We all know that baseball is the greatest sport in the history of EVER, but what is debatable are season predictions and with the season getting underway tonight with the Braves taking on the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies; let's get to it!
After browsing over the final roster lineups, position changes, as well as rotations and projected lineups, this is what I've come up with.
AL East
Boston Red Sox 98 - 64
Tampa Bay Rays 94 - 68
New York Yankess 90 - 72
Baltimore Orioles 76 - 86
Toronto Blue Jays 75 - 87
AL Central
Cleveland Indians 85 - 77
Minnesota Twins 79 - 83
Detroit Tigers 76 - 86
Chicago White Sox 75 - 87
Kansas City Royals 71 - 91
AL West
Anaheim Angels 89 - 73
Oakland Athletics 85 - 77
Seattle Mariners 80 - 82
Texas Rangers 73 - 89
NL East
New York Mets 101 - 61
Philadelphia Philles 92 - 70
Florida Marlins 87 - 75
Atlanta braves 85 - 77
Washington Nationals 76 - 86
NL Central
Chicago Cubs 98 - 64
St. Louis Cardinals 85 - 77
Milwaukee Brewers 83 - 79
Cincinatti Reds 80 - 82
Houston Astros 79 - 83
Pittsburgh Pirates 74 - 88
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 - 67
Arizona Diamondbacks 85 - 77
San Francisco Giants 79 - 83
Colorado Rockies 77 - 85
San Diego Padres 69 - 93
American League MVP: Grady Sizemore
American League Cy Young: Daisuke Matsuzaka
American League ROY: Matt Weiters
American League MOY: Eric Wedge
National League MVP: Manny Ramirez
National League Cy Young: Johan Santana
National League ROY: Cameron Maybin
National League MOY: Joe Torre
Yes, Yankee fans, hate away. There's just too much unknown about this team. I don't care who you are, when you throw as many pitches as CC Sabathia did last season, you're bound to regress some the following season. And this is a guy who really didn't want to come to New York in the first place but let his greed get the best of him. Teixeira is notorious for starting slow to begin the season. It's no secret and the pressures of New York just add to that. I think this season we will really begin to see some serious decline in Derek Jeter's abilities and Alex Rodriguez is already looking forward to 2010. We know he starts out slow and he won't be ready to play until June probably. He'll have a month to swing the bat before the All-Star break and after that, he'll have to get back in the swing of things. I think Alex has a great August and disappears in September. A healthy Chein-Ming Wang helps the rotation out tremendously, though.
The Mets are just too strong in the National League with a better bullpen and an elite closer. But even K-Rod should suffer thru a down year overall. The Cubs will be strong again and should walk away with the Central by mid-August and Manny Ramirez will once again carry the Dodgers on his back and into the playoffs.
I think the Red Sox and Indians do battle in the American League Championship series with the Red Sox moving on, and in the National League I see the Dodgers and Mets getting it on and Manny Ramirez once again doing what he does best and powering the Dodgers into the Series. It's a toss up in the World Series but I'll side with my man Manny once again when he returns to Boston with revenge in his swing. No matter what happens, there's no stopping Manuel Aristides Ramirez Onelcida!
