Alright, alright, I've procrastinated enough. It's time for you all to see my Pre-Season Predictions for the upcoming 2010 baseball season. I'll be honest it took me a WHILE to figure out the AL East and the NL West but I'm going to go with my gut and how I was told baseball games are won; Pitching and Defense. Without further adieu:
AL East- Boston Red Sox (101-61)
Now before you cut my nuts off, listen up. Pitching and Defense is the way you are SUPPOSED to win ball games. The Red Sox have the best 1-5 Starting rotation in ALL of baseball. I really think Adrian Beltre is going to hit 30 ya-ya's and drive in very close to 100 runs. 3 guys on the same team that will win 16 + games will lead the Red Sox to the Promised land. If you think that 1/3 of the starts last year we started by John Smoltz, Brad Penny, and Daisuke MatsuSUCKA that would have put us around 100 wins if we won a handful of them. We now have John Lackey to pick up the slack and a defense that makes the Steeler's Steel Curtain scoff.
AL Central- Chicago White Sox (91-71)
I'm not buying into the Twins again ESPECIALLY without a closer. The Tiger's sold half their team and are for some reason unbeknownst to me are going to give starts to Dontrelle Willis, so they're out. Which leaves the Chi Sox as the victor in the Central. Everyone is forgetting about the impact a HEALTHY Carlos Quentin will have on their lineup. Not to mention a full year of Alex Rios (I've been saying that for three years though) and Juan Pierre will give them that Scott Podsednik aspect they had in 2005. Jake Peavy is a bona fide "ace" who will NOT suffer any setbacks other than a slight decrease in strikeouts from leaving the NL and couple that with Mark Buehrle, John Danks, and Gavin "AJ Burnett's mental makeup twin" Floyd you are looking at a VERY talented starting rotation. They have a deep talented lineup and they will COAST through to October.
AL West- Texas Rangers (92-70)
It's the year. It may be by default because the Angels lost their Ace and their leadoff hitter. So logic says they aren't going to be as good. The Mariners have the 2nd Best 1-2 combo in baseball yet their 3-5 is who? But when Casey Kotchman is your number 3 hitter, you're primed for an offensive slump. The year that the Rangers do NOT falter down the stretch, and get into playoff baseball. They signed Rich Harden in the offseason and if healthy will really be an addition to Nolan Ryan's binky (the pitching staff). They had 3 young pitchers last year that got a SERIOUS dose of Major League Baseball and WILL pitch up to expectations.
AL Wildcard- Tampa Bay Rays (95-67) NOT THE YANKEES
Whoa, wait, did you misspell NYY with TBR? Nope I am potentially going out on a limb saying the Yankees are NOT a young team. They are going to need a DH going into game 2 of the season since Nick Johnson is holding down (I use that term loosely) that spot. Curtis Granderson is essentially a platoon player because he's about as existent against lefties as Tiger Woods is at the Celibacy Club. Javier Vazquez did well his first go 'round in the AL East and AJ Burnett is one more walk away from drinking bleach. Tampa has a GREAT lineup and their ever so sneaky pickup of Hank Blalock is going to pay major dividends as he sneaks into that DH role and Pat Burrell gets phased out. Their Rotation even without Kazmir is very deep and very efficient. Evan Longoria is going to have a MONSTER year. Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena are also playing for contracts…They're going to be in October and we're going to be in for another "Cinderella Story."
NL East- Philadelphia Phillies (96-66)
Too easy. Do I really have to hash into why they are going to win this division. No. Halladay is going to win 25 games…nuff said.
NL Central- St. Louis Cardinals (92-70)
Carpenter, Wainwright, Pujols and Holliday. They have the pitching, the offense and the Manager. The Reds could be a dark horse and the Brewers will be competitive but the Cards should win this division handily.
NL West- Colorado Rockies (90-72)
Sort of a No brainer. The Dodgers to me are a non-issue with NO PITCHING (Read: Vicente Padilla as your Opening Day starter) and a tumultuous divorce within the organization. The Giants STILL don't have enough offense, plenty of pitching but no one OTHER than Sandoval can rake and they won't bring up Buster Posey yet therefore they are still another bat and year away. The D'Backs are actually intriguing to me IF Brandon Webb were healthy but his shoulder seems to be nagging like crazy. The Rockies have a young lineup and a pitching staff that just got a little better with the return of Jeff Francis. Ubaldo Jimenez is a force to be reckoned with and they will win a hotly contested battle in the West.
NL Wildcard- Atlanta Braves (91-71)
It's Bobby Cox's last year and he has a talented pitching staff and a rookie in Jayson Heyward that is hailed as even better than Andruw Jones in his prime. Tim Hudson is back and healthy. Derek Lowe is good for 200 innings and young, fireballer Tommy Hanson are poised to do BIG things. It could be Chipper's last chance at one more ring and I think they have as good a chance as any.
AL Championship Series-
A rematch between the Sox and Rays that the Sox will win in 7. This series is going to be Epic.
NL Championship Series-
Phillies and the Cardinals and although Halladay will shine the Cardinals have better pitching and bullpen. 6 games.
World Series-
Pitching vs. Pitching. Deepest lineup vs. Pujols. The Sox have the edge in pitching and will shut down the Cardinals much like they did in 2004; 5 games
Champions-
Boston Red Sox
As previously stated, I've always been told that Pitching and defense win ball games and clearly my picks to win this year reflect that. Tomorrow I'll shoot you my picks for post-season awards (MVP, Cy Young etc.) and then in November when I'm farther off base than George Costanza you can rub it in my face.
Stay Tuned
Ryan
No comments:
Post a Comment