2014 American League Central Division Preview

We are less than 2 weeks away from Opening Day. That is the greatest day all year. Everyone is equal and every team has a aspirations of a hopeful World Series championship. In the American League Central Division, however, only 1 team has actually contended for a World Series...the Detroit Tigers. This off-season the Central Division changed dramatically. With all these changes, will the Detroit Tigers win the AL Central for the 4th straight year? Here's my predictions team by team:



1. Detroit Tigers: Let's take a look first at the reigning division champs, the Detroit Tigers. They will not look like the Tigers of the past few years.For starters, Jim Leyland is no longer the manager. Former MLB catcher Brad Ausmus is at the helm this year. And he has more tools to work with than Leyland did. In the past few years, the Tigers were known for good starting pitching and power bats. They will still have both of those, but now Ausmus will have speed to mix in and a shut down bullpen. The Tigers started off the off-season by trading Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Ian Kinsler. Now, besides my dislike for Kinsler after his recent comments about my beloved Rangers, the Tigers are getting an All-Star defender with speed. He is a veteran lead off hitter, which will allow the pressure to be taken off Austin Jackson. Comerica Park is good for Kinsler, who thrives at hitting balls to the gap. If Kinsler isn't worried about hitting home runs, he drives the ball better. They will still have the 2-time MVP Miguel Cabrera, but with the trade of Fielder he will be moving to first base. This will help Cabrera stay healthy and help his production to stay up. The starting pitching will be very good behind Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, but it will miss right hander Doug Fister. Fister blossomed in Detroit, but the team traded him to the Washington Nationals to make room for Drew Smyly in the rotation. The bullpen will be source of strength for the Tigers for the first time in a while as they signed veteran closer Joe Nathan in the off-season as well. But as Miguel Cabrera goes, so goes the Tigers. If he stays healthy and in the line up, Detroit will be looking to get back to the World Series this season.

2. Kansas City Royals: The Royals are a team that are finally back in the playoff contention for the first time in over 20 years. They have a good mix of speed, power, youth, and starting pitching. The Royals brought in Narichika Aoki from Milwuakee in the off-season, they also signed infielder Omar Infante, infielder Danny Valencia, and starting pitching Jason Vargas. They did lose Ervin Santana, who signed with the Atlanta Braves, but Vargas will make up Santana's production. He will be behind staff ace James Shield as the starting rotation will look to be one of the best in the big leagues. The line-up will be good behind Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas to go along with the veteran presence of Infante. The bullpen will be good again this year, but they will need closer Greg Holland to step up even more than he did last year. The Royals will be in a close race for the playoffs at season's end.

3. Cleveland Indians: The Indians will go backwards this year. The Indians made the playoffs last year for the first time in a few years, but I don't see them making the playoffs again this year. They added outfielder David Murphy and pitchers John Axford, Aaron Harang, and Shaun Marcum. The Indians got big years last season from guys who normally don't put up those kind of numbers. Carlos Santana is the only consistent player in the line-up. The Indians will have good power and decent speed, but they will struggle to hit for average. Their pitching staff will be rough after Justin Masterson. Masterson should have another good year, but losing Ubaldo Jimenz to the Baltimore Orioles will hurt because there isn't much experience after Masterson. Yes the Indians signed Marcum, but he's been injury-proned the last couple of years. The bullpen will be shaky for Cleveland as well. John Axford was brought in to be the closer, but he struggled so much in Milwaukee last season that they traded him to St. Louis. Then the Cardinals didn't make an attempt to sign him this off-season. The Indians will go backwards this season and not contend for a playoff spot.

4. Chicago White Sox: The White Sox are the MLB version of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are a team who never gets better but never gets worse. They stay even-kill and find it hard to grow. The White Sox have found themselves in that same category. They brought in Adam Eaton via trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks and signed Cuban free agent Jose Abreu. They lost closer Addison Reed as part of that deal with the Diamondbacks. Abreu is a mystery to the club, but if he is the hitter the Sox hope he can be then the top of the line up will be decent with Abreu, Konerko, and De Aza. But the bottom of the line up will struggle all season. After Chris Sale, their starting pitching doesn't have any one with much experience. And their bullpen without Reed will suffer. It's going to be a long year on the south side of Chicago.

5. Minnesota Twins: The Twins are still in re-building mode. This team made big strides in the off-season, but don't look for it to help make them contenders this year. They added some big pieces to the starting rotation, one that was the worst rotation in baseball last season. The Twins added Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, and Mike Pelfrey to the rotation. All 3 guys should be major upgrades from a year ago. The bullpen will be the question mark for this team, but if the bullpen can get a lead to the 9th inning Glen Perkins is a good closer that should get a lot of saves for Minnesota. The line up will look similar to last season except for the loss of Justin Morneau, who they traded to Pittsburgh last season and signed with the Colorado Rockies this season. The Twins got a veteran to run things on the field by signing catcher Kurt Suzuki. He should be able to lead an experienced pitching staff. The problem with this team will be the lack of production from the line up. Look for this team to lose many low scoring games.

My Standings Predictions:

1. Detroit Tigers             95-67     - GB
2. Kansas City Royals    90-72     5 GB
3. Cleveland Indians       81-81     14 GB
4. Chicago White Sox    75-87     20 GB
5. Minnesota Twins        67-95     28 GB

So this is my prediction for the 2014 American League Central Division. I do believe Detroit will win the division for a 4th straight year, however, I think it'll come down to the last 2 weeks between them and Kansas City. It's going to be fun to watch the young players for the Royals taking on the big bats of Detroit this season.

The Cowboys releasing DeMarcus Ware...IS A GOOD THING!!!

News broke yesterday that the Dallas Cowboys had officially released the team's all time sacks leader, DeMarcus Ware. News then broke today that he had signed a 3-year, $30 million contract with the Denver Broncos. I've seen on social media, heard it on the radio, and talked to friends in the sports industry about Ware being let go by the Cowboys and everyone says that it's a mistake and that the Cowboys will regret this decision. However...I'm here to tell you and explain why this is a good thing for the Dallas Cowboys.

First of all and the most obvious one, this helps the team financially. The salary cap is around $133 million for the 2014 season. Dallas was going to be over that by a bunch. Letting Ware walk saved the team $7.4 million towards the salary cap. That's a big chunk of change. This team needed to start getting rid of aging players who are being over paid and it started by letting DeMarcus Ware go. So it's a good thing.



Secondly, DeMarcus Ware has been showing signs of slowing down the last 2 seasons. This last season he missed his first 3 games due to injuries and he only recorded 6 sacks all season. It's not like other teams were double teaming him.Ware just flat out got his butt kicked at times last season. As a player begins to age in the sport, their bodies begin to break down. DeMarcus Ware began showing signs that his body is starting to break down. If you are going to do anything in the future to win, you can't keep guys who are starting to fall apart on your roster and paying them all that money just because they are a fan favorite. So releasing Ware was a good thing.



Lastly, everyone always says (and I'm included in "everyone") that they want Jerry Jones to either hire a real General Manager or start acting like a General Manager. But when the announcement was made that the Cowboys were cutting DeMarcus Ware, people were in an uproar. Folks...Jerry Jones (for the first time in a very long time) was acting like a real General Manager. It was time for Ware to go. I loved him as a player here. He will probably go down as the best defensive player in Cowboys history. But it was just his time to move on. I can applaud Jerry Jones for making this move. It needed to be made. It's like Jon Daniels trading Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder. It was a necessary move. Fans were upset with Daniels for making the move, but after Kinsler popped off at the mouth, it became evident that Kinsler needed to go. Jerry Jones made a smart, football-business decision.



I get it. Your favorite player was let go by your favorite team. We all will miss DeMarcus Ware. I know I will. But it was time for him to move on. Good luck, DeMarcus, in Denver. I hope you find success there. But as for the Cowboys...I tip my hat to Jerry Jones. Good, smart, football-business move. Now if Jerry can only make more of those moves we might actually see the Cowboys back in the playoffs. One can only hope.

2014 National League West preview

Earlier this week I predicted that the Texas Rangers would be the 2014 AL West Champions over the Los Angeles Angels. Today it's time to take a look at their National League counterparts...the NL West. This division has definitely gotten very interesting over the last couple of years, with a new ownership group buying the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks having success under Kirk Gibson, and the San Francisco Giants winning 2 World Series in 3 years. But who will come out on top in 2014? Let's take a look at each team:

First off...let's take a look at last year's division winners...the Los Angeles Dodgers. For the most part, the Dodgers didn't do much in terms of free agency or trades. The signed pitcher Dan Haren, a southern California native, after he had a sub-par year with the Washington Nationals. Haren did pitch very well down the stretch, but only after the Nationals were completely out of the NL East race. The Dodgers also signed Cuban infielder Alex Guerrero. This guy is a complete mystery to me. Scouts say he has the potential to be a 20+ home run hitter, but if you try to look at his numbers, they are hard to find. He was left off the 2013 Cuban team that played in the World Baseball Classic because of his outspoken desire to leave Cuba for the United States. Because of that, Guerrero sat out of the entire 2013 season. If he has the year that many scouts says he is capable of having, then the Dodgers will have added a very nice piece to their line up. Los Angeles did lose valuable depth as Michael Young decided to retire. They also lost second baseman Mark Ellis, who signed with St. Louis. But if Guerrero has a good year, Ellis will not be missed. The Dodgers also lost Chris Capuano, who signed with the Boston Red Sox. Once again, he probably won't be missed too much. So what are the keys for the Dodgers to repeat as division champions? First off they need Guerrero to have a big, breakout rookie season. They need his bat at the top of the lineup so he can help set up their big bats of Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez. The Dodgers also need Dan Haren to rebound from his bad year last year and be a solid #4 or #5 starter in their rotation. If Josh Beckett can ever find himself again and Matt Kemp get healthy and stay healthy, then that will be just a bonus for Los Angeles. All in all, I think the Dodgers have everything capable of winning the division again this year.

Next we take a look at the San Francisco Giants. The Giants did add a veteran pitcher in Tim Hudson to their rotation. Hudson knows how to pitch and also how to lead a young staff, as was seen in his time with the Atlanta Braves. Hudson just needs to stay healthy. They also added outfielder Michael Morse. Morse is a big dude with big power. His main problem, however, is consistency. If Morse can stay consistent and hit for average, AT&T Park will see a lot of long home runs hit out of it by Morse. One guy that should be a good bench player for the Giants is Tyler Colvin. Colvin signed a minor league deal with the Giants in the off-season and is expected to be on the major league roster as a bench guy. He played well when given the chance in Chicago for the Cubs. It'll be interesting to see if Colvin will get more playing time in San Francisco. The Giants lost Barry Zito, Chad Gaudin, and Andres Torres but it's nothing to write home about San Francisco has the talent to compete in the division. They need first baseman Brandon Belt to continue his success from last season, Buster Posey to build off a great 2013 season, and Pablo Sandoval needs to stay healthy. He came into camp after losing some weight in the off-season and it has shown. He just needs to keep that up throughout the season. As for pitching, Hudson needs to stay healthy and make at least 30-32 starts. The big pitching question mark for this team will be Ryan Vogalsong. He missed last season due to injuries. I'll be curious to see how he comes back this year.

Next we take a look at the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks fought all season long with the Dodgers for the division title only to fall back last in September. They have added some power to their bat when they acquired Mark Trumbo from the Los Angeles Angels. They also bolstered their pitching staff by adding starter Bronson Arroyo and closer Addison Reed. Arroyo should pitch well in that spacious Chase Field ballpark. Addison Reed pitched well on a bad Chicago White Sox team last year so it's only foreseeable that he will pitch well on a much better Diamondbacks team. The team did lose pitching prospect Tyler Skaggs to the Angels in the Mark Trumbo trade. They also traded away outfield prospect Adam Eaton to the White Sox and traded closer Heath Bell to the Tampa Bay Rays. Those moves, I feel, were great for the club. Will Skaggs live up to the hype? Who knows. Will Adam Eaton be the hitter they thought he could be? We'll just have to wait and see. But we know what Trumbo and Reed can do. So these trades were huge for Arizona. And let's not overlook Heath Bell being shipped to the Rays. That allowed the financial freedom to make the other trades. Arizona will be in the division hunt right down to the end of Trumbo can have a big year, Reed stays consistent as the closer, Arroyo can take advantage of the big ballpark, and starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy can stay healthy. This division is going to be fun to watch.

The Colorado Rockies are the next team I want to take a look at. They added some good pieces to go along with Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. They added veteran left handed first baseman Justin Morneau as well as acquired Brandon Barnes and Jordan Lyles from the Houston Astros in exchange for Dexter Fowler. Barnes will provide some speed to set up Tulowitzki and Morneau with several RBI opportunities this season. They also added Brett Anderson to the starting rotation after acquiring him from the Oakland A's. I fear that the Rockies lineup will be really good, but not have a strong enough pitching staff to equal things out. Anderson has been plagued with injuries for the last few seasons and it's hard for Colorado to get any good pitchers willing to come to the most notorious hitting ballparks in the game in Coors Field. The Rockies will struggle this year in many slug fest games. They will score a lot of runs, but give up a whole lot more.

The final team I want to look at is the San Diego Padres. This team was just horrendous last season...mainly because of their starting rotation.  They added Josh Johnson to the staff in the off-season. Now I'm 50/50 on this move. Johnson has been extremely injury prone for the last few seasons, however, he is determined to show all of baseball this season that he can still pitch very well. So there's a part of me that worries about him for the Padres, but then there's a part of me that likes his drive to prove he's healthy. If healthy, the Padres will have a real workhorse on the mound every 5th day. They also added Joaquin Benoit to the back end of their bullpen. This is a genius move on the Padres' part and one I didn't see coming.  Benoit has been one of the premiere set up men in all of baseball over the last couple of years in Detroit. He will do an excellent job getting the ball to Huston Street in the 9th or filling in for Street when he isn't available to pitch. Another piece the Padres added was Seth Smith. They traded away reliever Luke Greggerson to the Oakland A's in exchange for Smith. Smith is a good left handed hitting outfielder that will bolster a lineup that needed help. They had Chase Headley, but really needed another good bat and they found that in Smith. Now at the time, trading Greggerson hurt their bullpen, but they completely fixed that and then some by signing Benoit. Other notable losses for the Padres were Clayton Richards and Jason Marquis, but neither one had really done anything for this club the last couple seasons. A lot will need to go right for the Padres to compete in the NL West. They will need a career year out of Headley and Smith and they will need Josh Johnson to completely return to his Cy Young Award form. If all those things happen, the Padres might have a shot at being competitive in this division, but I wouldn't count on it.

2014 NL West Final Standings Predictions

LA Dodgers               96-66     - GB
SF Giants                   94-68     2 GB
Arizona D'Backs        88-74     8 GB
SD Padres                 75-87     21 GB
Colorado Rockies      67-95     29 GB

So that's my predictions for the National League West division in 2014. Next week we'll take a look at the Central Divisions. We'll take a look and see if I think Pittsburgh can repeat last season's success and if they cry baby Ian Kinsler and his Detroit Tigers will repeats as the AL Central Champs.

2014 American League West Preview

The 2014 Major League Baseball season is almost upon us and I, for one, CAN NOT WAIT!!! I like football...I'm a hockey fan...basketball is ok...but baseball is my sport. I watch everything on MLB Network, both in season and in the off season. I watch games on MLB Network, on ESPN, on Fox, and any and all Texas Rangers game. I'm going to be taking each division and previewing them to see who wins in 2014. Seeing as how I'm a Texas Rangers fan, let's begin in the American League West.

TEXAS RANGERS: The Rangers definitely bolstered their roster this off-season by signing Shin Soo Choo and trading Ian Kinsler to the Detroit Tigers for Prince Fielder. That gives the Rangers an on base machine to lead off and a big left handed bat in the number 3 hole...one that hasn't been there since Josh Hamilton left after the 2012 season. The moves also gives the Rangers a very good outfield defense of Choo, Martin, and Rios. Those 3 are a big upgrade from what the team fielded last season. Pitching-wise the Rangers took a hit when Derek Holland messed his knee up playing with his dog back in December, but as of today (3-3-14) some veteran guys like Colby Lewis seem to be throwing very well. Another free agent the team signed in the off-season is former Atlanta Brave and Los Angeles Angel Tommy Hanson. Hanson hasn't had a good couple of years, but so far in spring training he looks to like he might be back to the form that made him a big time prospect with the Braves. The bullpen will be pretty good. Jason Frasor re-signed, Neftali Feliz seems to be completely healthy after his Tommy John surgery, and Joakim Soria is throwing the best he has since he had his TJ surgery too. Yes it hurt when Joe Nathan signed with the Tigers, but when you got Feliz and Soria as your options to be your closer, you are in good shape. If the Rangers break spring training with a starting rotation of Yu Darvish, Martin Perez, Colby Lewis, Tommy Hanson,and Alexi Ogando I'll be a happy Rangers fan. Then when Holland comes back, Ogando can go back to the bullpen. All in all I feel the Texas Rangers will win a lot of games in 2014.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS: The Angels come into this season with a lot to prove after one of the most disappointing seasons in team history last year. Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton definitely didn't live up to their expectations, ace Jared Weaver was injured a lot of the season, and they were very shaky in the back end of the rotation. The only constant positive person on that team was CJ Wilson, who was 17-7 with a 3.39 ERA in 33 starts. The Angels traded away a big bat in Mark Trumbo to Arizona as part of a 3-team  trade in the off-season, but they got back in return starting pitchers Tyler Skaggs from the Diamondbacks and Hector Santiago from the Chicago White Sox. Skaggs was 2-3 with a 5.12 ERA in his first time in the big leagues. He is still considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Santiago 4-9 with a 3.56 ERA on a very bad White Sox team. Both pitchers are expected to have much better seasons for the Halos. If Santiago and Skaggs can step up, the Angels will have a very good starting rotation. Despite blowing 4 saves last season, the Angels have said that Ernesto Frieri will be their closer. Their bullpen got better when they signed Fernando Salas from the St. Louis Cardinals. If the Angels' bats can get back to form and the pitching staff can step up, this will be a team to reckon with in 2014.

SEATTLE MARINERS: The Mariners were the most talked about team in the off-season when they signed prized free agent Robinson Cano to a 10-year, $240 million deal. The Mariners haven't had a solid bat in their line up for the last several years, but they do now. To go along with Cano, the Mariners traded for Logan Morrison from the Miami Marlins and signed free agent outfielder Cory Hart. Morrison is coming off a down year, where he hit .242 with 6 home runs and 36 RBI. But Morrison is known for having a good bat and is expected to bounce back under Mariners' new manager, Lloyd McClendon. Hart is somewhat of an unknown as he missed the 2013 season due to injuries. When healthy, Hart was one of the National League's premiere home run hitters. It'll be interesting to see if Hart can come back to form this season. On the mound, there isn't hardly a pitcher better than Felix Hernandez. He is one of the most dominating pitchers in all of baseball. Another big name pitcher that showed baseball how good he is was Hisashi Iwakuma. The problem is that Iwakuma has some serious problems with the middle finger on his pitching hand. The official word from Seattle is that he won't attempt to throw for another 3 weeks and that he will miss the start of the regular season. Unofficially this injury looks very similar to Adam Eaton, who the Texas Rangers traded Adrian Gonzalez to San Diego for. Eaton pitched only in a handful of games for the Rangers and never lived up to the hype because of the injury. This injury worries me for the Mariners. Seattle did solidify the 9th inning by signing Fernando Rodney, who was 5-4 with a 3.37 ERA and 37 saves for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. But getting to Rodney will be the issue for the Mariners in 2014.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS: The Oakland A's didn't do much this off-season to improve their team. They  traded outfield prospect Michael Choice to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Craig Gentry. So in that aspect, they gained speed in the outfield. They traded Jemile Weeks to Baltimore for All-Star closer Jim Johnson while letting Grant Balfour go in free agency. They do have the same starting rotation coming back that led the A's to the division championship last season and for the most part they will have the same line up. I don't see the A's winning the division this year only because they didn't do anything to really improve themselves and other teams in the division improved majorly.

HOUSTON ASTROS: The Astros did in fact get a lot better this off-season. They signed free agent pitcher Scott Feldman to lead their young staff and brought in Jesse Crain and Chad Qualls to help lead the bullpen. My fear for the Astros is their lineup.  Their lineup led the American League last season by striking out 1,535 times...and they didn't add anything to their lineup to improve. Now there are a few free agent bats out there that Houston as been linked too...aka Kendrys Morales. If the Astros sign Morales, then their lineup will be much better. However, I don't see Houston making a big play for him considering they would lose their first round draft pick in order to sign him. Houston has built up one of the best, if not the best, minor league system in baseball. And Nolan Ryan has agreed to be a consultant for the team. 2014 probably won't be the year for the Astros, but the AL West better be on the lookout for them in the near future.

My AL West 2014 Prediction:

1. Texas Rangers                     94-68      -- GB

2. Los Angeles Angels             90-72       4 GB

3. Seattle Mariners                  84-78     10 GB

4. Oakland Athletics                78-84     14 GB

5. Houston Astros                   62-100    32 GB

So there's my AL West prediction for 2014. I do think the Texas Rangers will win the division, but I think it'll come down to the final week of the season. What do you think? Later on this week I'll take a look at the NL West and what I think about the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the rest of the NL West division. Find me on facebook by searching "The Line Drive Report" and follow me on Twitter @linedrivereport.