View from AL

The grass is new-mown. The bleachers are painted. The short but tedious grind of spring training is over, and the American League looks ahead to a shiny new season with an eternal question: Can anybody stop the fat-payroll Yankees? (And if so, will it be the Texas Rangers - who bushwacked the Bronx Bombers in the 2010 playoffs to sneak into the World Series?)

You read it here first: Put your money on the Boston Red Sox. Not just because I say so - I say it every year - but:

1. God loves the Red Sox. (It's true - check your Bible, Book of Samuel Adams, Chapter 1 Verse 2004.)