AL Central:

1. Minnesota

2. Chicago

3. Detroit

4. Kansas City

5. Cleveland

Breakdown: The loss of Joe Nathan concerns me little for the Twins. While Nathan is an elite closer, I do think that Jon Rauch will fill the role adequately. Minny’s rotation is very underrated 1-5 and their lineup has enough balance to score more runs than they give up. Chicago is not far behind Minnesota. Similarly good (but not great) pitching. A solid lineup with some balance. I give the nod to Minnesota because they have the “nobody believed in us” factor. Detroit is highly overrated. Their pitching rotation, outside of Verlander and Scherzer, can’t come close to Minnesota’s and Chicago’s. Kansas City and Cleveland will not contend. But I’ll make a point to watch as many Zack Greinke starts as possible.

AL West:

1. Los Angeles

2. Seattle

3. Texas

4. Oakland

Breakdown: The Angels’ loss of John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero has, for some reason, made a lot of people think this is Seattle’s division to win, but I don’t think the Mariners are there yet. There’s a lot of good in Anaheim. The rotation, much like Minnesota’s (but with more name recognition) is quite good (but not elite like Boston and New York) with Weaver, Santana, Saunders, Kazmir, and Pineiro. None are going to win a Cy Young this year, but all are proven successful Major League pitchers, which is a lot to say. Seattle has a little too much “trendiness.” I like, but don’t love the Figgins signing. Cliff Lee will give me a reason to watch Mariners games. For Texas, there’s really not a lot there that I love. And Oakland is the worst team in the American League if Toronto isn’t. Take your pick.

NL East:

1. Philadelphia

2. Atlanta (NL Wild Card)

3. Florida

4. Washington

5. New York

Breakdown: I’ll spare you analysis of the Phillies. They’re good. You know that. Atlanta is my team to watch this year and that was even before Jason Heyward was named a full-time starter. A coworker of mine said Friday, “It’s a shame that TBS doesn’t do Braves games anymore,” and I couldn’t agree with him more. They have young pitchers who are worth scheduling around in Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens. They have veteran pitchers like Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson. The lineup is very balanced. The bullpen is a question mark, but could become a cohesive unit. AND they have the most exciting prospect in a near-generation in Jason Heyward. The other team I want to talk about is my hometown Washington Nationals, who will become a team to watch once they call up Stephen Strasburg. There’s enough offense in SE DC to steal a game or two. If the pitching is good this year, do not be surprised if they finish .500. As for the Marlins and Mets, one has great pitching and no offense, the other has great offense (albeit in a pitcher park) but no pitching outside of Johan Santana. The Mets are in dire straits.

NL Central

1. St. Louis

2. Milwaukee

3. Cincinnati

4. Chicago

5. Houston

6. Pittsburgh

Breakdown: St. Louis is a class above the rest of this division. Not only do the Cardinals have the best player in baseball (Pujols), they have the two best pitchers in this division (Carpenter and Wainwright…in whatever order you prefer), they have the best “second best” player in Matt Holliday, and they’ve got two very good secondary hitters (Rasmus, Ludwick). Milwaukee doesn’t have enough pitching (despite having a lot of pitchers) to get by. Cincinnati is a trendy pick and while I like them, there isn’t enough on-base potential in Cincinnati, nor enough solid pitching. Chicago I see taking a step back this year. There is nothing exciting about this team. They need change, whether it be a trade of a “star” or a managerial change. There’s too much recent history of failure there and nowhere near enough youth. On paper, they’re a good team, but I’m going out on a limb and predicting an uninspired, underachieving 2010. Houston and Pittsburgh are not good. The one good thing I can say about either team is Andrew McCutchen.

NL West

1. Los Angeles

2. San Francisco

3. Colorado

4. Arizona

5. Um, ?

6. San Diego

Breakdown: This is the division where I will most likely be waaaaay off. Any one of the first four teams can win this division. Arizona can do it with pitching. So can San Francisco. Colorado with youth. LA with veteran experience. Anyone who claims to have all the answers about the NL West is also operating a three-card monty table at your local street corner. I like the Dodgers (and I’m 2% sure of this) to win the division because they’ve been there before, which is an easy cop-out, but there is enough veteran youth in LA that I think they’re very hungry. San Francisco’s pitching is bar none, the best in this division. Lincecum, Cain, and Sanchez are great and in Lincecum’s case elite, and Barry Zito is better than you think he is. Their shortcoming is on the offensive side of the inning. And I’m not sure they can score enough runs to steal a few games. Colorado is the really trendy pick. And I like them. Especially offensively. But their pitching is not without question. De La Rosa? Francis? Hammel? Are we so sure? Manny Corpas? Arizona is one of those teams that gets overrated based on a few players. Webb, Upton and Haren are the players here. Arizona is not a good offensive club, outside of Upton. And we’ll learn that as the season progresses. San Diego is an absolute mess. Where should I start? Jon Garland is their “ace.” David Eckstein is their everyday second baseman. There is so much youth on this team and none of it is worth getting really excited about. I really feel bad for Adrian Gonzalez because he deserves better than whatever this team is doing. I hope, for his sake, that he’s playing first base in San Francisco or Boston or Atlanta by season’s end.

AL:

Boston vs. Minnesota (Boston wins 3-1)

Los Angeles vs. Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay wins 3-1)

Boston vs. Tampa Bay (Boston wins 4-3)

NL:

Philadelphia vs. Los Angeles (Philadelphia wins 3-0)

St. Louis vs. Atlanta (St. Louis wins 3-2)

St. Louis vs. Philadelphia (St. Louis wins 4-3)

Cy Young: Zack Greinke

Cy Young: Jason Heyward

Cy Young: Adam Wainwright

SP- Cliff Lee
SP- Zack Greinke

SP- Stephen Strasburg

CL- Daniel Bard (give it time)

(1,500 words. Sometimes everything is not possible.)