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Yankees are frontrunner for title...again
After one week of Major League Baseball, the storylines are heating up as fast as the weather. The Tigers won a game in the opening week—actually, they won five. And the Yankees all-star team is 3-4, hahaha. Excuse the laughing, but it’s pretty funny. The Dodgers are scoring runs. Barry Bonds is going for that one home run to tie Willie Mays for third all-time. Will the early trends last? Here’s one forecast for the next six months or so of baseball. AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST With the offseason additions of slugger Vladimir Guerrero and ace Bartolo Colon, the Anaheim Angels definitely have the talent to win the division. The Angels are just two seasons removed from a World Series title and have more weapons than they did then. The stiffest competition might come from the Oakland Athletics. The A’s look weak offensively after losing Miguel Tejada in the offseason, but the pitching trio of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito is the best in baseball. The Seattle Mariners have a shot to win the division as well, but they don’t have the pitching to match up with Oakland or Anaheim. Look for the Alex Rodriguez-less Texas Rangers to finish in last—again. The Rangers have great young hitters in Hank Blalock and Mark Texeira, plus the addition of Alfonso Soriano, but still lack the pitching to be a serious contender in a strong division. Division champ: Anaheim Angels AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL If Mark Buehrle returns to his 2002 form and the Chicago White Sox hang on to their young talent, namely Magglio Ordonez, this division should be theirs for the taking. The central is by far the weakest division in the American League, but the youth around the division is reminiscent of the 2003 world champion Florida Marlins. Expect the White Sox to get their biggest challenge from the Kansas City Royals. The Royals are coming off of a good year and have a future star in Carlos Beltran. The Minnesota Twins are next. If Torii Hunter can up his batting average and continue the production he’s had the past two years, he’ll be one of the most valuable center fielders in baseball. Hunter’s great glove is a given. But too many things need to go right for the Twins to win this division. Propelling themselves from the cellar will be the Detroit Tigers. They’re in first place now, but that’s not likely to last for 156 more games. The addition of Ivan Rodriguez gives this team great veteran leadership as well as a great player. The Tigers will win some games. Last, and least, is the Cleveland Indians. The Indians’ best player, Milton Bradley, is gone to the Dodgers. All that’s left, is, well, a last place team in baseball’s worst division. Division champ: Chicago White Sox AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST How could the New York Yankees not win the division? They already had many of the game’s stars and then went out and added Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield and Kevin Brown. If the Yanks don’t win the division and the World Series, they should be embarrassed. The Boston Red Sox would be the frontrunner in most cases, but not when the all-star Yankees are around. The addition of Curt Schilling gives the BoSox one of the best pitching staffs in the league. Plus, they still have the bats of Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra, to name a few. In third place will be the new-look Baltimore Orioles. Adding Javy Lopez after a career-year and Tejada makes this team’s offense completely different from a season ago. Add those two to a lineup already consisting of Melvin Mora and proven power hitter Rafeal Palmeiro and you’ve got something going. Having Sidney Ponson back in the rotation won’t hurt either. The Toronto Blue Jays should be good, but this is a strong division. Roy Halladay has blossomed into one of baseball’s top pitchers and Carlos Delgado is one of the best hitters. A lot of pressure rests on Vernon Wells to duplicate his surprising numbers of a season ago. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays boast a solid lineup, with the outfield foundation of Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and Jose Cruz Jr. Then there’s Aubrey Huff. Problem is, there’s no starting pitching. Division champ: New York Yankees NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST Four teams in the division are good enough to win it, making it tough to pick. Recent history says to go with the San Francisco Giants. Once the Giants get ace pitcher Jason Schmidt back, and the offense gets going, they have a good shot to take the division crown. Not far behind are the Los Angeles Dodgers, who caused an explosion by trading for Bradley one day before the season started. Pitcher Jeff Weaver replaces Brown in the rotation, and he looked solid in his first start, giving up one run in seven innings. If Shawn Green puts up his normal numbers, not the ones he did last season, the Dodgers could win the division. Third place? How about the San Diego Padres? The lineup is anchored by Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko and Brian Giles. And San Diego added pitcher David Wells to a rotation that also includes Brian Lawrence and Jake Peavy. The Padres are on their way up. The Arizona Diamondbacks fall to fourth this season. They still have talent, but the loss of Schilling makes the rotation average. The D’backs can’t afford for Randy Johnson to go down with an injury this season. Last place is the Colorado Rockies. The team didn’t make any significant improvements to move up in the division and will stay toward the bottom. Division champ: San Francisco Giants NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL The team to beat here is the Chicago Cubs. The rotation is impressive with Kerry Wood, Greg Maddux, Matt Clement, Carlos Zambrano and Mark Prior when he returns from injury. Look for big contributions from Corey Patterson and Aramis Ramirez. The Houston Astros improved significantly by signing Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens to join Roy Oswalt in the rotation. The longtime tandem of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio provide the leadership, with Lance Berkman pitching in some power. The outlook for the St. Louis Cardinals isn’t quite as bright as in recent years, but this is still a very good squad. Albert Pujols is one of the best players in baseball, but the Cards need a big year from pitchers Matt Morris and Woody Williams. If Ken Griffey Jr. can stay healthy and return to form, the Cincinnati Reds will be a threat—for third. But this team won’t finish any higher than that with a subpar rotation. The Pittsburgh Pirates have a decent enough offense after adding Raul Mondesi, but their only battle will be with the Milwaukee Brewers to stay out of last place. The Brewers are slated last after losing Richie Sexson. At least they still have Geoff Jenkins and Ben Sheets. Division champ: Chicago Cubs NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST The Atlanta Braves have basically owned this division for years. Sheffield and Maddux are out. But J.D. Drew is in and Russ Ortiz is coming off of a strong year. Look for the Braves to come out on top again. Second place could be the Marlins. The defending champs lost Ivan Rodriguez , Derek Lee and Juan Encarnacion, but still have Mike Lowell, Juan Pierre and Miguel Cabrera. Plus, the pitching is there to carry the team toward the top of the division. The Philadelphia Phillies have looked like a contender for the past three seasons offensively, but still lack good enough starting pitching to make it happen. Runs will be scored behind Jim Thome, Bobby Abreu and company, but how many will the opponents score? Mike Piazza started the season the way the New York Mets should expect of him. But this team still isn’t worthy of winning the division. The Montreal Expos always seem to make something out of nothing, but now Guerrero is gone and the responsibility rests with Jose Vidro. There just aren’t enough components to stay out of last. Division champ: Atlanta Braves PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS ALDS Yankees over Red Sox Angels over White Sox ALCS Yankees over Angels NLDS Cubs over Dodgers Braves over Giants NLCS Cubs over Braves WORLD SERIES Yankees over Cubs |
