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| Pinocchio better watch his back instead of his nose |
Should Win: Conventional wisdom holds that the Houston
Astros will be a mess in the wake of the sign-stealing controversy. To be
sure, so many teams will be gunning for the Astros that their hitters might want to wear body armor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For all of that they are still the
class of the AL West. They lost Cole to the Yankees, but no other team in their
division has three hurlers who can match Verlander, Grienke, and McCullers. If
Peacock finds his groove, fuggetaboutit.
In Brantley, Reddick, and Springer the Astros also have the
division’s top outfield. Altuve will probably regress now he doesn’t know what
pitches are coming, but Bregman remains unfazed and Correa is a superb player.
More conventional wisdom BS says the Los Angeles Angels
will challenge the Astros now that they’ve added Rendon’s bat to pack the
middle of the order around Trout and Simmons. Nonsense! They still have one of
the worst pitching staffs in all of MLB. When you rely on guys like Teheran
(10-11), Heaney (4-6), Saurez (2-6), and Bundy (7-14), those dogs won’t hunt.
The Oakland A’s are my dark horse, especially
if Manea recovers from his injuries. Fiers was a good pickup. Oakland has a way
of manufacturing good pitchers that fly under the radar. Plus, a lineup with
Chapman, Siemen, Olson, Kris Davis, and Canha will be productive.
Keep your eyes peeled for the Texas Rangers, who are
methodically sending dead wood to the chipper. They picked up Kluber, and are just a few pieces
short of making some noise.
The Seattle Mariners, as usual, are a mess. I’ve
given up trying to figure out what plan, if any, is at work in the minds of a
management staff whose heads are pointier than the Space Needle.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1.
Houston
2.
Oakland
3.
Los Angeles
4.
Texas
5.
Seattle
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