Okay, seriously, who voted for the Royals ... and why? Did you accidentally think it's 1983?

Come on now, the Royals are the obvious choice. They DO have Gil Meche as their ace, remember.

The KC fan must have read this. Very fun stuff. Me, I go for Cleveland as one of these days they have to get lucky with the runs for/against vs wins/loses.

Plus KC's a game up on Detroit and Chicago already. Games in April count just as much, remember. Have the years of concentrated KC awfulness removed any lingering 1985 grudges from anyone else?

I'm surprised so many people are picking Cleveland, not just here, but in other previews and picks I've seen from the "experts" (i.e., those paid to make wild guesses in April, and throw in a few player quotes on top). I know they underperformed last year, and have some studs in the lineup, but their projected record was 88-89 wins last year, and I don't see how they got better. They are a team with a lot of near peak age players, so I can see how they can win (30 extra games from Hafner would help with an extra win or two alone), but I am surprised they're the favourite pick. They probably have the fewest question marks in the division (Minnesota : back end starting rotation, Detroit: young pitching, Chicago : Aging, KC : KC? ) though.

The Twinkies are my backup to Cleveland. The Sox are old. Detroit will have the bounce down to reality this year (big jump year one, drop year two, climb back up year three is the general rule). KC would be fun if they could do it but somehow I doubt it.

Hmm... D-Rays vs KC for the AL championship... nah.

Interesting ... 52 votes into the poll, CLE has an even 50 percent of the support. No team in any division done so far has managed that mark -- NYM came close at just over 49 percent. Let's see if that holds up.

I voted for the Royals. The Al Central always seems to produce a surprise team and why can't that team be the Royals? Their lineup is deeper and more talented than last year with the new and improved Mark Teahen and Alex Gordon. I think Dejesus and Shealy will produce as will the Sweeney/Butler and Brown/Gload combos. Grudz just seems to keep on improving so that leaves Pena and Buck/Larue as the deadspots and Buck has the talent to surprise. Their pitching is weaker than their hitting but the improved defense may have a greater than expected impact. Meche and Greinke have enough talent to succeed and I'd rather have Perez, Hudson and De la Rosa over say Chacin, Ohka and Towers. Plus with Hochevar, they have a real nice mid-season addition. Bullpens are predicatbly unpredictable, so who knows what will happen there. Plus, I like the aggressive moves of Dayton Moore and I think he will continue to find cheap talent and trim the fat. The vastly improved outlook may produce that non-quantifiable "chemical" effect that drives certain teams to exceed all expectations.

Jeff, that's a really well-reasoned response, and I note that two other folks (as I write this) have joined you in backing KC. It'd be a great story. But I have to admit, I don't see KC winning even 60 games, much less the division ... their best case might be somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

Rany's Hope & Faith baseballprospectus.com story on the Royals, linked to earlier in this thread, is equally -- well, I was going to say "plausible," but that's too strong. Even if everything Rany writes happens, and he's more optimistic than you are even, I think the Royals top out at 83 wins. And not only will NOT everything he writes happen, virtually none of it will ... and that means 58-104 or so.

I think Detroit is the team to beat, even with the loss of Rogers for a few months. Great young pitching, good positional players, and Sheff will provide some veteran presence. I don't see why they have to get worse before they get better; they're good now. (On a less scientific basis, Halladay paid his respects to their lineup yesterday. He said they really control the strike zone well--high praise from the Doc.)

Cleveland and Chicago have a decent shot. Minnesota has some impressive talent but not enough starting pitching in 2007 (but look out for 2008).

I'm taking Chicago.  They can mash and they have a solid rotation.  Contreras is good, Buehrle is in his free-agent year and will bounce back to his quasi ace form, Garland always seems to rack up the wins, Vazquez is a solid starter who will eat up innings and allow the offence to do their thing, and Danks will impress.  I actually like their rotation more than the Tigers now with the injury to Rogers and Verlander's struggles in spring training.