MLB Preview-Recaps

Hello and a Happy Easter to you. I will recap my divisional picks here and I will also pick the world series and the award winners from each league. I hope you enjoy this baseball season as much as I will....

Division Winners

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Mariners
AL Wild Card: Rays
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants
NL Wild Card: Braves

World Series

Red Sox over Phillies

Award Winners

MVP: Kevin Youkilis (AL), Prince Fielder (NL)
Cy Young: Felix Hernandez (AL), Roy Halladay (NL)


I know you are wondering where is Albert Pujols in the NL MVP? I feel Pujols will have a great season, but with the lineup thats forming around Fielder I feel he will have a MVP like year. Same goes for Youkilis who puts up good batting numbers and will breakout this year for Boston.

"zzzhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhn6jn"-Kirby put his input for the season as well as he felt compelled to type something.

That does it for my MLB picks...enjoy the season

MLB Preview-AL Central

Well, this is my final division to breakdown. And as you no doubt know, it is my favorite division. The past two years the central division has needed a tiebreaker game. That shows how close it is. And i tried to not be so biased while picking this division too...

1. Minnesota Twins: No surprise here. Yes i love this team. I did give the White Sox a look at winning the division. But I feel the loss of Joe Nathan will not faze this team. They seemingly love facing adversity. Their rotation features four proven pitchers, and a resurgent Francisco Liriano who has had a phenominal spring. Their lineup is one of the most revered in baseball. And as long as everyone stays on the field, I will take this lineup against any pitcher. The only place it can improve is the 9 spot/third base which is filled by the gritty Nick Punto. The Twins will win the division, but the loss of Nathan keeps me from tabbing them as a AL favorite. But they always surprise us...
   
2. Chicago White Sox: Many people are picking the White Sox to win this division. But people forget the team above loves to face adversity. So im gonna tell you why im not on board with the south siders yet. Can they hit? My answer is maybe. If they can stay on the field. CF Alex Rios has gone belly up since signing that extension with Toronto. He only hit .247 last year. OF Carlos Quentin can not stay healthy and that drags down the lineup. They brought in Andruw Jones to hit DH and last I looked he could not hit above the mendoza line. And 1B Paul Konerko is getting up there in years so his production could go down. This team will be one of the best pitching wise. But hitting wise I have issues there. And the White Sox lose in the final week.
   
3. Detroit Tigers: Detroit came one win away from the postseason in 2009. And in the following offseason, they got a younger lineup. The let Placido Polanco leave via free agency and traded Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson away. But in those trades they did get promising youngsters Austin Jackson (OF) and Max Scherzer (P), while Scott Sizemore will come up from AAA and play second. Behind Verlander, the Tigers have some young guys and some wild card guys which raises some red flags for picking them higher. Their lineup will put up good numbers with Miguel Cabrera and newcomer Johnny Damon leading the way. But it came down to the experience and their lineup lost alot of that so the Tigers finish third.
   
4. Cleveland Indians: It came down to Cleveland and Kansas City for fourth place in the division. And Cleveland has more proven players so that gave them the edge. They have Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona at the top of their rotation and Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner lead the offensive attack. But they have many youngsters in the lineup and rotation. So watch out for the tribe in the coming years as these guys get more and more major league experience. But for now they do not stack up with the teams above and they will pay for it in the standings.
   
5. Kansas City Royals: It was hard picking Kansas City in the cellar again. I like the makeup of the lineup. But pitching in the rotation and bullpen will kill this teams chances of finishing above fifth. They do have reigning Cy Young award winner Zach Greinke, but he only pitches every 5th game. And 1B Billy Butler is a very underrated player in the eyes of the media. They have one of the games best in Joakim Soria closing games, but they will have big problems getting him the ball with a lead. And thats why Kansas City will sit in the cellar for another season.

Tomorrow, I will recap my picks and pick my world series winner award winners.

MLB Preview-AL East

This was the toughest division for me to get a grip on. You have the powerhouses in New York and Boston, but Tampa Bay has turned some heads this spring and I have thrown them in the division/wild card fold....

1. Boston Red Sox: This team uppgraded themselves on the defensive side this winter by adding CF Mike Cameron and SS Marco Scutaro. Then they signed P John Lackey away from Anaheim to add some experience to their rotation. (Lackey has a 5.00+ ERA at Fenway but that doesn't worry me since he is part of the Sox now) The Red Sox have a solid lineup from 1-9 with every one of those players having all star potential this season. Their rotation and bullpen appears to be atop MLB as well with Lackey in the fold now as well. This might be the most dangerous Boston team in quite some time so I pick them to win this tight raced division.
   
2. Tampa Bay Rays: This was a hard pick, but I love Tampa Bay to win the Wild Card. They have good young pitching (lead by James Shields) and they have a very good lineup(Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena bring the punch in this lineup). They still have their core players from their miracle run to the World Series in 2008 which gives them great experience. Players like OF B.J. Upton and P Matt Garza had down years in 2009 and I have a tough time seeing them not bouncing back in 2010. The Rays carried the best record in spring this year (I know these are just exhibition games), and 4 of the last 6 teams to have the best record in spring made the postseason the same year. A trend Tampa will continue.
   
3. New York Yankees: New York took home the title in 2009. But I felt they downgraded their roster this offseason by adding OF Curtis Granderson and P Javier Vasquez. Both these players in my opinion are very overrated. Granderson had a sun .200 average against left handers last year and Vasquez had a good year in a weak division for Atlanta. Vasquez had a previous stint with New York going 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA. I feel he will post similar numbers in 2010. Their other outfielders Brett Gardiner and Nick Swisher do not produce good batting averages or good defense and that was a huge deciding factor while deciding between the Yanks and Rays. The Yanks get 90+ wins but fall short to Tampa.
   
4. Baltimore Orioles: In two or three years, Baltimore will be a force to mess with in this division. But this year...not so much. They have a good young nucleus of hitters (lead by C Matt Wieters, OF Nick Markakis, and OF Adam Jones), which should build on another full year in the big leagues. They have some young gun pitchers in Brad Bergesen, Brian Matusz, and Chris Tillman which is why they brought in a veteran pitcher, Kevin Millwood, to lead their way. If they weren't in this division I probably would put them higher up, but they play in the same division as New York, Boston, and a resurgent Tampa Bay. And all I can give them is the four slot.
   
5. Toronto Blue Jays: Toronto no longer has their best player in Roy Halladay. That title now falls on the underachieving Vernon Wells. Toronto has a young pitching staff that can make them a force in a couple of years, if they can reach their potential. They have some good hitters in Travis Snider, Aaron Hill, and Adam Lind. But I dont think these guys can save the Blue Jays from the cellar in this division. They have some wild card players in their lineup and a young rotation with no veteran and all it gets them is the AL East Cellar.