Who do you pick to win the six division titles this year?

The only guaranteed answer:
ATLANTA BRAVES!

Huh? SportsWeekly (formerly Baseball Weekly) are predicting Philadelphia Phillies to win NL East!

Thought I'd bump this thread to the top on the first day of spring training, since not very many people have voted yet. And I gotta get my pitch in for my Boys in Blue.

As a relatively new baseball fan, I'm not fully knowledgable about the offensive and defensive intracacies of the game yet (I'm reading everything I can get my hands on to learn more), but I like what I've heard and read about the Royals off-season moves this year. The offensive boost they made this winter, with a little bump-up in payroll will make them the team to beat in the AL Central. There is a buzz in the air in KC surrounding the Royals, and season ticket packages are selling like hotcakes.

When you look at the White Sox website, it's littered with skepticism, like: "You never know what will happen. We are going to play with heart and try to win a lot of games." And: "A positive outlook can't quite erase the numerous issues facing the White Sox as Spring Training begins."

Meanwhile, the Royals website is peppered with optimism: "...with the team the Royals are putting on the field this season, you might not want to wait and roll the dice on a standing room only ticket... While the White Sox lost six key players and the Twins lost the back end of their bullpen, a quality starter and their starting catcher, the Royals were adding quality players... the Royals seemed poised to make a serious bid for their first division crown since 1985... The high expectation levels are appropriate and I think the players will adjust to them... and get Kansas City into the postseason."

Isn't this thread awfully premature? A lot can happen in 6 weeks of spring training, e.g. phenoms, washouts, and broken legs. We don't even know which dreadful gloveman will be the Yanks' starting CF, Lofton or Williams.

But there are some things that we will know, like the fact the Mets will continue to be dreadful, and an insignificant part of New York.

I don't care if the newsweekly "are" picking the Phillies and HOT Pat Burrell to win the division, the Braves WILL win.

I'll grant you that he's no baseball expert, but our local sports radio morning show co-host (and ESPN hockey analyst) Al Morganti is a huge Red Sox fan, since he grew up in that region...and he was also here during the managerial regime prior to Larry Bowa. And this morning on the radio he said that Boston will finish below .500 this season. Beware the curse of Frankotite!

Well maybe it is premature for you Bill. But then don't bother voting. It's that easy. I didn't set an end time for voting, so if you want to wait until the end of spring training, feel free.

I don't call 80-85 wins -- the Mets' most likely range -- "dreadful." Bet? They'll be"significant" for baseball-loving New Yorkers who aren't gaseous, self-admiring frontrunners.

Funny how we make predictions every year, and never revisit them in October.

The Mets won't be dreadful. Keep that label to Detroit, Milwaukee and probably Cincinnati. They might still be insignificant in New York because all of NYC (Mets fans included) will be chanting a collective "WTF!" when Toronto wins the AL East, and the Yanks stay home in October.

And The Mets being a .500 team... yeah, that would be nice.

One thing for sure, when the Mets are good, they capture New York/New Jersey like no other team can. If we can expect 80-85 wins, and manage to do slightly better, then NY will be enamored by the Mets success.

Josh

No fair! I wanted the Royals to take out the Yankees in post-season. *pouts*

I hope we revisit this in October; it would be cool if someone was actually right. My picks: NL West: San Francisco (sorry Dodgers, you still don't have the hitting). NL Central: Houston. NL East: Florida. Wild Card: Chicago. NL Champs: Houston.

AL West: Seattle. AL Central: Chicago AL East: Yankees. Wild Card: Boston AL Champs: Yankees

World Series: Houston over the Yankees in 7 games (Houston will have home field advantage; Gagne won't blow the save in the All Star game this year.)

Good idea. Let's re-visit in October.

My picks:

AL East Boston
AL Central Kansas City
AL West Anaheim
AL Wild Card Oakland
Champs: Boston

NL East Philadelphia
NL Central Chicago
NL West San Diego
NL Wild Card Houston
Champs: Chicago

World Series Champs: Boston

OK I'm game...

AL East - Toronto
AL Central - Minnesota
AL West - Seattle
Wild Card - Anaheim
Champs - Toronto over Seattle

NL East - Philadelphia
NL Central - Chicago
NL West - Los Angeles (going for it here)
NL Wild Card - Florida - after 1 game playoff w/ Houston (more b/c I can't decide)
Champs - Philadelphia over Chicago

World Series - Philly tops Toto eek!

Al Morganti should stick to hockey, He either now hates the Red Sox or doesn't know the difference between a puck and a bat.

[ February 20, 2004, 08:02 PM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

I thought some of what Morganti said made sense. Red Sox fired Grady Little, in part, because he didn't make pitching change in playoff game. Similarly, it is expected Francona will leave Schilling in a game until Schilling is ready to leave, not when manager wants to pull him. There was some talk of Schilling already being obnoxious at spring training, potentially already alienating teammates. Morganti basically said Francona will let Schilling get away with whatever he wants, and Francona will be the same hands off type manager he was in Philly. I hope Morganti is wrong, but time will tell...

I didn't have the guts to pick em to win the East (which may be a bit of a stretch anyway) but I think the Blue Jays are the real "sleeper" in the A.L. this year....even though the O's upgraded their offense considerably with the additions of Tejada, Javy and Raffy the lack of experienced starters in Baltimore (with the exception of Ponson) will likely be their downfall and relegate them to a 7th consecutive 4th place finish (I hope I'm proven wrong about that).

Conversely, the Jays wisely focused on adding quality, experienced arms in Ted Lilly and Pat Hentgen (plus Kerry Lightenberg in the bullpen) to supplement Halladay and Batista at the top of the rotation along with their already potent offense....Lilly is highly underrated and is due for a "breakout season" IMHO and Hentgen pitched spectacularly during the second half of last season for the O's but only had a 6-3 record to show for his efforts due to lack of run support and an atrocious bullpen that blew saves in nearly 30% of his starts resulting in undeserved losses and no decisions.

If Hinske and Phelps rebound from sub-par years at the plate and Delgado and Wells duplicate their production of last season I look for Toronto to seriously contend for a wild card berth....as for the Jays new logo and unis, however, that's another issue altogether.

Just some general predictions here.

* Bill W. will be a stats-obessed contrarian all season. "But he only has a .235 OBP!! He SUCKS!!!!! His stats on Friday during day games on turf are AWFUL!!!"

* Joe in Philly will start 187 threads about the Phillies, including one about the hotdogs at the new park

* Red Sox and Yankees fans will be lobbing verbal missles at each other all season, so much so that the rest of us who don't care want to scream "Oh, get OVER IT, you losers!".

* Jim Allen will be a manic-depressive about the Angels, gloating when they are doing well, sinking in to a gloomy depression when they lose 3 in a row, convinced that they are collapsing

* Munson Man, Cattledog and other Yankees fans will start 186 threads, including one about an obscure AA player who's torn his ACL, like the rest of us care

* AU Tiger in LA will accuse me of being a Dodgers fan, unleasing a bitter tirade from me

* The Braves will be boring as all f**k, but no matter where Javy is playing, Thumper will LUST.

* I will mention The Anaconda about 185 times.

* Teams like the Devil Rays, Brewers, Detroit, Cinci and maybe Florida (fire sale anyone?) will suck, their fans depressed for the whole season

* The Expos saga will not get resolved, MLB and Beezlebud sitting on their hands and not doing shit

* The basball board will be the best part of Outsports until the World Series is over

[ February 21, 2004, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

So fa the Yankees, Phillies, Cubs and Giants are very big favorites in their respective divisions.

AL Central has the Royals just 1 vote ahead of the White Sox with the Twins a close third. AL West has the Angles first with the Mariners and A's tied a close second.

Only teams to receive no votes so far: DRays, Tigers, Rangers, Mets, Brewers, Pirates and Rockies.

Mmmm, hot dogs...

The "Yankees 2004" thread is coming, my man. It's coming really soon!

Just 187?? wink

My prediction -- ARod's salary will be more than Cleveland's starting lineup.

Oh wait that already has happened !

But wait, the news said ARod coming to New York is Good For Baseball !

Viva la baseball!

Seattle loses to the Cubs in the series. Book it.

Hmm.. Do you think this thread might have a chance at passing that jugguernaut the 2003-
04 Eagles thread?

Here were my picks:

AL East: Boston
AL Central: Minnesota
AL West: Seattle

NL East: Philadelphia
NL Central: Houston
NL West: San Francisco

My choices:

NL: East--Philadelphia, Central--Houston, West--Los Angeles (gives me a better reason to attend home games.) Wild card--St. Louis

AL: East--New York, Central--Chicago, West--Oakland, Wild Card--Toronto

Or it could be the year of revenge:

NL: East--New York, Central--Milwaukee, West--San Diego, Wild card--Pittsburgh

AL--East--Tampa Bay, Central--Detroit, West--Texas (take that A-Rod!) Wild card--Baltimore.

That would make a great season!!

~Adam

AL East - Yankees
AL Central - White Sox
AL West - Angels
Wild Card - A's
ALDS - Yankees over A's, Angels over White Sox
ALCS - Yankees over Angels

NL East - Marlins
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Giants
Wild Card - Cardinals
NLDS - Cubs over Marlins, Cardinals over Giants
NLCS - Cubs over Cardinals

World Series - Cubs over Yankees, and world ends

[ February 23, 2004, 10:37 AM: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

I believe Cattledog is having you banned from the "Yankees 2004" thread. wink

Prediction 1: Red Sox crumble in the World Series; lose to the Astros in 4 straight.

Prediction 2: I will keep a Royals thread going all season even though no one else except coyoteugly will care.

Prediction 3: I will whine about the Royals getting no respect... um, let's see... 32 times. 41 times counting the post-season.

I thought about it. But between MunsonMan, Pat125, Catcher, Batboy, and myself, there are not many true navy blue Yankee fans left on these threads. He's probably just picking Chicago to jinx them, anyway. wink
For the record, though, I went AL: Yankees, White Sox, Mariners, with the A's as the Wild Card. NL, I went: Phillies, Cardinals, Giants, with Braves as the Wild Card. ALCS: Yankees over Mariners, NLCS: Giants over Phillies, World Series: Yankees over Barry Bonds .

[ February 23, 2004, 01:47 PM: Message edited by: Cattledog ]

Re: actual predictions.

Angels to win the West. Couldn't care less about the rest. Angels to win at least one playoff series, no idea about the rest.

* Steroids to continue to be a major story throughout the year

* The nincompoops that run MLB still won't have a clue about what to do about the Expos

* A cottage industry of "A-Rod and Jeter, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G." will pop-up providing many hours of PhotoShopped fun and furious avowals of heterosexuality in a press conference by one or both before the season ends

* This might fall under "I hope" but I think the Dodgers will be mediocre again, thus causing the LA Times to write reams of copy about why that's so (their Laker coverage, even when they're not playing, takes up about 2 whole pages in the sports section now, so they'll just do the same with the Dodgers).

* I might finally get to meet Jim Thome

My picks

AL East - Red Sox
AL Central - Twins
AL West - Mariners
Wild Card - Yankees
ALDS - Red Sox over Yankees, Mariners over Twins
ALCS - Red Sox over Mariners

NL East - Phillies
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Giants
Wild Card - Marlins
NLDS - Phillies over Marlins, Cubs over Giants
NLCS - Phillies over Cubs

Have not decided on W.S. champion yet

Phillyrunner I almost have the exact same picks, although this is what I would like to see:

AL East - Red Sox
AL Central - Twins
AL West - Mariners
Wild Card - Yankees
ALDS - Red Sox over Twins, Mariners over Yankees
ALCS - Mariners over Red Sox (I'm such a homer!)

NL East - Phillies
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Giants
Wild Card - Marlins
NLDS - Phillies over Giants, Cubs over Marlins
NLCS - Cubs over Phillies

Then you would have to pass the smelling salts because if the Mariners make the World Series, I will be out cold!

edit to revise for proper playoff seedings!

[ February 24, 2004, 07:03 AM: Message edited by: Mariner Duck Boy ]

A little rule that may have some of you change your predictions regarding the ALDS or the NLDS is that two teams from the same division may NOT play each other in the first round of the playoffs. Thus, if the Yankees had the best record and the Red Sox were the Wild Card, they still could not play each other until the ALCS. Last year was a good example of this since the Yankees had the best regular season record and the Red Sox were the Wild Card. Since the Wild Card was in the same division with the team with the best regular season record, the Red Sox had to play the team that had the second best regular season record, which was the A's. Just FYI...

Uh oh - you better be careful. Those Mets fans can be pretty nasty. Believe you me, I know. I was taunted through the whole world series - only because I love the Yankees!!!

That is why I said what I did. wink We Yankee fans tend to get knocked around a bit on the OutSports baseball threads (this is where everybody is supposed to say, "awwwww!")--more by the Mets guys than even the Red Sox guys.

It wouldn't have anything to do with having a $200m payroll now, would it?

I'd say that's a pretty large target that's been drawn on your backs.

Well, since George Steinbrenner consults the gay Yankee OutSports guys on everything, I suppose that would make us a target. After all, we are responsible for the payroll.

Hey, it's your team not mine. If you're willing to publicly cheer, post and boast about your team on here, you gotta be open to comments about payroll, regardless of whether you were consulted or not.

Perhaps you should supply us with a list of Yankee-related topics, which meet your approval, that we are allowed to discuss on this forum.

Maybe you are right. Actually that is why I started a separate thread last season to discuss Yankees stuff with other Yankees fans to avoid unpleasant dialogue such as this. I appreciate your candor, and hope you enjoy the baseball season.

Unpleasant dialogue? What are you talking about? You stated in a prior post that ”We Yankee fans tend to get knocked around a bit on the OutSports baseball threads.” And I replied to the post, explaining from my point of view, why the Yankees and their loud fans “tend to get knocked around a bit.”

I didn’t use vulgarity.
I didn’t personally attack you.
Is it unpleasant to hear what other baseball fans think?

Is your new forum labeled “Yankee Fans Only”?

Methinks someone has a bit too thin of a skin on this topic. And certainly my comment was not intended as "unpleasant," so I apologize to Cattledog in full view of the Outsports community if I have offended him.

Like I said, I appreciate your candor, and I hope you enjoy the baseball season.

Cattledog, thanks for pointing out that little rule about a division winner not playing the wildcard from the same division in the first round. In all the Euphoria of Yankees - RedSox fever on the board, I just totally zoned out. Anyway here is a Miss Congeniality award for you keeping your composure.

Oh, we'll be enjoying it together. Trust me.

It didn't take much of a crystal ball to see that the steroid issue would be news. Take a chill pill Dusty: That's so true, being questioned about steroid use is comparable to McCarthyism.

[ February 25, 2004, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

I find it hard to believe anyone will win the AL Central or NL West... still, for the hell of it:

AL East - Red Sox
AL Central - Twins
AL West - A's
Wild Card - Yankees

NL East - Marlins
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Padres
Wild Card - Astros

Picking postseason winners in March? Now that's really silly.

In our minimal forecasting a year ago, I was the only one to nail the AL playoff teams on the head. Props, people?

[ March 29, 2004, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Bill W ]

our division-by-division look today written by the always-entertaining Charlie in the Trees.