An American League disappointment

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Baseball

Unlike those shitty sports blogs that you probably read, I make myself accountable for all the dumb stuff that I type.

Before the MLB season, I made predictions.

Here's evidence of my failure.

Prediction
Actual

AL East
Boston Red Sox -- 96-66 -- 90-72
I said that health would be a major roadblock for the Red Sox if there was going to be one. By the home stretch, the BoSox looked tired and hurt. A number of guys hit a wall and they simply had nothing left. The only team in the country that wound up 18 games over .500 and won 90 games and considered it a gigantic disappointment.

New York Yankees -- 90-72 -- 97-65
Unfair. If you told me you were going to start Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon for a bulk of the season and that they were going to be halfway useful, I would've gone a bit higher. Bullpen seemed dramatically better. Curtis Granderson had an MVP year. Ivan Nova broke out. Aside from getting bounced in the ALDS, not a bad season. For a team knocked out in the ALDS. First round.

Tampa Bay Rays -- 84-78 -- 91-71
To my credit, it took a historic meltdown and a dramatic run by the Rays to get to 91 wins. This is probably an 84-win team that willed itself to 91 wins and the playoffs. Rays did what they did without their best pitcher (David Price) and best hitter (Evan Longoria) giving them very much at all due to ineffectiveness or injury. Either way, it wasn't always pretty but that organization is so well run that it won't matter many times. They'll be good again next year.

Toronto Blue Jays -- 81-81 -- 81-81
Bam! Nailed it. Jose Bautista did it again. However, the story here is instead Ricky Romero, who had an incredibly sneaky great season: 15 wins, 2.92 ERA, 225 IP. Still, a team that is not going thanks to the teams above.

Baltimore Orioles -- 70-92 -- 69-93
Poor Orioles. Started the year out so well and then the bottom fell out. What I don't get is that they signed a lot of veterans (Vlad Guerrero, Derrek Lee, Kevin Gregg, J.J. Hardy) in the off-season and wound up trading just one (Lee) and extended Hardy. Did send two useful pieces -- Koji Uehara, Mike Gonzalez -- to the Rangers. No wonder they can't find a guy to general manage.

AL Central
Minnesota Twins -- 97-65 -- 63-99
Ouch. Hurts to miss that one. Twins were without Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau for a ton of games and neither were able to be effective. At a certain point, especially with Morneau, you have to consider whether or not they are able to go out and be a part of this club. Fielder an inferior team for most of the year.

Chicago White Sox -- 85-77 -- 79-83
Ozzie Guillen is a manager. He is a manager that somehow got his team to play hard and contend. I don't get it and on the surface it seems he agitated more than anything. Then you see him take an inferior team to the limits for 162 games.

Detroit Tigers -- 80-82 -- 95-67
"I don't know if they're any good." On second thought, they're pretty good. Again, in my defense, I had zero idea that Justin Verlander was going to win the Cy Young and the MVP. Deserves both, I think. Definitely in the discussion and that's enough for me. Really good year.

Cleveland Indians -- 72-90 -- 80-82
Was the story of the first half in MLB, and it surprised no one when they fell off the map in the second half. A team with no depth with guys that probably played above their heads for a couple of months. Still, good to see the Indians make a little noise. A good Indians team is good for baseball.

Kansas City Royals -- 66-96 -- 71-91
Clearly, no the best team in the league. However, they were one of the most interesting. It was exciting to see Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Danny Duffy get significant times in the Majors. It should be noted that they got career years from Bruce Chen, Jeff Franceour, Alex Gordon and Melky Cabrera and still won just 71 games. Bright spots: The bullpen. Greg Holland and Aaron Crow look like superior arms in the back end of the 'pen.

AL West
Texas Rangers -- 92-70 -- 96-66
Rangers are a really good team. It wasn't just hard work and "doing things the right way." They're just good and far more balanced than any team in this division.

Oakland Athletics -- 88-74 -- 74-88
Just a bad team. The starters were not effective and the offense is light years away. People like to trash "Moneyball" when the Athletics fail and that's unfair to a certain point. Sometimes, no matter what, those draft picks don't work out and that's a vital cog in the "Moneyball" experience.

California Angels -- 81-81 -- 86-76
I thought the Angels would finish third because the Athletics would have the superior pitching. Instead, the Angels had the better rotation. Scoring was a big issue and I don't know how they are going to fix it. I don't think they have enough in the minors to make up for all the cash being dumped in the toilet in the Majors.

Seattle Mariners -- 59-103 -- 67-95
"By the end of the season, the Mariners will field the best Triple A team in Major League Baseball." Enough said.

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