Burning questions for every American League team

From pennant contenders to cellar-dwellers, we address the burning questions surrounding each American League team in 2020.

Baltimore Orioles

What will we see from Yusniel Diaz? He’s yet to play in Triple-A, but his development was delayed by two trips to the IL last season. Diaz is the prize prospect from the 2018 deal that sent Manny Machado to the Dodgers.

Boston Red Sox

Do the Red Sox have enough starting pitching? Staff ace Chris Sale is out for the year (Tommy John) leaving Eduardo Rodriguez to draw No. 1 starting duties. Regressing veterans Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez follow him on the depth chart.

Chicago White Sox

Will Luis Robert live up to the hype? The outfield prospect signed a six-year, $50 million contract before seeing a single major-league pitch. Robert had a 1.001 OPS during his rapid progression through the minors in 2019 (122 games).

Cleveland Indians

Which Jose Ramirez will show up in 2020? Ramirez was terrible in the first half of last year, recording a .652 OPS. In the second half, his OPS skyrocketed to 1.105.

Detroit Tigers

Will the Tigers’ pitching prospects see major-league time? No. 7 overall prospect Casey Mize and No. 24 overall prospect Matt Manning both dominated in Double-A in 2019.

Houston Astros

Will Astros batters regress in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal? Their OPS at Minute Maid Park last year was .878, compared to .819 everywhere else.

Kansas City Royals

Will Salvador Perez and Maikel Franco bounce back? Perez missed all of 2019 (Tommy John), while the once highly-regarded Franco was demoted by the Phillies during the season before being let go.

Los Angeles Angels

What will we see from Shohei Ohtani? He’s expected to make his return to the mound in 2020 after exclusively playing DH while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Minnesota Twins

Is this the year the Twins put it all together? It looked like they were going places after winning 100 games in 2019, but they were ousted in the first round of the postseason by the Yankees for the sixth time in the last two decades.

New York Yankees

How will Gerrit Cole fare in his first year in the Bronx? Cole began 2019 slowly (4-5 with a 4.11 ERA through 11 starts), and his strikeout/walk ratio was 9.16 at home compared to his away figure of 5.24.

Oakland Athletics

Can Marcus Semien replicate what he did in 2019? The 29-year-old shortstop finished third in the MVP voting after nearly doubling his WAR from the previous season (8.1 in 2019 compared to a 4.3 WAR in 2018, his previous career-high).

Seattle Mariners

Will the Mariners win the race to the bottom? It’s clear that Seattle has waved the white flag on 2020 as the projected starters at first base (Evan White), second base (Shed Long), left field (Jake Fraley) and right field (Kyle Lewis) combined for just 263 MLB at-bats last year.

Tampa Bay Rays

Can the Rays get back to the World Series? With health and a break or two, their elite pitching staff – led by Charlie Morton and Tyler Glasnow – could carry a deep if not stupendous lineup to Tampa’s first Fall Classic appearance since 2008.

Texas Rangers

Can Corey Kluber bounce back? The Rangers practically stole the two-time AL Cy Young winner from Cleveland, but Kluber went 2-3 with a 5.80 ERA in a 2019 that was mostly lost due to injury.

Toronto Blue Jays

Will Vladimir Guerrero Jr. thrive or falter in year two? He hit .272 as a rookie with 15 homers and 69 RBI. Will Guerrero improve, or fall prey to the dreaded "sophomore slump?" 

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