00:00American League action here. The best teams were the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees in the same
00:05division in the American League East, both with 94 wins here.
00:08The Guardians won the Central with 88 victories just over the Tigers, who finished with 87.
00:13And what a crazy comeback there for the Guardians.
00:15And then you had in the West, it was the Seattle Mariners with 90 wins, followed by the Houston Astros
00:19at 87.
00:20Tom, I want to start with the American League East, which was sensational last year.
00:24The Blue Jays, 94 victories. The Yankees, 94 victories. And it took a four-game win streak for Toronto to
00:30hold them off.
00:30Because why? The Yankees closed the season with an eight-game win streak here, followed by the Sox with 89
00:36victories here.
00:36And then the Rays and the Baltimore Orioles. I loved the American League East, and it was the Toronto Blue
00:41Jays.
00:41Slightly better by the tiebreaker when it was all said and done.
00:44Right. So, you know, an initial view for this season would be the top two are the same, not sure
00:52which order.
00:53Red Sox, a little bit lower. Orioles, a good amount higher.
00:57There's enough talent on the Orioles that they're going to be in for a bounce-back season.
01:01They're still dealing with injuries now to start the year as they were last year.
01:04But improving the pitching was a big issue for me.
01:08And it's something they did a little bit in the offseason.
01:10I don't love the idea that they traded away Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels.
01:14I know he didn't pitch for them last year just due to the injuries that he had.
01:17But he's still one of their top pitching prospects and one of the top pitching prospects dating back a few
01:22years.
01:22I would like to see them just give it a go with him for a couple years to see what
01:26they could get out of him.
01:28You know, we talked about the additions and subtractions for a lot of these teams.
01:31And we'll do that as we approach these next five weeks, Donnie, going through the major moves.
01:35But what the Red Sox have done this season really hasn't moved the needle for me.
01:40I think they'll be over 500.
01:42I think they'll be in the mix for a wild card.
01:44But there's just not enough impact.
01:46And they're relying on a lot of young talent all to step up at the same time to be that
01:51difference maker.
01:52I just don't know if they're there yet.
01:53A couple more years, they could be there.
01:55Just not this year.
01:57I love it.
01:57I think pound for pound, the best division in Major League Baseball.
01:59And you're talking about the Jays, the Yankees, and the Red Sox absolutely doing damage.
02:02And then the Orioles trying to get better.
02:04And then the Rays are always the Rays right there.
02:06Fantastic.
02:07Fantastic 2026 coming up.
02:08And as Tom pointed out, we're going to have shows where we go team by team.
02:10Additions and subtractions.
02:12What we think of the lineups.
02:12We've got plenty of time.
02:13We don't have to rush anything.
02:15Central Division, the Guardians.
02:17What an unbelievable finish.
02:18When it looked like the Tigers were shoe-ins at this point.
02:20You had a 2-8 finish for the Tigers down the stretch.
02:23And a 7-3 finish for the Guardians to reclaim that division here.
02:26Guardians, Tigers, Royals, Twins.
02:28And then those White Sox at 60 victories down at the bottom.
02:33When it comes to this division, Tigers should have won it last year.
02:37Right?
02:37We know that.
02:38And there was a point.
02:39I remember in August doing a show last year.
02:41I think the Tigers were like minus 15,000 to win the division when they had a 10-game lead
02:46or whatever it was.
02:47And obviously, credit to the Guardians for coming back and really just stringing together all those wins to end the
02:53season in September.
02:54Fantastic from them.
02:55You know, Tigers, a little bit of a clash for them.
02:57They obviously still made the postseason.
02:59They still won and moved on.
03:01Twins are going to be bad this year.
03:02I think that I was very low on the Twins last year.
03:05I think they were the favorite to win the AL Central last year.
03:09And I was just completely out on the Twins.
03:11They were devoid of talent.
03:12It is going to be much of the same this year.
03:14It's just not a properly run organization.
03:16Out on them.
03:17Royals are a team I want to be high on, Donnie.
03:19Because I like their lineup.
03:21I want to be able to consistently trust Bobby Witt, Garcia, Vinny P, Sal Perez.
03:27I want to be able to trust those guys from a betting perspective.
03:30So, maybe that's just me being hopeful.
03:31But then the White Sox, they made some interesting moves.
03:33You know, bringing over Murakami is something that we'll talk about.
03:36But a lot of power with him.
03:37And I think they'll at least be fun this year.
03:39Just not be as bad as last year.
03:41And they can at least bring some excitement for us.
03:43And by the way, Tom points out, getting plenty of time to lead up to it.
03:46Changes made not only to jerseys and teams, but also to ballparks themselves.
03:49Kansas City, Tom, bringing those field fences in just a little bit.
03:53Love to see it in one of the tougher ballparks to hit in.
03:56The West last year was ruled by the Seattle Mariners.
03:5890 wins.
03:59They won that division.
04:00And by the way, in the West, the only team to make the playoffs, it was the Mariners.
04:03Houston, always in the playoffs.
04:0587 and 75, left out.
04:07Followed by the Rangers, who were 500, who just never could get off the shot.
04:10And too many injuries last year.
04:12The A's 76 wins.
04:13And then the Angels there, pulling up the rear at 72.
04:16Competitive division.
04:16Let's see if Houston can maybe get back on top this year.
04:20Not Houston, but Texas is the team that I'm looking back initially.
04:25Love them bringing in McKenzie Gore.
04:27I love the rotation that they have between DeGrom, Eovaldi, McKenzie Gore, Kumar Rocker, and Jack Leiter.
04:34I think none of those players are going to be a pure number one ace.
04:37It's not DeGrom anymore.
04:39McKenzie Gore could eventually get there in his career.
04:41But you have a lot of guys that are essentially two or three starters in rotations.
04:45And that brings just a sturdy level of consistency.
04:48So give me the Rangers this year, the athletics for that lineup in that ballpark, Donnie, and I'm low on
04:53the Astros.
04:54That's where I'm looking for the AL West.
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