Wednesday, March 29, 2006

MLB Predictions

The time has come, I suppose, to make my MLB picks for the year. This will be my first year I'm not actually playing baseball on a team, so the start of the year is bittersweet for me, but at the end of the day, it's still baseball, and baseball is still awesome. Here goes nothing.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. NY Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Tampa Bay Devilrays

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

West
1. Oakland Athletics
2. Anaheim Angels (none of that LA crap here)
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East
1. New York Mets
2. *Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins

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

West
1. LA Dodgers
2. San Fransisco Giants
3. San Diego Padres
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies

* denotes wildcard

AL PLAYOFFS
Oakland over Minnesota in 4
Cleveland over Boston in 5

Oakland over Cleveland in 6

NL PLAYOFFS
St. Louis over Atlanta in 4
Los Angeles over New York in 5

St. Louis over Los Angeles in 5

WORLD SERIES
Oakland over St. Louis in 6


AWARDS
AL MVP: Travis Hafner - the guy can just rake, and he's got a heck of a lineup around him. (Other Votes: Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz)
NL MVP: Albert Pujols - Has officially replaced Bonds as the best hitter in the game. (Other Votes: David Wright)

AL Cy Young: Johan Santana - Scary thought, he should be just entering his prime. (Other Votes: Rich Harden, John Lackey)
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy - Still improving, and plays in great pitcher's park. (Other Votes: Roy Oswalt)

AL Rookie of the Year: Kenji Johima - Generally, older Japanese players fare well. (Other Votes: Fransisco Liriano)
NL Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hermida - will be batting in Florida. 20/20 potential. (Other Votes: Connor Jackson)