La Velle E. Neal III's AL power rankings

1. N.Y. Yankees (100-62 last season): Serious boost to pitching staff, menacing hitting boost them past Boston.

2. Boston Red Sox (108-54): The defending champions will have to outscore their bullpen until they find help.

3. Houston Astros (103-59): Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman.

4. Oakland Athletics (97-65): The lineup returns four standouts who all had at least a .788 OPS last season.

5. Cleveland Indians (91-71): Great rotation but might have one of the least productive outfields in the game.

6. Tampa Bay Rays (90-72): The whole ends up greater than the sum of its parts here. Plus they have Blake Snell.

7. Twins (78-84): They have added solid pieces while waiting for Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to show up.

9. Toronto Blue Jays (73-89): Get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette up as soon as possible and start the rebuild.

10. Chicago White Sox (62-100): This might be the lowest they'll be ranked for a while. The kids are coming.

11. Detroit Tigers (64-98): Star pitcher Michael Fulmer's season-ending surgery is a big blow to Gardy's gang.

12. Texas Rangers (67-95): Rotation is full of bounce-back candidates. Overall, Texas will be either OK or horrible.

13. Seattle Mariners (89-73): After moving four key players during the offseason, M's ready for a big step backward.