This is an open thread (it'll be up all weekend) where you can make predictions on the upcoming season. Here are mine:
AL East:
1 Boston
2 New York (WC)
3 Baltimore
4 Tampa
5 Toronto
Same old, same old in the East. Baltimore would be a pretty interesting team in any other division.
AL Central:
1 Cleveland
2 Minnesota
3 Chicago
4 Detroit
5 Kansas City
I think Cleveland's going to break out in the very near future; I'm thinking it'll happen in 2005.
AL West:
1 Oakland
2 LA
3 Texas
4 Seattle
Rumors of the A's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Texas could surprise here I think, but I'm not brave enough to pick them.
NL East:
1 Atlanta
2 Philadelphia
3 Florida
4 New York
5 Washington DC
I'm not going to pick against Atlanta. I've been burned too many times doing that.
NL Central:
1 Chicago
2 St. Louis
3 Cincinnati
4 Houston
5 Pittsburgh
6 Milwaukee
The most striking thing about the Central this year will be the mixing of the two tiers. I think the division will be better as a whole, although it won't have a juggernaut type team like the '04 Cardinals.
NL West:
1 LA
2 San Diego (WC)
3 San Francisco
4 Colorado
5 Arizona
This is assuming Bonds misses significant time.
AL MVP: Travis Hafner
NL MVP: Nomar Garciaparra
Going out on a limb with these two, but if their teams make playoff runs then I think they'll garner quite a few votes.
AL Cy Young: Randy Johnson
NL Cy Young: Pedro Martinez
The switching leagues buzz and all that.
My World Series:
Dodgers over Red Sox
Reds predictions:
45+ Home run season for Dunn
Graves is traded before the deadline
Griffey stays relatively healthy
Kearns hits .285/.385/.500 or better
Pena is dealt
and the Reds go 83-79. I've said that in various places, so I guess I'll go ahead and make that my "official" prediction.
Let me see your picks in the comments, good chance for the "lurkers" to chime in!