Posted on Sun, Mar. 30, 2008

American League Storylines

Unanswered questions as the regular season approaches:

Are the Red Sox about to become a dynasty?

Josh Beckett missed the season-opening trip to Japan with a sore back, and Curt Schilling's shoulder injury is expected to sideline him until at least July.Suddenly, the World Series champion Boston Red Sox don't look as imposing.

That hardly means they lack the goods to repeat, something no major league team has done since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.

They opened the major league regular season Tuesday with Japanese icon Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound, and split two games in Tokyo against the Oakland Athletics.

Boston expects Beckett to return quickly from his injury, an important issue as the club chases its third championship in five seasons following an 86-year drought.

Are the Yankees about to stop spending?

New York had a wild winter heading into its final season at storied Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers, moving in 2009 into an expensive new ballpark being built across the street, retained all their key free agents but said goodbye to popular manager Joe Torre.

What they didn't do was blow a lot of cash on big-name free agents or trade their best prospects for established stars. They seem intent on building from within, something they haven't done since the early 1990s.

Back then, the farm system was producing future stars like Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte, who led the franchise multiple World Series titles.

Are the Tigers as good as they look on paper?

Detroit made two important trades early in the offseason, sending prospects to Atlanta for shortstop Edgar Renteria, then rocking the baseball world by sending mega prospects Andrew Miller (North Carolina lefty) and Cameron Maybin (touted outfielder) to Florida for slugging third baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-hander Dontrelle Willis.The Tigers now boast seven All-Stars in a fearsome lineup.

"It's like a dream team," Renteria said.

Justin Verlander leads a good rotation, but two key relievers are hurt. Jim Leyland's bunch made a surprising run to the 2006 World Series and certainly could get back.

"A lot of people are saying a lot of nice things about us, but if we don't do anything, they'll say a lot of bad things about us," the manager predicted.

Can the Mariners overtake the Angels?

Los Angeles added star outfielder Torii Hunter to a deep roster and owns three of the past four AL West titles, but their top two starting pitchers are injured: John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar.

Ichiro Suzuki and the Mariners might have one of the best rotations around with new ace Erik Bedard, Felix Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista and Carlos Silva. J.J. Putz is a dominant closer, too.

Anyone want to add Barry or Roger?

A couple of wild cards could potentially affect the pennant race. Anyone want Barry Bonds as a designated hitter or Roger Clemens for half a season? Maybe if their legal troubles die down and the pennant races heat up, they'll get calls from somebody other than their lawyers.