AL EAST
1. New York Yankees: 107-55
2. Boston Red Sox: 98-64
3. Tampa Bay Rays: 87-75
4. Baltimore Orioles: 75-87
5. Toronto Blue Jays: 65-97
With the New York Yankees and Boston Reds Sox atop the American League East, it is by far the best division in all of baseball. The Yankees picked up this offseason right where they left off after winning a world championship by adding Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez. The Yankees have a great combination of offense and pitching depth that will lead them to yet another AL East title. Not far behind them will be the Boston Red Sox after adding John Lackey to an already potent rotation, and adding more defense in Marco Scutaro, Mike Cameron and Adrian Beltre. Right behind the Yanks and Sox will be the Rays who will look to have a repeat performance of 2008 when they made the playoffs for the first time. They have a very young pitching staff led by James Shields and a very powerful offense led by Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria. Although the Orioles are much improved from last season, it is going to be extremely tough to compete with the big three. The Blue Jays will be the bottom feeders of this division after deciding to go into rebuilding mode when they traded their ace Roy Halladay to the Phillies in the offseason.
AL CENTRAL
1. Minnesota Twins: 88-75
2. Detroit Tigers: 85-77
3. Chicago White Sox: 80-82
4. Cleveland Indians: 75-87
5. Kansas City Royals: 68-94
Each and every season, Minnesota Twins Coach Ron Gardenhire finds ways to get the most out of his players and make the postseason. This season, with the additions of Orlando Hudson, JJ Hardy and Jim Thome, the Twins will most likely repeat as AL Central champs. With two former MVP's hitting in the middle of the order, the offense should not be an issue. The Twins are searching for a way to replace the loss of All-Star closer Joe Nathan. The Detroit Tigers, with young phenom Austin Jackson leading off, and Chicago White Sox will be competing with the Twins all season for the division title, while the Indians and Royals don’t possess what it takes to overcome the three teams ahead of them.
AL WEST
1. Los Angeles Angels: 93-69
2. Texas Rangers: 88-74
3. Seattle Mariners: 82-80
4. Oakland Athletics: 79-83
As usual, the Los Angeles Angels will be the team to beat in the AL West division this season. After losing John Lackey to Boston, the Angels made sure they added another quality arm to replace him in Joel Pineiro. Some would say that the Angels’ rotation is filled with all No. 2 or No. 3 starters with Piniero, Saunders, Weaver Kazmir and Erving Santana. The Angels also added a very consistent bat in Hideki Matsui to hit in between Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu. Look for the Mariners and Rangers to be right behind the Angels the entire way. The Rangers bolstered their team by adding Vladamir Guerrero and Rich Harden, while the Mariners added Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee, Milton Bradley and re-signed Erik Bedard.
NL EAST
1. Philadelphia Phillies: 95-67
2. Atlanta Braves: 86-76
3. New York Mets: 85-77
4. Florida Marlins: 83-79
5. Washington Nationals: 79-83
The NL East is another jam-packed division that should be competitive all season. The Phillies are coming off a disappointing finish at the end of 2009 after losing the World Series to the Yankees. The Phillies wasted no time shaking things up trading away Cliff Lee, who had pitched brilliantly for them down the stretch last season, for arguably the best pitcher in the game in Roy Halladay. Aside from adding Halladay, the Phillies finally were able to add that clear cut No. 2 hitter that they have been missing all these years in Placido Polanco. The Braves will be right behind the Phillies in the East with a very powerful rotation that features young stars Jair Jurjjens and Tommy Hansen along with veterans Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson. The New York Mets are looking to put a disappointing, injury-plagued 2009 season behind them. With the addition of Jason Bay, they will be competitive, but do not have enough pitching to win this division. The surprising story here is the Washington Nationals have a legitimate chance to finishg over .500 this season. The Nats added Jason Marquis, Ivan Rodriguez, Adam Kennedy, and Matt Capps.
NL CENTRAL
1. St Louis Cardinals: 90-72
2. Milwaukee Brewers: 85-77
3. Chicago Cubs: 82-80
4. Cincinnati Reds: 78-84
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: 68-94
6. Houston Astros: 65-97
The St. Louis Cardinals will remain the team to beat in the NL Central in 2010 after re-signing All-Star Matt Holliday. Holliday and Pujols, along with Ryan Ludwick, will team up in the middle of the Cardinals’ batting order and provide a very scary 1-2-3 punch for opposing pitchers. The Brewers will leap frog the Cubies to finish second in this division right behind the Cardinals. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder will lead Milwaukee’s young offense, while Yovani Gallardo and newly acquired Randy Wolf will lead their pitching staff. For the Brewers, young third baseman Casey McGehee will be entering his first full season with the team after a very productive 2009 season. Last year, in 116 games, McGehee hit .301, 16 home runs and 66 RBI. Chasing the Brewers in the Central will be the Chicago Cubs, who doesn'ty currently have enough depth in their starting rotation to win the NL Central.
NL WEST
1. San Francisco Giants: 91-71
2. Los Angeles Dodgers: 89-73
3: Colorado Rockies: 88-74
4. Arizona Diamondbacks: 82-80
5. San Diego Padres: 72-90
The NL West will also be a very competitive division in the National League this season. In 2010, the San Francisco Giants will overtake the Dodgers to the NL West division, led by the pitching of two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. The Giants also added Mark DeRosa, Aubrey Huff and re-signed Benji Molina. Should they choose to bolster their lineup with even more firepower, the Giants have legitimate trade bait in a starter one season removed from throwing a no hitter in Jonathan Sanchez. The Dodgers will finish in a close second to the Giants right in front of the Colorado Rockies due to the fact that they do not have as much depth in their starting rotation. The Diamondbacks will be the most improved team this season in the NL West after they acquired Edwin Jackson from the Detroit Tigers. Jackson will team up with Dan Haren and Brandon Webb to create an extremely strong front end to their rotation. Although they brought in Adam LaRoche, they will not have quite enough offense to compete with the four teams ahead of them.
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MLB NEWS COLUMN 
MLB 2010 SEASON Preview MLB SEASON PREVIEW: Divisional Predictions
MLB 2010 SEASON Preview MLB SEASON PREVIEW: Divisional Predictions
