Nick's 2010 Baseball Picks
Every year as I have done since as l long as I can remember I embarrass myself by making predictions of the upcoming baseball season. To show you how much I know last year I picked a Dodgers and Red Sox World Series. Anyway, here goes nothing.
American League
East
1. Boston
2. New York
3. Tampa Bay
4. Baltimore
5. Toronto
This is a very different Red Sox team as they will count on pitching and defense to win games. They have more team speed then maybe ever in their history. I like the makeup of the club. The Yankees are the Yankees and they are a very solid squad. They don’t have many holes either and will be in the post season barring a rash of injuries. The Rays are a good ballclub and if they were in the central or west they would probably win it. But the two teams ahead of them are just too strong. The Orioles are at long last starting to show signs of life as their farm system is starting to produce. If some of that young pitching figures it out, they could be dangerous. The Blue Jays at long last traded Haladay and officially are in re-building mode. It may take awhile as there is a lack of talent on this roster.
Central
1. Chicago
2. Minnesota
3. Detroit
4. Cleveland
5. Kansas City
In what appears to be a division on the decline the White Sox should win this rather easily. Pitching wins and they have the best rotation by far. If they hit at all, they win it. The Twins have some talent but they no longer can rely on the dome field advantage. I think that hurts them. I don’t know what to make of the Tigers. I could see a scenario where they win it if the back end of their rotation holds up, but that is a very big if. The Indians are taking a step back but there is some talent on this roster. They are going to surprise people with their offense. However, their pitching will hold them back. The Royals are still the Royals. You have to wonder what they are thinking. Moves like signing Scott Podsednick just make you scratch your head.
West
1. Texas
2. Los Angeles
3. Seattle
4. Oakland
This in my mind is the weakest division in all of baseball. The Rangers have all the pieces in place to win this year. If their young pitching steps up they will do it. The Angles just lost too much in the off season and didn’t replace enough of their talent base. This could be a re-building year for them. The Mariners have a lot of nice pieces. But, the Lee injury scares me and any team batting Milton Bradley 4th is in trouble. The A’s once a model franchise are a mess. No money, no fan base and a farm system that looks dried up. And then they spent 10 million on Ben Sheets. Good luck with that.
National League
East
1. Philadelphia
2. Florida
3. Atlanta
4. New York
5. Washington
The Phillies are clearly the class of the east. The Haladay pickup makes an already very good team even better. They should win this going away. The Marlins have a lot of good young talent that may be ready to blossom. They have some good young arms. The Braves are a lot of people’s sexy pick to surprise this year, and they very may well do that. But, there is just something about this clubs makeup I don’t like. The Mets are a mess. I was tempted to put them behind Washington. Already the injury bug has hit them. The Nationals at long last have some talent coming up in their system. But it will be at least a year or two before it shows up in the standings.
Central
1. St. Louis
2. Chicago
3. Milwaukee
4. Cincinnati
5. Pittsburgh
6. Houston
It is hard to pick against the Cardinals. Still, I don’t think this is a perfect team. But, the front of the rotation and the middle of their lineup are very formidable. Everyone is writing off the Cubs. But, this team still has some talent. Everything that could go wrong did last year and they still won 83 games. The Brewers are going to score some runs, but as usual that pitching scares me and I don’t think Randy Wolf is the answer. A lot of people are talking up the Reds as possible contenders this year. Well, as long as they have Dusty in the dugout they aren’t going anywhere. The Pirates are still bad and this looks like the 17th season in a row of a sub .500 record. The Astros are a complete mess. I have no idea what they are doing and their farm system is one of the worst in baseball. They could be in for a long season.
West
1. Colorado
2. Los Angeles
3. San Francisco
4. Arizona
5. San Diego
The West has a bunch of teams that are pretty equal. The Rockies were the best team in the league from June on last year. A lot of talent on that roster and they will win their first division crown. The Dodgers are being picked by most people and I get it, but something about this team scares me. Manny is starting to act like the Manny in Boston and you wonder if they can survive that. The Giants pitching is strong but their offense is pretty weak. Maybe if they score some runs they will sneak in there. The Diamondbacks are a difficult team to gage. A lot depends on Webb’s health. Something tells me it is going to take him a year to round back to form. The Padres are collecting a lot of good young ball players. They will be back in contention by 2012, but this year won’t be very good.
Post Season
AL
Boston over Chicago
New York over Texas
Boston over New York
NL
Philadelphia over Chicago
Colorado over St. Louis
Philadelphia over Colorado
World Series
Philadelphia over Boston
Awards
AL
MVP – Mark Texiara
Cy Young – Felix Hernandez
Rookie of the Year – Neftali Feliz
Manager of the year – Ron Washington
NL
MVP – Chase Utley
Cy Young – Roy Haladay
Rookie of the year – Alcides Escobar
Manager of the Year – Lou Piniella
American League
East
1. Boston
2. New York
3. Tampa Bay
4. Baltimore
5. Toronto
This is a very different Red Sox team as they will count on pitching and defense to win games. They have more team speed then maybe ever in their history. I like the makeup of the club. The Yankees are the Yankees and they are a very solid squad. They don’t have many holes either and will be in the post season barring a rash of injuries. The Rays are a good ballclub and if they were in the central or west they would probably win it. But the two teams ahead of them are just too strong. The Orioles are at long last starting to show signs of life as their farm system is starting to produce. If some of that young pitching figures it out, they could be dangerous. The Blue Jays at long last traded Haladay and officially are in re-building mode. It may take awhile as there is a lack of talent on this roster.
Central
1. Chicago
2. Minnesota
3. Detroit
4. Cleveland
5. Kansas City
In what appears to be a division on the decline the White Sox should win this rather easily. Pitching wins and they have the best rotation by far. If they hit at all, they win it. The Twins have some talent but they no longer can rely on the dome field advantage. I think that hurts them. I don’t know what to make of the Tigers. I could see a scenario where they win it if the back end of their rotation holds up, but that is a very big if. The Indians are taking a step back but there is some talent on this roster. They are going to surprise people with their offense. However, their pitching will hold them back. The Royals are still the Royals. You have to wonder what they are thinking. Moves like signing Scott Podsednick just make you scratch your head.
West
1. Texas
2. Los Angeles
3. Seattle
4. Oakland
This in my mind is the weakest division in all of baseball. The Rangers have all the pieces in place to win this year. If their young pitching steps up they will do it. The Angles just lost too much in the off season and didn’t replace enough of their talent base. This could be a re-building year for them. The Mariners have a lot of nice pieces. But, the Lee injury scares me and any team batting Milton Bradley 4th is in trouble. The A’s once a model franchise are a mess. No money, no fan base and a farm system that looks dried up. And then they spent 10 million on Ben Sheets. Good luck with that.
National League
East
1. Philadelphia
2. Florida
3. Atlanta
4. New York
5. Washington
The Phillies are clearly the class of the east. The Haladay pickup makes an already very good team even better. They should win this going away. The Marlins have a lot of good young talent that may be ready to blossom. They have some good young arms. The Braves are a lot of people’s sexy pick to surprise this year, and they very may well do that. But, there is just something about this clubs makeup I don’t like. The Mets are a mess. I was tempted to put them behind Washington. Already the injury bug has hit them. The Nationals at long last have some talent coming up in their system. But it will be at least a year or two before it shows up in the standings.
Central
1. St. Louis
2. Chicago
3. Milwaukee
4. Cincinnati
5. Pittsburgh
6. Houston
It is hard to pick against the Cardinals. Still, I don’t think this is a perfect team. But, the front of the rotation and the middle of their lineup are very formidable. Everyone is writing off the Cubs. But, this team still has some talent. Everything that could go wrong did last year and they still won 83 games. The Brewers are going to score some runs, but as usual that pitching scares me and I don’t think Randy Wolf is the answer. A lot of people are talking up the Reds as possible contenders this year. Well, as long as they have Dusty in the dugout they aren’t going anywhere. The Pirates are still bad and this looks like the 17th season in a row of a sub .500 record. The Astros are a complete mess. I have no idea what they are doing and their farm system is one of the worst in baseball. They could be in for a long season.
West
1. Colorado
2. Los Angeles
3. San Francisco
4. Arizona
5. San Diego
The West has a bunch of teams that are pretty equal. The Rockies were the best team in the league from June on last year. A lot of talent on that roster and they will win their first division crown. The Dodgers are being picked by most people and I get it, but something about this team scares me. Manny is starting to act like the Manny in Boston and you wonder if they can survive that. The Giants pitching is strong but their offense is pretty weak. Maybe if they score some runs they will sneak in there. The Diamondbacks are a difficult team to gage. A lot depends on Webb’s health. Something tells me it is going to take him a year to round back to form. The Padres are collecting a lot of good young ball players. They will be back in contention by 2012, but this year won’t be very good.
Post Season
AL
Boston over Chicago
New York over Texas
Boston over New York
NL
Philadelphia over Chicago
Colorado over St. Louis
Philadelphia over Colorado
World Series
Philadelphia over Boston
Awards
AL
MVP – Mark Texiara
Cy Young – Felix Hernandez
Rookie of the Year – Neftali Feliz
Manager of the year – Ron Washington
NL
MVP – Chase Utley
Cy Young – Roy Haladay
Rookie of the year – Alcides Escobar
Manager of the Year – Lou Piniella
posted by 10withmop at 1:02 PM
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