Before I make mine I’ll just expose any bias I may have: I’ve been an irrational Yankees fan for over thirty years.
AL East:
Red Sox
Yankees
Blue Jays
Orioles
Devil Rays
AL Central:
Twins
Indians
Royals
White Sox
Tigers
AL West
Oakland
Anaheim
Seattle
Texas
I see this division being very close, but I think it will end up falling as I have it listed.
AL Wildcard - NYY
AL Champions - BOS
NL East:
Phillies
Marlins
Braves (buh bye dynasty)
Mets
Expos (Hello Monterrey, Mexico)
NL Central
Cubs
Astros
Cardinals
Reds
Pirates
Brewers
Basically 2003’s standings except the Reds and Pirates are reversed.
NL West
Giants
Dodgers
Padres
Diamondbacks
Rockies
Predictions are a little wild here but I have hunches.
NL Wild Card - Astros
NL Champion - Phillies
WS 2004 Champs - Phillies
Little wacky, I know. Just looking from all that I’ve seen skill wise I honestly lean towards the impossible - Cubs - Red Sox WS. The Red Sox (if they get their injuries in line) are basically the best team in the American League. Their pitching is very solid and they have an unimaginable lineup. The Yanks will be good, winning 90+ but even with ARod pitching is too shaky for a WS year. Lieber hasn’t played in a year and Brown is injury prone, no one knows how Vazquez will do in front of 40,000 fans as opposed to 12,000 and less at Montreal. Contreras has never been spectacular. Plus Enrique Wilson is at 2nd and that’s not something I wanted to see.
As far as the national league goes, the Cubs have great pitching but their lineup isn’t what it could be. Cub faithfuls are screaming that they are going to be really smacking the ball this year but I just don’t see it happening. They’ll beat out the Astros in the division but I think the Astros are going to be good enough that they end NL Wild Cards. I think the Phillies have what it takes to do what they did back when Crazy Steve Carlton was ripping batters apart.
Either way it’s going to be a fun season, I can tell that right now.
I think the Astros are to far down on the list there. Wildcard? They argualbly have the best starting rotation in baseball. The catcher, second baseman and shortstop are some of the best in the NL.
My picks for the NL Central (as I have not kept up with any other division since the strike).
Houston
Chicago
St Louis
Cincinatti
Pittsburg
Milwaukee
<i>Are you ready for some baseball!? - Hank Williams, Jr.</i>
New York (around 100 wins)
Boston (1 game back)
Toronto (5-6 games back)
Baltimore (around .500)
Tampa Bay (still under .500)
AL Central:
Minnesota (90 wins or less)
Kansas City (3 games back)
Chicago (6-8 games back)
Cleveland (under .500)
Detroit (110 losses again)
AL West:
Oakland (about 96-97 wins)
Anaheim (5 back)
Seattle (10-12 back)
Texas (worse than last year)
AL WC: New York
NL East:
Philly (100+ wins)
Atlanta (5+ back)
Florida (Worse than last year)
Montreal/San Juan (desperately clinging to .500)
New York (90+ losses)
NL Central:
Houston (93-94 wins)
Chicago (1-2 back)
St. Louis (6-7 back)
Pittsburgh (under .500)
Milwaukee (95+ losses)
Cincinnati (100+ losses)
NL West:
San Diego (95 wins)
San Francisco (5 back)
Arizona (above .500)
Los Angeles (above .500)
Colorado (90 losses)
NL WC: Atlanta
All-Star Game: AL beats NL
AS MVP: Ichiro! Suzuki (yes, the first name has to be spelled with an exclamation point)
ALDS: Oakland over Boston in 5, New York over Minnesota in 5.
ALCS: Oakland over New York in 7. ALCS MVP: Rich Harden.
NLDS: Houston over Philly in 3, Atlanta over San Diego in 5
NLCS: Houston over Atlanta in 6. NLCS MVP: Lance Berkman.
WS: Oakland over Houston in 7. WS MVP: Rich Harden.
AL MVP: Manny Ramirez (Figuratively speaking, it must suck to be A-Rod. He gets screwed out of 2-3 MVP awards because the Rangers or Mariners “could have finished last without him”, and now he’ll get screwed out of 2-3 more because the Yankees “could have finished first without him”.)
NL MVP: Brian Giles (The fact that he’s on all my fantasy teams has nothing to do with this. Honest. :D)
AL CYA: Roy Halladay
NL CYA: Kevin Millwood (not saying that he deserves it, just that he’ll get it)
AL RoY: Joe Mauer
NL RoY: Khalil Greene
AL MoY: Ron Gardenhire
NL MoY: Larry Bowa (ugh)
What are you guys smoking? Oh, yeah, we’re all dopers here . . .
This nearly-unanimous selection of Oakland doesn’t account for the weakening of the offense – which was already weak. I’ve only picked the AL, because I follow it so much closer.
AL East:
Yankees
Red Sox (a horse race with NY – but they always cowboy down)
Blue Jays
Orioles
Devil Rays
AL Central:
Royals
Twins
Indians (but watch out in 2005!)
White Sox (underachievers of 2004)
Tigers
AL West
Seattle (offense/defense comes together again in 2004)
<begin meaningless rant><with apologies>
Ausmus and Everett some of the best in the NL? Did I fall through the rabbit hole? Everett is good defensively but his bat needs someone else to carry it! His most likely projection this year is .255/.319/.366. That’s harsh man.
Note: Make fun of self as I have Everett on my roto league team for 2004.
And Ausmus? Maybe I missed something but unless there’s been a change in the rules he’s nothing but trouble. That line last year of .229/.306/.291 makes me cringe.
Note: Make fun of self for having Ausmus on my roto league last year.
Kent is damn fine, though. Even though he’s tailing off these days he’s still great.
They need to shoot Biggio or make him a broadcaster or something, too. Lane is more than ready to play in the bigs and Biggio has been dragging them down for a few years now. Biggio is still a better hitter than Everett or Ausmus, though.
Having mocked you (for which I apologize…my picks.
AL East
Red Sox
Yankees
Blue Jays
Orioles
Tampa
AL Central
Royals
Twins
White Sox
Cleveland
Detroit
AL West (this is going to be a dogfight)
Oakland
Seattle
Anaheim
Rangers
NL East
Philly
Atlanta
Florida
Mets
Montreal (though showing signs of life)
NL Central
Chicago
Houston
Cardinals
Milwaukee (Milwaukee is a team on the rise if they avoid injury and stupid management)
Cincy
Pittsburgh
NL West
San Francisco
San Diego
Colorado
Los Angeles
Arizona
AL Wildcard: Yankees
NL Wildcard: Houston (on that basis of those starters)
I see that the Phillies are unanimous choices in their division. This cannot end well for me. I don’t think I wanna be the favorite just yet.
Also, nobody even picks the Yankees to get to the Series? They may well be ruining baseball, but come on, I hear that third baseman of theirs is an alright hitter.
