And let's save the AL East for last.
In the National League, anyone who has been alseep for 5 months perhaps has not noticed the Phillies improvements. They are simply the best team in the National League, so by default I award them the East, because there is no one close tot them. Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, I mean that's enough isn't it ?
How many 50 stolen base guys vs the 50 home run guys, how many 20 game winners, and are there any 40-40 guys out there ?
NL East
Phillies
Braves
Mets
Marlins
Nationals
NL Central
Cincinnati
St.Louis
Houston
Milwaukee ( yup, don't drink their cool aid )
Chicago
Pittsburgh
NL West
San Fransisco
Los Angeles
San Diego
Arizona
AL West
Texas
Oakland
Anaheim/LA
Seattle
AL Central
Chicago
Minnesota
Detroit
Kansas City
Cleveland
AL East
Boston
New York
Toronto
Tampa
Baltimore
Wild Cards
National League
Atlanta
American League
New York
So I see a lot of similar results, except the Red Sox are the cream of the American League, Texas loses Cliff Lee and have taken a step backward. The Yanks are inches better than Minny but the gap is not as far as you might think.
I see the Sox playing the Sox for the pennant, and Philly playing SF in the NL, pitching rich as they both are.
NL Rookie - Mike Stanton
AL Rookie - Jeremy Hellickson
Phils to play the Red Sox in the World Series and winning, so long as that 4 man rotation stays intact.
This spring we have the Bonds trial, and as we approach summer, the Clemens fiasco, so a season of distractions is upon us.
We will have a single 50 home run hitter, just one, his name is Albert Pujols, and a more of the same in terms of pitching performances.
This season is going to seem a lot like the 2010 season, ERA's under 2 for a long time, the running game, and the usual comeback stories like Eric Bedard, Kevin Youkilis, and others ( hoping Hill and Lind are 2 of them )
Oh and the Jays, 84 wins, I expect the Rays will struggle after every David Price appearance.
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