Monday, April 06, 2009

Opening Day

Okay, i've been slammed at work, and i dropped the ball with installments 5 and 6 of my baseball predictions.
Since its opening day, I am going to do a very quick prediction of the AL West and NL West.
AL West:
The Rangers and Mariners have very little to brag about. Vincente Padilla, Josh Hamilton and Michael Young are all good players, but will not provide enough to get this team above .500.
The Mariners have two very exciting pitchers in Felix Hernandez and Bedard, but their offense will not do much for them. I think they will be in the basement.
The Angels clearly have the most talented offense, with an amazing outfiled (Abreu, Hunter, Vlad and Matthews Jr.), their pitching is really hurt by the injuries to Lackey and Escobar. Weaver and Saunders have a lot riding on them, but their bullpen should help.
The A's built quite an offseason resume, Holliday, Giambi, Nomar, and Orlando Cabrera. They will really put up a lot of offense since they already had Jack Cust. The return of Eric Chavez will be a big key to this club. however, their pitching is a lot of question marks.
Oakland and LA are very similar, but i believe that Oakland will edge out at the end.
4. Seattle, 3. Texas, 2. LA, 1. Oakland

NL West
This division has a lot of solid pitching, but on many clubs the offense falters.
San Diego-Peavy and Chris Young are fantastic, but Brian Giles can't carry this offense. They have too many holes.
San Fran-its sad that 4 years ago, I would've said "they have Randy Johnson and Barry Zito, they are going to win the division hands down", and now that combo will not achieve. Tim Linecum is awesome. Unfortuanetly, there are no solid bats, and this team may be the worst offense in the NL.
Colorado-Helton, Hawpe, and Iannetta will do this club a lot of good on offense, and they have decent pitching, but not nearly what they were in 2007. Can you believe this team was in the world series two years ago? I can't.
Arizona-With Webb, Haren, and Davis, this club has the best starting pitching in the division. Their bullpen is a little iffy, but i like their outfield. Justin Upton and Chris Young have a lot of potential to become valuable players.
Los Angeles Dodgers-I know this team is the hot pick because of Manny+Toree+the starting rotation. I also think adding Orlando Hudson was big. Furcal and hudson will be a good middle infield. However, I just can't pick LA to win the division.
My picks:
5. San Fran, 4. San Diego, 3. Colorado, 2. LA, 1. Arizona (its gonna be close though).

To recap, my playoff picks are:
AL: Oakland, Cleveland, Boston, Rays (wild card)
NL: Arizona, Cubs, Mets, Phillies (wild card)

I hate that both wild cards are out of the east, but oh well.
World Series: Mets vs. Tribe......this is the year!!!!!! Mike golic picked the tribe too, so that could be the further kiss of death.

As far as awards:
NL MVP: Pujols, safe pick but a good one
NL Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano, i think he'll win 20 games this year
AL MVP: I really want to pick Grady Sizemore, but i think Teixiera is gonna light it up in NYC, im going with Mark T.
AL Cy Young: Beckett, big comeback year for him

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