Just so it can be recorded for prosterity, my MLB predictions...
You know.. so people can be amazed when they call this up after October or just look back to say, "What a fool!"Rob will notice for sure that I predict that the Angers WILL NOT make the playoffs and the Dodgers will.... Though I would also argue that if the Dodgers were inserted into the AL West, they would be the sixth-place team.
AL West
1.A's
2.Angels
3.Rangers
4.Mariners
Comments: Toughest division in baseball... All of the top three teams could conceivably win the division, but the A's looked like they were on the verge a year ago and made the right moves to get even better in the offseason. Put the Mariners in the NL West and they would win the division title, but unfortunately for them they're in the AL.
AL Central
1.White Sox
2.Twins
3.Indians
4.Royals
5.Tigers
Comments: White Sox won the title a year ago... Add Jim Thome and they will be even a greater powerhouse. People who just look at payrolls always want to anoit the Yankees as champs, but this other team in black is really the best in baseball. Meanwhile, don't overlook the Twins with a very complete lineup that's added Luis Castillo and Rondell White and rotation led by the man I think is the best pitcher in baseball right now: Johan Santana. Indians will look up at the other two but will probably muster an 80-plus-win season. Royals will play out their small-market roster. Leyland should have stayed retired when the “ace” of his staff is a 41-year-old Kenny Rogers.
AL East
1.Blue Jays
2.Yankees
3.Red Sox
4.Orioles
5.Devil Rays
Comments: The baseball preseason should be called the annual overhyping of the Yankees. Sure they've spent a bunch of money to create their annual “Dream Team,” but if they weren't the Yankees, their rotation beyond Johnson and Mussina would be the laughingstock of baseball. Toronto has quietly been building up their roster over the last three years. Adding Overbay and Bengie Molina to the lineup and A.J. Burnett to the rotation puts them over the top. The rest of the division are also-rans, though the Rays are heading in the right direction and this may be their last year in the cellar.
Wild Card: Twins
Division Series: Twins over A's, White Sox over Blue Jays
ALCS: White Sox over Twins
NL West
1.Dodgers
2.Padres
3.Giants
4.Diamondbacks
5.Rockies
Comments: Not as much the worst division in baseball as it was a year ago, but it isn't all that much better. Ned Colletti practically worked a miracle getting the Dodgers roster back on track. Padres could also find life if they get any out of the aging legs of Piazza. Otherwise, Arizona and Colorado should be playing in the Pacific Coast League.
NL Central
1.Cardinals
2.Brewers
3.Reds
4.Astros
5.Cubs
6.Pirates
Comments: Cardinals are far and away the m,ost complete lineup and rotation in the NL, and Isringhausen may now be the best closer in baseball unless Eric Gagne comes back well from injury. The rest of the Central will be looking up all year, but this is the best Brewer team in years. Cubs have too little to conceivably make a cursed team title trifecta of Red Sox, White Sox and Cubs.
NL East
1.Mets
2.Braves
3.Nationals
4.Phillies
5.Marlins
Comments: No team has done more to improve their team in the last two years than the Mets, and it will show this year. Braves always have reputation, but that bullpen will do them in. Nationals and Phillies are each a year or two away. Marlins, meanwhile, look to have easilly staked a claim as the worst team in baseball.
Wild Card: Braves
Division Series: Braves over Dodgers, Cardinals over Mets
NLCS: Cardinals over Braves
World Series: Cardinals over White Sox