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!

—

Pool temp: 64 degrees