It’s that time of the year again. Spring training starts to wrap up and teams rosters start to take shape for the season. And every team in the MLB, yes even the Mets, have World Series aspirations. As a new season starts, many players start new chapters to their careers by joining new teams. The big name free agents this offseason are now in new homes. Albert Pujols left the world champion Cardinals and headed west to Hollywood to join the Los Angeles Angels. Joining Albert in L.A. is pitcher C.J. Wilson coming over from Texas. Prince Fielder calls Detroit home now with the Tigers. But one of the biggest changes and moves in baseball was the franchise wide makeover by the Marlins. Moving downtown to a brand new shiny Miami home and changing colors was a start to the changes but not the end. Signing SS Jose Reyes, SP Mark Buehrle, and RP Heath Bell to big deals and getting Ozzy Guillen to manage the new look Marlins as they try to get back to the World Series that they have won two times.
Standings
American League
East
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox*
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles
Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Kansas City Royals
West
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Texas Rangers*
3. Oakland Athletics
4. Seattle Mariners
National League
East
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Atlanta Braves*
3. Miami Marlins*
4. Washington Nationals
5. New York Mets
Central
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Chicago Cubs
6. Houston Astros
West
1. San Francisco Giants
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
5. San Diego Padres
Playoffs
American League
Wild Card Game
Red Sox over Rangers
AL Divisional
Angels over Red Sox
Yankees over Tigers
AL Championship
Angels over Yankees
National League
Wild Card
Marlins over Braves
NL Divisional
Giants over Marlins
Phillies over Cardinals
NL Championship
Phillies over Giants
World Series
Angels over Phillies
Awards
AL MVP- Albert Pujols 1B Los Angeles Angels
Other Candidates- Robinson Cano 2B New York Yankees, Prince Fielder 1B Detroit Tigers
AL Cy Young Award- Justin Verlander Detroit Tigers
Other Candidates- CC Sabathia New York Yankees, Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners
NL MVP- Matt Kemp OF Los Angeles Dodgers
Other Candidates- Joey Votto 1B Cincinnati Reds, Justin Upton OF Arizona Diamondbacks
NL Cy Young Award- Cliff Lee Philadelphia Phillies
Other Candidates- Roy Halladay Philadelphia Phillies, Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants
by Andrew Isaac
