Today is the Mets Home Opener against Philadelphia. I'll begin by saying that I hate the Phillies, and hope that the Mets rub their faces in Jimmy Rollins big mouth.
Usually, every year I post a big huge preview of the Mets team and how great I think they are and all my predictions for the season, etc.. etc..
I'm not doing that this year. It just takes too much time and energy.
I will say this: I'm really glad baseball is back.
Let's go right to predictions:
NL EAST:
Mets will win the division, though not as handily as last year, but it will be the Braves giving them chase, and not the all-talk Phillies. (As I write this, Mets have taken a 2-1 lead)
The Mets pitching will open everyone's eyes, as the rotation will be their strength this year, and not their Achilles heel. It's the bullpen that I am worried about more than anything. Pedro will come back after the break and be good enough to take us the rest of the way. Braves will take the WC.
NL CENTRAL:
I could care less.
I think the cubs will fall down in spite of one of the largest spending sprees in recent history.
I think the Pirates will surprise many people and finish in the top two or three teams in the division. I could even see them winning it if these young pitchers they have mature. But the Cardinals will be bad, and the favorties have to be the Brewers, especially if Ben Sheets stays healthy.
NL WEST
I could care less.
Anyone but the Giants has a real shot at winning the division.
It will probably be the Dodgers again, with the Padres right behind them.
D-backs will have a good year too, but probably not good enough to hang.
Rockies will be the sleeper team. They don't have the pitching, but will probably be a fun team to watch.
AL EAST
I seriously do not care, and wish that all of these teams would disappear, except for maybe the D-Rays, who have a lot of young talent and will be fin to watch for years.
Bosox have so much pitching, and dice-k is the real deal. His stuff is so nasty. In a just world, they should win the division, and I think they will.
A-Rod is in his opt-out year and should provide all the incentive for the rest of the baseball world to try to pry him out of the Yankees clutches... but if they win, don't get your hopes up. Arod will stay put and he will become a NY darling. But the Yankee pitching is in shambles, far worse than any prediction about the Mets staff, but with All-Stars at nearly every position, you can never count them out. For the record, Derek Jeter is the most overrated short stop in the history of baseball.
Blue Jays will hang around until mid-year when they will go the way of the rest of division.. south.
AL CENTRAL:
This division is actually intriguing.
Cleveland under achieved big time last year, and they should do much better this year. But there are 4 teams in this division with a legit shot to win it all. I think Detroit will repeat if their pitching can stay healthy, otherwise look for the Twins to win the division.
Cleveland will play better, and it will be close, but they and the White Sox will come up short at the end, maybe even tie for 3rd within a game or two of the Wild Card (which will be whoever does not win the division). Do I need to even mention the Royals?
AL WEST:
It will be between the Angels and the A's again, but I think the Angels get it this time. Vlad is healthy and ready to play. The A's will keep it close, but they won;t get enough from the back of their rotation to win, but they'll stay close enough to keep Billy Beane from trading Dan Haren to the Mets. Rich Harden will compete for the AL Cy Young.
Rangers just don't have the pitching, but they have a lot of good players I like to watch.
Mariners are terrible, probably the organization with the biggest waste of payroll dollars ever.
AL MVP: Arod
NL MVP: Jose Reyes
AL Cy Young: Dice-K
NL Cy Young: Tom Glavine (haha, total homer pick) Actually, it will probably be Brandon Webb or some other guy on a losing team.
OK, so it ended up longer than i wanted it to, but at least you didn't have to suffer through two paragraphs of me gushing about how good Jose Reyes is, and how the Mets have 4 legit MVP contenders, and blah blah blah the Mets are awesome.
LETS GO METS! FINISH THE JOB.
World Series: Mets and Boston, a repeat of '86, Mets in 7.
