MLB Thread

[tomasjj]

BOS 0 -4 OAK top 5th

Yesssssssss



I hate both Boston and Yankees. Like the Chavs and Mancs those.


Oakland for me.

[tomasjj]

Tigers have an out of this world offence this season. The addition of Cabrera puts them pretty much above any team in the MLB.

Only problem is their pitching. Expect to see lots of high scoring Tigers games this season.

J. Verlander
J. Bonderman
D. Willis
N. Robertson
K. Rogers


That is not a poor rotation by any means.

[spud_gun]

J. Verlander
J. Bonderman
D. Willis
N. Robertson
K. Rogers


That is not a poor rotation by any means.

Big question mark over Willis. He may very well be shot.

Problem with the Tigers is the bullpen and the closer.

[Joe King]

Big question mark over Willis. He may very well be shot.

Problem with the Tigers is the bullpen and the closer.

Tigers closers aren't the best. Zumaya, Jones, Grilli.

[mersey86]

red sox starting well and should be the team to beat and will hopefully crush the manure affliated yankees. for those of us finding 18 years a long time look up the curse of the bambino and see even longer suffering.

Aren't the Cubs in their 100th year without winning the pennant? They are strong this year.

[mersey86]

So, hope to see a few good Division races this season, apart from the NL East, of course. Let's Go Mets!

The Nationals will be too strong for them.

..........
...........

In my dreams maybe.

[Joe King]

Aren't the Cubs in their 100th year without winning the pennant? They are strong this year.

1908 so I guess you are right.

[Sarb]

Why we talking about Rounders?

[mersey86]

We're not.

[Joe King]

The new Major League Baseball season may have started in Tokyo last week, but there is something extra special about Opening Day. There's great excitement here in Los Angeles, where it's the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers moving from Brooklyn (and also the Giants coming to the west coast) and Joe Torre is the new coach, and across the country there are plenty of other intriguing storylines to look forward to. So without further ado, here are my division-by-division previews and predictions for the next seven months.

American League East

A lot of people reckon this is a two-team race between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, but I believe the Toronto Blue Jays are in the mix as well. The reigning champions, the Red Sox, should be too strong for them both, however, and as a result I don't foresee the Yankees even making the play-offs. I expect Boston's ace Josh Beckett to get himself healthy and be productive, and he is capably supported by Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. They're also a solid defensive team with a reliable bullpen and, while they may not be as dominant as they were last year, they'll still take some beating.

Further down the division, the Rays (note that they've taken the Devil out of Tampa Bay - I'm still struggling with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim!) will be an improvement on last season's MLB worst, but their very young pitchers will lack the consistency to secure a .500 record.

Winners: Boston Red Sox

AL Central

This division will boil down to the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, both of whom should make the post-season. I have the Tigers winning the division and the Indians the wild card, but don't be surprised if those roles are reversed. The Indians showed how strong they were last year when they were one game from the World Series, and they have the best pitching staff in the Major Leagues. But the Tigers have the most dynamic offense in the history of baseball - they could score over 1,000 runs this season - and they have the best manager in the league in Jim Leyland.

There are some questions about their starting rotation, however - Justin Verlander is awesome, but Jeremy Bonderman and new signing Dontrelle Willis both had bad second halves to the season last year - and they have suffered two major injuries to their bullpen, so somebody will need to step up to get the ball to closer Todd Jones, who himself is questionable. The Chicago White Sox, meanwhile, should finish third, it will be difficult for the Minnesota Twins without their departed ace Johan Santana, and the Kansas City Royals will continue to bring up the rear in the division.

Winners: Detroit Tigers
Wild card: Cleveland Indians

AL West

The LA Angels and Seattle Mariners will battle this one out, as the Oakland Athletics are rebuilding after trading several of their veteran players, and the Texas Rangers again haven't been able to attract good enough pitchers to their hitter-friendly ballpark in Arlington during the off-season.

That's not the case with Seattle - the trade they made for Baltimore's Erik Bedard should be the difference-maker and win them the division. He will come in and take some of the heat off Felix Hernandez, who at 23 is too young to be the main guy, while they are the best defensive team in the league, have a top closer in JJ Putz, and have both power in their line-up through Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, and of course, the ultimate table-setter in Ichiro. The Angels will count the cost of having both Kelvin Escobar and John Lackey missing from their rotation through injury until May.

Winners: Seattle Mariners

National League East

There are three teams in contention here: the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves will compete but, short of injuries crippling my old team, the New York Mets are the ones to beat. Off-season addition Johan Santana is a great protector for the Mets' rotation, taking the pressure off, among others, Pedro Martinez, who doesn't have to be the superstar he once was. In Billy Wagner they have one of the game's best closers, and David Wright and Jose Reyes - two players that I drafted - can carry the load on offense when others are absent.

The Braves and Phillies will push them close, but the Mets surely will not have a September collapse like last year and should win the division, with the Washington Nationals, despite last night's bright start in their new stadium, and Florida Marlins making up the numbers.

Winners: New York Mets

NL Central

The Chicago Cubs, exactly 100 years since they last won the World Series, clearly have the best team and should be able to run away with this division. The Milwaukee Brewers are an interesting outfit with a lot of talent, but they do not have the pitching to match the pace that the Cubs will set over 162 games. Chicago, who have underachieved somewhat in recent seasons, are still trying to figure out whether Kerry Wood can be a closer, but they have other options should that experiment fail and the fragile Wood be unable to withstand the rigours of his new job.

The Cincinnati Reds could be a surprise team, with an improvement expected under new coach Dusty Baker, but otherwise this is the least competitive division in the league, with the Pittsburgh Pirates not a factor and the Houston Astros and St Louis Cardinals having fallen away from the teams that reached the World Series in 2005 and 2006.

Winners: Chicago Cubs

NL West

This, by contrast, is baseball's deepest division, and a really tough one to call. With the exception of the Barry Bonds-less San Francisco Giants, any of the teams could make the play-offs. The San Diego Padres stay close in games because they don't give up many runs, but they don't score many either and are destined for fourth place. The Colorado Rockies should also come up short. They won 21 out of 22 games to reach the World Series last year, but they can't count on such a streak occurring again because their pitching is simply not strong enough.

I love the front of the Arizona Diamondbacks' rotation with Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, who take much of the weight off Randy Johnson's ageing shoulders. But they were outscored by 20 runs last year and the fact they won 18 games more than they lost shows they had hits at the right time - they can't rely on that again. So the Los Angeles Dodgers are, for me, the NL West's most balanced team - despite the many injuries they have right now, new coach Joe Torre will get the best from the veterans at his disposal and Andruw Jones is a valuable asset acquired on offense - and should sneak first place.

Winners: Los Angeles Dodgers
Wild card: Arizona Diamondbacks

World Series

Detroit Tigers over New York Mets