Today was Opening Day of the 2011 Major League Baseball season-- hooray! I'm looking forward to six months of excitement as the teams battle it out in pursuit of a championship. Even though I know a couple of teams have already started the season on a winning (or losing) note, I'm going to ooffer my predictions for how things will look in the standings at the end of the year. Mostly these are based on information I've gleaned over the winter, involving transactions, injuries, manager changes, etc. But I can't deny that there isn't justa bit of wishful thinking involved in one or two cases. Anyway, here are my predictions:National League East
1. Atlanta Braves (led by phenom Jason Heyward, seen above)
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Florida Marlins
4. Washington Nationals
5. New York Mets
National League Central
1. Milwaukee Brewers
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Chicago Cubs
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (that's right, the Pirates are ascending!)
6. Houston Astros
National League West
1. San Francisco Giants
2. Colorado Rockies
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. San Diego Padres (sadly sunk without Adrian Gonzalez)
5. Arizona Diamondbacks
American League East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles
American League Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Kansas City Royals
American League West
1. Texas Rangers
2. Oakland A's
3. Los Angeles Angels
4. Seattle Mariners (Sorry Lizzie)
I think the tightest races will be in the two central divisions, with the top three in each battling down to the wire; and also the NL East, where I'm counting on some of that aforementioned wishful thinking to boost the Braves just past the Phillies. Wild cards will go to the Twins in the AL and Phillies in the NL. League Champions: Atlanta and Boston, with the Braves taking the World Series in six games (a guy can dream, right?). Feel free to offer your own picks in the comments section.
6 comments:
The cool thing about SD this year is that an Asheville kid (Cameron Maybin) is starting for us. Would be great if he had a break out year, but I'm not sure he has THAT much potential (he turns 24 this week, I think).
-e
Really Dr John,
You couldn't fit a bit of wishful thinking in for me and at least put the Mariners in 3rd... head hangs and shrugs... =(
Lil' Sis
e-
I saw the end of the game yesterday, and Maybin definitely came through a couple times in the clutch. But didn't he get hurt legging out a double? I hope it isn't serious (and I do think the Padres will be good this year-- but that looks like a really tough division).
Dr. John
Lil Sis,
Well, I don't think the Mariners will be the worst team in the league-- I'm sure they'll outperform the Royals. It just seems like they've let most of their best players of the last couple years (not including King Felix of course) slip away. I won't mind if I'm wrong though.
Dr. John
Dr John-
I really do understand the logistics of why they will be in the bottom but you state in the lead paragraph the bit of "wishful thinking". ;)
Lil' Sis
Lil Sis,
I didn't want to dilute any of the good karma I can otherwise send the Braves' way ;-)
Dr. John
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