Spring is back, and the American League shows us what it is made of early on

The weather is rainy; the trees are budding; the days are getting longer. These events can only mean one thing; Major League Baseball is back in session.

It is the third day of action, and there are some key moments for teams in the American League. Let’s break down the 14 AL teams in a sentence or two.

AL EAST

Boston Red Sox – John Lackey looks good in his first start. Regardless of the time of year, they need to beat the Yankees in close games.

Baltimore Orioles- They have a chance to win game one on the road, but the young team makes a rookie mistake. Never run on contact from third with no outs.

Tampa Bay Rays- Carl Crawford gives the Rays a needed spark at home. They will need to win these games versus the bottom of the division.

Toronto Blue Jays- They blow a great pitching performance by Shaun Marcum. The bullpen cannot give games away in a tough division.

New York Yankees- The pitching isn’t quite there yet, but Andy Pettitte looked really good as a third starter. They have two early wins in Fenway, which is always nice to stockpile.

AL WEST

Seattle Mariners- The absence of power is imminent. If they don’t face a pitcher who allows stolen bases, it will be hard to score runs.

Los Angeles Angels- There is no lack of power here after losing Vladimir Guerrero. They have four in two games so far.

Oakland Athletics- Ben Sheets is no ace coming off of an injury. With it taking a minute and forty seconds to reach the plate, teams will be aggressive and cause problems on the base paths.

Texas Rangers- They have the offense, winning a come-from-behind game. The pitching has a little room for error because of the run production.

AL CENTRAL

Minnesota Twins- They can win in many ways, but the homerun has been absent. With the win yesterday, it looks like they may have some extra power this year.

Cleveland Indians- The walks are hurting them. They have 12 in two games.

Kansas City Royals- Bad sign for Zack Greinke: the Bullpen allows six runs in three innings after he allowed one in six.

Detroit Tigers- Can the Tigers hit? Johnny Damon, Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen had two hits apiece and combined to go eight for 19 with four RBIs and five runs scored in the opener.

Chicago White Sox- The White Sox are back to manufacturing runs in other ways than the homerun, and they will need to since they cannot hit for power in cold weather. Mark Buehrle looked really sharp.