1. Detroit Tigers
2013 record: 93-69 (First place. Won ALDS vs. Oakland, lost ALCS vs. Boston.)
Offseason grade: D
Other than the bullpen, the Tigers took a hit in every aspect this winter. The deep rotation is a little less deep; the powerful lineup quite a bit less powerful. Even their defense suffered when Jose Iglesias went down in spring training. Still, they have two of the best pitchers in baseball, they have the best hitter in the game, and they get to play the White Sox and Twins a bunch of times. They'll be OK.
2. Kansas City Royals
2013 record: 86-76 (Third place)
Offseason grade: B
The Royals were just a couple good players away from being a playoff team last year. This winter they picked up Omar Infante, Nori Aoki, and Danny Valencia- no superstars, but good players who will replace bad ones. Of course they're replacing Ervin Santana with Jason Vargas, so they'll need a young guy or two to step up in the rotation. We'll have to wait till part 7 of this series to see how it shakes out, but I can say right now it wouldn't shock me to see the Royals take a Wild Card spot. If everything breaks right, they could even win the division.
3. Cleveland Indians
2013 record: 92-70 (Second place. Lost Wild Card game to Tampa Bay.)
Offseason grade: F-
It was a good year for Cleveland last year as they made the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Apparently the additions of Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn a year ago were the last parts of the plan, because it was a quiet winter. Now the plan is for young stud Danny Salazar and former prospect Carlos Carrasco to take the places of departed free agent pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir. If Cleveland can repeat last year's success after that, it'll be Terry Francona's greatest accomplishment. I doubt they'll be much better than .500.
4. Chicago White Sox
2013 record: 63-99 (Fifth place)
Offseason grade: A
Rick Hahn has begun the difficult task of assembling the core of the next good White Sox team from the remnants of Kenny Williams's all-in-every-year reign. In Adam Eaton, Avisail Garcia, Jose Abreu, and Matt Davidson, Hahn's added some significant major league-ready talent. The lineup should be better, younger, and cheaper than it's been in quite some time. The pitching staff after Chris Sale is a tire fire that seems likely to drag this team to another dismal season, but I still love the long-overdue youthanizing. And hey, if everything goes wrong, back-to-back top five picks!
5. Minnesota Twins
2013 record: 66-96 (Fourth place)
Offseason grade: B-
The lineup is Joe Mauer and a bunch of whatever, and the rotation needed the additions of Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes just to get to mediocre. Everyone knows there's lots of help coming from the minors, but it's not getting here in 2014 (Thanks for getting injured, Miguel Sano!). The majors will remain a total mess for another year.
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