John Berger
Reporter
We’re about three weeks removed from Opening Day, but the baseball season is still in its infancy. That means we’ve got enough time left to make some predictions.
AL East- New York Yankees. The Yankees didn’t have any big signings over the winter, but they did make a few beneficial moves. The AL East will be very competitive, but the Yankees are the best team. C.C Sabathia anchors the rotation, and Mark Teixera, Curtis Granderson, and Alex Rodriguez are part of a strong lineup. Granderson and Jeter are on fire thus far, each with an OPS over 1.000.
AL Central- Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won the AL Central last year, and they add Prince Fielder to the middle of their lineup. Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and Prince Fielder are all at the top of their games and look poised to have great years. The Tigers will run away with this division. Verlander has started right where he left off last season, with a sub 3.00 ERA so far.
AL West- Texas Rangers. This is a very tough division to pick. The Rangers have been to two straight World Series’, but the Angels added some very good free-agents to go along with their young stars. The Rangers have the experience and the bats to win this division and make noise in the playoffs once again. The Rangers as a team are hitting over .300, which is ridiculous.
NL East- Atlanta Braves. Similar to their counterparts in the American League, the National League East should be highly competitive. The Phillies are still talented, although they are even older this year. The Braves have a very good rotation and enough good hitters to win the division. A step forward for them and a step backwards for the Phillies gives them the division this year. Jason Heyward looks like he’s going to have a bounce back year in 2012. He’s currently hitting over .340 on the season.
NL Central- St. Louis Cardinals. The only division in baseball with six teams had some clubs take a step back over the offseason due to losing some key players. The defending World Series champions Cardinals lost slugger Albert Pujols and the Milwaukee Brewers lost first baseman Prince Fielder. The Cardinals still have enough firepower to win the division, and they should. They are currently first in their division and have outscored their opponents by about 30 runs so far this season.
NL West- San Francisco Giants. This is a bit of a homer pick for me, being a Giants fan. Every single team in the division has been in serious contention the last three years, with four different teams making the playoffs. The addition of Buster Posey leads the Giants to the division title. Last year the Giants were 55-9 when they scored at least 4 runs, by far the best record in the Majors. But this year the Giants are only 5-4 when scoring at least 4 runs.
World Series Prediction:
Detroit Tigers over the Atlanta Braves
Both of these teams have the balance and the stars to win in October. More importantly, each team has very good pitching, which is critical if you’re going to go far in the playoffs. The Tigers just have a better offense than the Braves, and that is why they’ll win.
