Last year I had the Cubs losing 100 games.  This year I have them winning 88.  I like this turnaround!  I feel good about this year, and I'm glad for that feeling.  Plus I get to start teaching my 3 month old daughter all about life, which is baseball!

Hey! Me resemble that remark.

PS- Grrr!

A good game thus far, but one thing put it over the top for me.

I played a few games with Zambrano pitching and Hill pitching.  Then I decided to play a game with Prior starting.  He was untouchable for the first 7 batters, the 8th batter came up got a base hit and Prior got hurt and I had to bring a relief pitcher in!  How realistic is this game??? I am still laughing at how funny that was.  Anyways, I just thought I'd share.  

Something just strikes me with the team I saw in Mesa.

It's hard to pinpoint it exactly and from reading what AL and others who went to Mesa have said I'm not alone in this.

Michael Barrett.

NEW YORK METS
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
ATLANTA BRAVES
FLORIDA MARLINS

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
CINCINNATI REDS
HOUSTON ASTROS
CHICAGO CUBS
PITTSBURGH PIRATES

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

SAN DIEGO PADRES
LOS ANGELES DODGERS (Wild Card)
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
COLORADO ROCKIES
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
BOSTON RED SOX
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
NEW YORK YANKEES

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
CLEVELAND INDIANS
MINNESOTA TWINS
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
DETROIT TIGERS

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
TEXAS RANGERS
OAKLAND A's (Wild Card)
CALIFORNIA ANGELS
TEXAS RANGERS
SEATTLE MARINERS

NL
Dodgers over Phils
Padres over Brewers
Dodgers over Padres

AL
Chicago over Oakland
Texas over Boston
Texas over Chicago
Texas over Padres
(Sammy Sosa comeback player of the year and third in MVP)

Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, Bill Hall are error machines.  Kevin Mench in LF is baaadddd.  That was my main gripe with this.

I stopped doing it fairly recently. With all the evidence (polls, canvassing etc.) I can come up with something that makes sense. But there are always some intangibles. You can only know so much about what might happen in the relatively far future. Baseball and politics are similar, in that one week can seem like an eternity and whatever numbers you might have to back up your position, things can change drastically on all fronts.

Working for a candidate can be just as difficult as coaching a baseball team, I would guess. You can tell them what it is they probably should do. They won't always do it. And if they do it, and they lose, that may not mean your advice was wrong. If they win, that still doesn't mean your advice was right. Whatever happens, somebody gets the credit, deserved or not.

I love my work and I love baseball.

phat

1. Phillies
   
2. Mets (Wild Card)
   
3. Braves
   
4. Marlins
   
5. Nationals (Worst Team in baseball award)

1. Cubs
   
2. Cardinals
   
3. Brewers
   
4. Astros
   
5. Reds
   
6. Pirates

1. Dodgers
   
2. Padres
   
3. D-Backs
   
4. Giants
   
5. Rockies

1. Red Sox
   
2. Yankees (Wild Card)
   
3. Blue Jays
   
4. Orioles
   
5. Devil Rays

1. Tigers
   
2. Indians
   
3. White Sox
   
4. Twins
   
5. Royals

1. Angels
   
2. A's
   
3. Rangers
   
4. Mariners

NL W
Padres
Dodgers
Diamondbacks
Giants
Rockies

NL C
Astros *
Cubs
Brewers
Cardinals
Reds
Pirates

AL E
Red Sox
Yankees - Wild Card
Blue Jays
Devil Rays
Orioles

AL W
Angels
Athletics
Rangers
Mariners

AL C
Tigers
Indians
Twins
White Sox
Kansas City

Ok so I'll explain:
NL E:
Phillies are too good of an all around team to not win their division. They'll hit almost as well as the Mets, and pitch the pants off of 'em. Not that their pitching is great, but it'll be good enough to improve on an already solid '06 to put them over the top.

Mets have too much offense to not make the playoffs. They are basically the same team as last year, with the determination after being bumped by the Cardinals. Pedro will be back in the second half, and they'll stay in the race long enough to clinch the wild card.

Marlins are good and getting better, if the division was weaker they could probably make a run at it, but they'll probably be a serious contender in '09. Maybe '08 if someone breaks out this year (pitching wise).

Braves, did they really improve? Jones will do well in his contract year, and they'll probably be competitive for serious stretches, but their lack of greatness in any area will wear down on the team and they will falter.

Nationals.... moving on.

NL W
This was ridiculously hard for me to call. 4 of these teams are easily contenders for the division. The wild card will definitely not be coming from the NL W, seeing as these 4 will all finish with records around .500, and I expect both the Mets and the Phillies to win 88-90+. The winner of the NL W will probably have 85-88 wins. In the end I ended up picking who I thought would be overall the healthiest, as in a division as tied up as it is, injuries seem likely to be a deciding factor.

Padres pitching seems like they have one of the better rotations right now, and their bullpen seems solid. Offense isn't great, but will be enough to get the job done. After scrubbing out of the playoffs last year, they definitely got a little better.

Dodgers were my initial pick for the division, seeing as they appear to have the most pitching. But they are a little older than I would like, and their best offensive threat is Nomar, who is unfortunately going to be on the DL or bench (to help avoid the DL) for at least 30 or 40 games. They can hit, and they can run, but they can't mash... which will be an asset when they're at home, but will hurt them in the long run.

Diamondbacks will win the division in '08, probably anyways. I really wanted to pick them, and they are pretty young so injuries are less of a worry for them in what will surely be tight race. But with the youth comes a lot of taking lumps and unproven commodities. They very well could mature this year and take the division. But I think one more year of growing up, and one more offseason of picking up a piece of the puzzle before they get back to October.

Giants well, I was going with who would stay healthy... somehow the Giants made it to the bottom of that list... I don't know why. Bonds will stop caring once he breaks the record (DAMNIT), and age will keep the team out of serious contention come August.

Rockies aren't going anywhere for a little while.

NL C
This was probably tougher for me than the NL W was, which was really tough. I like the Cubs this year, I really do. We just don't have a history of playing up to expectations and we don't have a dominant enough 25 to overcome that. I think we'll win 85ish, but unless some team chemistry really starts to click and guys up and down the order learn to have consistently solid at bats, and have good OBP, we'll still be station to station once the Spring hot bats cool down and come back to earth, and we'll be waiting for the 3 run blast just like always. Granted those blasts will come fairly often this year, but it's too hard to rest a playoff berth on that. Pitching could come through... but Marquis as our number 3... yeesh.

Astros I put a * by them because I think their season hinders on how they do in April. If they do well in April and into early May, Clemens may come back to them, and if he does, I don't see how they falter (unless Lidge is atrocious again). Their rotation becomes pretty darn good, especially for this division. And their lineup is much improved over last year. And they always seem to play well and make huge pushes in August.

Cubs could win this division if Lou has as big of an effect as we all hope he will. If he and Perry get our guys to take pitches for the better part of the year, and He and Larry can get something passable out of Marquis.. we become favorites. This division is really too close to call right now, and I'm really exciting for the season and want the Cubs to win bad... I'm just trying to be objective as possible. That being said we can hit and I like our offensive depth... but even if we make the playoffs, our outfield defense may catch up to us. That is of course unless Pie comes up and one of our lefty OF is moved (I vote for Ward, I'd Rather have Jones), then OF defense is a much smaller issue.

Brewers everybody seems to be picking these guys, so I guess I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Their rotation, while it's not going to light the world ablaze, is very solid. If sheets stays healthy they could be really good.

Cardinals why can't we have Duncan as a pitching coach? I actually think their rotation will be ok, not good, but ok. They'll probably pick up another reclamation project or two midseason, and Duncan will have a decent rotation after the ASB after he works his magic. But with health problems with CF and RF, and their bullpen, especially with Reyes and Wainright in the rotation, is extremely weak. Age will catch up to Edmonds, and Rolen is on the slight decline. They always seem to find a way to win, so I'm not writing them off entirely, but I don't see them repeating this year.

Reds I can't believe I've seen some SI predictions for the Reds to win the division. They'll be OK, but they got worse over the course of last season, and not much has changed. Harang and Arroyo are good, and some of their lineup can flat out hit... but bullpen? Starters 3,4,5? I feel a little bad for Narron, he made all those moves and look what happened.

Pirates could actually be decent by like '09 or '10. They have a very respectable lineup, but after Duke their pitching is not good. If they can save up some cash and splurge on one or two free agents over the next few seasons, they could be contenders for a few minutes...

AL E
Red Sox 3 good starters at the front of the rotation, an OK bullpen, and a scary lineup. Their defense is solid enough, even with carrying 2 DHs (Manny). Barring serious injury they should squeak out just ahead of the Yankees.

Yankees old but good. Probably one of the last years of the current configuration, these guys are getting to the point where they'll no longer be effective. Still that is a very intimidating offense, and their rotation can only be better after last year.

Blue Jays I know very little about them but they've been able to tread water in this division which gives me no reason to believe they'll go belly up right now.

Devil Rays kids are gonna start getting better before they get to the point when Tampa can't afford them anymore. They'll still be whipping boys but less so than the Orioles.

Orioles again I know very little, but the Cubs junkyard is hardly going to be competitive in the AL E.

AL W
Angels their pitching seems too good in that division to not take it, and it's not like they have an anemic offense.

Athletics find ways to win and it's not like the Rangers or Mariners are big threats

Rangers will be interesting to follow because of Sammy Sosa. Other than that it doesn't seem like they did anything to improve the team, although they will bring in some extra cash.

Mariners poor Ichiro. At least, for his sake, this will be his last year there.

AL C
Tigers did not get to the World Series and be humiliated just to curl up and die now. They have a far superior Starting Rotation than the rest of the division. The hitting may not be as solid. But they have enough to support their Starting Arms and their fantastic Pen.

Indians got a little better while the White Sox and the Twins got worse. Offensively potent, if their bullpen holds up they could give Detroit a good race.

Twins always manage to play well, but after what happened to their rotation it might not matter. They'll still be good, that lineup is scary and that bullpen is too. If their rotation comes through after Santana they could be contenders, but probably more likely in '08.

White Sox are getting older and their rotation somehow seems to be in shambles. The bullpen seems OK at best. Their Offense and Defense are still great, which will win them games. But pitching will be their downfall. Too bad for them, as their thunderous bats are getting too old for this.

Royals why did we let Grudz walk? I was really made when we kept Walker over him. He always seemed to come through in the clutch and wasn't a defensive liability. I'd feel better with him at 2B than DeRosa (although I'm fine with him), good offensive production, great number 2 hitter, and good place holder for Eric Patterson. I spent this whole space alotted for the Royals talking about Grudz and the Cubs... which speaks volumes about their and 'Ace' Gil Meche's chances this year. Although I really wish we got Meche to be our number 3, I'd feel a whole let better about our chances.

This was ridiculously, ridiculously long. But I enjoyed it. Maybe someone will actually read it.

The Cardinals will win the division again.  Yes, they only won 83 games in the regular season last year en route to their 10th World Series championship.  But consider all that went wrong for them last year.

Edmonds suffered post-concussion syndrome after bonking his skull off the warning track at Comiskey Park in late June, didn't hit in the second half, and didn't play at all in September.

Eckstein got kicked in the head in Pittsburgh around the All-star Break, suffering a concussion of his own, and didn't hit at all in the second half.

Rolen's should was deteriorating all season, as predicted, and his hitting fell off steadily throughout the season.  

Encarnacion sucked all season.  Molina hit even worse than Cardinals fans had come to expect him to hit.  

Second base was a rotating door, with Hector Luna, Aaron Miles and Ronnie Belliard taking turns sucking throughout the season.

Mulder was terrible in his last few starts before being lost for the season in June to rotator cuff surgery.  Marquis put up the worst ERA in the National League.  Patches on the rotation took the form of retreads Sidney Ponson and Jeff Weaver.

Free agent LOOGY acquisition Ricardo Rincon was lost for the season after pitching only 3 innings in a Cardinal uniform, having injured himself pitching for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic tournament in March.

Isringhausen was never healthy, pitching poorly for most of the season before finally being lost to hip surgery in early September, forcing rookie Adam Wainwright into the closer role.  

Despite all the above, the Cardinals won the division, the pennant and the World Series.  I can't imagine that many things going wrong for them this year, and while Milwaukee and Chicago are better, Houston and Cincinnati (the 2nd and 3rd place teams last year) are not.

Prediction:

1.  St. Louis
   
2.  Milwaukee
   
3.  Houston
   
4.  Chicago
   
5.  Cincinnati
   
6.  Pittsburgh