Opening Day is finally here! Baseball season has begun and honoring the theme and spirit of this blog, I bring you my predictions for the 2009 season. Of course, predictions like this are really meaningless because a single injury or trade could change the whole completion of the season changes. Now that the boilerplate stuff is out of the way, lets begin! I bring you my predictions for all the division leaders, the respective league MVP's and Cy Young Winners and my World Season prediction!
AL East: Yankees. They addressed their two biggest needs in a big way this offseason: pitching and defense. Teixeira is a huge upgrade over Giambi and their pitching staff much better with the big acquisitions of C.C. and Burnett. Those additions push them above the Red Sox, but with the Rays close behind.
AL Central: Twins. This division is horrible, but the young hitters and solid pitching of the Twins should be enough for them to rise above the rest of crappy teams in this division. The White Sox claim a good rotation, but they are relying heavily on the miracle recovery of Jose Contreras. I imagine the Indians could make a run for the division, but the young and quick hitters, and the very good defense of the Twins will be enough to win this division. Sorry Tigers fans, I have serious concerns about our rotation and our bullpen. I don't have a good feeling about this season.
AL West: Athletics. The reason I am not picking the Angels is because they have a lot of early season injuries to their rotation and their hitting took a hit with the loss of Teixeira. The Athletics made a great move getting Matt Holliday. I also like the talent of their young pitchers. They will be enough to make the playoffs, barely.
Wild Card: Rays. I honestly think the Rays will be better this year than last year. The problem is the Yankees have a huge psychological advantage, and enough of one to prevent them winning the division. The Yankees will win the season series against the Rays, and barely beat them out of the division. But the Rays will be in the playoffs again.
Cy Young: Roy Halladay. (My dark horse for this award is Liriano.)
MVP: Matt Holliday
NL East: Mets. I think the Mets had the best team last year in the NL, but the bullpen let them down. The addition of K-Rod is a big addition. The bullpen should get a big boost just from his presence. As a result, I like them over the Phillies
NL Central: Cubs. This team improved, while all the others got worse. Only the Cardinals could challenge the Cubs for this league, but that is going to require Chris Carpenter to have a great season, which I doubt.
NL West: Dodgers. Manny should be set to have another great season in LA, assuming he isn't trying only when there is money on the line. But, regardless, the Dodgers have good and enough to get the division
Wild Card: Phillies. I can't hate on the defending champs. They will contend for the division, but settle for the wild card.
Cy Young: Brandon Webb
MVP: Hanley Rameriez
World Series: Rays v. Mets. Rays win it all!
2 comments:
Here are my picks, too...
AL East - Red Sox. Very deep ball club, will be tough to beat.
AL Central - Tigers. Hopefully the down year is behind them and they can stay away from all of the devastating injuries.
AL West - Angels. The best team in a weak division. Could win it by 20 games.
AL Wild Card - Rays. Last year was no fluke. Will battle the Yankees and Sox all year in the best division in baseball.
AL MVP - Miguel Cabrera. Once he got comfortable in the AL he was the best player in the league.
AL Cy Young - Josh Beckett. Best pitcher on a club headed to the world series.
NL East - Mets. Shored up the bullpen that cost them the division the last 2 years.
NL Central - Cubs. Most talented team in the NL. Lets see if they can really put it together for once.
NL West - DBacks. Young players have a year of more experience to go along with a dominating rotation.
NL Wild Card - Phillies. Will run with the Mets all year and hope to make another run in October.
NL MVP - Carlos Beltran. Will finally live up to his monstrosity of a contract.
NL Cy Young - Jake Peavy. Best pitcher in the NL, as long as he doesn't get traded.
World Series - Red Sox Vs. Cubs. Cubs win, finally people will stop talking about the curses.
I may as well follow suit and write my predictions as well. Here it goes...
AL East: Red Sox, for every reason Elliot said. Their rotation is sick.
AL Central: Twins, for a lot of the same reasons I like the Red Sox. I kind of think they are a poor mans Red Sox in a really terrible division.
AL West: Athletics, they made some sweet off season additions and are in a league where the Angels are their only real competition and they lost two of their best players and are riddled with early injuries.
AL Wild Card: Obviously it is coming out of the East and it is between the Yankees and Rays. I hate to predict this but I think it will be the Yankees. I have to believe that the boat load of money they spent this offseason will pay off.
AL MVP: Mark Texiera is in a great spot and is cast into the limelight. Maybe a bold prediction but I really like his spot on a team centered around him and A Rod.
AL Cy Young: I'm gonna go wayyyyy out on a limb here and say Dice K. I love the Sox pitching staff and he is on my fantasy team. I can dream huh?
NL East: Its impossible for me to not pick the Mets even though they find a way to screw it up every year.
NL Central: Cubs. Honestly I like the Astros to battle the Cardinals for second place here.
NL West: Dodgers. Another down division and Manny is gonna be Manny all year long looking for that gigantic contract from someone else.
NL Wild Card: Phillies. They have 3 serious candidates for MVP. I can't deny them a spot.
NL MVP: Getting back to were he once belonged. Jimmy Rollins.
NL Cy Young: I wish I could pick Peavey but his team is terrible. I love Tim Lincecum and am picking him to repeat this year.
World Series: Mets v. Red Sox. Mets win and finally prove they aren't a huge waste of money. The Yankees go crazy in the offseason and somehow spend 1 billion dollars to try to one up the Mets.
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