East
1 New York Yankees Someone has to win this tightly packed division of flawed teams, so why not these guys? No one drove a stake through Alex Rodriguez's heart, Mark Teixeira is eating fish and veggies, Cy Young Award candidate Masahiro Tanaka's arm seems OK, and they have a killer bullpen.
2 Baltimore Orioles The defending division champs let Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis go. Genius manager Buck Showalter still gets this cocky bunch to second.
3 Toronto Blue Jays Pitching is too young and too old, but the Jays will bash their way into contention. Russell Martin and Josh Donaldson join Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista as chief intimidators.
4 Boston Red Sox The Sox totally fixed their offence, but Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and all the king's horses and all the king's men aren't enough. They bought lottery tickets to fill their rotation and left the bullpen to rot.
5 Tampa Bay Rays Small-market reality catches up to the Rays. Even analytics and departed manager Joe Maddon's sleight of hand couldn't have fixed a sorry offence and injuries to pitchers Matt Moore and Alex Cobb.
Central
1 Cleveland Indians It's their time. Best-kept secret in baseball. People still say "who?" about Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, but No 2 Carlos Carrasco might be better. Another unknown, outfielder Michael Brantley, is an MVP candidate.
2 Chicago White Sox Drink the Kool-Aid. Jeff Samardzija behind ace Chris Sale is huge. Pick-up David Robertson is the closer. Newcomers Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche pad the offence. It's not just hot air in the Windy City.
3 Detroit Tigers Max Scherzer was the difference in this formerly mediocre division, but the Tigers blew it by letting him go. Fans will wince every time fragile oldsters Miguel Cabrera or Victor Martinez take an awkward swing.
4 Kansas City Royals Nice, magical 2014. Just how did that happen again? Defence, bullpen, clutch hitting? Two years in a row seems a little much.
5 Minnesota TwinsWest
1 Seattle Mariners Add enough big pieces – hello, Mr Cruz – and eventually you have a winner, yes? How can Felix Hernandez not be a play-off pitcher? How can all those young prospects not morph into a playoff team?
2 Los Angeles Angels Love their hitters, love Mike Trout. Don't love the pitchers. If Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker were, indeed, overachievers in 2014, the Angels will struggle to win a wild card.
3 Houston Astros A winning record would mean the freshmen are ahead of schedule. Collin McHugh and George Springer join Jose Altuve as all-stars? Don't laugh. Yet.
4 Oakland Athletics Josh Donaldson, traded away. Billy Beane's track record says he doesn't have to explain. But you know those Hollywood stars who get one too many face lifts? Eventually, one of Beane's teams is going to look just that repulsive.
5 Texas Rangers Losing Yu Darvish for the year is just one problem. An outfield with no pop is another. Did we mention retread starters? And that bullpen. Yikes.
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