AL All-Acquired Team 2013

After waiting as long as possible to see if a mystery team was going to make a surprise play for Kyle Lohse, here's the American League's All-Acquired lineup. Spoiler alert: it's much more impressive than the NL's...

Traditionally when a player puts up career numbers in a walk year, he sets himself up to cash in nicely via free agency. (cf. Adrian Beltre's 5yr, $64mm contract he got after hitting a ridiculous 47 HR in 2004.) However, all veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski was able to get after posting a career-high 27 HR and .827 OPS was a 1yr deal to catch for the Rangers. He'll be 36 years old this season, so his opportunities for signing a long-term deal are dwindling. Their primary backup will be defense/on-base specialist and former hedgehog owner John Jaso, but they'll also have the option of using Mike Napoli, provided his degenerating hip holds out. I pencilled Naps in as the starting 1B in deference to MLB.com's player rankings, which put him in the top 100. Maybe that's because they figure his production will increase with the move to 1B, but going by last year's numbers, I'd be tempted to pick switch-hitting excessive celebrator Kendrys Morales or three-true-outcome master Mark Reynolds.

Kelly Johnson has seen his points decrease every year since his one 2,000+ point season with the Diamondbacks three years ago, but he made enough noise for the Rays to take a flier on him. One thing I can say for sure about Kevin Youkilis: he will have a better season than Alex Rodriguez in 2013, although I'm not certain what kind of demoralizing effect the Yankees' no-facial-hair policy will have on him. Jose Reyes spent just one year of his 6*yr deal (the * is for an option year) he signed with the Marlins in Miami before he was flipped to the Blue Jays in a monster deal. He spent most of his career in the very competitive NL East, so we know he can handle the high-pressure situations that comes with playing in baseball's best division.

In what's looking like a rerun of last off-season, the Angels once again picked up the biggest offensive target on the market, signing Josh Hamilton to a 5yr, $125mm contract to join Albert Pujols in what's quickly becoming a star-studded lineup. Joining him in this outfield will be two new additions to the Indians: outspoken right fielder Nick Swisher, and the latest top-50 free agent to sign, Michael Bourn. Again based on MLB.com's player rankings, I put Melky Cabrera as the DH, despite his recent suspension for testosterone use, but if you don't like that move, there are plenty of other options to go around. Veteran speedster Shane Victorino, former good defender Torii Hunter, and comeback candidates Michael Morse or Lance Berkman all could be suitable DH candidates.

Then there's the rotation, which sports a pair of 2,000+ point scorers in defending NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey (who, at age 37, is surprisingly young in knuckleballer-years) and workhorse James Shields (who cost the Royals the minor league player of the year to acquire him via trade). Dickey's new teammate Josh Johnson is hoping to rebound from a disappointing season that pales in comparison to the disappointment of the Marlins' season as a whole. Ryan Dempster will try to right the ship formerly known as the Red Sox rotation, and Jason Vargas has blossomed into a very solid lefty. Speaking of lefties, the other lefty option for this rotation is veteran Mark Buehrle, who came over to Toronto with Johnson and Reyes, etc. And there's also the other two acquisitions made by the Angels to shore up their pitching staff: Joe Blanton, who long ago looked like he might be a star with the Athletics, and Tommy Hanson, who more recently looked like he might be a star with the Braves.

The bullpen is anchored by two-year closer Joel Hanrahan, who was brought to Boston to do for their bullpen what Dempster is supposed to do for their rotation. Things get a little shady from here on out, as I once again deferred to the rankings with Ryan Madson, who never got a chance to follow up his one year as the Phillies' closer due to Tommy John surgery. Then there's Brett Myers, a reliever last year who was promised a starting job in the Indians' rotation. I would say that Wade Davis is the best pure reliever of the bunch, but of course he started the two years prior to 2012 and could get a look for the back end of the Royals' confusing rotation. Jose Veras might close for the Astros, and Burnett is in there because of course you need a lefty. I'm too lazy to check, but swing man Philip Humber might have had the worst season stats for any pitcher during the year in which he threw a perfect game.