacement for RHP Joe Nathan. The Twins spent the offseason building a lineup designed to win the AL Central and contend in the playoffs. Smith has put in too much effort and money to let one lost piece of the puzzle jeopardize the season. ... C Joe Mauer and 1B Justin Morneau can stay healthy .... SS J.J. Hardy's abysmal 2009 season was really an aberration ... LHP Francisco Liriano's slider stays every bit as brilliant as it's looked this spring ... The rotation can transition its stout spring into a staunch start to 2010 (through March 26, four of Minnesota's starters had spring ERAs of 2.00 or lower)
PRIMED FOR A BIG SEASON: LHP Francisco Liriano's slider has been devastating this spring, with manager Ron Gardenhire calling it unhittable at times. If Liriano can maintain that slider and consistently locate his fastball, he could revive a career that has been in decl
ine since he made the 2006 AL All-Star team as a rookie.
ON THE DECLINE: RHP Clay Condrey, who had a 3.00 ERA working out of the Philadelphia bullpen in 2009, labored throughout the spring. He's almost certain to make the team, but the Twins could not be encouraged by Condrey's results early on — in eight innings of work, Condrey allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on 12 hits, four of them homers.
LINEUP:
1. CF Austin Jackson
2. LF Johnny Damon
3. RF Magglio Ordonez
4. 1B Miguel Cabrera
5. DH Carlos Guillen
6. 3B Brandon Inge
7. C Gerald Laird
8. 2B Scott Sizemore
9. SS Adam Everett/Ramon Santiago
ROTATION:
1. RHP Justin Verlander
2. RHP Rick Porcello
3. LHP Dontrelle Willis
4. RHP Max Scherzer
5. RHP Jeremy Bonderman
THE TIGERS WILL CONTEND IF ...: They can avoid a serious injury to a key player. Their pitching should be decent-to-excellent, with a rotation anchored by RHPs Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello, while veteran RHP Jose Valverde waits at the end. Rookie CF Austin Jackson looks ready for prime time. RF Magglio Ordonez hit in the spring as if 2009 were an aberration. DH Carlos Guillen enters the season healthy for the first time in three springs, and 3B Brandon Inge's bad knees were greatly helped by offseason surgery. There are bottom-of-the-order hitting questions to be resolved, the team has the speed of a herd of hippos, and the lineup is laden with way too many right-handed bats, but there are lefties on the bench to use in late-game situations if necessary. There's a nice blend of youth and age, and it sure helps that Detroit isn't lodged in the rugged AL East.
PRIMED FOR A BIG SEASON: 1B Miguel Cabrera is way more relaxed than ever, appears to have put his off-field problems in the rearview mirror (the end-of-the-season drinking incident that hurt the team) and bombed the ball in spring training. If the rest of the team hits, Cabrera, whose statistics already parallel those of Hall of Famers, could take another big step upward. Another candidate would be RF Magglio Ordonez, whose miserable first half last year might have been related to his wife's battle with thyroid cancer; he has looked like the Ordonez of old in spring training.
ON THE DECLINE: DH Carlos Guillen has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, and it won't get any easier as he gets older. Moving him to DH could slow down the process, but there's no doubt he's on the back side of his career.
LINEUP:
1. LF Juan Pierre
2. 2B Gordon Beckham
3. RF Carlos Quentin
4. 1B Paul Konerko
5. C A.J. Pierzynski
6. CF Alex Rios
7. DH Mark Kotsay/Andruw Jones
8. 3B Mark Teahen
9. SS Alexei Ramirez
ROTATION:
1. LHP Mark Buehrle
2. RHP Jake Peavy
3. RHP Gavin Floyd
4. LHP John Danks
5. RHP Freddy Garcia
The best news, especially as far as Sox fans are concerned, was that team officials believe they have the wiggle room to add during the season if there is a missing ingredient. A lot of that will be predicated on a good start.
Guillen said as much, making it known that it was important for the team to have a strong April to send a message to the South Side fans that they can start spending their money on the product.
THE WHITE SOX WILL CONTEND IF ...: The pitching staff stays healthy and the DH-by-committee idea works. Rookie Daniel Hudson is waiting in the minors if the Sox lose a starter, but while someone like Freddy Garcia is replaceable, Peavy and Buehrle are not. As far as the DH, if Kotsay and Jones do close to what they did this spring, the Sox will show that life without the likes of sluggers Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome isn't hard to move on from after all.
PRIMED FOR A BIG SEASON: OF/DH Andruw Jones came into camp like the Jones from the Atlanta days, trimmed down and looking to prove he wasn't washed up. Jones not only has a chance to solidify the DH-by-committee idea, he could even get a lot of playing time in the outfield as long as he's swinging a hot bat.
ON THE DECLINE: RHP Scott Linebrink posted an 8.49 ERA in the second half of last season, and the Sox are no longer counting on him to be the key setup man they thought he would be when they signed him in the 2007 offseason. The leash will be a short one in 2010.
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