... and I'll take the Tiggers for the Wild Card. I don't trust their starting rotation enough to unseat the Indians with their superior pitching (once they install ANYONE as their closer other than "Mr 5.00 ERA" Borowski.)

But Magglio Ordonez? What? Who did you mean?
(check the AL Central section)

A.L. East
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The Red Sox have the depth to overcome injuries and have gotten younger this year.

The Yankees have a ferocious line-up that can blow games wide open, but can the geezers stay healthy? They could easily beat the Red Sox for the A.L. East pennant, but I think it requires a lot of things to go right for them. The Yanks are relying heavily on Young Inexperienced Picthers (YIPs): Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain. What happens when you rely on YIPs? Click here to find out. It's a great read.

I think the Jays have the ability to capture the #2 spot in the A.L East, but it will require healthy, productive seasons from Halladay, Burnett. A bigger contribution from Vernon Wells certainly wouldn't hurt.

A.L. Central
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Cleveland has a more balanced roster and better pitching. I like their potential to win more games over the entire season, and I expect a rebound year from Pronk. Despite their vaunted line-up, Detroit has a lot of question marks in their pitching corps. They're the NYY of the Central division. I think the winner will be determined by which team can stay healthy.

A.L. West
1.
2.
3.
4.

I am not a fan of Seattle's line-up. You're relying on aging sluggers Raul Ibanez, Richie Sexson, and a productive, but uninspiring Adrian Beltre? Please! Their line-up is good enough to keep them in games, but the pitching is what will win for them. Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez comprise a fearsome 1-2. 3-5 the Mariners are decent, if uninspiring.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and All California (LAAoAaAC; "lah-oh-ah-ack") confuse the hell out of me. They have 6 outfielders who could arguably play full-time: Torii Hunter, Gary Matthews, Jr., Vlad "no-DH-for-me" Guerrero, Reggie Willits and Garret Anderson. The Angels also have a talented infield, which I'm a big fan of. I expect good things from Kotchman and Kendrick this year. This line-up will be a lot more productive than Seattle's. The only reasons they don't take #1 are the injuries to Lackey and . The rest of the rotation just won't win you the division. Sorry, LAAoAaAC.

All I have to say about the bottom two is that Oakland always surprises with mostly anonymous teams. The Texas "we're better of with Laird behind the plate" Rangers get no love from me. Decent line-up, but no pitching.

I think the M's will frustrate people and are severely overrated, I think, especially according to the SABR community.

- Bedrard can't win 40 games himself
- The back end of the rotation has Washburn and Silva.
- They have no offense: Vidro is at DH, Wilkerson (BRAD FREAKING WILKERSON) will get every day AB, the Big Sexy is a Big Joke, Ichiro has no power, they traded their best young hitter, etc ...

LAA even with injuries has way more OF talent and their pitching will be fine. So they win the division with 88 wins, SEA barely gets 80.

AL EAST:
Boston
MFY (WC)
Toronto
Tampa
Baltimore

AL CENTRAL:
Cleveland
Tigers
Royals
Twins
White Sox

AL WORST:
LAA
SEA
OAK
TEX

Boston beats LAA (AGAIN!)
MFY beats CLE

ALCS = Boston beats MFY in 5

NL EAST:
NYM
ATL (WC)
PHIL
WAS
FLOR

NL CENTRAL:
CUBS
REDS
BREWCREW
ASTROS
PIT
STL

NL WORST:
ZONA
LAD
COL
SD
Sfr

Cubs beat ATL
Mets bets ZONA

METS beat CUBS in 7

World Series: Sox over Mets in 6

I never thought about it that way, the NL West has been so bad for so many years it was a knee jerk reaction. The NL Central is by far the worst division.

I think the Cards and Astros could both be really bad, esp if they suffer any injuries. STL in particular is fielding a very mediocre OF team this year (outside of Albert).

- I see your point Red Peitic, SEA's bull-pen is good, at least Putz is good. If Morrow can be an 8th inning stud, like Scott Shields used to be (or Oki-Doki, etc ..), they can protect a lot of games. And obviously King Felix and Bedard are a great 1-2 punch.

- I think the 88 games is a mirage though in terms of what they were projected to do -- and are projected to do this year --

- PECOTA projects them to score 687 runs, Take that for what you want, I think PECOTA does a very good job (the best maybe?) at this time of projection.

- Their offense is getting older and not younger, compared to LAA esp. Replacing Guillen (who had a really good year), with Wilkerson is sort of a joke; Vidro is definitely a joke (why is he still playing?). Lopez at 2B and Betancourt at SS don't bring a lot of fear to opposing pitchers.

- PLUS, they sent down Clement, who would have been a much better choice at DH than VIDRO (hell, who isn't a better choice than VIDRO) and traded Jones + about 5 young arms to get Bedard. They have no depth anymore.

- I just feel like they are getting a lot of press for the Bedard trade and their overachieving last year.

But, as they say: "That why they play the games."

.. about PECOTA.

I wouldn't be suprised if they called up Clement and played him at DH/backup Catcher if Vidro shits the bed.

I wasn't suggesting they will be the best in the A.L., just the possibly the best in the West considering poissibly season ending injury to Escobar and the present "gimpyness" of Lackey. Although I think Lackey will come right back from his present ails, losing a guy who won 18 games for your club in the prior year is very tough to replace.

Yep, Escobar's injury definitely hurts the LAA, though the did get Garland and their young pitchers are pretty good -- something that SEA doesn't have, SP depth and youngsters.

Its a good call about Clement -- I mean, they can't expect to win a division with Vidro as a DH, can they?? And maybe Wily Mo Pena Lite, W. Balentien, contributes when Wilkerson inevitably gets hurt .

And if they bring up Clement and if the Big Sexy produces, they should score more runs than PECOTA projects.

It will be a good race, no doubt. But nothing like the AL BEAST -- where the big boys play! Go Sox.

AL EAST
NYY
BOS
Tampa Bay Satanfish
TOR
100-game losers

The Sox could win 95-100 games and swat (or run-prevent) their way to another title - they have that talent. All that has to happen is for Lester find to his control, Buchholz to harness his promise, Manny to rebound, Lowell to keep mashing, and Tek to hit at least .250/.350/.400. It could happen. The Yankee offense worries me, however. Every year I expect the team's age and lack of pitching depth to catch up with them. That happened last year, and their team sucked for the first few months. Then they went on a tear and finished with 94 wins. I think their underlying talent is too good, and this year they will take the division. PECOTA agrees, sadly. Whatever happens, I don't see the WC coming out of the East. The Rays will emerge this season. Kazmir/Shields/Garza will be huge, Pena won't regress much, and they have young hitting talent like Upton and Longoria. I think they are 3rd with a chance at breaking 2nd. Toronto has fewer injuries, which derailed the season last year, but still comes in 4th. Striving against such greatness isn't easy, but Baltimore goes right down to The Wire in losing 100 games.

AL Central
Detroit
Cleveland *Wild Card*
Twins
Royals
Chicago

Detroit's pitching improves over last year's debacle; its hitting astounds. Playing with in a division with three rebuilding teams means the Indians, who will have lost a step, will still win the WC. Speaking of water closets, did I mention the Twins, Royals, and Chicago are rebuilding?

AL West
Angels
Mariners
As
Even Chuck Norris couldn't rescue these rangers

The warlike Angles will invade the West and set up an egalitarian society based on the principles of Common Law and ritual sacrifice to the Rally Monkey. With their seven mighty center fielders, they shall conquer all opposition. Mariners fans will be few and won't be proud. Sorry, but their lineup can, and will, hit worse than last year, and any pitching gains will be offset by bullpen regression. Oakland will suck without Haren; Texas would still suck with him.

NL
Mets, Cubs, Dbacks win divisions; Padres win WC. The Dodgers, taking a cue from their player evaluation staff, block up and coming manager by signing an over-priced and overrated has-been. They lose the season 79-83, with the pen blown out in May and their league-best prospects riding the pine.

Playoffs
Indians scalp Yanks... in 3 games. Tiggers pounce at odd Angles. Indians beat Tigers in ALCS. Mets and Indians play first exciting world series in ages, it goes to seven games, but the Indians pull it out, in a rain-soaked, extra-innings, walk-off finale.

Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully a lot of people in New England will be enjoying free Jordan's Furniture this year. An exciting season has already begun. Now when will the damn pre-season end?