The American League is crazy deep this year. I believe Tampa Bay will miss the playoffs even though they could easily finish with the best record in baseball if they played in the National League. The Yankees will conquer the SEC of Major League Baseball as CC Sabathia will spend yet another summer dominating hitter after hitter (and box after box of Captain Crunch). During the last NBA offseason, Kobe went to Germany to get a super secret treatment and now all he's doing is leading the league in scoring. A-Rod spent his offseason with those same doctors so I expect no less than 74 home runs and a .405 average from him this year.
AL Central: Tigers
I know that this horse has been beaten to death by everyone who's ever watched a baseball game in their lives but...the Tigers defense really is going to be cover-your-eyes awful this year. Still, I expect Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera to slug their way through a bunch of 10-8 games en route to capturing the American League's weakest division.
AL West: Rangers
I like the Rangers to edge the Angels in the West mainly because of four words: Josh Hamilton contract year. This is his last chance to get a big payday. I know that you may find that cynical of me to think this way but as Ubaldo Jimenez reminded us recently, it's always about the benjamins.
Quick note before moving to the Wild Cards: Ubaldo has absolutely no room to bitch about contracts with the Rockies. He signed a four year deal for $10 million total in 2009 (which two club options for years five and six). His agent did everything short of launching a LeBron style TV show to dissuade Ubaldo from signing this contract. At the time, Ubaldo said he didn't need the extra money and he was happy with the security that came with a long term deal. No one made him sign that contract; had he waited he would have had more leverage to get a long term deal from the Rockies in 2011 when they extended Tulo and Cargo. He has no room to complain about this, and that is even before you get to the fact that their work on the field justifies a large contract while Ubaldo's does not.
Wild Cards: Los Angeles, Boston
The Angels rotation is loaded and they should benefit from getting to beat up on Seattle and Oakland all year. As much as Boston's rotation scares me (there's a lot of faith being put in Daniel Bard, who has as many career major league starts as I do), the top half of their batting order is dynamite and should carry the load during those months when injuries will force Boston will to turn to options like Aaron Cook and Dice-K to eat innings.
NL East: Braves
I have big expectations for Atlanta this year. Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman are going to rip the cover off the ball. Plus, they're going to have a full season of Michael Bourn which means that Brian McCann and Dan Uggla are going to see a lot more fastballs with Bourn on the basepaths. McCann and Uggla are to fastballs what Chris Singleton is to lottery tickets: none of them can see one pass by and not make an offer at it (I know, hack joke, but I couldn't let Singleton drop $10 G's on Mega Millions without taking some type of shot at it. Dude called it an investment! If lotto tickets are an investment then slot machines are mutual funds).
NL Central: Reds
A lot can happen in one year. The NL Central used to be Sir Albert's and Prince's playground. Now, Joey Votto sits alone in the Central's first base hierarchy followed by...Lance Berkman...and...um...(checking ESPN)...good God! Let's just move on. I think that the Reds are slightly more talented than the Cardinals and Brewers and that will make all the difference in a division race that feels destined to be determined the final week of the season.
NL West: Giants
See? I'm not a complete and total homer; the Rockies are absent from my playoff picks. I expect them to win eighty one games and finish behind the Giants and the Diamondbacks. They're too young and I'm concerned that the giant sinkhole they have at third base will eventually devour Tulo. The Giants' rotation should get even better as Madison Bumgarner is poised for a breakout season after posting a 2.67 FIP last year. A full year of Buster Posey will help as well as the fact that they finally seem ready to let Brandon Belt out of his cage.
Wild Cards: Phillies, Marlins
I love beating up on the Phillies. Ryan Howard is the living embodiment of why RBI's are a useless statistic and for years their lineup has been overrated past Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley. That being said, their pitching is other worldly and should still be good enough to allow Philly to capture one of the Wild Cards. I like Miami to take the other as Emilio Bonifacio, Jose Reyes, and Hanley Ramirez will be driving pitchers batshit all year long on the basepaths. Ozzie Guillen loves to run so there is no doubt in my mind that all three guys have eternal green lights. Their rotation is solid even if Josh Johnson continues his annual routine of blowing out his elbow.
NL Champ: Braves
AL Champ: Ranges
World Series Champ: Rangers
Everyone focuses on starting rotations in the playoffs (for good reason) but as the Cardinals showed us last year, bullpens are just as crucial. In October, you need to have guys who can get a strikeout late in the game when they really need one and the Braves and Rangers have an abundance of live arms overflowing out of their respective 'pens. The Rangers' experience and power will help them prevail over Atlanta in six games.
Awards
AL MVP: Josh Hamilton
NL MVP: Joey Votto
AL Cy Young: David Price
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum
AL Rookie of the Year: Matt Moore
NL Rookie of the Year: Bryce Harper
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