Baseball Prognostication, Year 2

Friends,

Last year's efforts proved I don't know shit about baseball predictions. But that won't stop me from doing it again. Seriously if these guys can do it, so can I. I'm just as qualified as them, I contend, despite my wrongness. Just because I lack press credentials doesn't mean I'm not totally smart about these things.

Oh, and let me give special shout out to Matthew Berry & Eric Karabell for picking the Cardinals to get to the World Series, but lose. And a big sloppy kiss to Peter Pascarelli for picking the Cardinals to win it all. Though I got a feeling they're riding the "Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball" train and not really realizing that the Cardinals have a former pitcher playing centerfield, an outfielder playing secondbase and a rookie who was a catcher a few years ago closing games. And you can never discount LaRussa MicroManaging Madness costing games with over-thinking or over-loyaltying some aspect...I mean Isringhausen should have never been allowed to blow that many games last year, or in 2006...let's just hope those bugaboos don't rise up this year. However, Albert Pujols is, without a doubt, the best player in the game, one of the best you, me or anyone you know will ever see play the game. Seriously. The only knock on him is that some people thing he's older that 29 (he's not, he's been in America since he was in high school) or that he's on PEDs (he's not, the boy loves Jesus like fish love water, and true believers like that don't truck with drugs), but those complaints are not based on results you see on the field. But he can't bat every inning and he does pitch every fifth day and he does have a balky elbow.... Anyway, without further ado, my predictions:

Regular Season (orange indicates wild card)

National League:
East
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Florida
New York
Washington

Central
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Chicago
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Houston

West
Los Angeles
Arizona
San Fransisco
Colorado
San Diego

American League:
East
Boston
Tampa Bay
Toronto
New York
Baltimore

Central
Cleveland
Chicago
Minnesota
Kansas City
Detroit

West
Oakland
Los Angeles
Texas
Seattle

Divisional Series:
National League:
Philadelphia vs. St. Louis: Philadelphia
Cincinnati vs. Los Angeles: Cincinnati

American League:
Boston vs. Oakland: Boston
Cleveland vs. Tampa Bay: Cleveland

League Championship:
National League:
Philadelphia vs. Cincinnati: Cincinnati

American League:
Boston vs. Cleveland: Cleveland


World Series:
Cleveland vs. Cincinnati: Cleveland wins in 5 games.

Explanations:

Why the Cubs third?
Yeah, I don't like'em, but their two ace pitchers are due for injuries, especially Harden. They're counting on Milton Bradley to not be crazy or fragile, and he's neither. Derek Lee's power has dropped off, Soriano can't be counted on to be consistent. If everything breaks their way, then they could be great, a really good team...but these are the Cubs. That doesn't happen.

Why is New York baseball going to have such a stink year in their brand new stadiums?
Maybe I'm too hard on the Mets, but I don't like their starting pitching past Santana and I don't like their offense, especially with the dips in production from Reyes and Wright last year. They have the best tail end of the bullpen in the game on paper and they'll need it to succeed, but I don't think they have the rest. As for the Yankees, Sabathia will be hurt his year. Burnett will stink. They're already without A-Rod, and you gotta expect him to be in for a rough year, leaving it all on Texiera or however it's spelled, and lookit, he's good, but he's not that good. And Riveria is another year older. I tell ya, it's gonna be a dark, dark year for NY baseball...I hope ESPN can survive.

Why Cincinnati & St. Louis in the NL Central?
St. Louis because I'm a believer. They just seem to find a way, and my gut tells me this team could be interesting. They need a lot of breaks and for Pujols elbow to not explode, but they have the pitching, their pen is good (even if thier closer was recently a catcher, the guy's like roid-era Gagne out there), they have plenty of depth to weather injuries. The team's has a lot of potential. Plus, unlike the Cubs, good things happen to the Cardinals. A fair amount of bad, yes (1985), but the karma does come around (2006), and the last two years have been low-bottom, unlucky years, so this year...much better. And hope springs eternal for homer fans like me. Go Cards. And the Reds? Well, I've always hated the Reds, but they have a lot of good, young players out there, and this is a winnable division, and they'll be emboldened from the Rays run last year, so why not? Not much of a reason, I know, but I trust youth and talent over a cursed franchise any day of the week.

I don't think I have anything else real goofy out there except Oakland, but again, I trust the youth. And the Angels are relying too much on one pitcher, like the Mets, though the Angels one pitcher is already hurt. So, why not Oakland? It's not going to be the other teams and somebody has to win it.

viva el mustache