The BS MLB Preview -- Part 2

And you thought I forgot about the American League. Or maybe you didn't care. Either way, Part 1 of the MLB Preview was last week and covered the NL. Here's Part 2.

AL East

New York Yankees – Yes, I’m biased. But I think this team is going to be better than people think. They have as much offense as anyone would ever need and that’s been the case for a while. Pitching has been the weakness but now they’ve got some young, talented pitchers and a deadly bullpen. Also, get ready to hear about Yankee Stadium's rich history for seven months. One Big Question: Did you need another reason why Don Mattingly shouldn’t have been named manager?

Boston Red Sox – I know everyone else is picking them to win the division. But I think they might get off to a rough start because of their 16,000 mile road trip, the distractions of being the defending champs, etc. They could be mid-pack by the end of April and if the Yanks don’t stumble it’ll be hard to catch up. One Big Question: Will Terry Francona have faith in Curt Schilling, whose rapid aging is shocking in this photo?

Toronto Blue Jays – Poor Toronto. Excited about picking up guys like Marco Scutaro. They do have Roy Halladay, though, and an overall talented team. They’d steamroll pretty much any NL division, but due to their placement they’re permanently relegated to third place. One Big Question: After getting popped in the snout by Ted Lilly a couple years ago, will John Gibbons pick any more fights?

Tampa Bay Rays – Just the Rays. No more Devil. They’ve decided to adopt sunshine as their logo… while playing in a dome. That’s perfect. They also should win more games this year than ever before. I see 75 wins as a nice step up. One Big Question: Who is this happy little fellow and could he beat Mr. Met in a fight?

Baltimore Orioles – They might be as bad as we all thought the Nationals were going to be last year. I am going to guess their win total as between 58 and 65 games. Traded away Tejada and Bedard and got nothing worthwhile back. They’re terrible. One Big Question: As bad as they’re gonna be, why not bring back this equally ridiculous logo?

AL Central

Cleveland Indians – Tim will be mad that I am putting the hex on them, but here they are. If fatty Sabathia pitches like you know he wants to in his contract year, this team is a World Series contender. Remember, they were one win away from it last year (sorry Tim) and would have crushed the Rockies, too. One Big Question: Why aren’t the Indians wives hotter?

Detroit Tigers – Biggest splash in the offseason doesn’t always lead to success. It just adds pressure. Plus the Tigs bullpen is a disaster. It’ll be an awesome battle with Cleveland all summer and the Tigers surely could do it, but I just think the Tribe will come out ahead. One Big Question: Do you realize Pudge Rodriguez is so old, he was involved in that famous Nolan Ryan-Robin Vetura beating?

Minnesota Twins – The Twinkies recently dumped a truckload of money in Joe Nathan’s driveway to keep him in town. Of course, they also traded away Johan Santana, so there will presumably be fewer games for Nathan to save. I guess this was Minnesota’s way of telling their fans they haven’t given up but they might as well in this division. Twins and Jays fans could start a support group. One Big Question: Do the Twins have the gayest mascot in MLB?

Chicago White Sox – No, Ozzie Guillen is not some kind of savant. He’s a wack-job whose team had everything go right for it in 2005. They’ll continue their downward spiral and will be lucky to stay ahead of the Royals, something they barely achieved last year. One Big Question: When will Ozzie finally come out?

Kansas City Royals – They’ll get better soon, I think. But the problem is, again, they’ve got two powerhouses in their division, plus an always competitive Minny team. So they better beat up on the Sox while they can. One Big Question: Should the Royals go back to these monochromatic wonders to garner some attention?

AL West

Los Angeles Angels – The only thing that makes me waver a bit on this is that Kelvim Escobar might be out for the season and John Lackey is already out a month. That’s like 37 wins from last year. That said, though, Mike Scioscia always seems to find a way, despite his mouth-breathing, fully jacketed ways. (Seriously, you never see the guy in just his uniform top – he’s always got a jacket, and it’s always zipped all the way up. You play in southern Cali, dude! Watch for it this season.) One Big Question: Will somebody please shut the Rally Monkey up?

Seattle Mariners – I keep hearing people pick the Mariners. I know they had a good run last year but they completely petered out in the thick of the Wild Card race and wound up 88-74. Not bad, but nothing magical to make us think they’re on the verge of breaking through. They might be in first for a while thanks to the Angels aforementioned issues, but I don’t think they stay there. One Big Question: What can’t Ichiro do (besides draw walks once in a while)?

Oakland Athletics – Somehow this team always seems to rise up. They have Harden and Blanton, as well as Huston Street and, I don’t know. This team could go 74-88 or 92-70 and I wouldn’t be surprised either way. One Big Question: Can somebody explain why the “Athletics” mascot is an elephant? Are they particularly athletic or something?

Texas Rangers – One thing I find really funny now that I live in Texas is that nobody takes the Rangers seriously. I go to Dallas for work a lot and everybody there scoffs when I mention the Rangers. They make derisive comments about it not being “real baseball,” etc. I kind of find that hilarious that even the fans in the hometown area simply detest the franchise. Well-done, Tom Hicks! One Big Question: Why can’t I think of a good “Walker, Texas Ranger” joke here?

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So to sum up, the division winners in the NL: Mets, Brewers, Dodgers, and I'm picking the Braves as the Wild Card.

In the AL, it's Yanks, Tribe, Angels, with the Tigers getting the Wild Card.

That's all. Be sure to come back to this page on Oct 1 and make fun of me.

October Is Different, Part II

Today it's on to the league where the big boys play. The American League.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim versus Boston Red Sox of Massachusetts

This is a hard series to call, mainly because both teams are good but also have had some terrible times this season. Yes, the Angels are healthy and that's a good thing for them. But they played in the AL West, which wasn't exactly an intimidating division this year. The Angels could have fallen out of bed and won that division this year... and that's basically what they did.

Bartolo Colon was useless (and isn't even on the ALDS roster), Garrett Anderson was hurt a lot and is clearly aging and the Angels bullpen is far more mortal these days than ever before. If they'd gotten the Yankees, you know they would have moved on because they simply own the Yanks, but the Red Sox are different story. The Sox manhandled the Angels a few years ago in the first round of the playoffs and that carries some weight, I think. The Sox aren't afraid of the Angels. They know they can beat them and they and their fans don't obsess over the Halos. It's a lot easier to focus on simply winning baseball games when that's the case.

The Sox have a potent offense, Manny is (supposedly) back, Ortiz is still Ortiz, and except for a couple minor blips, Jonathan Papelbon has continued to be a lights-out closer. I don't think the Angels will be able to touch him late in games.

"Dice-K" Fatsuzaka doesn't impress me for the Sox, but Beckett is a money playoff pitcher, as is Schilling. Are there two starters out there that are more confident, "money" guys in the playoffs? I don't think so, and these two guys are on the same team. Yikes.

I think home field might play a big role in this one. If it goes five games, it means that the Angels will have flown back and forth across the country three times in about a week. Plus they'd be playing Game 5 in Boston. Not many teams are comfortable as a visitor in Fenway. I dislike the Red Sox with a passionate fury and I really, really want to pick the Angels. But I just don't think I can do it. The Sox are the better team and have dealt with more challenges this year that will help them when it comes to steeling themselves in the playoffs.

Sox in four.

Cleveland Indians versus New York Yankees

These two have played each other in the playoffs a couple of times since the mid-90s. In 1997, the Tribe knocked off the Yanks in the ALDS, interruping what might have been a run of five consecutive World Series for the Yankees -- they won in '96, '98, '99, and '00 and looked as strong as ever in '97. I remember being shocked when the Tribe pulled it out in front of their raucous fans at the Jake. Then in 1998 the Yankees went 114-48 in the regular season and began steamrolling their way through the playoffs when, oops, they suddenly were down 2-1 in the ALCS against Cleveland and they had two more games in Cleveland ahead of them. They pulled out Game 4 behind El Duque (who was only 64 years old at the time) and didn't look back. But it was one of those "what could have been" series for the Yankees and many fans, myself included, remember how close they were to going down 3-1 in their most dominant season.

Cleveland is a city that loves its baseball and is starving for a champion. The Indians have now won the Central Division seven times since 1995. They were in the World Series in '95 and '97. They're so close and this current team is young and talented and may have several more shots at this.

The Yankees are also starving for a championship, but only because people are obnoxiously spoiled in the Bronx. The Yankees have won 26 World Series, just had their string of nine straight division titles broken, and have been to the playoffs thirteen consecutive years. Thirteen! The last time they missed the playoffs (not counting 1994 when there were no playoffs), Jim Colletto was Purdue's coach, Bill Clinton was in his second year in the White House, I was a senior in high school, practically nobody had email, there weren't any blogs, OJ hadn't killed anyone yet and Joe Morgan was only in his fourth year being an ignorant jackass on ESPN baseball telecasts. This is truly an amazing run the Yankees have been on, and save your bonehead comments about how it's all about their salary. Take a look at the payrolls of teams like the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Orioles and many others in recent years and notice how they don't make the playoffs year after year after year. What bothers me, though, is the fact that winning the World Series would simply allow the players relief. They'd be relieved, not overjoyed. And that sucks.

Anyway, as for this series, the Yankees went 6-0 against the Tribe this year and most publications are saying to ignore that. Well, I'm not sure I would. The Yankees have always played well at the Jake and certainly aren't intimidated going in there. Could it be in the Indians heads that they can't beat the big bad Yankees? I think it could be. There is truth, however, to the fact that the Yanks haven't seen Sabathia this year (or since 2004) and Fausto Carmona has only pitched against them once. Those two guys are damn good and could win three games by themselves. The Yankees, on the other hand, have Wang going in Game 1, who I would have complete confidence in, and then Andy Pettitte in Game 2, who I wish I had complete confidence in. Yeah, he's pitched a lot of big postseason games for the Yankees, but he's also gotten his doors blown off (Game 6 of the 2001 World Series, for example) in big spots. So we'll see.

As you can tell, I really don't want to make a pick here. I honestly think this Yanks team is nothing like the one that got bounced by Detroit last year. They're focused, they're playing well, and there are no distractions. However, it was a young team with good pitching that shut them down last year and when this season started and I was asked how they would do, I predicted they'd win 95+ games again and then get beat in the postseason by better pitching than you face on average when you're pummelling the Devil Rays and Orioles in July.

So what do I think? I think the Yankees will probably lose to the Indians. Yes, there, I said it. But I refuse to believe myself. So my pick is...

Yankees in four.