The White Sox might have the only rotation that could compare to the vaunted Phillies -- Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy and Edwin Jackson. Peavy tore a tendon in his right arm last July and may be questionable to start the season. The bullpen will not have Bobby Jenks for Ozzie Guillen to kick around anymore. Instead, the No. 1 pick from last June, left-handed pitcher Chris Sale, may just come in and close games. The club has also added Jesse Crain from the Twins.
Offensively, this White Sox club can rake. Keeping Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynki was big, and Adam Dunn is big all by himself. The outfield of Juan Pierre, Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin is strong defensively and in the case of left field and center field, they add some great speed to the lineup.
This offseason, the Twins were able to keep right-hander Carl Pavano and designated hitter Jim Thome, while adding young Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka. The early word out of Florida is Alexi Casilla will take over at shortstop and Nishioka will handle second base, where Orlando Hudson was one and done.
Despite the loss of closer Joe Nathan last season, the Twins were able to piece together an effective bullpen during the first half of 2010, featuring Jon Rauch as closer. Matt Capps and Brian Fuentes were added last season via trade. Now Nathan is back and Capps is the insurance policy. But Fuentes is gone and so is Jesse Crain, and sometimes those guys that grab the outs to get you to the closer can be hard to replace.
Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyher make up a tough quartet, but Justin Morneau makes Minnesota truly a special offensive team.
Shortly after their World Series visit a few year back, the Tigers made that huge trade to obtain Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. Willis never helped and is now trying to resuscitate his career in Cincinnati as a reliever. The Tigers signed Cabrera to a huge deal, but somehow, no matter the money owner Mike Ilitch throws at this project, the team seems to struggle making it over the hump from good to very good.
The team's dollars this offseason went toward Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit. Brad Penny comes in trying to get his stalled career back on track as a starter. Johnny Damon is now plying his trade in Tampa. After Justin Verlander, the Tigers' starting pitching consists of Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Penny and reliever-turned-starter Phil Coke. Although the bullpen should get a boost with Benoit setting up Jose Valverde, the overall staff leaves a bit to be desired.
Ned Yost is ready to oversee the Royals for a full season. He will have to do it without former Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke, who is in Milwaukee. Gone also are failed starter Brian Bannister and outfielder David DeJesus.
Vin Mazzaro came from the A's in the DeJesus trade, and the Royals added Jeff Francis, who is still a question mark. Former No. 1 overall draft pick Luke Hochevar is counted on for big things for no clear-cut reason other than they need him to be an ace.
The word throughout baseball is the Kansas City talent pipeline is getting ready to be turned on in a big-time fashion. Yet it seems the growing pains will continue in 2011, as question marks remain throughout the Royals' roster.
The Indians' starting pitching is, like Kansas City's, questionable every single day. And the offense figures to exacerbate the daily problem of outscoring the other team.
The Indians are dying to have Grady Sizemore come back and be even 80 percent of the player he was, just so they can deal him for prospects. Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo is a stud, and the hope is left fielder Michael Brantley is on deck for stardom. The rest of this offense figures to struggle mightily.
GM Mark Shapiro's real test is the haul he got for CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Jake Westbrook -- and to date the results have been marginal at best. Matt LaPorta, the key in the Sabathia trade in 2008, looks as if he may take over first base. The haul for Lee includes Jason Donald (shortstop), Lou Marson (catcher), Carlos Carrasco (pitcher) and young Jason Knapp (pitcher) -- not exactly household names yet.
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