Predictions!

As promised (but perhaps not anticipated) here are my predictions for the upcoming season ... AL EAST 1. Boston 2. New York ** 3. Tampa Bay 4. Toronto 5. Baltimore Nothing really shocking here. I think Boston's good enough, and the Yankees will capture the wild card. Toronto has quite a rotation, and could easily pass one of the big two should they stumble. Tampa's better, but still not quite there. They'll win 82 just as easily as Baltimore loses 100. AL CENTRAL 1. Detroit 2. Cleveland 3. Kansas City 4. Minnesota 5. Chicago The Tigers awful start should show these were true picks before opening day. Still, they have a fearsome lineup that could score 1000 runs, and I still think they win 100 games this year. KC is my AL darkhorse. Their pitching may surprise some folks. Minnesota and Chicago should trade last place all season. AL WEST 1. Los Angeles 2. Oakland 3. Seattle 4. Texas A lot of people are picking Seattle in the West this year. Not me. They have a solid rotation for sure, but there's just something about the Cali teams .... they're always good enough. And Anaheim has enough pieces to win this average division again, although they might not even win 90. Texas stinks as always. AL PLAYOFFS Boston def Los Angeles; Detroit def New York Boston def Detroit NL EAST 1. Philadelphia 2. New York ** 3. Atlanta 4. Washington 5. Florida I'm thinking around the trade deadline, Philly picks up a stud starter to put them over the top. I had no faith in Pedro before his injury, but Santana at least gets them in the playoffs. The Braves always seem to be in the thick of it, but this is the year the aging pitchers slow down, right? I can't even fathom the horrible rotations of the last two ... wow. NL CENTRAL 1. Chicago 2. Milwaukee 3. Cincinnati 4. Pittsburgh 5. St Louis 6. Houston Everyone is picking the Cubs this year, which is reason enough not to, but they look too strong right now. The Brew disappoint down the stretch, again. It should be fun watching Dusty Baker throw away a talented team's hopes. Then there's my NL darkhorse. Yep, the good guys win 83 games this year. The Cards ... well this pick is simply because I hate them. And the Astros have one pitcher and a last place team. NL WEST 1. Arizona 2. San Diego 3. Los Angeles 4. Colorado 5. San Francisco Conventional wisdom says the wild card comes out of this division, but I think they beat each other up too much. Arizona's rotation is plenty. San Diego may have the pitchers, but look at their lineup. LA Story is Torre is a bad manager. He got way to much credit in the Bronx and that will show. Where would Colorado be without last year's big streak at the end of the season? Right here in 4th. The Giants clean up hitter is Bengie Molina. Nuff said. NL PLAYOFFS Arizona def Philadelphia; Chicago def New York Arizona def Chicago WORLD SERIES Arizona def Boston in 6 AWARDS MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Derrek Lee CY YOUNG: Roy Halladay, Brandon Webb