The Detroit Tigers have lost their ace. Mr. Scherzer is going to Washington, where he’ll reportedly earn a massive amount of cash, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, pitching alongside the likes of Stephen Strasburg and fellow former Tiger Doug Fister.
The Tigers already had a contingency plan in place should Scherzer end up departing—David Price. There are even rumblings, via Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, linking Detroit to Price’s old teammate and current free agent, James Shields.
Regardless of what happens with the pursuit of Shields, Detroit will be the favorite to win the American League pennant.
Despite losing Scherzer, the Tigers have retooled. Yoenis Cespedes arrived in the Rick Porcello trade, and his addition gives Detroit the best middle-of-the-order combination in the league with Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez.
Detroit also added starting pitchers Shane Greene and recent All-Star Alfredo Simon to bolster the rotation. Fellow new addition Tom Gorzelanny will serve as the team’s swingman and be part of a significantly improved bullpen. Closer-in-waiting/flamethrower extraordinaire Bruce Rondon is back from injury, while Joe Nathan, Joakim Soria and Ian Krol should all have bounce-back seasons.
Another problem area, the defense, should be a much better unit in 2015. The return of Jose Iglesias coupled with the arrival of Anthony Gose and the addition of Cespedes in the place of Torii Hunter should make the team miles better defensively.
The Field (This subheader also doubles as a moderately clever pun!)
While the Tigers have significantly improved their team, other American League contenders haven’t—at least not on paper. Every single AL playoff team not named Detroit has taken a step back this offseason. The Baltimore Orioles lost Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis and Andrew Miller, while the Kansas City Royals lost Nori Aoki and Billy Butler with Shields likely to follow.
The Oakland Athletics will start 2015 without Josh Donaldson, Jon Lester, Jed Lowrie, Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija with only Ben Zobrist, Butler and Brett Lawrie to show for it. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim acquired a promising young starting pitcher in Andrew Heaney, but the youngster is still developing. He won’t single-handedly make up for the losses of Howie Kendrick and Kevin Jepsen.
Many other AL teams are coming off down years and looking to rebound in 2015, and while a few could make the playoffs, none is a bona fide World Series contender yet.
The Seattle Mariners may be the best of the bunch after only missing the postseason by one game in 2014. The addition of Nelson Cruz is the boost the offense desperately needed, but the team is inexperienced in the postseason. Despite the additions of Seth Smith and Justin Ruggiano, the Mariners are in need of another power-hitting outfielder.
The Chicago White Sox are another strong bet, but they also are inexperienced. Cleveland could also generate hype, but the Indians are still lacking a true front-line starter to pitch behind Corey Kluber.
Like the White Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays made some ambitious moves during the offseason with Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin joining a lineup that includes Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes and Edwin Encarnacion. Despite the additions, the Blue Jays have question marks up the middle and at first base. They could win the East if they figure out those issues, but for now they are still too much of an unknown.
Toronto’s AL East brethren the Tampa Bay Rays will take a step back in 2015 after dealing Zobrist, Yunel Escobar, Wil Myers and Matt Joyce. Two traditional powerhouses, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, will also be much different in 2015.
The Yankees no longer employ Derek Jeter and will once again be stuck with Alex Rodriguez. New York’s roster would have been a shoo-in for the World Series in 2008 with names like Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, Stephen Drew and Mark Teixeira.
But the reality is that it’s not 2008. The Yankees' bullpen will be strong with David Carpenter and Andrew Miller forming a bridge to Dellin Betances. Still, the Yankees simply don’t have enough to win it all next season.
Boston, on the other hand, is a different animal. The team will deploy a potent offense with Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez joining a team that already features Mike Napoli, David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia.
The big question marks are in the rotation, where the Red Sox added Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson to complement the incumbent Joe Kelly and Clay Buchholz. The potential addition of Cole Hamels would change everything, but as it stands, the rotation isn’t up to snuff. Porcello will thrive in Boston but at best is a high-end No. 2.
Fellow potential front-line option Buchholz has been having alternating up-and-down years for the last four seasons, while the remaining trio of Miley, Masterson and Kelly are all coming off relatively down seasons. Simply put, Boston needs starting pitching.
While Seattle, Toronto and both Sox teams will be better in 2015, the Tigers, even without Max Scherzer, are the current favorites to win the American League pennant and return to the World Series.
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