Winter is finally over, the birds are chirpin’, and baseball is back. Not one to shy away from making predictions, here are my picks for the 2010 season:
AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Seattle Mariners
AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays
NL East: Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West: Colorado Rockies
NL Wild Card: Atlanta Braves
World Series: Phillies over Yankees
I hate to say it, but the Yankees remain the class of the AL. The Phillies look awesome with their American League-style lineup and formidable pitching staff. I think the addition of Roy Halladay makes the difference in putting them over the top in October (actually, it will probably be November by the time the World Series is over).
The Red Sox? I’m not as optimistic as some are in these parts. I think their starting rotation is OK, but I see this year as a transition year for the team. Long-time heroes David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, and Mike Lowell are all past their primes and in decline, and I’m not impressed by their replacements. Victor Martinez is a good hitter, but not a great full-time catcher, Adrian Beltre is a great fielder, but his bat won’t scare anyone, and Jacoby Ellsbury’s talents are being wasted in left field with the addition of Mike Cameron. It’s an odd assortment of good players in a division where good will simply not be enough. And the team needs to get younger.
For “Big Papi” Ortiz, I just don’t see him putting up numbers that will justify keeping him as full-time DH, his bat looks slow. More importantly, I see their lineup as especially vulnerable to quality pitching combined with speed – something the Yankees and Rays have in spades. In the AL East, they’re no better than a third-place team, and that means they’ll be packing their bags for home after the regular season ends.
But even if this scenario turns out to be the case, that’s OK. It’s great to have baseball back. Play ball!
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Pool temp: 64 degrees
I agree with you across the board, GWS. That should be great cause for alarm for you, I think. 🙂 The Phillies are the class of the National League by a pretty wide margin. The American League is harder to figure but the Yankees haven’t diminished themselves in their league enough in my eyes to keep them from getting to the World Series again but they have done enough to let the Phillies pass them by.
Comment by Rob — April 5, 2010 @ 8:42 am
Whoa! Great minds think alike. Your prognosticating capabilities when it comes to sports, especially football, is second to few if any. So that’s a compliment.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rays make it to the World Series, though. I think they’re going to be very, very good.
Comment by The Great White Shank — April 5, 2010 @ 4:51 pm
Great White Shank,
Are you sure about those predictions
after seeing the opener against the Red Sox vs. Yankees game?
Actually it’s a long season so you may be
close on your predictions. But the real question is what to do with Mike Lowell, he has
a good bat on his shoulder’s. if Papi continues
to drop down in his “BP” then put in Mike Lowell!
Cubby
Comment by Cubby — April 5, 2010 @ 5:21 pm
Yo Cub, great to hear from ya. You watch, ML will be in the lineup on Wednesday against Andy Pettite.
Comment by The Great White Shank — April 5, 2010 @ 8:43 pm
We’ll get a close look at your Red Sox when we open our new stadium next week. It will be a good test for our boys. I’m a little skeptical about your Mariners pick, but who knows?
Comment by Dave E. — April 7, 2010 @ 7:22 pm