2007 Baseball Predictions

It's the start of the baseball season tonight and nobody has had their spirits crushed yet (except for Nats, Pirates and Royals fans.....who all know they have nothing to play for this year...again.) Anyways, here are my predictions for the upcoming season, which you can pretty much take as guarantees, as I'm feeling THAT cocky.

AL East

1.) New York Yankees
2.) Boston Red Sox (Wild Card)
3.) Toronto Blue Jays
4.) Baltimore Orioles
5.) Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Every year people pick the Red Sox to finally overtake the Yankees and every year it never happens. While this COULD be the year, its really hard to argue with the Yankee line-up and the rotation shouldn't be as bad as some make it out to be. The Blue Jays should have a fine offence but their pitching (their soft spot last year) actually got worse, which is not good news. Baltimore should be much better this year with an emerging young rotation and some nice offensive players. Tampa has no pitching and, as such, has no chance.

AL Central

1.) Cleveland Indians
2.) Chicago White Sox
3.) Minnesota Twins
4.) Detroit Tigers
5.) Kansas City Royals

Yeah, I don't believe the Detroit Tigers were the real deal last year. I do love the Indians, though. One of the unluckiest teams in the league last year, they should see a nice bounce back this year, especially as their young core of players continue improving. The nice thing here is that Cleveland can afford to trade prospects at the deadline without hurting future successes. The Twins would be my favorite for second in the division if it weren't for pitchers like Ramon Ortiz being in their rotation. The Royals.....yeah.....

AL West

1.) Oakland Athletics
2.) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3.) Texas Rangers
4.) Seattle Mariners

Love me some Athletics. Harden's back (crosses fingers) and players like Chavez and Crosby should be significantly better this year. The Angels are most people's favorites but I just think their pitching lacks sufficient depth to overcome the injury pronedeness of several of their key pitchers. Texas is a sleeper if some of their pitching prospects make the leap...they have plenty of offense. The Mariners have been gutted and built on a flimsy base by the Bavasi regime and it's not pretty.

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
(Sleeper): Grady Sizemore

AL CY Young: Johan Santana
(Sleeper): Rich Harden...if he stays healthy.

AL ROY: Alex Gordon (Royals)
(Sleeper): Brandon Wood (Angels)

World Series Representative: Cleveland Indians

NL East

1.) New York Mets
2.) Philadelphia Phillies (Wild Card)
3.) Atlanta Braves
4.) Florida Marlins
5.) Washington Nationals

The Mets have a stacked line-up but the pitching is somewhat questionable. Same with the Phillies, although their rotation is a bit better (though their line-up is less loaded). The Braves will continue slipping and I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish fourth. Look for the Marlins to regress, as I think a few of their key players last year were over their heads (Josh Johnson, Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, etc.). The Nationals will likely be the worst team in baseball for the conceivable future.

NL Central

1.) Chicago Cubs
2.) St. Louis Cardinals
3.) Milwaukee Brewers
4.) Houston Astros
5.) Cincinnati Reds
6.) Pittsburgh Pirates

The Cubs should be vastly improved over last year and won't have Dusty Baker holding them back. The Cards pitching is in trouble and their line-up is not aging well right now. Love the Brewers and these guys could make a run if Sheets stays healthy and they take a chance of prospect Gallardo. The 'Stros have talent, but continue to sit it on the bench behind those without it. The Reds traded away many of their good young players for crappy middle relievers last year. The Pirates have a faint glimmer of hope with some intriguing young pitchers but the offense has too many holes.

NL West

1.) San Diego Padres
2.) Los Angeles Dodgers
3.) Arizona Diamondbacks
4.) San Fransico Giants
5.) Colorado Rockies

This is the hardest division to predict. I think it comes down to San Diego vs. Los Angeles, but Arizona and San Fransisco could creep into the picture, depending on how the team ages (San Fran is getting real old, Arizona is very young). That being said, Arizona, San Fran and Colorado could all finish in dead last. The one team I don't think can win it all is Colorado due to their pitching.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols
(Sleeper): Prince Fielder

NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
(Sleeper): Cole Hamels

NL ROY: Kevin Kouzmanoff (Padres)
(Sleeper): Chris Iannetta (Rockies)

World Series Representative: Philadelphia Phillies

World Series Champion: Cleveland Indians