It’s been a long winter.

One of the longer one’s I’ve experienced. I can’t remember a season where so many big, premier names switched teams and instantly shifted MLB Betting Odds. And not just guys like Carl Crawford. I actually like him, but Crawford won’t make the Boston Red Sox more of a favorite to win the title anymore than Subway makes a better breakfast.

No, were talking Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, who instantly transformed the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers from contenders to flatout favorites for the American League crown.

The anticipation of the impending 2012 season has been more than I can remember. Pair that with the fact that some of baseball’s best sluggers are still young and in their prime and 2012 could be a year for a lot of runs. At least in the American League.

God bless you if your fantasy team is stocked with AL pitchers. The exciting part is the fact that the Tigers and Angels already had good lineups with tablesetters. Howie Kendrick is about a day away from becoming a really really good 2-hitter. And the fact that Brannen Boesch is hitting out of the 2-hole for Detroit, followed by Miguel Cabrera and Fielder means the Tigers could well surpass last year’s 787 run total.

Oddsmakers have already set lines for MLB Prop Betting to wager how many RBI will the league leader end up with. Over 138 and it’s a +140 payout. Anywhere from 130-137 and it’s a +220 payout. Anything under 129 and you’ll get a +140 bounty.

Picking that middle area is a little bit of a longshot. The winning RBI total has only been between 130 and 137 twice in the last 20 years, and three times since 1987.

For what it’s worth ESPN is projecting Ryan Braun to club in the most runs with 121, followed by Adrian Gonzalez (120) and Pujols (118). Last year, Matt Kemp led all of baseball with 126 RBI, followed by Fielder’s 120 and Curtis Granderson’s 119.