Sports

Thursday, March 31, 2011

AL East/ AL Wild Card

Last night, I made my preseason predictions, including the outcome for the American League East, which was that the Boston Red Sox would take the cake for the regular season. I also said that the Yankees would win the American League Wild Card and the World Series Trophy. Some might ask, "If you picked Boston to win the East, how does picking the Yankees over the Red Sox make any sense?"  Well, let's start with offense. Though Boston added two major offensive threats (Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford), the Yankees have a stronger offense at every other position. Also, the Yankees 3, 4, and 5 hitters -- Texeira, A-Rod, and Cano -- are the best in baseball.

In terms of pitching rotation, I have to hand it to Boston, but if AJ and Hughes live up to their potential, and Nova makes steady progress throughout the year, the Red Sox could be in trouble.

When it comes to the bullpens, possibly the deciding factor in a seven-game series, the Yankees are clearly better. The back end of the bullpen for the Red Sox, (Bard and Papelbon) is strong. Bobby Jenks  has not surpassed 55 innings or had an ERA below 3.50 in either of the past two seasons. Dan Wheeler is okay, but nothing that unbelievable. That is about it for the Boston bullpen. Meanwhile the Yankees have a great back end of their bullpen, which includes last year's saves leader, Rafael Soriano, and probably the greatest closer in major league history, Mariano Rivera. They also have a lefty specialist, Boone Logan, and an inning eater, Pedro Feliciano. They also have Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson to back up Soriano and Mo.

The Red Sox still have an advantage in a short series, but in a best of seven, the Yankees are tough to beat.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

2011 season preview

Let me start off by saying that I have been a Yankee fan my entire life, but I don't shy away from controversy. So, without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2011 baseball season.


AL MVP:

1. Robinson Cano,  2B NY Yankees

2. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B BOS Red Sox

3. Evan Longoria, 3B TB Rays

 NL MVP:

1. Albert Pujols, 1B STL Cardinals

2. Troy Tulowitzki, SS COL Rockies

3. Ryan Braun, LF MIL Brewers

AL CY YOUNG:

1. Jon Lester, BOS Red Sox

2. CC Sabathia, NY Yankees

3. Justin Verlander, DET Tigers


NL CY YOUNG:

1. Josh Johnson

2. Ubaldo Jimenez

3. Roy Halladay

AL East: 

Boston Red Sox

AL Central:

Detroit Tigers

AL West:

Texas Rangers

AL Wild Card:

NY Yankees


NL East:

Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central:

Milwaukee Brewers

NL West:

SF Giants

NL Wild Card:

Chicago Cubs

ALCS: NY Yankees over Boston Red Sox

NLCS: SF Giants over Philadelphia Phillies

World Series: NY Yankees over San Francisco Giants