2008 MLB Predictions

I know it is still early, but I have been following all of the off-season moves in baseball and have been working on putting together my predictions for the up coming season. After many, many, rough drafts, I have come up with what I believe will happen this year. Now some of my picks will surprise you, and some will be obvious. Seeing as how I am a Red's fan, I could not allow that to bias my selections. So for those of you who care about baseball, here it is. Of course nothing is GUARANTEED here.
American League East

1. New York Yankees. Yes, I am going with NY over Boston. I believe the Yanks are fed up with the Sox being the dominate team in this division. It's just impossible to ignore this offense. Every bat in the line-up is a legitimate 20-homer player. The pitching is a little shaky, but it should bounce back from last year.

2. Boston Red Sox. This is obviously the toughest division to pick the outright winner, but like I said. I believe Boston's run is done. I don't even have them getting the Wild Card. The risk for Boston is that all of a sudden, the offense might not look as intimidating. Manny is slipping,and Mike Lowell probably had his best year ever. On the other hand...their pitching is deep and they do have some talented young players.

*Note* I will just list the rest of the teams in the order they will finish since none of them will win the division.

3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Rays. That's right. By losing the "Devil" in their name, they will finish 2nd to last instead of dead last.
5. Baltimore Orioles

American League West

1.Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They made some strategic acquisitions in the offseason in hopes of getting back to the postseason. Backing up their ace SP John Lackey, is former White Sox SP Jon Garland. And the Angels added CF super star (offense and defense) Torii Hunter. If Vladimir Guerrero can deliver about 110+ RBI's.. again, then all things considered, the Angel's should grab the AL West title.

2. Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are improved (brining in SP Erik Bedard and SP Carlos Silva,) but there are still questions about the rotation, and the line-up desperately needs more power and consistency-- starting with Richie Sexson. The pieces are here, but everything needs to click for the Mariners to win the AL West.

3. Texas Rangers. Like the AL East, all teams after the Angel's and Mariner's are just pretenders with no real shot at winning the division. The Rangers did make some nice acquisitions in Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley. And who knows which Eric Gagne is going to show up.

4. Oakland Athletics. Didn't they trade away their entire team?

American League Central

1. Detroit Tigers. This one was a little tough seeing as how I am an Indian's fan as well. But how can you argue it? A laundry list of new players has arrived to fill the few weak spots that existed last year: SP Dontrelle Willis, 3B Miguel Cabrera, SS Edgar Renteria, and OF Jacque Jones headline that list. They should be tough to beat and may end up with the best record in baseball.

2. Cleveland Indians. They are basicly the exact same team as last year when they were 1 game away from the World Series. Pitching is good, and so is the offense. Newcomer Jenson Lewis (local boy) should be a big help providing long middle relief.

3. Chicago White Sox. The offense has actually been given a significant offseason makeover. With the addition of OF Nick Swisher and SS Orlando Cabrera it seems the White Sox have a bit of upside-- especially given that guys like 1B Paul Konerko, DH Jim Thome, C AJ Pierzynski, OF Jermaine Dye, and 3B (for now) Joe Crede, all had bad years last season. The White Sox could surprise some people.

4. Minnesota Twins. They just lost to much in Santana and Hunter.

5. Kansas City Royals What can I say...it's the Royals. The most exciting thing to follow this year is wether or not Jason Larue hits above .183 like he did last year.

AL Manager of the Year: Joe Girardi (Yankees)
AL Cy Young: Fausto Carmona (Indians)
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
AL Rookie of the Year: Clay Buchholz (Boston)

National League East

1. New York Mets. With the addition of SP Johan Santana the Mets have to be considered the odds on favorite to win the NL East. Especially if Pedro comes back strong. But will the ghost of last September (losing 6 of their last 7 games) linger into this season?

2. Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies have become good for about 87 wins every year, but they will need a bit more to emerge from the division. Could be an exciting race between them and NY.

3. Atlanta Braves. Do you know how akward it is picking the Braves to finish 3rd? I think the Mets and Phillies will just be to much for them. But you never know...after all, they are the Braves and Bobby Cox knows how to win.

4. Washington Nationals. Not only will they not finish dead last, but I have them winning 80 games. That will still give them a losing record by 2 games, but hey....Jim Bowden was always good at coming "close" He has a ton of ex-reds on the team and in the front office. If he couldn't win with them in Cincy, what makes him think they will win for him in D.C.?

5. Florida Marlins. The Marlins have a list of great up-and-coming bats. The anchor of the line-up is lead-off hitter SS Hanley Ramirez, who's already established himself as one of the best overall fantasy baseball players. Other than that they are pretty shaky all around.

National League West

1. Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are now an inspired bunch that not only believe they can win, they know they have done it. Also, the line-up is finally built to deliver the runs a Denver-based team should, given the high-altitude. However, heartbreak could await. But It won't be easy to repeat.

2. Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona has 3 great starting pitchers (Webb, Haren, and The Unit). And the first 3 bats in the line-up (Young, Hudson, and Byrnes) are big too. The key to success depends on the other pieces-- guys like SP Doug Davis or SP Micah Owings, Closer Brandon Lyon, and OF Justin Upton. If the D-Backs can get some spark from some of these names, they could land back in the playoffs.

3. San Diego Padres. The Padres have one of those offenses that just seems to get the job done. This year, the one consistent piece, 1B Adrian Gonzalez (30 HR's, 100 RBI's) will be backed up by the addition of OF Jim Edmonds. A good move. The rest of the order is about piecing together runs-- SS Khalil Greene and 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff meet the veteran ability of OF Brian Giles and the addition of 2B Tadahito Iguchi.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers batting order is an NL version of the Yankees. Well, a lite version anyways. But think about it: Furcal, Kent, Loney, Jones, Kemp, Martin, Garciaparra, and Pierre. It may not be rock solid, but it's got a lot of potential. Plus Joe Torre is in town. Talk about a guy who just wins. This team could easily go from my predicted 4th place finish to winning the division.

5. San Francisco Giants. Yeah...they suck...and could battle for the worst record in the NL

National League Central

1. Cincinnati Red's. There you have it. I wish I could say I was just doing this because I am a fan. But the truth is, the Central is the weakest league in the NL...maybe all of baseball. 84 wins will probably be enough to win the title. The Reds have a bunch of talent they can use right through the batting order: SS Alex Gonzalez, OF Jay Bruce, 2B Brandon Phillips, OF Adam Dunn, 1B Joey Votto. None of them are directly bumped out of the line-up because Ken Griffey Jr is there. If JR and Dunn can repeat their stats from last year, and if at least 1 more pitcher can step up with Harang and Arroyo as dependable every outing, The Reds have a legitmite shot at winning the league.

2. Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are hoping for addition by subtraction. OF Jacque Jones, C Jason Kendall, and SP Mark Prior are gone. The sole replacement comes from Japan, OF Kosuke Fukudome-- a career .300 hitting power hitter that turns 31 in April. But looking this team over, sure it's competitive-- any team with Alfonso Soriano can't help but be. However, even though the Cubs bought their way back into competing last year, there are a lot of things that would need to come together for this team to get to the World Series. Winning the division is a tough enough battle.

3.St. Louis Cardinals. Health is the key factor here. The Cards need to watch the health of a slew of key superstars: SP Chris Carpenter, SP Mark Mulder, 3B Troy Glaus, and OF Chris Duncan. Without Carpenter until, most likely, at least July (12 months after his Tommy John surgery) the situation looks bleak.

4. Houston Astros. The Astros led the league in offseason changes. A lot of it centered around just getting rid of the RP Brad Lidge sagas-- new RP Jose Valverde (who pitched lights out relief for the D-Backs last year) will be counted on as the closer. Kaz Matsui steps in to replace retired 2B Craig Biggio.

5. Milwaukee Brewers. Despite what seemed like a quantum leap in performance last season, the Brewers finished just 2 games over .500.

6. Pittsburg Pirates. For crying out loud...it's the Pirates.

NL Manager of the Year: Willie Randolph (NYM)
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana
NL MVP: Alfonso Soriano (CHC)
NL Rookie of the Year: Johnny Cueto (CIN)

Playoffs:
AL Wildcard team: Cleveland Indians.
ALCS: Tigers beat the Yankees

NL Wildcard team: Philadelphia Phillies
NLCS: Mets beat the Rockies.

World Series:

Tigers over the Mets in 7 games.