Now that Spring Training has begun, it's time for prognostication. Post your predictions for the regular season and playoffs.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East:

1. New York Yankees: As much as I hate this prediction, it's hard not to make it.
2. Boston Red Sox (Wild Card)
3. Tampa Bay Rays: Rays finish 82-80 for their first winning season.
4. Baltimore Orioles.
5. Toronto Blue Jays.

Central:

1. Minnesota Twins: Johan Santana's 2nd straight Cy Young season makes the difference in this division.
2. Cleveland Indians.
3. Detroit Tigers.
4. Chicago White Sox.
5. Kansas City Royals.

West:

1. Anaheim Angels: Like who didn't see that one.
2. Texas Rangers.
3. Seattle Mariners.
4. Oakland Athletics.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East:

1. Florida Marlins: The Fish win between 97 and 102 games, claiming their first division title.
2. Atlanta Braves (Wild Card)
3. Philadelphia Phillies: Phillies are vastly improved with the departure of Larry Bowa, @$$hole extraordinaire. But, in true form, Phillies lose at least 13 games to Florida.
4. New York Mets: Maybe not. But I love to see New York teams choke on their money.
5. Washington Nationals: Nats outdraw the Baltimore Angelos.

Central:

1. St. Louis Cardinals: Cards run away with it in a greatly weakened division.
2. Chicago Cubs.
3. Houston Astros.
4. Milwaukee Brewers.
5. Pittsburg Pirates.
6. Cincinnati Reds: Junior suffers alien abduction in early May, misses remainder of season.

West:

1. San Francisco Giants.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers.
3. San Diego Padres.
4. Arizona Diamondbacks.
5. Colorado Rockies.

PLAYOFFS

ALDS

Twins finally figure it out, beat Yanks in 5. Santana starts twice, gives up 1 run in 15 innings.

BoSox over Angels in 5.

NLDS

Fish sweep Giants. Barry gets walked, Giants fans whine, what else is new?

Braves over Cards in 5. Hudson defeats Mulder.

ALCS

Twins over Red Sox in 7. This group finally harnesses the power of the HHH Dome, a la 1987, 1991 Twinks. Home team wins every game.

Marlins over Braves in 6.

WORLD SERIES

Marlins in 7, superior offense key in a pitchers' Series, very similar to '91 Braves-Twins.

[ February 20, 2005, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: marlins9703twins8791 ]

Here is what I am thinking:

NL

East
Braves, I can't pick anyone else after 11 years (is it 12, 10, I forgot, it is just way too many).

Central:
Cards (Best record in NL)

West:
Giants

Wild Card:

Phils beat Marlins in a one game playoff.

# of Mets wins: 81

POSTSEASON:
NLDS: Cards defeat Phils in Five. Rolen is booed in Philly (going out on a limb there)
NLDS: Giants defeat Braves in Four.

NLCS: Giants down Cards in six. High scoring games.

AL:
EAST: Yanks, duh! Great rotation this year. Best record in AL

CENTRAL: Indians. They looked good for a time last season.

WEST: Angels, I think Vlad is the MAN!! And the MVP.

WILD CARD: BoSox, what else is new?

ALDS: Yanks over Indians in Four.
ALDS: Angels over BoSox in Four.

ALCS: Angels over Yanks in seven, Joe T is canned right after.

WORLD SERIES: Angels in Six. Rematch of 2003

NL

East: Braves, Marlins (Wild Card,) Phillies, Mets, Nationals

Central: Cardinals, Reds, Astros, Cubs, Brewers, Pirates.

West: Dodgers, adres, Giants, D'Backs, Rockies.

AL

East: Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, Devil Rays

Central: Twins, White Sox (Wild Card), Indians, Tigers, Royals.

West: Angels, Mariners, Rangers, A's.

NL playoffs/championship: LA over Atlanta, St. Louis over Florida. St Louis defeats LA.

AL playoffs/championship: NY over MN, Anaheim over Chi. NY defeats Anaheim

Worl Series: St Louis defeats New York in 6. East Coast media goes into paroxysms.

~Adam

Hi:

With work taking so much of Charlie in the Trees' time, we have a new baseball writer, Sean Holihan. He begins our preview with a look at the AL West. Sean knows his stuff and hope you all enjoy it.

CITT works? wink And who is this Sean character? Does he post here? And where is the brilliant writer who wrote last year's postseason previews?

He is preparing a column for us on the season.

Yup, I post here. My name is Sean Holihan, I'm sure you might have seen me post here recently. I live in Norfolk, VA and I'm a Mets fan. So I might be a bit biased.

Hope you guys enjoy the predictions. I went a little out on a limb predicting the Padres to win the West, but with Bond's second knee surgery in one offseason who knows how or when he'll play this year.

Enjoy your writing Sean. Don't pay attention to others who question why you are writing the spring preview.

I think we're all a bit biased here when it comes to our teams. wink Looking forward to the rest of your predictions.

I only asked because BPT wrote the postseason previews last year and I figured he might be doing the spring previews as well. Geez.

[ March 22, 2005, 08:03 AM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Oh hell, I don't mind. I'm just glad to have the opportunity. Thanks for the support.

At least he's a Mets fan!

My little contribution to the site will be up before too long. Just been extremely busy with work the past couple of weeks.

AMERICAN LEAGUE:
EAST--NEW YORK YANKEES
CENTRAL--MINNESOTA TWINS
WEST--ANAHEIM ANGELS
WILDCARD--CLEVELAND INDIANS

Division Series:
Yankees over Indians
Angels over Twins

Championship Series:
Yankees over Angels

NATIONAL LEAGUE:
EAST: ATLANTA BRAVES
CENTRAL: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
WEST: LOS ANGELES DODGERS
WILDCARD: CINCINNATI REDS

Division Series:
Braves over Reds
Cardinals over Dodgers

Championship Series:
Braves over Cardinals

WORLD SERIES:
Yankees over Braves (again )

OK, the rest is arguable. But the Reds making the wild card is downright ridiculous. There are so many other teams that can grab that thing. The NL East is very tight and the Phillies, Marlins, Braves or Mets could grab the division or wild card. Not only that the Reds aren't even the third best in their division. You've got the obvious Cardinals leading the pack, followed by the Cubs and then the Astros. Of course Prior, Wood and Pettette all have to be healthy but the best pitcher the Reds have is Eric "give up a homer--crap I'm playing in the Great American Ballpark" Milton.

I'll let ya slide on the Braves going to the World Series, those guys are like roaches.

Okay, here I go...

NL East:
1. Marlins
2. Braves
3. Mets (I could be persuaded to flip-flop Braves and Mets)
4. Phillies
5. Nationals

NL Central: Cards
NL West: Padres
NL Wild Card: Giants

NLDS: Giants over Cards
Marlins over Padres

NLCS: Marlins over Giants

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Red Sox

ALDS: Angels over Red Sox
Yankees over Twins

ALCS: Yankees over Angels

World Series: Yankees over Marlins

Okay here goes nothing:

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Red Sox

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
Wild Card: Mets

AL Champ: Twins
NL Champ: Cardinals
World Series Champ: Twins

Edited to add: After posting these predictions I went to ESPN.com and read the \"Expert Picks\". Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark and Buster Olney (three of the leading ESPN baseball analysts) have also picked the Twins to win the whole enchilada. Maybe I need to reevaluate!

[ April 03, 2005, 10:28 AM: Message edited by: George_Twinsfan ]

I've waited all winter for this!

AL East: Yankees
AL Cent: Twins
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Red Sox

NL East: Marlins
NL Cent: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WIld Card: Astros

AL Champ: Yankees
NL Champ: Cardinals

World Series Winner: Cardinals

[ April 03, 2005, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: BillyC ]

PLAY BALL!

AL EAST
1. Yankees
2. Red Sox (WildCard)

AL CENTRAL
1. Indians
2. White Sox

AL WEST
1. Angels
2. Rangers

NL EAST
1. Braves
2. Mets

NL CENTRAL
1. Cardinals
2. Cubs (Wildcard)

NL WEST
1. Dodgers
2. Giants

AL CHAMPS : New York Yankees
NL CHAMPS : St. Louis Cardinals

BIG PRIZE : New York Yankees

I thought that I wouldn't do this, but I just have to:

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
AL Wildcard: Yankees

NL East: Marlins
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL Wildcard: Braves

AL Division Series:
Red Sox over Indians
Yankees over Angels

NL Division Series:
Cardinals over Braves
Marlins over Padres

AL Championship Series:
Red Sox over Yankees

NL Championship Series:
Cardinals over Marlins

World Series:
Cardinals over Red Sox

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Twins

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
Wild Card: Padres

ALDS: Yankees over Twins, Angels over Indians
NLDS: Padres over Braves, Cardinals over Dodgers

ALCS: Yankees over Angels
NLCS: Cardinals over Padres

World Series: Yankees over Cardinals, and the universe rights itself

Anton posted a terrific column on the season.

Yankees
Twins
Angels
Athletics

Braves
Cards
Dodgers
Mets

World Series: Yankees over Cardinals

Awww shucks, you're far too kind!

So here are my predictions:

AL East - Red Sox
AL Central - Twins
AL West - Angels
AL Wild Card - Yankees

AL Division Series - Twins over Red Sox, Angels over Yankees. (Yankees fans go fetal with sorrow. )

AL Champion - Twins

National League

NL East - Braves :mad:
NL Central - Astros
NL West - Giants
NL Wild Card - Marlins

NL Division Series - Astros over Braves, Marlins over Giants.

NL Champion - Marlins

World Series Champs - Twins. George_Twinsfan "piddles" from the excitement, and ignores the Vikings throughout Fall '05. wink

No he wasn't. That was great fun to read! But, what makes you think Susan Lucci is going to show up in Philadelphia to get married? She's too much a star and a diva, as I understand it. You may have to get someone to fill in for her...hey, why are you looking at me like that?? eek!

Jim and George, thanks for taking my Mets for the wild card. It won't be easy. I still feel the biggest disadvantage for us going in against the Marlins and Braves is the years and years of experience (especially NL experience) their managers have. It will take a little while for Willie Randolph to be able to relax and decide how to handle those 2-2 top of the 8th scenarios. For Bobby Cox and Jack McKeon those type scenarios are child's play.

NL East...Marlins
NL Central...Cardinals
NL West...Padres
NL Wild Card...Giants

AL East...Yankees
AL Central...White Sox
AL West...Angels
AL Wild Card...Twins

Lately in the NFL and in baseball, teams tend to take their World Series or Super Bowl follow-up seasons off and then return to the top the following year. That's why I think the Marlins, who had their one year of post World Series withdrawal in 2004, will take 1st place and go to the World Series again.

[ April 04, 2005, 07:14 AM: Message edited by: amazin12 ]

Cause Deidre Hall and Erika Slezak were already booked.

Glad you enjoyed the article Joe... though I'm expecting a snarky comment from PhillyFan or Cattledog either here or in a PM sometime soon.

Well, it's not like Slezak is busy with a storyline on "OLTL,' so she should have time to get to Philly...Bravo on the article, but the Twins??? I was going to defend the Dodger pitching staff, but they are on the husky side (a couple of them may collapse the pitcher's mound.)

~Adam

[ April 04, 2005, 10:14 AM: Message edited by: Adam ]

I thought it was an awesome article, yet I do have to disagree about the Twins. Yet, who knows who will get in. Seems like every year everyone is wrong. No one saw the Cardinals going last year. Everyone saw either the Astros or Cubs going with those great pitching staffs.

However, I think the Twins are like the old 90's Braves teams. They are built to win thru a 162 game season. Not a short 5 or 7 game series. They have great pitching, but there isn't any stud at the plate that can knock it out at any time. Last year no one knocked in more than Torii Hunter's 81 RBI. I will say this though: Given Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau performance last year, if they stay healthy and in the lineup, these guys could hit 30 homers a piece.

Quick quiz for you: who was the last Twins player to hit more than 30 homeruns? Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky and Gary Gaetti did it in 1987. No other team has gone that long without a 30 homerun season from a player. Course, didn't stop them from winning two World Series Titles though, did it?

The Twins pitching staff should also be bolstered by the return of Joe Mays. If he stays healthy (a big if considering his history) their starting lineup, which led the AL in ERA last year, will be even better. They were very close to goinjg back to the Metrodome up 2-0 on the Yanks last year. The keys will be the left side of the infield with rookie Jason Bartlett at SS and Michael Cuddyer taking over at 3B. And of course the big key is Mauer at C.

Thought I'd revive this long-dormant (and probably best forgotten) thread to see how we did.

Nobody had the White Sox or Astros going to the World Series.

I had 6 of 8 playoff teams. Unfortunately the 2 I missed were the 2 that went to the World Series.

I had 5 of 8 playoff teams, because I figured the Marlins would win the NL East.

If Joe Gerardi had managed them last year, they might have gone to the Series....