Play Ball (2009 Edition)

Just as I was getting excited about hockey again, it's time to throw my predictions out there for another season of baseball. I know, I know ...

Just to reflect on how awful I've been here in the past, last year I correctly picked two of the six division winners—and those were the gimmes, too (they'll probably be the same story this year, but we'll get to that in a minute). But not even close in the playoff picks at the beginning of the year (I got four out of seven, when doing the round-by-round thing). In 2006 (the only other year I had MLB picks up), the results were a little more encouraging. I had three of the six division winners right and was correct about the NL's representative in the World Series.

So, add all that up and there's plenty of room for improvement. Here's how I've got things breaking down this year:

American League East

Tampa Bay Rays


New York Yankees


Boston Red Sox


Toronto Blue Jays


Baltimore Orioles

Oh sure, I'm tempted to do the usual version of Boston and New York at one and two. I tried doing something outside the norm last year by picking Toronto, and instead it was Tampa who came out of nowhere to take a playoff berth away from the usual duo of post-season squads that come out of this division. While Cito Gaston is still in Toronto, that rotation lost a key element to the Yankees. The Rays have a set of arms to rival the Yankees and Red Sox, and by the time David Price comes back up from the minors, I'm thinking Tampa is going to prove last year was no fluke.

American League Central

Cleveland Indians
Minnesota Twins
Kansas City Royals
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers


Surprisingly, the Royals have been the boutique pick to surprise by many of the same people who kept saying Milwaukee was going to surprise us year after year. Or maybe that's just how it feels.

Perhaps I'm just still a little stunned at the former Cub that ended up in Cleveland. I mean Mark DeRosa, not Kerry Wood—although I'm sure both will probably be beneficial to the Indians this year.

I don't think you're going to be seeing too many fans sitting in the seats of Comerica Park this year.

American League West

Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Texas Rangers
Seattle Mariners


Mike Scioscia is still coaching in the Anaheim area and an otherwise weak division. It's highly unlikely the Angels win 100 games again, but with Mark Texiera declining $160 million, you have to imagine this team will have the financial flexibility to pull off some big moves during the season that help them make some noise in October.

National League East

New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals

Oh, it's been entertaining to watch the past few abysmal ends to Mets seasons, for sure. But with Jerry Manuel there from the very start this year, you have to believe that the attention paid to bullpen concerns this off-season is going to help put New York in the playoffs—and actually make them stick around.

The defending World Champion Phillies should give the Mets a good, long battle for the division crown, but I'd be surprised if both teams don't end up playing in October.

I want to keep my fingers crossed about my Braves, but without Hudson to start the year, I'm not very optimistic.

National League Central

Chicago Cubs
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Milwaukee Brewers
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates


The Cubs are popular favorites to win the pennant this year, and it's going to be interesting to get a pulse on that fan base throughout the year. Almost certainly I expect a lot of hyperventilating about any concerns as the season ends and the nagging reminder of the last two years ending in first-round exits.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if either Houston or St. Louis give the understandably favored Cubbies a little bit of a challenge. Again, as a Braves fan, I find Houston's gamble of making Mike Hampton their number two starter to be quite risky, but their lineup seems likely to get some attention.

National League West
Los Angeles Dodgers
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
San Diego Padres


For the record, I hate the Dodgers. Just so we're clear on that. Not as much as the Lakers, but pretty close. And Joe Torre being there doesn't help any.

All of that said, I think they still win this annually ugly division. Then let's just hope they go away, because I'm already fearing an entire season of hearing "Manny for MVP" talk. Ugh.


And now, what we'll all really be laughing at in about six months:

Divisional Playoffs
Rays over Indians in five
Yankees over Angels in four
Mets over Dodgers in four
Phillies over Cubs in four

League Championship Series
Rays over Yankees in seven
Mets over Phillies in six

World Series
Rays over Mets in five