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Knight
Stonecutter is offline
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Re: Major League Baseball 2005-2006
Made these picks on Wednesday, February 16, 2005
AL West
Angles
Rangers
A's
M's
This flip-flops Texas and Oakland from last years standings. I believe this division will once again be very competitive with at least the race for 2nd (and potentially a WC) coming down to the last week or two at the earliest. I just don't think that the A's will be able to compete as well as they have in previous years with that big a loss. I expect Seattle to finish no worse than 15 games back (last year they were 29 GB) and probably even closer than that.
AL East
Boston
New York
Tampa Bay
Baltimore
Toronto
I honestly believe that for once the red sox have the better team. The team which sustains less injuries will win the division as none of the field is anywhere near as good as the top two. Tampa Bay is getting better, and I like them ahead of the O's because I believe Baltimore will be hit quite hard by players showing up 20-30 pounds lighter than last year, if you catch my drift. Toronto will be one of the worst teams in baseball this season... congrats.
AL Central
White Sox
Indians
Twins
Tigers
Royals
Despite the fact that I'm a Cubs fan, I always end up picking the Sox to win the AL central and it never works out. I think that they might have improved more than any other team in the off season. Losing Maggs will hurt, losing Lee even more so, but as long as Scott Potsedoiasndfpoaisngiic can produce in center and the table setters can get on, and Pally Walnuts has a repeat of last years consistency, this is going to be a very good ball club. Jermaine Dye is nothing to sneeze at and that pitching staff is a whole hell of a lot deeper than it was 12 months ago. The Indians are one of my "pet" teams. I actually picked them to win the AL Central last season and everyone laughed at me, well, they didn't win but they finished in third, something nobody else thought they could do, the Twins got hit hard in free agency, and the Tigers aren't there yet, especially in the pitching department. Kansas City is just awful.
NL West
Padres
Dodgers
Giants
Rockies
Dbacks
My how the mighty have fallen. I think this might be the first season in a decade where the AL Central is not the worst division in baseball thanks to the NL West. If the Indians are one of my "pet" teams, the Padres are the other. Kaliel Green will soon be added to the ever expanding list of "Shortstops who are better than Jeter" it's a solid young team with good pitching and defense. Though I'm picking San Diego, if LA wins it I wouldn't be surprised. They still have fantastic pitching and they essentially play 8 inning games. The Giants are way too old, and who knows what Bonds knee is going to do, with out Bonds that team is finished. Colorado won't ever win in that ballpark without top 5 pitching AND defense and they have neither. Arizona was the worst team in baseball last season record wise and changing for the sake of change is never a good idea, nevertheless, that's exactly what they did. Bad baseball in the desert let me tell you...
NL East
Braves
Fish
Phillies
Mets
Nationals
Did we all learn our lesson last season? You don't bet against the Braves, they're the best organization in professional sports. What did they do this off season? They added one of the best pitchers in baseball, and they reintroduced John Smoltz to their starting rotation, a move that, if made by any other team, would have me guaranteeing failure, but not for the Braves. I'll be shocked if Smoltz doesn't hit somewhere in the 12-15 range. Replacing Smoltz at the back end is Dan Kolb, not too shabby. Furcal, the Joneses, etc will keep the offense clicking, and we know that they've got a solid D. The Marlins are a better team than last season, and if anyone is going to knock off Atlanta they'll be the team. How well Josh Beckett and the rest of those young starters pitch is going to determine how far up in the standings this team finishes. I just don't think they're as good as the Braves. Phillies/Mets Mets/Phillies who cares? Padro, Beltran, it's not going to matter, the Mets are still a bad baseball team and as the O's have proved time and time and time again, you have to spend to win, but when you just throw money at a problem, not only does it not go away, it usually gets worse. Yes, Beltran had one of the all time great Octobers. If the Astros would have gone on to win the world series, it could have been number 1, but look at his august and September stats, look at his career BA and OPS, and tell me he was worth the money, because though he certainly could get better, if he's leveled off, which is certainly a possibility, he's not worth the do-re-me that the Mets are giving him. Phillies are a team that I honestly haven't followed much over the winter. I know they lost Millwood If they field the same team that they put out last year, they'll finish somewhere in the middle of the pack, which is still worse than the Marlins and the Braves. And the Nationals.... well, it's going to take a few years.
NL Central
Cubs
Cardinals
Reds
Astros
Brewers
Pirates
Ahhh, good ol' NL Central. Despite what Phil Rogers might tell you, the Cubs are NOT worse than they were last year. There is something to be said about addition by subtraction, and it goes beyond Sosa. Moises Alou was a pud, OK? Capice? Can we get this though our heads people? His offense will be missed but it's not the Armageddon that everyone is predicting. This team will hit far fewer home runs this season but that didn't get them much last year. There exists still, the ability to bash the ball, but between Harriston, Walker, Barrett, and Nomar, this team should be able to actually manufacture some runs. Losing Clement hurts, and not finding a real closer is bad, and if this team has an undoing, it will be at the end of the bullpen. Nevertheless, in Hendry I trust, and if the closer spot is really sore by the trading deadline, he will fix the problem. The Cardinals added Mulder, which is scary, but they lost Rentera, and Mike Matheny, which is going to be a huge hole in that stellar defense. Unfortunately for the cardinals, there's almost no way that the rest of their pitching staff can put together another year like last. Morris will be good again, and Mulder is Mulder, which is to say really, really good, but I highly doubt Carpenter will put together the kind of year he had last year, and Jason Marquis and Jeff Suppan's deals with the devil should be just about up. Combine that with the fact that the Cardinals got about 3 years of baseball magic last year, and it should add up to the lion being declawed. We shall see, but it will be fun to watch no doubt. The Reds signed.... Eric Milton? WTF? A fly ball pitcher in that ballpark? Ooooohhhhhhkay. Interesting. Nevertheless, the Reds are a better team, and the last two years they've been within a few games of first in June, only to fall off the map down the stretch. This year they've got another year of experience, and better pitching, it will keep them in a lot more games. The Astros lost Beltran and Jeff Kent. The Bs are another year older, and Biggio wasn't even that good last year. Clemens is good until proven otherwise, but it wouldn't surprise me if this is the year his arm finally falls off. Not saying it's going to happen but I highly doubt we're going to see another Cy Young out of the rocket. Can Pettite, Oswalt, Miller stay healthy for a full year? I doubt that too. What once was one of the leagues best bullpens with Dotel, Lidge and Wagner is now just Lidge and very weak. The Brewers are better... a lot better in fact. Carlos Lee will give them the power that they need, and that is a good pitching staff, at least the starting 5. I'm not sure who's going to replace Kolb but I think this team is a few years (assuming they can resign Sheets) away from being a major player in the division. The Pirates (as well as the Brewers, and Astros, and probably the Reds too) could finish anywhere from 6 to 4th (Or 3rd if you don't like the Reds as much as I do.) A sold young team, but there is so little pitching to be had, that I'd be surprised if they finish higher than 5th, but this is the NL Central, so you never know. That's what happens when you have, not only the unbalanced schedule, but also a six team division. Expect the Cards to fight with the Marlins for the NL wild card.
I figure the Cubs over the Padres and Braves over the Cardinals, and then the Cubs over the Braves. The Red Sox over the White Sox, the Angles Over the Yankees, the Red Sox over the Angles and then, unfortunately, the Red Sox over the Cubs in the Fall Classic.
NL MVP Aramis Ramerez
NL Cy Young Tim Hudson
AL MVP Vlad Gurrero
AL Cy Young Curt Shilling (Who, I hate, by the way)
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I think I undervalued the Giants a bit, and overvalued the As, otherwise I'll stand on these. The NL central will again be decided by the Cubs pitching. If wood and prior are healthy they will win the central, otherwise the cards will win the central.
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