Which Clubs are the Top 5 in the American League at the Moment?
Switching over to the American League, here are the 5 top teams in the American League right now barring any major trades or free agent signings prior to Spring Training starting.
1. Boston Red Sox - The Red Sox are easily the best team in the American League right now and will continue to be a threat throughout all of this coming season. For starters, Boston has a great front office that isn't afraid to make big moves, a deep starting rotation consisting of Rick Porcello, David Price, Chris Sale and many other talented arms, as well as plenty of talent all throughout the organiation at the major and minor league levels. In addition, Boston has a great outfield that is headlined by Andrew Benintendi, who is currently ranked as the 5th best prospect in the entire league, along with Jackie Bradley, Jr. in centerfield and Mookie Betts over in right. The Sox are set to have a tremendous season coming up and look poised to make a deep postseason run in October assuming that everyone stays healthy and everything goes according to plan.
2. Cleveland Indians - Terry Francona & Company would have been ranked first if Boston didn't have the outfield that it has and if they hadn't traded for Chris Sale because Cleveland is that good of a baseball team right now. After losing Carlos Carrassco and Danny Salazar for a majority of the regular season and all of the postseason last year, the Indians will be able to count on them once again this coming season. Add to that Corey Kluber aka the Klubot, who locked down 227 strikeouts last season, the addition of Edwin Encarnacion at DH and first base, Andrew Miller, who just dominated last postseason, and you have a recipe for success. Terry Francona and his entire coaching staff should be proud of themselves for making it as far as they did last season and will be even happier with the way the upcoming season goes for them.
3. Toronto Blue Jays - Right now, Toronto is stacked in the starting pitching department and as we have seen before, even though they acquire players that aren't the most well known, they still have a great impact on the club. That was the case last season with Francisco Liriano as well as J.A. Happ and will once again likely be the situation this year with designated hitter, Kendrys Morales, and outfielder/first baseman, Steve Pearce. Although Toronto has a talented roster, they still have a question mark over in right field with Ezequiel Carrera slated to be the Opening Day starter over in that position, but it appears that the Jays are keeping tabs on Joey Bats and will try to reach an agreement with his camp as soon as possible. In addition, it sounds as though Toronto isn't done revamping it's bullpen either as they plan to add multiple relievers still, depending on how much money they spend for an outfield bat, which will make them an even stronger club.
4. Detroit Tigers - The Motor City is also home to one of the best baseball clubs at the moment and looks to contend for an AL Central crown among a division of teams that includes the rebuilding Chicago White Sox, lackluster Minnesota Twins, fading Kansas City Royals as well as the aforementioned, Cleveland Indians. The Tigers possess a nice starting rotation that includes Michael Fulmer, who had a fantastic year last season, and they also have plenty of offense with five players, who hit at least 20 home runs last year and notched 20 RBI, including: Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, Victor Martinez, Ian Kinsler, and Justin Upton. When the offseason first started, there was talk that Detroit was going to blow everything up, but they took the smarter route this offseason by standing pat and heading into 2017 with virtually the same team as last year. Detroit is in a win-now mode and this coming season should bring them plenty of success.
5. Houston Astros - Depth, depth, depth! That might as well be Houston's slogan as they have a tremendous amount of depth at every position around the field even after adding catcher, Brian McCann, free agent designated hitter, Carlos Beltran, and free agent outfielder, Josh Reddick, earlier this offseason. Add to that a middle infield combo made up of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, the speedy George Springer in the outfield, a bullpen that has a numerous amount of depth, and you can see why the Astros will give the Mariners and Rangers a run for the AL West during this upcoming season. Aside from a starting rotation that lacks a big arm or two to compliment Dallas Keuchel at the top of the rotation as well as some depth, Houston is definitely one of the top 5 teams in the American League currently and will be a club to watch in 2017.
