Mid-way through March, it’s time to make my preseason predictions for what I believe will happen at the Major League level this season. I’m going to break my preseason prognostications into two columns this year, separating the Junior and Senior circuits, starting with the league that somehow thinks the designated hitter is a good thing for baseball.

Team are listed according to their projected finish within their division.

AL East

The Yankees and Red Sox have sat one-two atop this division every year starting in 1998. Can you guess the last team to win this division, back in ’97? At that time, the Devil Rays weren’t even in existence yet, the Tigers were still in the AL East and the Brewers were still in the American League. Similar to the Braves lasting success, I’m not picking against the Yankees and Red Sox, despite the Blue Jays efforts to improve this past offseason. The Orioles haven’t been at or above .500 since 1997, while the Devil Rays are in year nine of their seemingly unending building process.

New York Yankees

Johnny Damon was the Yankees biggest offseason pickup, stealing the now clean-cut leadoff threat from the rival Red Sox. With Damon atop the order, this team should approach historical offensive numbers, as you just can’t pitch around the likes of Damon, Jeter, Arod, Sheffield, Matsui and Giambi. There are age and injury questions surrounding the starting rotation, but the names and talent are there to pick up plenty of wins. Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest closer ever, and makes the Yankees a virtual lock to win when leading in the late innings.

Boston Red Sox

Losing Damon was a big blow to the Red Sox, more based on principle than in reality. Replacing Damon with Coco Crisp should be a wash, as Crisp will prove to be just as productive offensively, better defensively, not to mention younger and significantly cheaper. They also added a big piece to their starting rotation in Josh Beckett, who was named the 2003 World Series MVP with the Marlins by shutting down the Yankees in Game 6 to claim the series. With Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Jason Varitek in the middle of the order, the Red Sox will still score plenty of runs, and like the Yankees, the pitching staff is plenty good to take care of the rest.

Toronto Blue Jays

Despite sexy offseason acquisitions of A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan, Troy Glaus, Bengie Molina and Lyle Overbay, I just don’t see the Blue Jays usurping the top spot in this division, or even Wild Card potential from the Red Sox. Burnett gives the Jays another staff ace to be paired with Roy Halladay, and Ryan should help solidify the late innings. Glaus gives them thunder, while Overbay will give them more consistency. Even with Vernon Wells and Shea Hillenbrand, this team will have a hard time out-scoring the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox, and their pitching still isn’t good enough to simply shut them both down.

Baltimore Orioles

You can’t blame the Orioles for not trying to get better the past couple of offseasons, but the more notable acquisitions haven’t been nearly enough to put them over the top, something the Blue Jays will likely discover this year. They are strong up the middle, with Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Ramon Hernandez providing most of the offensive firepower for the O’s. Javy Lopez moves to first base, where he will split time between there and the DH with Kevin Millar, and Melvin Mora is one of the better hitters most people have never heard of. There are some interesting young arms, but they will have a hard time notching 70 wins this season in this division.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

The Devil Rays best offseason acquisition was getting Gerry Hunsicker in their organization, who built a very talented and relatively underappreciated Houston Astros ballclub. Hunsicker has some very talented ballplayers in the Tampa Bay system to play with, as their lineup should score a lot of runs once players like Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, Delmon Young and B.J. Upton reach their collective stride within the next few years. The pitching staff still needs a lot of help, but Scott Kazmir showing his power arsenal on the big stage a year ago, with a few more power arms on the way, not to mention the third overall pick in the June draft.

AL Central

Three teams in the AL Central are poised to make some noise throughout baseball the next few years, and in the meantime will take their turn beating up on one another. Those teams are the reigning World Series Champion White Sox, the Indians and the Twins, and all three teams are built with from top to bottom with young talent, and there aren’t too many holes on any of those three teams. That means we won’t hear any more excuses this year about how weak the division is, despite also having the worst team in all of baseball, the Royals. The Tigers have enough talent to play spoiler.

Chicago White Sox

No one picked the White Sox to win it all last year, and because of that I think it’s natural that the odds are against them yet again this year. I personally feel they had the best offseason, picking up Jim Thome to give their lineup two lethal bats to go along with the re-signing of Paul Konerko. On the pitching side of things, I still believe Javier Vazquez is set to return to the form he showed with the Expos, and he joins an already talented starting staff. Young outfielder Brian Anderson could match Aaron Rowand’s productivity in his first year, while Bobby Jenks’ success during his rookie campaign will only help him continue to grow as the team’s closer.

Minnesota Twins

While I believe the White Sox had the best offseason, the acquisition of Luis Castillo might have been my favorite individual transaction. He immediately gives the Twins a rock both atop their lineup and at second base. Talented left-handed starter Francisco Liriano seems poised to grab a rotation staff, joining an already solid group. Joe Nathan anchors the bullpen. Other than that, it’s basically the same from what you’ve seen of the Twins. They pitch well and they play good defense, while relying on timely hitting and a little small-ball while being among the best when it comes to drafting and developing their own from within. While they haven’t had a player hit 30 home runs since 1987, Justin Morneau will erase that drought in ’06.

Cleveland Indians

It was hard for me to place the Indians third in this division because I think they are the most poised to enjoy the most lasting, long-term success. Grady Sizemore is a star in the making that could bat leadoff or third in any lineup. Travis Hafner had MVP numbers last year, while Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta put up some impressive numbers of their own. Losing AL ERA champ Kevin Millwood will hurt a little, as well as bullpen stalwart Bobby Howry, but the Indians are not lacking in arms, with a number of candidates fighting for rotation and bullpen spots this spring. If the Indians do indeed win this division, and move on to claim bigger and better things, I will not be surprised one bit. I just think the young pitching will need a year to assert itself.

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers remind me of the Baltimore Orioles in many ways. They’re not opposed to spending big checks to land big-name players in the offseason, but those big-name players aren’t enough to put them over the top. They would be wise to follow in the footsteps of the Twins and Indians, teams that place a huge value on player development to build a strong foundation from within on which to build upon. The Tigers do have several promising arms moving up, most notably Justin Verlander, the number two overall draft pick from 2004 that could sit be the Tigers’ future ace in the not-so-distant future.

Kansas City Royals

Sorry Royals fans, I don’t mean to offend you by calling the Royals the worst team in baseball, but the only thing you have to look forward to is the number one overall selection in June’s draft. If I were a Royals fan, I would start questioning why so much money is going into good but not great players like Mark Grudzielanek, Doug Mietkiewicz and Reggie Sanders and not being poured into the player development and scouting departments. There are some intriguing players in the system, such as Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Chris Lubanski, but that talent needs to translate into more wins soon.

AL West

Similar to the NL West, which will be covered in my next column, the AL West is up for grabs. The A’s and Angels are the favorites, but if a few things go right for the Rangers and Mariners they too could sneak up and surprise a few people. In the end, I think the A’s pitching staff will prove to be the strongest aspect in the entire division. These teams always beat each other up down the stretch, so anything truly can happen.

Oakland Athletics

Yes, the A’s will start slow and have one of their patented second half surges. That much we know. They also are poised to once again have a very polished starting rotation led by staff ace Barry Zito and a solid bullpen anchored by closer Huston Street. There are a few question marks in the lineup, such as Bobby Crosby’s health, how much Frank Thomas has left in the tank, Milton Bradley’s emotional stability and the progression of young players such as Nick Swisher and Dan Johnson. Eric Chavez is the only big-name bat, but they have built very good depth at every position and have put an increased value on team defense that should allow them to sit atop the AL West when its all said and done.

Los Angeles Angels

There seemed to be a lot of rumors surrounding the Angels this winter, but they didn’t have that one, big-name acquisition like they have had in the past couple of years (Vlad Guerrero, Bartolo Colon). They did swap a couple of aging vets with the Giants, picking up Edgardo Alfonzo for Steve Finley. With Vlad, Garrett Anderson, Orlando Cabrera and super-utility player Chone Figgins, the Angels wills score plenty of runs, and they still have a mighty good rotation full of flame-throwers and one of the best closers in the business in K-Rod. I think many believe they are the favorites to win this division on paper, but their big names and big payrolls will come up short come September.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers are always going to score a lot of runs, and bats like Hank Blalock, Mark Teixeira and Michael Young will make sure that continues in 2006. Pitching has always been the Rangers’ problem, and it is an area in which they have gone to great lengths to try and improve. Kevin Millwood, Adam Eaton and Vicente Padilla were all acquired this offseason, and the three will give the starting staff a significantly different look. Their top three minor league prospects are also pitchers in Edison Volquez, John Danks and Thomas Diamond, and all three are close to contributing in the big-leagues. However, the Rangers could still have Nolan Ryan in his prime and I would still be skeptical of their chances.

Seattle Mariners

With Ichiro at the top, the Mariners should score runs as long as Adrian Beltre bounces back and Richie Sexson holds true to form. Young phenom Felix Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn and Jamie Moyer will give the M’s plenty of chances to win, and there are a few promising arms such as Joel Pineiro, Jesse Foppert, Gil Meche, Rafael Soriano and Clint Nageotte that could step up and add much-needed stability in both the rotation and bullpen. There is also improved depth in the outfield with the pickups of Carl Everett and Matt Lawton. In other words, if a few things go right the Mariners could be significantly better in 2006, although they really have nowhere to go but up.

AL MVP-Eric Chavez, Athletics

This is the year that Chavez finally puts it all together. He’s at an age (28) where good players often become great ones, and his season will be similar to a couple of third basemen that have won the award in the last decade, Ken Caminiti and Chipper Jones. Both Caminiti and Jones lost the World Series the years they won the award (1996 and 1999 respectively).

AL Cy Young-Johan Santana, Twins

Santana is the best pitcher in the league right now, and at his age he could be for years to come. A more balanced offense will help him and the entire team notch more W’s, which is all that kept Johan from winning the Cy last year.

AL Rookie of the Year-Brian Anderson, White Sox

White Sox teammate Bobby Jenks is actually still eligible for the award since he only tossed 39 innings a year ago, Anderson will more than prove that he was worth moving Aaron Rowand this upcoming season. Keep an eye on Kendry Morales if the Angels need help at 1B and/or DH, a pair of Indians arms in Jeremy Sowers and Fausto Carmona, Twins outfielder Jason Kubel as he bounces back from injury and the Red Sox’ Dustin Pedroia if he’s able to squeeze in some time at shortstop.

AL Manager of the Year-Ken Macha, Athletics

The A’s may win their division on the final weekend of the season, and when you see my pennant prediction below you’ll know why Macha gets the nod. He would receive all of the credit in the world just like Ozzie Guillen did a year ago if he takes the A’s to the World Series.

AL Wild Card-Minnesota Twins

The Twins bounce back this year on the strength of Johan Santana and the emergence of sluggers Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. The Red Sox had a little too much movement, both on the field and in the front office, and likely will suffer some (minor) growing pains because of that. Just enough for a team like the Twins to sneak ahead in the standings.

AL Pennant- Oakland Athletics

Coinciding with Chavez’s breakout season, this is the year the A’s finally beat the Yankees in the playoffs. Will that momentum carry them to win it all…? I will offer my World Series prediction next week as I complete my predictions with an overview of the National League.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.