1910 AL Preseason Predictions
In the previous nine seasons of American League ball, the Red Sox have consistently underperformed my rankings. This season, they are again expected to be neck-and-neck with the Athletics. They certainly have the talent, but I will believe that they can unseat Oakland when I see it. That being said, they did find a way to squeeze another talented outfielder into the lineup by moving
Gavvy Cravath to first base, a position he has very limited experience with. That unfortunately means that
Jake Stahl (.239, 19 HR, 74 RBI) will move to the bench after seven productive seasons for Boston, but this allows the team to get
Harry Hooper (.304, 19 HR, 65 RBI in 335 AB) into the game every day.
Standing in Boston's way though is the four-time defending AL champion Athletics. They have no need to make roster moves, but the one significant change they made was to move
Jack Coombs (4-7, 37 Sv, 1.61 ERA) to the pitching rotation after one very successful season as closer. He will replace
Harry Krause (15-11, 3.79 ERA), who switches roles to closer. The team feels as though this will make them more successful. Other than that, no changes really took place, but then again, they have won 231 games the past two seasons. So, they don't need to reinvent themselves.
The Tigers had a great run last season before the A's broke loose. The Tigers still won 94 games, but finished 16 games off the pace. This season, they have again improved their offense with the addition of
Jay Kirke (7-6-6-3-5 ratings), who will take over at third base. Their biggest weakness has always been pitching and they believe they have improved that unit as well. Rookie
Sailor Stroud (5-6-7 ratings) takes over as the #5 starter, pushing
Ed Willett (12-8, 4.19 ERA) to the bullpen. Other than closer
Wish Egan (6-5, 33 Sv, 2.77 ERA) and setup man
George Suggs (7-3, 2.66 ERA), the bullpen was completely overhauled. In addition to Willett, the team added three talented rookies in middle relievers
Hub Pernoll (6-6-7 ratings) and
Frank Browning (4-7-8 ratings) and long reliever
Bill Lelivelt (3-6-8 ratings). They believe this season's pitching staff could be one of the best they have had. If that is true, the depth of their bench and the quality of their defense will be key factors in their ability to compete with Oakland and Boston for the pennant.
The Yankees also continue to improve their roster. They added rookie
Eddie Foster (6-5-2-6-8 ratings) to play third base and bat second in the lineup. They also feel like they have improved their bullpen with rookies
Ray Fisher (7-6-7 ratings) and
Ray Caldwell (7-6-6 ratings). They could have the best pitching staff in the American League, and their defense is great. However, their offense is still lacking the kind of productivity required to stand up to the mighty A's and Red Sox.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the upgrades made by the Orioles and White Sox this offseason. Baltimore focused on their bullpen with the additions of
Alex Malloy (8-7-6 ratings),
Ray Boyd (8-7-5 ratings),
Roy Mitchell (5-6-7 ratings) and
Farmer Ray (5-6-6 ratings). They also added left fielder
Hub Northern (6-6-4-6-4 ratings) to the lineup to bat third.
Chicago couldn't have had a worse offense than they have had the past several seasons, so any upgrade would be significant. However, they only return three starters from last season. So yes, they have five new starters. The key additions are leadoff man and second baseman
Rollie Zeider (5-4-2-6-7 ratings), #2 hitter and first baseman
Chick Gandil (6-6-3-5-6 ratings) and #5 hitter and centerfielder
Dutch Zwilling (5-5-7-5-3 ratings), who will provide some much needed power support for cleanup hitting veteran shortstop
Dave Brain (.234, 28 HR, 88 RBI). At the bottom of the lineup, the Sox also added rookies
Paul Meloan (5-5-6-5-3) in right field and
Shano Collins (5-6-3-4-5) in left field. Good luck Chicago!
Predicted Standings
(Scale of 1-12)
| Rank | Team | Rotation | Bullpen | Offense | Bench | Speed | Defense | Totals | Grade | Predicted Record |
| 1 | Boston Red Sox | 8 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 9.0 | A | 105 | 57 |
| 2 | Oakland Athletics | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9.0 | A | 104 | 58 |
| 3 | Detroit Tigers | 7 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7.4 | B | 86 | 76 |
| 4 | New York Yankees | 9 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7.2 | B- | 84 | 78 |
| 5 | Minnesota Twins | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 6.3 | C+ | 73 | 89 |
| 6 | Baltimore Orioles | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5.9 | C | 69 | 93 |
| 7 | Cleveland Indians | 8 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5.7 | C- | 66 | 96 |
| 8 | Chicago White Sox | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 5.2 | D+ | 60 | 102 |
MLB results for the AL in 1910
Champs: Philadelphia Athletics, (102-48, .680)
World Series: Athletics defeated Cubs 4-1
Combined WAR: Ty Cobb, Tigers and Eddie Collins, Athletics, 10.5
Offensive WAR: Nap Lajoie, Naps (Indians), 10.1
Defensive WAR: Eddie Collins, Athletics, 2.8
Batting Title: Nap Lajoie, Naps (Indians), .384
Runs: Ty Cobb, Tigers, 106
RBI: Sam Crawford, Tigers, 120
SB: Eddie Collins, Athletics, 81
OPS+: Ty Cobb, Tigers, 206
AB/HR: Jake Stahl, Red Sox, 53.1
Pitching WAR: Walter Johnson, Senators (Twins), 11.2
Win%: Chief Bender, Athletics, .821
WHIP: Ed Walsh, White Sox, 0.820
K/9: Walter Johnson, Senators (Twins), 7.614
Innings: Walter Johnson, Senators (Twins), 370.0
Shutouts: Jack Coombs, Athletics, 13
K/BB: Ed Walsh, White Sox, 4.230
ERA+: Ed Walsh, White Sox, 189
FIP: Walter Johnson, Senators (Twins), 1.39