Baseball news pisses me off.

Manny retires after the 2008 season.

Kind of what AJC said:

• Dice-K finishes top 3 in AL Cy Young voting
  
• Terry Francona gets a contract extension (easy one, I know)
  
• Kevin Youkilis wins his second straight Gold Glove award
  
• Would it be too greedy to say Jacoby wins ROTY?

Manny will spend much of the year struggling with his timing, and the rest on the disabled list.

On the brighter side, the Sox will still run away with the division, beating off a late surge by the Tampa Bay Rays, who will take the Wild Card.

MY PREDICTIONS FOR 08':

1. Beckett wins 20 games again.
   
2. Dice-K wins 19, lowers his era by almost a point and leads the AL in strike outs.
   
3. Neither wins the Cy Young.
   
4. Johan Santana will be a Red Sox.
   
5. Ellsbury is a Red Sox as well.
   
6. Julian is moved to an NL team that needs pitching, most likely after someone is hurt in spring training and thats is where the Sox find their back up catcher.
   

7)MDC finally gets enough confidence to throw something other than a fastball and he becomes the 7th/8th combo with Okie.
8) Papelbon gets 40+ saves.
9)Manny's option is exercised to keep him in 09, there is nobody on the FA market with his talent for $20 million a year.

10. Someone not named Buchholz, Lester or Ellsbury comes up from the farm system and contributes.
    
11. Sox win the AL East for a second time and win 104 games.
    
12. Sox play the Indians in a rematch of 07 in the ALCS, Sox win in 6.
    
13. no jinx here, move to #14.
    
14. Sox play the Dbacks in the World Series.  Sox win in 6 games and baseball fans get an amazing series of the best pitchers in baseball going against each other: Beckett v. Webb, Randy Johnson v. Schilling, Haren v. Johan, Dice-k v. Ownings, Doug Davis v. Wakefield.

p.s. In other non-Sox predictions.  Randy Johnson brings it in 08 after seeing he has another shot at the World Series with Haren and Webb.

AL East: Boston
AL Central: Cleveland
AL West: Seattle, yep I said it.  They make a move and get either Kazmir or Bedard and beat the crappy overrated Los Angeles Yankees of Anaheim.
AL WC: Detroit

NL East: Atlanta
NL Central: Who knows, who cares. I really want to say Chicago, but lol, no way.
NL West: Arizona
NL WC: Los Angeles

Book these when you guys are in Vegas....LOL.

Julian Tavarez will kill again. Pleasant dreams, all!

julio lugo bats .300

the toronto blue jays overtake some random team from NY for 2nd place in the AL East

eric gagne blows his first 7 save opportunities, is eventually relegated to mop up duty.

• Justin Masterson makes the big club by the season's close. He's lights out from the pen (and makes the rotation in 09).
• Sadly, I agree with E coli and was going to make a similar prediction on Manny.
• Dustin hits .300 and Youk gets a .400 OBP.
• Some punk soft-tossing lefty, or three, shuts us down.
• Ellsbury's not brilliant with the bat, but is gold-glove calibre in the field.
• We will see the return of the bobblehead desk, bigger and better than ever. 2008, the year of the bobblehead desk. Historic times.

Sox win AL east.
Tigers Win Al central
Seattle, yes Seattle, win AL west.
Tampa Bay YES THE RAYS! take the wild card.

NL east Braves
Nl central with a losing record the Cardinals 80-81
NL west Padres
Wild card team is Mets

Red Sox
          Red Sox
Seattle

Tigers                Red Sox    
         Tigers              
Rays

NL                               Red Sox

Braves
           Braves
Padres
                       Braves
Cardinals
            Mets
Mets

Papi has big year
Youkilis not so much
Ellsbury good, not great
Drew steps up
Johan ( a Sox) wins Cy Young

Hmmm...

• Sox win 100 plus games
  
• Manny gets his club options
  
• Beckett wins 20 games, does not get cy young
  
• DP bats over .310
  
• ...Sox win it all!