Yesterday, Devin gave us his preview of the National League heading into the 2009 season. Today, we'll take a look at the American League as we head into the start of the regular season, which begins on Sunday night. The AL offered up some surprises last year, most particularly, the emergence of the Tampa Bay Rays was the dominant story of the 2008 MLB season.

As with Devin's preview, this is just a general overview of each of the teams, nothing too in depth. My personal predictions are at the end of the article and if you happen to decide to pull a Pete Rose and head to Vegas, make sure you send me my cut.

AL EAST:

Tampa Bay Rays - The Rays were the talk of last season as they came out of nowhere to end up representing the American League in the World Series. They fell a little short of winning it all, but most of the same roster returns along with a few additions. Most notably, Pat Burrell comes over from the team that defeated them for the championship. Burrell will DH for the Rays after hitting 33 HRs and driving in 86 runs last year in Philly. Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria hopes to avoid a sophomore jinx and take Tampa back to the postseason.

Boston Red Sox - The Red Sox return pretty much the exact same roster that took those Tampa Rays to 7 games in the 2008 ALCS after an offseason suprisingly void of moves. Their starting rotation one of the more solid lineups in MLB as they bring a 1-5 of Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester, Wakefield, and Brad Penny. Add in closer Jonathon Papelbon and the only possible question mark for the Sox bullpen is their middle relief. The AL East will be a battle again this year and Boston will contend as has become the norm over the past several years.

New York Yankees - The Yankees apparently didn't enjoy missing the postseason for the first time in 14 years. That combined with opening a new stadium this year contributed to the Yankees opening up the bottomless wallet for the two biggest free agents on the market this offseason. C.C. Sabathia and Mark Texiera are now significantly wealthier and ready to don the pinstripes this season. Those two will need to make an impact right off the bat as the Yankees look to move past an offseason focused on Alex Rodriguez admitted steroid use, coupled with a hip injury which will keep him out of the lineup until May at the least. Like the Red Sox, the Yankees have plenty of starting pitching and perhaps the best closer ever, but their middle relief remains a question mark.

Toronto Blue Jays - The Blue Jays finished 11 games back in the division last season and didn't do much to improve themselves in the offseason either. They lost starting pitcher A.J. Burnett and added no significant acquisitions at all. While Toronto did allow the fewest runs in the MLB last year, they'll continue to have trouble scoring runs as well. Roy Halladay is a perrenial Cy Young candidate, but he can't do it alone. Standing pat will keep the Blue Jays sitting in the 4 hole in this division.

Baltimore Orioles - Quick, everybody that isn't an Orioles fan, name me 3 players off their roster. Baltimore turned over a large number of players from their roster in this offseason, problem is, the new names aren't anymore familiar than the old ones. The worst starting pitching in the AL, has been hopefully bolstered by bringing in Koji Uehara from Japan, but on the brightside, you can't get any worse than last. Baltimore's elevator only has one button on it, and it's marked B for basement.

AL CENTRAL:

Chicago White Sox - The Central's defending champs have given their roster a bit of a facelift heading into 2009, particularly in the pitching department. Gone is Javier Vazquez from the rotation, replaced by the aging Bartolo Colon, who started only 7 games last year for Boston. Veterans Joe Thome, A.J. Pierzynski, and Paul Konerko hope to lead the offense to a repeat postseason appearance, but Chicago will likely struggle to get as many wins as they enjoyed last year.

Minnesota Twins - Minnesota missed the playoffs by the slimmest of margins last year, losing a tiebreaking 163rd game against the White Sox to determine the division winner. The Twins expect to remain in the hunt this season. They made few moves in the offseason, but adequately filled holes, including bringing over Joe Crede from Chicago to play 3rd base as well as adding Luis Ayala to the bullpen to replace Dennys Reyes. The Twins have one of the best young rotations around if they can stay healthy and perform up to their capabilities, with Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano as the anchors. I think they have what it takes to move past Chicago to the top of the division in 2009.

Cleveland Indians - Cleveland struggled with injuries last year and despite being one of the favorites to win the Central, only managed a .500 record. The front office brought in a good deal of help to try and get the Indians to bounce back in '09. Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez need to return to the form they are capable of to help Cleveland's offense, but the Indians' biggest concern has to be focused on their pitching. Cliff Lee is a solid ace, but Fausto Carmona needs to produce again along with questionable offseason addition Carl Pavano. Speaking of question marks, the Indians signed Kerry Wood to be their closer this year, and I think it's safe to say that everyone is quite aware of his injury history. If things fall the right way in Cleveland, the Indians will be back in contention for a spot in the playoffs.

Kansas City Royals - Generally speaking, the Royals are the AL's equivalent to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL. They don't retain their talent and they never really compete. They just kind of exist to help fill out everybody else's schedules. The most notable pickup this offseason for the Royals was Coco Crisp in centerfield, which is a bonafied upgrade. Kyle Farnsworth was added to the bullpen and he's shown flashes of brilliance in the past, but tends to be inconsistent more often than not. The Royals' all right handed starting rotation is lead by Gil Meche and Zach Greinke, both of whom had winning records and sub 4.00 ERAs last year. KC won't contend for the postseason, but they may be an improved team from 2008.

Detroit Tigers - Thank God for 2006, otherwise my entire existence as a Tigers fan would be mired in complete misery. After making huge moves in the 2008 offseason, Detroit was predicted to battle for not only the AL Central title, but quite possibley the AL and MLB titles. Instead, they managed to return to form and finish last in their division. Gone are Edgar Renteria, Pudge Rodriguez, and more recently, and surprisingly, Gary Sheffield. Gerald Laird and Adam Everett should be upgrades defensively over Rodriguez and Renteria respectively, and that's where the Tigers need the most help. The team scored runs last year, but their pitching was pretty much awful. Justin Verlander desperately needs to return to form and Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney need to be healthy this year to avoid another disasterous year from the bullpen. The Tigers should certainly improve over last year's poor effort, but it's doubtful they'll be battling for a spot in the playoffs.

AL WEST:

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - The Angels had the best record in baseball last season and were the only team to make it to 100 wins. Despite those facts, the LAAoA (as I like to refer to them) were unceremoniously bounced from the playoffs by the Red Sox in 4 games. Added to that, Mark Texiera and Frankie Rodriguez are now in NY, for the Yankees and Mets respectively. Rodriguez broke the MLB record with 62 saves last season and that's not going to be easily replaced. Brian Fuentes and his 30 saves come over from Colorado to take over the closer role. The Angels also signed Bobby Abreu in an attempt to regain some of the offense lost by Texiera heading East. The best new for the LAAoA is that they won their division by a ridiculous 21 games last season, so they have some breathing room. They'll likely repeast as West champs, but the real question is will they make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

Texas Rangers - The '08 Rangers scored the most runs of any team in the American League. The problem lies in the fact that they gave up the most runs in the Majors. The Rangers seem to be going with the gameplan of coasting through 2009 and waiting for their very deep farm system to payoff in the future. The Rangers have one of the best up and comers in the league in Josh Hamilton, who hit for a .304 avg, 32 HRs, and 130 RBIs in 2008. Texas will be relying on some very young pitching this year to get innings under their belt and build for the future. They will likely be a middle of the road team in the AL, which seems to be fine with management.

Oakland Athletics - GM Billy Beane has altered his normal plan a bit coming into 2009. The A's had the worst offense in the league last season but have provided help in signing Jason Giambi and Matt Holiday in the offseason. Holiday brings his .321 batting average along with 25 HRs and 88 RBIs over from Colorado, but the obvious question everybody has is how will he fare away from Coors Field and some possibly inflated numbers. At any rate, he's a far superior hitter to anybody else Oakland has to offer. The A's pitching is made up of guys you wouldn't exactly consider household names, but they may prove serviceable enough with the upgraded offense.

Seattle Mariners - Seattle brought back a very familiar face in Ken Griffey, Jr. this offseason. Jr. will likely end his career right where it started and if healthy, should provide a decent pop to the offense alongside fellow offseason pickup Russell Branyan. Several of the Mariners big name players are in contract season, which might help them boost their performances, though it's questionable where it'll leave Seattle next year. Adrian Beltre, Erik Bedard, and reliever Miguel Batista will all be playing for bigger paydays in 2010. The Mariners should improve on their 61-101 performance from last year, but will still be floundering near the bottom of the American League.

Predictions:
AL East - New York Yankees
AL Central - Minnesota Twins
AL West - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Wild Card - Tampa Bay Rays

First Round: Yankees over Twins
First Round: Rays over Angels

AL Champion: Tampa Bay Rays

--We’ll be posting our picks round by round for the NHL playoffs and encourage you to participate as well. Email either of us with your picks, or leave them in the comment section prior to the start of the first series and we will also post your results along with ours. This will be done on a round by round basis and the full rules and details will be posted at season's end.

We’ll also be doing the same thing with the NBA playoffs, so if anybody is interested, the same rules will apply.

We also have a public group at ESPN.com for “Streak for the Cash” and invite anybody and everybody to join. You can join right here.--