By Rob Vinciletti In this segment we will give a brief preview of this years contenders in the American League as we head into the final 2 weeks of the Regular season and asses each teams chances moving forward. New York Yankees The New York Yankees are getting a strong challenge from the Baltimore Orioles to get in the AL East pennant race,this will be the first winning season in the last 16 for Baltimore and the Yankees will not be able to shake loose. The two teams have been throwing the AL East pennant back and forth with the Yankees currently holding on to it. The Yanks were slumping in August, largely due to injuries catching up to them. Now the they have Sabathia, Pettite and A-Rod back and may wear down the Orioles late. The Yankees were the favorites to go all the way to the World Series this year, but now it appears things have evened out and they do not seem the obvious choice they have been in previous years. Still they are dangerous. Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are young and hungry. Many were ready to write the Orioles off all season long, but Baltimore is like the Energizer Bunny, they keep going and going. Right now, the Orioles are matching the Yankees on a daily basis in what looks like a classic stretch drive too se who comes in first in the standings. If the Orioles can continue to play with poise and keep getting timely hitting and top pitching performances from some of their underrated talent, they have an excellent chance to unseat the Yankees at the top of the division. Chicago White Sox The White Sox and Detroit are in a similar battler as New York and Baltimore as the A.L. Central appears headed to go down to the wire. Chicago wasn’t expected to do much with new Manager Robin Ventura at the helm. However they have stuck it out all year and continue to come up clutch in most areas of the games. With a solid bullpen, when they get the lead late their almost impossible to beat. Detroit Tigers The Tigers were expected to run away and hide this season in the A.L Central. However things have not worked out that way, as they are battling tooth and nail with Chicago to win the division. While Detroit has perhaps the most powerful lineup in the League, they are plagued by their team defense which has caused them several times this season and has given some of their pitchers fits. Should things stay real tight, it would be no surprise to Staff ace Justin Verlander make a start or two on 3 days rest to maximize his innings. Stay tuned this division gets interesting. Texas Rangers The Rangers have a nice little cushion AL West this year, but it will not be the runaway win that it has been the past two years. The Rangers have been inconsistent on offense all season long, and continue to be kept on edge by the surging Oakland A’s for the AL West pennant. Still, the Rangers appear to be a slight favorite to get to the World Series this year as they have a solid lineup and enough pitching to make a deep run in the post season Oakland Athletics The Oakland A’s came out of nowhere this season and while they may fall just short of Winning the A.L. West they appear to have the wild card spot and could be a tough out in the playoffs.Oakland has a solid pitching staff and a better offense than we have seen in recent years But Oakland does not have the lights out bullpen closer that it needs to be considered a real World Series contender. In Closing I hope you enjoyed this piece and the coming postseason In Major League Baseball, as well as all the Pro and College Football. Rob Vinciletti is the Founder of Golden Contender Sports. He is tearing up bases once again this season and ranked at or near the top of all the leader boards with his exclusive Diamond cutter systems. In football Rob has Produced winning results in both Pro and College football in each of the last three seasons. This season Rob has started out where he left off in football starting off red hot. You can check back daily to receive free picks from Rob and get an additional free play on Monday nights on The Bandbox Sports talk show at 7:05 eastern. Listen online at 88.9 wsia.fm. Best of luck to all as we move closer to another big MLB Post season. RV
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