The season officially starts tonight - I don't count that fiasco in Japan. It makes no sense to me to start the season in a foreign country that creates such hardship for the players with the time change and the long trip. MLB is already committed to opening in London next year. Very silly.
I'll make my predictions now, but first, here are the results of the predictions of the staff at ESPN.
Without boring you with the details, here are the predicted champions by the 49 voters:
Los Angeles Angels - 18
Tampa Bay Rays - 7
Texas Rangers - 7
Detroit Tigers - 6
Philadelphia Phillies - 5
New York Yankees - 3
St Louis Cardinals - 2
Boston Red Sox - 1
The Yankees were picked to finish in the money 48 out of 49 chances, 36 times as the East Div. winners. The only dissenter was Matthew Berry, who is a part of the Baseball Fantasy division, as you might expect. Interestingly enough, the Red Sox were only picked to make the post season 16 times. I guess I'm not the only one who has little confidence in Booby Valentine to accomplish anything.
***PICASNER'S PICKS***
NL East - Philadelphia (A year older but still good)
NL Central - Cincinnati (A team about to put it all together)
NL West - San Francisco (Too much pitching, not enough hitting but still there)
Wild Cards - Washington, Arizona (The Nationals? Am I on drugs?)
Champion - Cincinnati
ALEast - New York (You were expecting maybe Newark?)
AL Central - Detroit (Powerful lineup and just enough pitching)
AL West - Los Angeles ( Bought enough players in the off-season to do it)
Wild Cards - Tampa Bay, Texas (No Red Sox? And I'm not on drugs)
Champion - The Yankees (Annie-O says I have to)
World Series Winner - New York Yankees (See previous comment)
By the way, the poll of the 500 best MLB players is done. The first three players were Albert Pujols, Roy Halladay and Miguel Cabrera. Robinson Cano finished 10th.
***THEY SAID IT***
"The new Marlins Park in Miami includes a fish tank behind home plate and a bobblehead museum with 588 "inductees" on display. Pete Rose's bobblehead, when last seen, was still petitioning to get in." -- Dwight Perry
"John Daly announced he'll be spending a lot of time at the Augusta Hooters during Masters week. Now there's a tradition unlike any other." -- Bud Bailey, Buffalo News
"Kentucky coach John Calipari, to reporters, when asked if it's difficult to get young blue-chip talent to jell as a team: "I'll tell you what's hard — coaching bad players."
"I'm not impressed with the Mariners and A's opening the MLB season in Tokyo. What's next? Japan opening its sumo-wrestling season in Des Moines, Iowa?" -- Greg Cote
"The rotating sideline message board at Monday's Kentucky-Kansas title game, touting next year's Final Four in Georgia, referred to the 2013 site as "Alanta." Hidebound traditionalists immediately blamed it on a one-and-done English major." -- Dwight Perry
"Boston Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey will probably need surgery on his thumb, and Josh Beckett has also reported a thumb injury. When will they ever learn – get the ball boys to open your beer cans." -- Janice Hough
"In Alberta, donkeys are increasingly being used to guard sheep and cattle. The idea came from the NHL, where jackasses often work as enforcers." -- RJ Currie
CP-
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