In the AL East, there are five teams in total. That includes the famous New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox who are two of the most historic teams in baseball history. Other competitors in the division include the Toronto Blue Jays of Canada, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Baltimore Orioles. Typically, this is considered one of the toughest divisions in MLB and is hotly contested by two or three organizations each season.

There are also five clubs in the AL Central, which is often considered a weak division. Calling this division home are the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, and Kansas City Royals. Unfortunately, the Royals are considered one of the most lackluster teams in the sport. On the other hand, the other teams have had relative success in the last few years.

Finally, the AL West is comprised of only four teams, which include the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners. This division is commonly contested by the Angels and Rangers. The latter team went to the 2011 World Series but lost to the NL Central St. Louis Cardinals. In most cases, this is seen as a mildly competitive division relative to the rest of them.

To date, the American League has won less All-Star Games but more World Series Titles than the older National League. This is often considered a hitter’s league while the NL is considered a pitcher’s league, remember you can see the latest football scores here. That is because baseball parks in this one are often more friendly for hitters and vice versa for the other one. Either way, the success of these teams cannot be denied, especially since the Yankees have won 27 championships. Recently though, the NL has been winning a lot of World Series titles.

Brandon McCarthy should be the favorite for the fifth spot with Harden unable to compete. He has the best track record and his stuff fits well into the A’s philosophy. Geren is not tipping his hand on the subject though.

Dallas Braden, Trevor Cahill, and Gio Gonzalez all stand to gain from solid years in 2010, and if southpaw Brett Anderson finds his

stride and stays on the field, he should find success with the best double play combination in the game behind him.

Ellis and Pennington do not get the credit they deserve while playing in spacious and mostly empty Oakland coliseum. Kevin Kouzmanoff and slick fielder Daric Barton round out the corner spots of a more than capable infield. Coco Crisp and David DeJesus can flat out play and will more than make up for Josh Willingham in left.

The Bullpen may be tested if Bailey receives bad news, and strangely, none of the top ten A’s prospects are pitchers. Brian Fuentes may need to step into the closer role, and he has had mixed results pitching on the west coast.

It’s not quite prime-time in Oakland, but they could be ready next year when prospect Chris Carter bullies his way into the starting line-up and reminds the Oakland faithful of the late 80’s and early 90’s. His tape measure shots will be ringing off the facades and marking the empty seats for years to come.

C.C. Sabithia is the unquestioned ace of the staff, and came into spring training in the best shape of his life. A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes have been outstanding at times, but have been inconsistent. That leaves three pitchers to contend for the remaining two spots. The Yankees hope Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre, or the under-achieving c can successfully handle the starting duties.

And so the Yankees knew exactly what they had to do to improve themselves for 2011: sign Cliff Lee. The Yankees went hard for the ace lefty, offering him a $132 million contract over 6 years as well as a $16 million player option for the 7th season. Although this was the best offer on the table, Cliff Lee shocked the baseball world by signing a smaller deal to return to the Phillies.

This bombshell left the Yankees in an unusual position. For one of the few times in recent memory, the Yankees were thwarted in their attempt to sign a player they coveted. But it also left them with a lot of excess cash to spend. They used it to resign franchise shortstop Derek Jeter and ace closer Mariano Rivera. They also signed the best free agent relief pitcher on the market, Rafael Soriano, to set up Rivera in 2011. With the inability to improve their starting rotation, the Yankees decided instead to improve the relief pitching staff to help out the starters who may not be able to log as many innings as in past years.

Although the pitching may be a question mark, there is no question that the Yankees will still have one of the best offenses in baseball next year. Brett Gardner has thrived in the lead-off spot, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira are big power threats in the middle of the lineup, and Robinson Cano showed himself to be one of the best all-around players in the game last year.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, the Red Sox have improved significantly for 2011 with the acquisitions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. This has made the Red Sox the early favorite for the 2011 AL East crown. But with the amount of talent wearing pinstripes, they should be among the league leaders all season long. And even if they can’t overtake the Red Sox, they could very well be in line for a wild card birth.

The Reds were able to make some key offseason moves as well. They signed veteran shortstop and proven Big League winner Edgar Renteria. Renteria can be a good table setter or he can hit a clutch home run in a big gime. The signing of Jeremy Hermida will bring the Reds some needed pop off of the bench.

It will be fun to see what Arodlis Chapman can do with an entire season in Major League Baseball as opposed to having to spend a portion of the season in the minor leagues. The Reds also want Travis Wood to continue his progress as a starter. The Reds will need to pitch like he did on the road last year against the St, Louis Cardinals if they want to be able to stay competitive in the NL Central. The question of whether Scott Rolen can actually stay healthy for a full season is something that happens to come to mind.

The Reds bullpen did blow some games against the bottom teams in the NL Central such as the Pittsburgh Pirates. The holes in the bullpen really have not be addressed. There is still plenty of time in the offseason to truly address this. There are a lot of people who have accused Dusty Baker of sticking with younger starters for too long in a given game and he really doesn’t want to fall victim to such a criticism again. Bronson Arroyo is someone who can anchor that staff when necessary.

Okajima became a free agent in early December when Boston didn’t get him to sign a new deal. His contract last year was worth 2.75 million. Boston wants him to compete with in the rotation with Andrew Miller, Rich Hill, Lenny DiNardo and Felix Doubront during spring training for a bullpen job.

Okajima had issues during 2010. Having a 3.06 earned run average within his 254 career relief appearances, having 16 wins and eight losses, the red sox wants him to come back to previous form as he did during his final 13 innings allowing only two earned runs.

During the 2010 season his walk rates significantly increased, while the strikeout rate decreased. He has an opportunity to become Boston’s best left handed reliever, but I wouldn’t count on him to be a significant fantasy player this coming season.

As always Boston tends to re-stock their bullpen, I would expect a few more moves before the preseason games begin.

The Red Sox last year were seconds overall in runs at 818, sixth overall in batting average at 0.268, third overall on base at 0.339 and second overall in slugging percentage at 0.451.

They were also 22nd overall in era ads 4.19, 13th overall in quality starts at 89, ninth overall the BAA at 2.53 and 17th overall with a whip of 1.36.

Both of these teams are desperate for a win right now. Both teams are coming off three game losing streaks, and they both rank at the very bottom of their division. These teams are very evenly matched, and despite the poor records this should be an intense match up as both of them try to get back on track.

Portland has suffered a total break down in all phases. They have trouble scoring, and they have trouble stopping other teams at the basket, and baseline alike. They haven’t posed any kind of serious threat, and on a whole have looked confused and disjointed as a team. There are no real stand out stars on this team, but as they showed early on in the season, if everyone comes together, and plays as a whole unit they can be a very good, and very dangerous squad.

The big problem is that they have not been doing that much lately. This is a team that simply can bring things together right now, and the one thing they have going for them in this match up is that the Timberwolves are suffering from many of the same problems.

Minnesota may have a slight edge going in to this match up as Michael Beasley is a much better shooter than anyone Portland can put onto the court. However the Timberwolves suffer from the same problem as Portland, they can’t play as a team. They need more help from every section of their team. Beasley may be a top notch shooter, but he’s no Kobe Bryant, the kind of guy who can really carry a team when times get tough. As long as Minnesota continues to try and lean on him, they will continue to lose.

Both of these teams need to get their offenses going. Neither one fields a spectacular defense, and both tend to lose when the points stay low. Going out gunning is going to be the best chance either team has of winning, and in a shoot out the number favor Minnesota.

Portland can from time to time scrape up some semblance of defense, and they will need every bit that they can muster against this division rival.

This is a game about rising from the ashes, something both teams need to do. While both teams are struggling, the Northwest division remains wide open for the first team that can get on track. The road to redemption for these two teams starts on Friday.

The winner of this one will have a long road back to the top, but this is a division that remains wide open, with no truly dominant team sitting at the top.

Wanting to steer clear of a repeat, Phoenix will benefit from Nash’s come back from a 1 game absence Saturday evening versus Charlotte.

Phoenix (6-6) has dropped the 1st 2 games on its 4 game bachelors party in uneven style, pursuing Wednesday’s 123-96 defeat vs. the Heat having a 105-89 defeat at the Magic on Thursday, meanwhile Nash was on the sidelines for the first time this year having a sore groin.

Not having him, Phoenix dropped behind by as much as thirty-two prior to Orlando emptying all their reserves on the floor.

A long period of time with out Nash may likely result in the year appearing to be considerably longer. As he rejoined the club in 2004-20505, the Suns are 9-18 when Nash is sidelined and not playing in the game, & 329-148 when he’s on the court.

Luckily for the Suns, coach Alvin Gentry stated his star point guard most likely could have participated, however there was clearly absolutely no rationale to press the damage. Nash, who had been healthy and balanced enough to do shooting & mild jogging briefly prior to Thursday’s matchup, is predicted to stay the starting 5 to play the Bobcats.

Phoenix have discovered it remarkably tough to play versus Charlotte (4-8) lately. Following beating them the 1st 8 matchups involving the clubs they have lost 3 of the previous 4, such as their previous 2 trips to the Bobcats & a sweep of previous year’s 2 matchup set.

In times strangely much like its present one, the Suns dropped to 0-3 on a 4 game trip having a 125-99 defeat to Charlotte on January. 16th, when the Bobcats constrained Nash to 5 points & 5 dishes. The Suns, who furthermore dropped the last game of that visit on the Bobcat’s home floor, haven’t lost 3 consecutively since.

They will finish up their present visit Monday at Houston playing the Rockets.

Charlotte had victories in 3 of 4 prior to a 95-87 defeat Friday in American Airlines Arena vs the Heat. Stephen Jackson put in a Bobcats’ high thirty points, including a 3 point shot having 4:56 left which gave the Bobcats, who had been behind by as much as twenty-one within the 2nd quarter, a brief lead.

Jackson additionally put in 30 during the Bobcat’s 114-109 extra time victory on the Suns home court on January 26th to finish the season series sweep.

Austin Jackson, the 23-year-old centerfielder of the Detroit Tigers ended the season batting .293. He became only the fourth Major League player in history to collect 180 hits, score 100 runs, bang out 30 doubles and 10 triples, and steal 27 bases. Jackson also displayed some of the best defensive play of any outfielder in the American League.

Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves was the named the starting rightfielder a few months into the season. The 21-year-old rewarded his team’s confidence by batting .277 and belting 18 home runs. He also drove in 77 runs. He hit .311 with runners in scoring position and showed a rare patience for a rookie by walking 91 times.

Buster Posey of the World Champion San Francisco Giants was called up from the minors near the end of May. Bosey went on hitting tear in July batting .417 with seven homers, 24 RBI’s, and 20 runs scored. He ended the season hitting .305 with 18 homers and 67 runs batted in. Posey also has a good eye around the plate and makes the opposing pitcher work. His abilities as a catcher are vast. He has a rifle of an arm and a real knack for calling a game. His natural maturity should bode well in the future.

With experience and a deeper understanding of the game, Jackson, Heyward and Posey should be even better in 2011.