The Minnesota Twins said goodbye to the Metrodome in style last season.

The Twins won 87 games to clinch the AL Central playing in the final season of their longtime baseball home. With the opening of a brand new stadium in downtown Minneapolis, and the return of 2009 MVP Joe Mauer and 2006 MVP Justin Morneau, the Twins are optimistic they can clinch a sixth division title in the last nine years in 2009.

The Chicago White Sox and MLB odds may feel differently.

A pitching staff that finished second in combined ERA by American League starters a year ago will get a boost from a full season with Jake Peavy in the rotation. Peavy was 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA down the stretch after missing time from June through August with an ankle injury. Chicago also added JJ Putz, with hopes that the setup man who excelled with the Mariners from 2006-08 can bounce back from an awful 2009 season with the Mets.

The White Sox will also have right-fielder Carlos Quentin back at full health after injuries plagued his 2009 campaign. A.J. Pierzynski is playing for a new contract, and if Alex Rios can bounce back after his terrible performance down the stretch the offense should be just good enough to help Chicago bounce Minnesota from the top spot in the division.

The Detroit Tigers may have been the best team in the division in 2009, but fell a game short after a horrible betting tips collapse down the stretch, which was highlighted by first basemen Maglio Ordonez’s meltdown. Ordonez’s personal life intertwined with his performance over the Tigers final two series and may just have cost the team the division title.

How well the team is able to bounce back from the psychological effect of last season’s turmoil will go a long way in determining where Detroit finishes in 2010. However, the Tigers lack a true hitter in the cleanup spot, and there are too many question marks in the starting rotation to compete with the White Sox and Twins.

The Kansas City Royals boast perhaps the AL Central’s best top-three pitching units in Zack Grienke, Gil Meche, and Brian Bannister. Despite compiling only 16 wins in 2009, Grienke dominated his way to a Cy Young award, and the only reason for his low wins total was a lack of run support. A bounce back from that lack of help from the offense will be the key if the Royal are going to become a legitimate baseball picks contender down the stretch, which could happen with the continued emergence of Billy Butler, and the drive that playing for a new contract should give Jose Guillen.

The Cleveland Indians will be locked in the basement of the AL Central this season. Question marks in both the order and the rotation will continue to plague the Indians, who watched a pair of former starters do battle in last year’s World Series when New York’s CC Sabathia battled Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee.

It won’t be long before sports betting turns to Major League Baseball. The baseball talk can start with an American League West preview and look at the sportsbook reviews of the way things should stack up in that division in 2010.

Last year the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clobbered the division by finishing 10 games ahead of second place Texas. If you bet on sports then you know that baseball teams change constantly during the off-season, and what happened last year may not be the case this year.

The Angles lost Vlad Guerrero to division rival Texas, and with Guerrero went some of the Angels’ home run power. To make up for that hitting loss the Angels picked up Hideki Matsui. But one Matsui does not equal one Guerrero, so the Angles have lost some pop in their offense. On the mound the Angels lost Jose Arredondo and Darren Oliver. Oliver wound up with Texas as well, and while Oliver is not the most consistent reliever in the league he does throw strikes.

To make up for the changes on the mound the Angels brought in two right-handed pitchers in Fernando Rodney and Joel Pineiro. Now the Angels’ bullpen is down an experienced left-handed reliever, and that opens them up to late inning heroics from right-handed hitters.

The Texas Rangers, on the other hand, look poised to finally shake that aura of being a boring team that never finishes strong. Nolan Ryan is part of the Rangers ownership group, and the fans in Texas are getting excited at the prospects of 2010. So far in the off-season the Rangers have added Vlad Guerrero, Darren Oliver, and pitcher Colby Lewis. They lost Kevin Millwood, but they seem to have enough strength on the mound to make up for Millwood’s loss. The Rangers added power, the put right-handed pitching in the bullpen to compensate for the left-handed power in the American League and they have a new attitude.

The Seattle Mariners continue to grasp at straws as they bring in noted hot-head Milton Bradley. The Mariners addressed some of their pitching problems by bringing in Cliff Lee, but the holes in the Mariners’ starting rotation are big enough to drive a truck through and Lee will help but he is not enough to be the answer. Once again the best hitter in baseball, Ichiro, will be buried in a bad team in Seattle.

The Oakland Athletics finished 12 games under .500 last season, and they will have to rally to do that well in 2010.

The balance of power is shifting in the American League West. Followers of Major League Baseball could sense a change coming in Texas, especially when Nolan Ryan got involved. Now it is time to see if the new power, the new pitching and the new attitude will carry the Rangers to the playoffs. They have a weakened Angels team to get past, and they should be able to do that without much problem. The Angels are the favorite to win the division, but it ain’t gonna happen with the changes that have been made.

Pick: Texas Rangers

US sportsbook odds (US sportsbook review) are out for the AL pennant, and inevitably, the favorites come from the American League East, where there should be another epic battle between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, while Tampa Bay could make it interesting once again.

New York (+175)

The defending World Series champions have to be the favorites to repeat, and the key to the pitching is, once again, A.J. Burnett. The Yankees know they’ll get a great season out of C.C. Sabathia, but when Burnett is on, the Yankees have an elite staff. Picking up Javier Vazquez is a big risk/reward move, but it’s New York, that’s what they do. The Yankees acquired Curtis Granderson from Detroit to shore up the outfield, while Nick Johnson is another bat in a lineup with Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texieira and Derek Jeter.

Boston (+300)

The Red Sox signed John Lackey to join a rotation with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and the improving Clay Buchholz, and if Daisuke Matsuzaka can get his act together, Boston will have a rotation to rival anyone. The Red Sox will hope that Adrian Beltre can reclaim his past form, but the Boston offense still centers around the ability of Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury on the basepaths. It could also be the final season for David Ortiz in Beantown.

Tampa Bay (+1200)
The Rays took a step back after their thrilling World Series run a couple of years ago, but there’s still enough talent that we’re betting management has high hopes for 2010. There’s still a young pitching staff headed by James Shields, Matt Garza and David Price, who was inconsistent in his rookie year. The lineup is powered by Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena, but they need B.J. Upton to be more consistent.

Baltimore (+3000)

Kevin Millwood signed with the Orioles in the offseason after a solid year in Texas, but outside of Jeremy Guthrie, there isn’t much on the Baltimore roster in terms of pitching. Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Luke Scott form an underrated outfield, while Brian Roberts continues to put in good work at second base. Until the pitching proves that it can hang in the East, stay away from the Orioles.

Toronto (+3500)

The Blue Jays are in full-on rebuilding mode after trading Roy Halladay to Philadelphia, but the deal had to be done, and Kyle Drabek has gotten rave reviews as a prospect. Led  by Ricky Romero, there aren’t many teams that have the wealth of young pitchers that Toronto have, but they’ve been bitten by injuries in recent years. If Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan can come back healthy, Toronto’s starters will be alright. Aaron Hill and Adam Lind had breakout years in 2009, while the Blue Jays need Vernon Wells to rebound from injuries. You don’t need to worry about Toronto’s baseball betting odds for a few years yet.