2007 MLB Predictions
AL East:
1.) Red Sox
2.) Toronto
3.) NY Yankees
4.) Baltimore
5.) Tampa Bay
Now I know being a Red Sox fan that my picks here are going to be shrugged off and looked at as biased but let me explain why I feel it will play out this way. First of all the Red Sox answered most if not all of their pressing needs from last year. They added the best FA starting pitcher available in Daisuke Matsuzaka, beefed up the bullpen with the additions of J.C. Romero, Brendon Donnely, Joel Piniero, and that Japanese lefty, added a legit lead-off hitter in Julio Lugo, and they brought in a power hitting right fielder that can give Manny protection in the line-up. With those additions all they really need is better luck this year as we watched the whole team go down with injury after injury last season, which is what appears to be happening with the Yankees as we speak. Their best starting pitcher is already out at least a month with an injured hamstring, Pettite is already complaining about elbow discomfort in his throwing arm (which he's had several injuries to in the past already), and Mussina is susposedly feeling back discomfort off and on. Rotation aside the Yankees bullpen doesn't have much in the way of depth this season from what I've seen. Rivera is the best closer in the game so long as he's healthy, that's a given...but all there is to set him up is Scott Proctor (who threw a large amount of innings last season). Phillip Hughes will probably crack the rotation at some point this season but I just see the Yankees going through what the Red Sox went through last season, and with the whole "Will he or won't he opt-out" thing with A-Rod going on all season...well the distractions and injuries will be too much.
AL Central
1.) Detroit
2.) Cleveland (WC)
3.) Chicago
4.) Minn
5.) KC
With or without Kenny Rogers the Tigers will still win that division. The surprise however will be the Twins fading out of contention. Reasons being that Santana just won't be enough on his own. Without both Radke and Liriano this season the team doesn't have enough pitching depth. I expect them to trade Torre Hunter and Luis Castillo sometime during the season as they restock for the 08 season when they'll have a rotation anchored down by both Santana and Liriano. Expect to see the Indians turn their stud pitching prospect Adam Miller into the closer sometime by May and bring in a middle reliever or two by the deadline. That's all they need so long as their current players stay healthy.
AL West
1.) Angels
2.) Oakland
3.) Seattle
4.) Texas
The Angels just have far too much pitching depth to be overcome by any of the other teams in this division. Oakland is still trying to get one full year out of Rich Harden and with both Kotsay and Dan Johnson not appearing to be healthy anytime soon...well they don't have enough. My major prediction however is that the Angels solve their one glaring need (that of another power bat in the line-up) by aquiring Miguel Cabrera from Florida at the trade deadline. I imagine Brandon Wood to be part of the deal but I'm not about to play GM. I just know that the Angels need another power bat desperately and the Marlins will have one at a position that most of the other contenders in baseball with the prospects to aquire him will be set at.
NL East
1.) Atlanta
2.) Philli (WC)
3.) NY Mets
4.) Florida
5.) Washington
Atlanta is another team that solved its problems during the off-season. Their bullpen alone probably caused them the division last year so what did they do? They brought in Mike Gonzales (who will likely be their future closer and could battle Wickman for the spot this year) and Rafael Soriano which are two major power arms to come in. So long as Smoltz, Hudson, and Hampton stay healthy this team should start its pennant run over. They have enough good young talent to surround the Jones boys with so that the offense won't be a problem. The Mets sliding down to third in my standings after being a few outs from the World Series may surprise alot of people but look at their pitching. Pedro is done, and beyond Tom Glavine they don't really have anything. John Maine should be fairly solid but he's not ready to shoulder the load that team is going to have. The Phillies are going to have a great rotation when everybody is healthy but their middle relief and set-up is ultimately going to be the difference between them winning the division and earning the Wild Card spot.
NL Central
1.) St. Louis
2.) Milwaukee
3.) Cubbies
4.) Houston
5.) Cinci
6.) Pitt
Clemens will play one more year in Houston but he'll be limited to hamstring issues or something and Roy Oswalt can't pitch everyday. St. Louis, while losing a couple pieces of their starting rotation will still be a better team than any of the others in the division. The big surprise here will be the young talent of the Brewers starting to finally gel and break-out.
NL West
1.) Dodgers
2.) Diamondbacks
3.) Padres
4.) Giants
5.) Rockies
Barry Zito alone won't save San Fran and Bonds will likely shut it down after he steals the homerun record from Aaron. The Dodgers have too much pitching, too much speed, and too many chips they can trade off to fix any problems they should run across.
AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
AL MVP: Grady Sizemore
AL RoTY: Daisuke Matsuzaka (although in terms of pure rookies it should probably go to Alex Gordon)
NL Cy Young: Ben Sheets
NL MVP: Albert Pujols
NL RoTY: Homer Bailey
Playoffs
Divisonal Round:
Red Sox over Cleveland
Detroit over Angels
St. Louis over Atlanta
Dodgers over Philli
Championship Round:
Red Sox over Detroit in 7 (Boston did play Detroit extremely tough last season, and are a much improved team this season)
Dodgers over St. Louis
World Series
Red Sox vs. Dodgers and I'm not going to predict it. Just enjoy Nomar and D-Lowe returning to Boston to play October baseball, Beckett vs. Penny in a match-up of two teamates that helped carry that 2003 Marlins team to a world title, Schilling vs. Lowe in a similiar match-up where Lowe was the first pitcher ever to record wins in the deciding games of 3 post season series in the same season while Schilling gave perhaps the guttsiest playoff performance ever, the speed of the Dodgers vs. the power of the Red Sox and J.D. Drew being booed unmercifully in his return to L.A..
This year should be fun.
Edit: Added Pirates and Rockies, although they don't matter.
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