Today we are going to take a look in review at the season so far in the American League. We will look at some of the surprises, disappointments and what to expect as the season progresses.

In the offseason, the Orioles acquired pitcher Jason Hammel, a hard throwing sinker pitcher who spent his career in Coors Field playing for the Rockies. Hammel has always had elite stuff and had shown signs of brilliance while with the Rockies, but was never able to put it all together. Now that he has made a change of scenery away from Coors Field, Hammel has come full circle. On the year, he owns a 4-1 record, 2.09 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and has struck out 38 batters. Complete dominance! The O's have picked up a diamond in the rough here as Hammel is only 29 years old and is now in his prime.  His skills are elite, and this is no fluke.

They also acquired a young left hander in Wei Yin Chen, who has been outstanding as well. Chen owns a 2-0 record 2.76 ERA has struck out 23 batters and only given up 9 earned runs in 29 innings pitched.

Buck Showalter has this team playing all-around great team baseball right now, as the O's possess the best pitching staff in all of the American League behind the afore mentioned Hammel and Chen.  The staff has a tremendous ERA of 3.38 with the best win percentage in the league.

So here we have a team that is backed with some of the best young arms in the game but also some of the best young hitters in the game as well. Adam Jones, Matt Weiters, Nick Markakis, and Chris Davis have all been outstanding as the O's are 4th overall in offense in the AL. This is truly a deadly combo: A highly experienced manager in Showalter, great young arms in the rotation, and also the lineup. It remains to be seen if the O's can hold off the Rays and Yankees and make it to the playoffs, but we personally think this is the year Baltimore picks to finally return to MLB greatness and gets into the postseason as they will lock up one of the Wild Card Spots.

Sticking with AL East and our biggest disappointment: The Red Sox

Bobby Valentine has been a complete disaster and there has already been some talk that he has lost his locker room. After last year’s brutal collapse, the Red Sox needed to get off to a hot start for all the pressure to be lifted.  Instead, it has been anything but as they sit in last place at 12-16.

Their starting pitching has been a complete disaster; they are second to last in the AL in over all pitching with a total team ERA of 5.69. We are not sure what is worse, the starting staff or the bullpen. A good example of just how Boston’s season has gone so far came on April 21, when they led the New York Yankees 9-0 going into the top of the 7th. New York came back to score a total of 15 runs combined in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings to go on to win and the resemblance of that game has basically been Boston’s season in a nutshell. We don't see things getting much better either, because they aren't magically just going to grow some talented arms out there in the bullpen, and the starting staff has shown no signs of life either. The 'Nation' could be in for a very, very long season as they pine for the return of Terry Francona. To make matters worse, when Boston held a celebration for 100 years of baseball at Fenway Park, when Valentine was announced the chains chanted Tito! Tito! Tito! (Terry Francona’s nickname). Bobby V is a lame duck in bean town.

Rivera injury the big news

"We ran into complications," Fernando Cuza told the New York Post. "I am referring to Dr. (Christopher) Ahmad and (Yankees general manager) Brian Cashman for further information." Ahmad, of New York Presbyterian Hospital, is the Yankees' team physician.

A high-ranking team official told ESPNNewYork.com Tuesday morning that he didn't believe the complications were serious, but he said the team was still gathering information. Another team official, who wouldn't specify Rivera's "complication," told ESPNNewYork.com that the pitcher had not suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in addition to a torn ACL and damaged meniscus -- a significant revelation because when an athlete tears all three, orthopedic surgeons refer to it as "the terrible triad" -- generally a career-ending injury scenario. So right now the Yankees seem to be fumbling around with their statements of just how bad Mariano’s injury really is.

Rivera has said that he will not go out like this but it is hard to imagine a man at 42, who has put so much stress on his body in an outstanding career, could possibly recover from a career-threatening injury like this. Mariano is known as a warrior so it would not be shocking if he did return, but we just do not see it happening.

What to expect the rest of the season in the American League?

We fully expect the MLB odds to favor the Baltimore Orioles in continuing their winning ways and compete with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the division crown. Both teams are stacked with young talent all across the board on their rosters. The Yankees and Red Sox are aging and struggling.  With Boston having no bullpen and the Yankees losing Rivera, it’s quite possible the two giants of baseball could miss the postseason. With that being said, there is no doubt about it that the Texas Rangers are the all-around best team in baseball and none of the teams in the AL have shown any ability to be able to compete or keep up with the reigning AL champs.  We fully expect for the Rangers to win the AL Crown once again.