Baseball Predictions!

The start of baseball's regular season is just around the corner. The playoff's got a little change with the addition of another wild card team to each league in company with a one game playoff between the two wild card's. Also, the Florida Marlins got a new stadium and name change. Enter the Miami Marlins. There were a few monstrous free agent signings by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Albert Pujols: 10yrs., $254 million, C.J. Wilson: 5yrs., $77.5 million) and the Detroit Tigers (Prince Fielder: 9yrs., $214 million). So would these signings pay off? After running all the teams through my head and analyzing previous year results; oh, and relying on the ever important coin flip, here are my predictions for the 2012 baseball season. Up first: the American League. On deck: the National League.

American League


AL East:
1. New York Yankees
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Baltimore Orioles
Synopsis: With the addition of Michael Pineda and the un-retired Andy Petitte, the Yankees rotation went from three starters to seven in the span of a few weeks. This depth in the starting rotation, anchored by a strong bullpen with Daniel Robertson and Mariano Rivera will carry them. As always, the starting lineup is a formidable one with plenty of offense. After losing Jonathan Papelbon to free agency and making Daniel Bard a starter, the Red Sox bullpen will be a weak link. Also, despite a star filled lineup, the Sox showed that they just can't produce on the offensive side of the ball. The real winner here is the Blue Jays. With a lineup that has Brett Lawrie and Jose Bautista, they will score enough runs to bolster their up and coming staff of starters. In the difficult AL East though, this will only get them to a few above .500 and another October without playoff baseball.

AL Central:
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins
Synopsis: It is no surprise that a team with the reigning AL Cy Young/MVP Justin Verlander, sluggers Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder and a bench full of talented role-players will win a weak AL Central Division. The departure of manager Ozzie Guillen will no doubt hurt the White Sox in the upcoming season, however by replacing him with inexperienced Robin Ventura will only compound upon this. An aging White Sox team will fall far this season. In contrast, the emergence of a young group of stars for the Kansas City Royals will help them to contend. The Indians, my surprise team of the year, should do well in the AL Central with many of their games coming against the awful Twins and White Sox. Unfortunately, without a true ace, the Twins will suffer.

AL West
1. LA Angels
2. Texas Rangers
3. Oakland A's
4. Seattle Mariners
Synopsis: The West will truly be a league of haves and have nots this season. The Angels and Rangers are both World Series contenders and the A's and Mariners... well they can keep each other company in the cellar. The addition of Pujols and Wilson to an already strong Angels team will help them to a division crown this season. The Rangers will not be far behind and made up for the loss of Wilson by adding Japanese phenomenon Yu Darvish. Unlike in previous years, the race for first will matter tremendously. The second place team will have to play a sudden death game against the Tampa Bay Rays; if we know anything about the young and scrappy Rays, it is that they always find a way to win.

Playoffs:
Wild Card Game: Rays over Rangers
Division: Angels over Rays, Yankees over Tigers
Championship: Yankees over Angels
They Rays will beat the Rangers in the one game playoff and fall quickly to the Angels. The Yankees will fall in two games against Verlander, but the lack of a dominant number two will prove an Achilles heel for the Tigers, as they fall in 5 to the Yanks. The Yankees and Angels will provide an AL Championship Series that will be a topic of discussion in 2032. Two of the finest true hitters in the league (Pujols and Robinson Cano) backed by two of the strongest pitching staffs in the league. The trio of C.J. Wilson, Dan Haren and Jered Weaver will match up nicely against the Yankees C.C. Sabathia, Andy Petitte and Ivan Nova/Michael Pineda. In the end, I see the Yankees beating the Angels in 6 games.

Tomorrow I will run through the NL and let you know who to put your money on in Vegas to win it all.