Who are the 6 best teams in the AL, heading into the season?

[NewMarketSean]

I alluded to this in another thread.

The 6 best teams headed into the season are, IMO: NYY, BOS, TBR, DET, TEX and ANA.

A team like the Blue Jays probably deserve to be in the discussion, too.

So out of the best 6 best teams in the AL, 3...maybe 4 of them are in the AL East.

Orioles have to play 72 games against 4 of the best teams in the AL.

Just think on that for a minute.

[Sports Guy]

ESPN's power rankings have 5 AL teams in the top 5.

Now, those are relatively menaingless rankings.

HOWEVER, what it does demonstrate(and it is something shared by many people) is that the AL is freaking loaded.

Even with the second WC team, it is still wrong to say that the Orioles got closer to contention.

BTW, I would agree that those are the 6 best teams but Toronto could easily enter into that discussion.

[Floater]

Yankess, Red Sox, Rays, Tigers, Angels, and Rangers. No particular order. They stand out by far more than any other teams imo.

[NewMarketSean]

ESPN's power rankings have 5 AL teams in the top 5.

Now, those are relatively menaingless rankings.

HOWEVER, what it does demonstrate(and it is something shared by many people) is that the AL is freaking loaded.

Even with the second WC team, it is still wrong to say that the Orioles got closer to contention.

BTW, I would agree that those are the 6 best teams but Toronto could easily enter into that discussion.

I think a team like Boston or Texas could see a slide this year. Then again they could be the team representing the AL in the world series.

[El Gordo]

I would rank them:
LAAA
TBR
DET
TEX
MFY
BOS
I could see TOR passing BOS. I don't think the MFY's will be as good as many expect. The left side of that IF looks really creaky to me, and I am not so sure their rotation will hold up. CC has a lot of innings on that arm. Pettitte? Nova? Hughes? Kuroda? Garcia?. No Price, Moore, Shields, Hellickson, Davis/Neimann/Torres. But better than Bucholtz. Lester, Bard, Aceves, and whatever for Boston.
think we'll see LAA, TEX, DET, TB, with one of: TOR, MFY or BOS, as the second WC.

[Skeletor]

BOS
TB
NYY
LAA
TEX
TOR

I don't think DET is that good, but the Central is terrible so they'll coast into the postseason. They're the fifth best team if they're in the East.

[Frobby]

I think the Blue Jays are better than they were last year, but I think the other three teams may be worse. Overall, I don't think our job in 2012 is any harder than it's been over the last few years since Tampa got good.

By the way, up until 2006 we were playing up to 76 games a year vs. the AL East.

[33rdst]

LAAA
Tigers
Texas
Rays
Boston
Toronto

[Spy Fox]

It will be a major surprise if the five AL playoff teams aren't 5/6 out of LAA, TEX, DET, TB, NYY, and BOS. While the NL appears to be anyone's to win in all three divisions (or at least, there are no teams you can expect to truly be dominant), the AL doesn't look very open at all.

Those six teams mentioned above are pretty clearly the best six in the AL I think and also six of the best seven or eight in MLB.

[TonySoprano]

In no order, TB, NYY, LAA, TEX, DET (which it appears most agree with) and.......TOR, not Pink Hat nation.

[SilentJames]

1) Texas
2) Detroit
3) LA of A
4) New York
5) Boston
6) Tampa Bay


Texas and Detroit are the most complete teams right now. LA of A is right behind them. The three AL east teams are all powerful, but they all have issues. New york is New York but I think if they have to rely on Nova, Hughes and Garcia to round out their rotation for much of the year they are going to feel it. Boston is a mess right now and Bobby V is going to be an immense distraction. You should have heard what, notorious blowhard, Curt Schilling had to say about it. Tampa Bay is great but I think they are going to have trouble scoring runs. They have holes at catcher, first (I think Pena is close to done), SS and RF. I think Scott at DH will continue to be Scott (great until hurt) and at least one writer at the Sporting News agrees with this assessment (though he says the Rays will fail to break .500 this year and that is insane to me)

The Jays are right there at number seven. But as I said in another thread I think the Jays' rotation is weak compared to the Rays' rotation and it will falter down the stretch.

I think Texas wins the World Series

[Slappy]

The 6 best teams headed into the season are, IMO: NYY, BOS, TBR, DET, TEX and ANA.

Hardly any question those should be the top 6 teams.

Better question is: which of those could flop and who would take their place?

If I had to pick one to flop, it would be Boston. Tough division. Really iffy starting staff after the top 2, and weakened the pen by putting Bard in as a starter. A lot of injury prone key players. A new manager with a different philosophy then the one they've relied on for years.

A team that could take their place? What about KC? They finally had a lot of their young hitters step up last year. If they can get the pitching to catch up, that's a pretty weak division. Another team that could be a dark horse is Cleveland. They have the potential to have one of the AL's best pitching staffs.

[MarylandAaron]

The 6 best teams headed into the season are, IMO: NYY, BOS, TBR, DET, TEX and ANA.

Those are exactly the teams i would have there too. The Jays are probably already there, but the results are skewed because they are constantly playing NYY, BOS, and TBR. But as of right now, those are the 6 teams you look at.

[vab]

I alluded to this in another thread.

The 6 best teams headed into the season are, IMO: NYY, BOS, TBR, DET, TEX and ANA.

A team like the Blue Jays probably deserve to be in the discussion, too.

So out of the best 6 best teams in the AL, 3...maybe 4 of them are in the AL East.

Orioles have to play 72 games against 4 of the best teams in the AL.
Just think on that for a minute.

That's why even an improved Orioles club probably won't have much of a change in record this year.

[MarylandAaron]

That's why even an improved Orioles club probably won't have much of a change in record this year.

Exactly right. I personally feel that we're improved, but we could improve and still lose more games than last year due to the AL BEAST.