2010 MLB Predictions

Welcome back everybody! I apologize for my prolonged absence, as school had me bogged down for the past month. We are fast approaching New Year's Day for many baseball fans, as Opening Day is just days away. Since most of the teams have their 25-man rosters set, we can finally take a look at how each team will likely finish in 2010. Who will be left standing at the finish line at the end of October (or, in these days, early November)? Here are my predictions, beginning with the good ol' American League (the asterisk denotes my pick for the Wild Card):

American League East

1.) New York Yankees- With their strong lineup and starting rotation, getting back to October should be no problem at all for the Bronx Bombers.

2.) Boston Red Sox*- The strength they lost in their lineup (Jason Bay) they made up for by strengthening their rotation, as the signing of John Lackey bolsters an already formidable starting five. When you combine a strong starting rotation with a lineup that is still pretty good even without Bay, you have yourself a playoff team.

3.) Tampa Bay Rays- While this is a solid team on paper, they are not quite good enough to take down New York and Boston. Expect Carl Crawford trade rumors to surface if they begin to slip early.

4.) Baltimore Orioles- The O's have a great young nucleus in their lineup and a whole stable of young pitchers ready to make their mark in the big leagues. They probably will not contend this year, but if all goes well, New York, Boston and Tampa Bay better watch out in 2011-2012. The Birds are almost back.

5.) Toronto Blue Jays- Cito Gaston's final season as a manager won't be nearly as pleasant as Bobby Cox's will be in Atlanta, and that is a shame. The team is practically in a rebuilding mode since trading Roy Halladay, and they will miss him dearly in the starting rotation. It remains to be seen who will step up and become the ace of the staff, whether it will be Opening Day starter Shawn Marcum or Ricky Romero, whose performance last year almost earned him Rookie of the Year honors. Also, look for Adam Lind and Aaron Hill to be the anchors of an otherwise porous lineup.

American League Central

1.) Chicago White Sox- The Sox easily have the best starting five in the division, and an argument can be made for whether or not they have the best five in the American League. If all goes well between Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Freddy Garcia, their lineup will not have to score that many runs to win games.

2.) Minnesota Twins- The whole baseball world will be watching to see how well the Twins will play outdoors this season. My guess is that they will be just fine. The Twins will bring back a solid starting lineup, and a decent rotation that is not quite as good as Chicago's, but will be good enough to keep them in ballgames. Missing Joe Nathan will probably hurt this club, but remember, these are the Twins. They always seem to find a way. Don't be surprised if the AL Central comes down to another one-game playoff.

3.) Detroit Tigers- Despite the addition of Johnny Damon, expect the Tigers to be a bit weaker this year. They will miss Edwin Jackson in the starting rotation this year, and they will be starting two rookies this year in the field (Austin Jackson in center field, Scott Sizemore at second base). While Jackson and Sizemore have a lot of upside, they are still unproven. An aging Magglio Ordonez in right field will not necessarily help matters, either.

4.) Kansas City Royals- We all know about Zack Greinke, who was last year's Cy Young Award winner. Nonetheless, what about some of the other young talent on this team? Will Billy Butler continue his ascent as a major league hitter, or will he fall victim to inconsistency? Will Luke Hochevar live up to his potential and provide another stabilizing force in the starting rotation, or will be become plagued with inconsistency? Ownership can continue to tell Royals fans to be patient, but considering that it has been 25 years since they made the playoffs, patience has to be running very thin in Kansas City. On-field progress of the team as a whole needs to be seen soon.

5.) Cleveland Indians- Has any team fallen faster in the last three seasons? They went from being just one win away from clinching the AL Pennant in 2007 to finishing in the AL Central basement last year. Between a bad starting rotation and a mediocre lineup that has only two bright spots (Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo), things will probably get worse for the Tribe this year.

American League West

1.) Los Angeles Angels- They may have fallen back towards the pack a bit after losing some key people to free agency (primarily third baseman Chone Figgins and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero), but the Halos still have what it takes to win their fourth consecutive division title. They don't have the sexy one-two punch at the front of their starting rotation like Seattle does, and they may not have a blistering offense like Texas does. What they do have is a good balance between the two; they feature a strong starting five that as a whole, is more complete than Seattle and a lineup that can manufacture runs more efficiently than Texas.

2.) Seattle Mariners- They have the good one-two punch at the front of their rotation in Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee, and they added Chone Figgins in the offseason as well to give their lineup more speed. However, the back three of their rotation is still very suspect, and their lineup still needs more pop to keep up with the Angels. If they want to take down Mike Scioscia's boys in L.A., they'll have to give them a taste of their own medicine by manufacturing runs themselves.

3.) Texas Rangers- Team President Nolan Ryan is predicting 92 wins and a division title from this club, who has not seen the postseason in 11 years. They certainly have the bats to carry them, but will their pitching hold up? Can staff ace Scott Feldman provide an encore performance of what he did last year? We'll see.

4.) Oakland Athletics- They aren't the worst team in baseball, but they certainly are the most boring one by a mile.



National League East

1.) Philadelphia Phillies- The addition of Roy Halladay, along with an absolutely explosive lineup, will ensure the Phils of their fourth straight division championship.

2.) Atlanta Braves*- Let the Jason Heyward show begin. The presence of this 20-year-old right fielder will ignite a spark throughout this team, and his play will be a major contributing factor to Atlanta making their first postseason appearance since 2005. The Braves also feature a solid starting rotation that will also help carry them to October.

3.) Florida Marlins- Much like their in-state brethren to the north, this will be a good team, but not good enough to take down Philly and Atlanta. Their rotation is suspect beyond Jason Johnson and Ricky Nolasco, and their lineup, as a whole, can be streaky at times.

4.) New York Mets- Now that the Mets play in a park where home runs go to die, they really need to become stronger in pitching and defense. Signing Jason Bay does not exactly help with this, especially since the Mets are in desperate need of pitching beyond Santana. I would not be surprised at all if manager Jerry Manuel and General Manager Omar Minaya were shown the door at the end of the season if the Mets do not contend.

5.) Washington Nationals- The Nasty Nats won't be good this year, but the day they call up Stephen Strasburg will be one of excitement in the Nation's Capital. It should also be interesting to see who they take with the number one overall pick in this year's draft, too.

National League Central

1.) St. Louis Cardinals-- The Redbirds will be flying high back into October, on the strength of their four best players: Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.

2.) Chicago Cubs- The talent is there, but will they stay healthy? Plus, getting rid of Milton Bradley should help with the clubhouse morale this year, too. I do not expect them to make the playoffs, but I expect them to perform better than they did last year.

3.) Cincinnati Reds- They probably won't contend this year, but if everybody stays healthy, a winning season should definitely be a lock for Dusty Baker's crew.

4.) Milwaukee Brewers- Outside of Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee will have their adventures with their rotation. Look for a lot of slug fests with the Brew Crew this summer.

5.) Pittsburgh Pirates- They have a decent young core in their starting lineup and their rotation was not dreadful at all last year. Since Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen will both be with the team for the entire season, the Bucs will avoid the NL Central basement for the first time since 2006. Unfortunately, they will endure their 18th consecutive losing season.

6.) Houston Astros- This team has been slowly eroding over the last few years. Lance Berkman will have his injury woes throughout the season, and their rotation is very thin behind Oswalt. If Oswalt misses any time, this team will be doomed to a last-place finish.

National League West

1.) Colorado Rockies- Get ready for Rocktober, part three. The lineup is already rock solid (pun intended) and if the pitching lives up to expectations, there will be no second-place for the Rockies this year. They will be champions of the NL West.

2.) Los Angeles Dodgers- Will the lineup produce enough to keep up with Colorado? Also, the divorce of the Dodger's owner will be a very big distraction this summer.

3.) San Francisco Giants- They have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, but they also have one of the more anemic lineups in the game, too. The lack of quality bats on this team will cost them.

4.) Arizona Diamondbacks- If Brandon Webb returns to form, they will have a great one-two-three punch at the top of their rotation, along with Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson. Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds will also be tough outs once again for opposing pitchers. While the rest of their lineup is talented, they are also very inconsistent. This inconsistency has doomed the team each of the last two years, and this year will not be any different.

5.) San Diego Padres- Outside of Adrian Gonzalez, I dare you to name three people on this team. This team is largely unknown, but Kyle Blanks should garner some attention with his power bat this summer. Expect trade rumors for Adrian Gonzalez to pick up steam this summer, as well.

Postseason

American League Division Series
New York Yankees defeat Chicago White Sox 3-2
Los Angeles Angels defeat Boston Red Sox 3-2

American League Championship Series
Los Angeles Angels defeat New York Yankees 4-2

National League Division Series
Philadelphia Phillies sweep St. Louis Cardinals 3-0
Colorado Rockies defeat Atlanta Braves 3-1

National League Championship Series
Philadelphia Phillies defeat Colorado Rockies 4-3

World Series
Philadelphia Phillies defeat Los Angeles Angels 4-1