Thursday, April 8, 2010

Picking the Pennant Races

I'm a little late on this, but I don't think the results of the first few days of the season have really altered my picks for the upcoming baseball season. Here's how I see the division races shping up-- feel free to comment with your picks.

National League East:
1. Atlanta Braves (I'm jumping on the Jason Heyward bandwagon-- that's his picture above)
2. Philadelphia Phillies (should still be good enough to take the wild card)
3. Florida Marlins
4. New York Mets
5. Washington Nationals (though I hope they climb over the Mets)

National League Central
1. St. Louis Cardinals (I'm not that high on them, but this is a weak division)
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Chicago Cubs (I'm pulling for them to win it though)
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (optimistic, I know, but I think they're ready to move up)
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Houston Astros

National League West (this will be the closest race-- any of the top four could win)
1. Colorado Rockies
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Arizona Diamopndbacks
5. San Diego Padres (sorry Evan)

American League East
1. Tampa Bay Rays (probably wishful thinking)
2. New York Yankees (wild card)
3. Boston Red Sox
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Toronto Blue Jays

American League Central
1. Minnesota Twins
2. Detroit Tigers (these top two might be flipped-- they're pretty close)
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Cleveland Indians (sad to see this, but they are retooling)
5. Kansas City Royals (last year I picked them for improvement; I won't be fooled again)

American League West
1. California Angels
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Texas Rangers (I'm kind of pulling for these guys)
4. Oakland A's

Admittedly, the Braves pick is biased, but I hope to see them go all the way in Bobby Cox's last season as manager. I see them beating the Angels in the World Series. Of course, if I were to look at this strictly through cold analysis, I'd probably conclude the Yankees will beat the Phillies again. But where's the drama in that?

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