AL East
1) Red Sox
2) Yankees*
3) Rays
4) Jays
5) Orioles
-A step back for the Rays, even if they're better overall than last year. I could see the Jays ahead of Tampa, as well.
AL Central
1) Cleveland
2) Minnesota
3) Chicago
4) Detroit
5) Kansas City
- I'm not buying in to all the Kansas City love. I could see Alex Gordon being better, and Covelli(nee Coco) Crisp was a nice addition, but I just see everyone else better. As for Cleveland winning the division...call it gut feeling.
AL West
1) Los Angeles of Anaheim
2) Texas
3) Oakland
4) Seattle
- Texas doesn't have enough pitching. Oakland's pitching is too young. Seattle is still a few years away. LAA should be able to survive the first couple of weeks without Lackey in this division.
NL East
1) New York Mets
2) Philadelphia*
3) Florida
4) Atlanta
5) Washington
- Figure the top 2 as 1a and 1b, but the Mets talent is so sexy I can't look away. Florida always seems to be there, no matter what they have in the organization. Atlanta's down, but not for very long. And Washington...well, they have a nice outfield...?
NL Central
1) Chicago
2) Milwaukee
3) St. Louis
4) Houston
5) Pittsburgh
6) Cincinnati
- Any of the top four has a chance. I really didn't want to pick the Cubs, but they have the most balance. If Gallardo can pitch up to his talent level(and not get injured), the Brewers may leapfrog in my projections. St. Louis and Houston just don't have the offense(other than Berkman-Lee, Pujols-Ludwick) to be up there. The "athletic" Reds don't do anything for me.
NL West
1) Dodgers
2) Diamondbacks
3) Giants
4) Padres
5) Rockies
- Figure it to be a 2 team race here. The Giants just don't have enough pop to compete with the top 2. I'll take the veteran bats and young pitching of LA over the young bats and veteran pitching of Arizona. 3-5 are pretty interchangable, although I still like SF the best of the 3.
Playoffs
Red Sox over Indians in 4
Yankees over Angels in 5
Phillies over Cubs in 3
Dodgers over Mets in 5
Yankees over Red Sox in 7
Dodgers over Phillies in 6
Yankees over Dodgers in 6
Awards
AL MVP: Mark Teixiera(NYY)
-Runners Up: Grady Sizemore(CLE), Kevin Youkilis(BOS), Josh Hamilton(TEX)
AL Cy Young: Francisco Liriano(MIN)
- Runners Up: C.C. Sabathia(NYY), Jon Lester(BOS), Felix Hernandez(SEA)
AL Rookie of the Year: Travis Snider(TOR)
- Runners Up: Chris Getz(CHW), Nick Adenhart(LAA), Matt Weiters(BAL)
NL MVP: Manny Ramirez(LAD)
- Runners Up: Chase Utley(PHI), David Wright(NYM), Hanley Ramirez(FLA)
NL Cy Young: Dan Haren(ARI)
- Runners Up: Carlos Zambrano(CHC), Johan Santana(NYM), Tim Lincecum(SF)
NL Rookie of the Year: Colby Rasmus(STL)
- Runners Up: Cameron Maybin(FLA), Jordan Schafer(ATL), Jordan Zimmermann(WAS)
