Baseball Preview
Fine We'll make it two entries in less than 7 hours by analyzing the second most exciting sporting event this weekend and that of course is opening day baseball. Since I seem to be the foremost advocate for America's pastime I have taken upon myself to inform the masses or at least the 4 of you who might actually read this of what exactly will transpire this season in Major League Baseball.
Official Predictions:
NL EAST:
Atlanta Braves 91-71
- No one in baseball much less the relatively weak NL EAST can match up with their starting 5
New York Mets 86-76
-Beltran + Pedro equals moderate success. Good enough for 2nd not for 1st.
Florida Marlins 82-80
-Overrated pitching staff and loss of top closer dooms the fish to mediocrity.
Philadelphia Phillies 70-92
-The wheels fall completely off in Philly as they head toward a complete rebuild.
Washington Nationals 68-94
-Now there will be a crowd to watch the expos err nationals lose
NL Central: (note this section may contain extreme bias)
Chicago Cubs 162-0 or 89-73
-But really if the pitchers stay moderately healthy they are the class of the central
St. Louis Cardinals 87-75
-Lack of pitching depth hurts cardinals hopes for a repeat world series appearance
Cincinatti Reds 81-81
-the most improved team in this division with a stud lineup that rivals the Cards for best in the division.
Houston Astros 81-81
-Just an average team. 3 quality starters 2 quality bats = not nearly enough
Milwaukee Brewers 69-93
-Play the young kids! It can't get any worse
Pittsburgh Pirates 62-100
-the worst team in the national league over the last 4 years expect more of the same
NL WEST:
San Diego Padres 85-77
-Padres with average record luck out in worts division in baseball
Los Angeles Dodgers 79-83
-Offseason moves add more questions than answers
Arizona Diamondbacks 76-86
-the big unit trade was productive but not very still only decent
San Francisco Giants 75-87
-want to know how much Barry Bonds means to his team. With them their the prohibitive division favorite without him they only beat the rockies out of the cellar.
Colorado Rockies 58-106
-Quite simply the youngest team in the National League and in this case youth=losses
NL MVP: Albert Pujols 1b Cardinals
NL Cy Young: Jason Schmidt Giants
NL ROY: Chase Utley 2b Phillies
Most Underrated: Jack Wilson ss Pirates
Most Overrated: Jeff Kent 2b Dodgers
AL EAST:
New York Yankees 104-58
-I hate teams that buy championships but if you're going to spend it you could do a lot worse than the team Steinbrenner has assembled this year.
Boston Red Sox 98-64
-the pitching staff imposes less fear than last year but may actually be better
Baltimore Orioles 79-83
-Sosa is done, palmeiro is nearly done, and their starters are the worst in the division (yes including Tampa)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 72-90
-The young starters (Kazmir,Brazelton,Bell) are all a year older and their bullpen was one of the best in the AL last year, they'll need a repeat performance to make up for a weaker lineup
Toronto Blue Jays 70-92
-In Tampa we know what happens when you finish dead last and cut payroll, Toronto is about to find out.
AL CENTRAL: (Aaron Better read this)
Cleveland Indians 90-72
-the tribe are ready to make the leap to playoff contention with a great young lineup and a quality starting 5
Minnesota Twins 86-76
-Minnesota will be out of the playoffs for the first time in a long while as their anemic offense will keep them behind the charging wahoos
Detroit Tigers 81-81
-Alan Trammel may be the most underrated Manager in baseball as he's had absolutely no talent the last two seasons but that changes this year as the kids have matured
Chicago White Sox 74-88
-The second city's stepchild will underachieve as usual as a roster of selfish semi-stars dooms them to a sub .500 mark
Kansas City Royals 55-107
-Just Pathetic
AL WEST:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 100-62
-Clearly the class of the west as they have a rare tri-fecta in the best starters, bullpen and lineup in their division augmented by the best manager, the surest bet since yokozuna vs. a cheeseburger (wrestling reference #1, more coming later)
Texas Rangers 88-74
-they won't take teams by surprise this year but they don't need to their kids have matured and that lineup is stacked
Seattle Mariners 83-79
-The most improved midlevel team of the offseason, Beltre and Sexson will provide enough pop to score Ichiro and Randy Winn 100 times a piece
Oakland Athletics 71-91
-Much like Philadelphia this is the year the magic stops, moneyball can only take you so far until you actually need, well you know money.
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez 3b NYY
AL Cy Young: Randy Johnson NYY
AL ROY: tie Dallas McPherson 3b LAA, Scott Kazmir RHP TB
Most Underrated: Victor Martinez C CLE
Most Overrated: Sidney Ponson RHP BAL
Playoffs
Atlanta def. St. Louis New York def. Cleveland
Chicago def. San Diego Anaheim def. Boston
Atlanta def. Chicago New York def. Anaheim
New York def. Atlanta to win 2005 World Series
There you have it the official predictions for the 2005 season. I'll be doing a full preview for Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Cleveland, and the Cubs. If you have requests for any other teams let me know and I'll try to work them in. But, before I leave you we must have the WRESTLEMANIA RUNDOWN!!!!!
WWE Women's Championship
Trish vs. Christy Hemme
JA: probably Christy cuz she was just in playboy. If you don't understand why that's a reason for her winning let me know and I'll explain it to you.
Big Show vs. Akebono SUMO MATCH
JA: Akebono is on loan from New Japan so look for a mutual respect handshake after a AKEBONO win.
Eddie Guererro vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
JA: has a chance to be match of the night i'll go with Eddie in a guy feeling
The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton
JA: The Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania 12-0 to be exact make that 13-0
Money In the Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane vs. Edge vs. Christian
JA: The winner gets a shot at the World Heavyweight championship so the most likely challenger for Batista post MANIA is Kane so we'll go with him.
Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels
JA: If you actually enjoy "wrestling" you'll love this match but as for my pick...eh...HBK? (that's Shawn Michaels)
WWE Championship: JBL vs. John Cena
JA: AS simple a prediction as you will ever see in wrestling. JBL has remained champion by nefarious means for 10 months (an eternity in WWE time) and John Cena is the biggest face (short for babyface meaning good guy) in the company. Cena is the pick
World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H vs. Batista
JA: The main event is just as simple if you've seen a wrestlemania. Basic formula here the face wins the Mania main event congrats Batista.
Have a great week and I'll see you probably wednesday with the preview for the Atlanta Braves. Until then Arrivaderci!
Current Mood:
cheerfulCurrent Music: Sportscenter, you know how it goes