It in Opening Day Eve, and it seems like everyone under the sun has thoughts on how the 2021 season will play out. The Catch is no exception, so here are our 100% Guaranteed Accurate* American League Predictions:
AL East
- New York Yankees
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Boston Red Sox
- Baltimore Orioles
The Yankees will take the division due to their good pitching and (finally) healthy bats, with the Blue Jays securing one of the Wild Card spots. Hopefully it will be a good race to the end. Tampa will play both teams tough, and if the injury bug hits either the Yanks or Jays, then the Rays will look to jump into the top two. The Red Sox are young and won’t be in the playoff mix, but can play spoiler as the season progresses. The Orioles are rebuilding…again.
AL Central
- Chicago White Sox
- Minnesota Twins
- Kansas City Royals
- Cleveland Baseball Club
- Detroit Tigers
The White Sox are loaded, on both offense and defense, have a Hall of Fame manager, and will win the division. Only a question of how many games ahead they will be come season end. The loss of Eloy Jimenez is tough, but they will make do with a platoon in Left Field. The Twins will stay close for most of the season and will end up in the second Wild Card spot. The Royals will surprise everyone and finish a strong third. They are young and have nothing to lose at this point. Cleveland will regress enormously and it will be painful to watch, I hate to say (since I indeed watch them all of the time). They have good young arms, but a questionable bullpen will give up some leads. They also will be woeful at the plate. Can’t win games if you can’t score runs. The Tigers are also young and hungry, but lack a consistent offense. Watching Miguel Cabrera go for hit number 3,000 and home run number 500 will be the highlight of Detroit’s summer.
AL West
- Los Angeles Angels
- Oakland Athletics
- Houston Astros
- Seattle Mariners
- Texas Rangers
This might finally be the year that the best ballplayer of this generation gets the chance to make an extended run in the playoffs. Yes, the Angels will win the West and Mike Trout will finish Top 2 in the MVP race. The Angels finally have some decent pitching, and we know the offense is solid. If Ohtani can put together a decent season and avoid injury, he is what will put the Angels over the top in Albert Pujols’ final season. The A’s will challenge the Angels all the way, and might even win the division if the Angels lose players to the DL. Matt Chapman will be a presence all season, and the A’s have steady pitching. The Astros will still be tough, but they have lost enough pieces through injury and free agency to cause them to fall back to the pack. The Mariners are young and talented, but will be inconsistent. The Rangers will draw people to see the new ballpark, because the team won’t be doing much.
Playoffs – White Sox over the Yankees for the AL Crown. White Sox lose the World Series to the Dodgers.
*Not really
The Catch 
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