2011 Baseball Picks Extravaganza!

Just what you've come to expect from this blogger...lots of predictions, not so much analysis. Also, I am only making regular season picks.

AL EAST
Boston Red Sox - Because I buy into the hype and think nobody has an answer for this team after they added Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.

AL CENTRAL
Minnesota Twins - Because I believe in the stability of their organization in what should be a really competitive division. The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox will be right there. This prediction also comes with three huge "ifs"...if Joe Nathan is back and healthy, if Justin Morneau stays healthy, and if Francisco Liriano stays healthy.

AL WEST
Oakland Athletics - Because I believe in their pitching. And no, this is not just because a fellow Cheyenne Mountain graduate is their 5th starter (Brandon McCarthy). Although I am excited about that. A good pitching staff should be enough to overcome the momentum of the Texas Rangers, who have pitching issues, and anything the Los Angeles (or is it Anaheim?) Angels have to offer. Having said that, don't sleep on any team that is coached by Mike Scioscia.

AL WILDCARD
Detroit Tigers - Because I believe in their 1-2 punch in the rotation and the addition of Victor Martinez to outlast the New York Yankees. Let me give you two more reasons I don't buy into the Yankees: Freddy Garcia made their rotation and Bartolo Colon (and his vicious four-seam fastball!) made their bullpen. Anybody want to say that reflects a playoff-quality pitching staff? Anybody?

NL EAST
Atlanta Braves - Because I believe in their depth top to bottom, especially their bullpen. And because the Phillies super starting pitchers can't also pitch the 8th and 9th innings every night, and because Ryan Howard can only hit once every 9 batters in a suddenly questionable lineup.

NL CENTRAL
Milwaukee Brewers - Because I believe every team is flawed in this wholly underwhelming division. Prince Fielder in a contract year and a legite 1-2 punch in the rotation with Yovani Gallardo and Zack Greinke will be enough to emerge from the pack of mediocrity.

NL WEST
No prediction. I may write about the Rockies a lot in this blog, but I try to stay away from making these kinds of predictions. My role as a superstitious fans trumps all.

NL WILDCARD
Philadelphia Phillies - Even if this roster is top heavy, the top will be enough to get them into the playoffs.

NL MVP - Ryan Braun
AL MVP - Adrian Gonzalez
NL CY YOUNG - Tim Lincecum
AL CY YOUNG - Jon Lester

It looks like I'm a beat ahead of the list of predictions from various sites, so I will link those later in the week. In the mean time, here are some links to thoughts about the upcoming season:

Tom Singer prepares for opening day http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110328&content_id=17156276&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Jon Paul Morosi on why pitchers rule http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/year-of-the-pitcher-is-really-a-new-era-for-MLB-032811

Jerry Crasnick writes about CarGo http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview/2011/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=6261039 (includes a serious close up with general manager Dan O'Dowd)

Jon Heyman on why the Rays should not be counted out in the AL East http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview/2011/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=6261039