It didn’t go over well last year when I panned the St. Louis Cardinals off-season efforts prior to the 2005 season (I still remember one of the letters I got; it was funny). I said that the Cards would not make it to 100 wins, and I admit that I was wrong. So I figure that I should expand the hatemail horizon and take a stab at the whole of the Major Leagues. 5-4-3. Around the horn we go!
NL Central
Simply put: Cardinals. I could be done here, but I won’t be. This division is pretty easy to figure out, actually. Chicago faces starting pitching problems for another few weeks while Mark Prior and Kerry Wood get their shoulders back in order, again. The Cubs have strengthened their bullpen, which will be necessary when Glendon Rusch, Jerome Williams and Sean Marshall trot out there, but they’re probably in trouble.
Houston subtracted Roger Clemens and added Preston Wilson during the off-season, and the chemistry majors out there will tell us all that this isn’t a balanced equation. While Milwaukee has improved, they’re still not going to a two-team race.
Pick: Cardinals
NL East
Last year, the NL East was the only division that had every team finish above .500. With the Marlins’ fire sale, Washington’s Soriano soap saga and Philadelphia’s winter inertia, this is going to be a two-horse race between Atlanta and New York. The Mets easily outclassed the Braves in the winter market, adding Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado, Xavier Nady and Paul Lo Duca. In a word, these guys are stacked. Winning their head-to-head games with the Braves will be key, as the rest of the division is a laugh fest.
Pick: Mets
NL West
Even though somebody will go to the playoffs from the West, nobody who watches any of this division’s games will have won. The worst division in 2005 has the potential to hold that title again in 2006. The Dodgers made the biggest splash in the West during the off-season, signing Nomar Garciaparra and Rafael Furcal, but they just lost Eric Gagne to elbow trouble, and Garciaparra has more days on the DL (15) than at-bats (0) already. That said, I think that L.A. still has the upper hand. Their competition is pretty soft, as they get Arizona and Colorado 20 times each this season. How much would that thought make St. Louis fans salivate?
Pick: Dodgers
AL Central
As the NL Central is to St. Louis, the AL Central is to Chicago. These guys can hit, pitch and run. They’re more of a complete team than just about anyone else in the majors. Their bullpen is solid, with some flamethrowers at the tail end. The only possible challenger is Cleveland, but the Indians lost good arms such as Kevin Millwood and Bob Howry in the off-season; expect that to catch up with them.
The Tigers, however, have come on much stronger than expected. Their monster lineup could power them into the Wild Card spot, but only if they can hold off the Indians. The best race in this division will be for second place.
Pick: White Sox
AL East
Winning this division will be more important this year than any other recent season. Unlike the NL, all three of the AL divisions have second-place teams who can easily take the Wild Card. While Baltimore and Tampa Bay stood by, Toronto added Lyle Overbay, B.J. Ryan and A.J. Burnett. Despite the increase in the payroll, the Blue Jays still cannot challenge Boston or New York. The Red Sox and the Yankees are fairly evenly matched in the field, but the BoSox have a far superior staff and bullpen.
Josh Beckett should help quite a bit, provided that he’s not set down by another blister epidemic.
Pick: Red Sox
AL West
These guys are more or less the AL version of the Mets and Braves; Seattle and Texas will watch Oakland and Anaheim contend, but there isn’t much that they can do about it. Seattle still seems to be a long way off, and Texas couldn’t pitch its way out of a paper bag.
The Athletics have the best pitching in the league, from Barry Zito to Huston Street. Unless Vladimir Guerrero and Chone Figgins can split all eight defensive spots, Anaheim has some holes to fill before they can overtake the A’s.
Pick: Athletics
What good are division winners without World Series winners? None, so look for the Mets to lose to the Red Sox in October. Much to your chagrin and mine, I don’t think we’ll see any Series games in Baby Busch or Wrigley. So I’ll welcome Cards fans to my world: Wait till next year!
