Well, seeing the NL is not fully set yet (and if San Diego gets in, they're pitching makes anything possible) jts time to do a quick glance at the AL coming into the playoffs.
Boston: I think they are the biggest non-contender in the AL. There pitching is one man deep, and despite his record (Wins, which has much to do with hitting as him) I am not even sold that he is a top five pitcher on the AL playoff teams. Their hitting, its entirely possible that it could finally get hot, but it still hasn't happened yet for Manny and Ortiz, and even Youkilis has been average of late. Their bullpen is good on paper, but who knows how Gagne or Papelbon will hold up this playoffs, and basically, yeah. They are a no-contender
New York Yankees: Two reasons they won't move on, Bullpen and an unstoppable opponent. Quite frankly, if it was Yankees-Anaheim it would be a tough call seeing how hot the Yankees are, but they are playing a team nearly as hot as them, going against the TWO top pitchers in the entire AL four times possibly, and three of those four with be in Cleveland. And there is no way you are beating C.C Sabathia or Carmona twice out of four games. Plus even Game 3 won't be a given, cause the Yankees will be pitching Clemens or Pettite who could always have a horrible outing. All in all, despite A-Rod the Yankees are not a contender, because you have to have the lead in the 9th to get to Mariano, and who knows if that will happen even once this series.
Anaheim Angels: Not much to say here. A good quality team, who plays smart baseball and has the second best hitter in the playoffs besides A-rod. And they'll beat Boston, but what does it mean... Just the AL East getting dominated, but no one cares about that.
Cleveland Indians: It doesn't matter who they play, NO ONE will even come close to eliminating the Indians. I picked them preseason to win the title, and while there were a few scares along the way, I am more confident now then ever. Really, there is two reasons I am so confident... They have the CY Young Winner, and the CY Young runner up. There is no way you can lose with that. Remember when Arizona won a title with only only Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling... Statistically, both of these guys are statistically better than both of them. This is the best one-two punch in recent playoff history (although I am sure Peavy-Young will get the same statements made about them if they beat the Rocks tonight), and will be untouchable. Add into that a decent hitting lineup with Johnny Peralta, Grady Sizemore, the best Catcher in baseball in Victor Martiniz, Casey Blake (although his errors are a tad bit concerning) and a finally starting to heat up Hafner. How do you beat them? Their middle relief is good, better than most of the playoff AL Teams (specially with how bad Scott Shields has been playing for Anaheim of late) and their closer, while horrible at giving up runs, he lead the league in saves, and did not nearly blow as many as it seemed. All in all, Cleveland will lose around three playoff games TOTAL as they will win 3 out of 4 over Yankees, 4 out of 5 over Anaheim, and 4-5 over the NL joke winner. You heard it here first, Cleveland is the best team easily in the AL.
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