Cubs vs Detroit

And my biggest curiosity is how the Cubs handle being the favorite. Will they carry that badge with confidence and go into every situation expecting to win? Or will the pressure end up causing a self destruction.

"Republica Deportiva" right now on Univision and they're all having a good laugh trying to pronounce Fukudome's name. It's really quite entertaining.

you underrate the Braves and the D-Backs. I like both of those teams to make the playoffs.

Seattle isn't very good, but the Angels can't afford any more injuries. If the Angels can avoid losing anyone else, they'll take it still. But if they don't, I actually think the rebuilding Athletics might win the division with 83 wins. But Seattle could squeak out 84 or 85 and make your prediction come true.

You are right about one thing--this is the year the Yankees, despite a good team and a good season--miss the playoffs. The only question for you is now "Which Steinbrenner's head explodes?" Because there are three of them running around now. (Assuming George is still running around.)

AL East:
BOS: 98-64
NYY: 85-77
TBA: 81-81
TOR: 80-82
BAL: 60-102

AL Central:
CLE: 95-67
DET: 89-73
CHW; 77-85
MIN: 76-86
KCA: 75-87

AL West;
ANA: 87-75
SEA: 80-82
OAK: 77-85
TEX: 77-85

NL East
NYM: 95-67
ATL: 84-78
PHI: 81-81
WAS: 73-89
FLA: 72-90

NL Central
CHC: 91-71
MIL: 85-77
CIN: 80-82
PIT: 75-89
STL: 74-88
HOU: 69-93

NL West:
ARI: 94-68
LAD: 88-74
SDP: 86-76
COL: 81-81
SFG: 59-103

NL:

Dodgers over Mets in 5
Cubs over Snakes in 4
Cubs over Dodgers in 6

AL:
BoSox over Tigers in 4
Indians over Angels in 3

BoSox over Indians in 6

WS:
Red Sox over Cubs in 5

And my for real picks

NL:
Dodgers over Mets in 5
Snakes over Cubs in 4
Dodgers over Snakes in 7

AL:
BoSox over Tigers in 4
Indians over Angels in 3
BoSox over Indians in 6

WS:
Red Sox over Dodgers in 5

Whoever wins the NL is going to get steamrolled by one of those AL powerhouses.

this is the year for the cubs, as long as lou sorts out the lineup and dempster can deal - if there is too much lineup juggling, soriano especially could struggle

My view:

mets, cubs, dodgers, wc: braves

sox, tigers, angels, wc: indians

CUBS over angels - tigers O is money, but they are turning into the a-rod led yanks

1st BCB post ever! hope it takes

Al - Didn't they call that button the Croix d'Candlestick?

you can click on a link for the opening day lineup. They give a little blurb on each starter and have a few pictures.

is so hard to predict. I am with those who think that AZ, despite the run differential from last year, will come out on top. Anyway you look at it though, those teams are all going to beat up on each other and it really is a crap shoot as to who will come out on top.

except a couple things:

1) You said AZ's pitching in turmoil, why's that? Except for Randy Johnson, who can get injured at a moments notice, they are pretty solid both Starting and Pen

2) For Cleveland you said, "Sabathia and pray". Carmona is a pretty good pitcher plus, besides Borowski, they have a pretty good pen

3) For Texas you said, "Josh Hamilton. And Then?" Ian Kinsler is pretty good and so is Michael Young.

Just saying. Plus you need to fix up your Tampa assessment, for hitting it says, "Good Starters... Bullpen, not so much"

NL West: DBags
NL Central: Cubs
NL East: Mets
NL WC: Phillies

AL West: Seattle
AL Central: Detroit
AL East: Boston
AL WC: New York

Cubs over Phillies, DBags over Mets
Cubs over DBags (revenge...)
Boston over Seattle, Detroit over New York
Boston over Detroit

Cubs over Detroit. Book it.

That the first 162 games of the season will have a lot to do with determining the division winners and wildcards.

Good stuff again, Al! Come on Z, don't get too excited tomorrow and take the sink out of your pitches!

Yes, Al's view of the White Sox is not fair & not balanced, again.

4) CHICAGO WHITE SOX

I think a fair prediction would be 3rd.

Hitting: Unbalanced

How so? Where and why do you say so?

With the additions of Orlando Cabrera and Nick Swisher actually the Sox have two run producers. They both should get on base for the strong middle lineup.

Pitching: Pitching? Who needs pitching?

Question, would you swap Carlos Zambrano & Ted Lilly for Mark Buehrle and Javier Vazquez? Well, I wouldn't swap them. IF it's a crap shoot for the Sox 3-5, well how sure are Ryan Dempster, Rich Hill and Jason Marquis? For two years straight Marquis' been left off the play-off roster of his teams. Take a look at Dempster's recent numbers as a starter and you'll see why he was stuck in the bullpen.

Defense: Defense? Who needs defense?

Let's take this comparatively position by position defensively:

Catcher: AJ (not much to judge the Cubs rookie by)
3rd: Crede
SS: Orlando
2nd: Uribe
1st: Lee
LF: Swisher
CF: Pie
RF: Dye (I don't think many have seen enough of Fuku to seriously claim that he's better than Dye.)

Some will no doubt argue on this, but the Sox defense has improved and I'd say it's better than the Cubs. Clearly though it's not as bad as Al's sneering comment states.

Intangibles: Watch Ozzie's head explode! First manager fired! Fun!

This has been the mantra of Cubbie fans ever since Ozzie was hired. Of course when Ozzie was hired Cubbie fans were boastful about the great Dusty and how he was going to lead the Cubbies to the post-season year after year.

It's funny that there was moaning and groaning here about a local columnist who didn't share the optimism of Cubbie fans. Then this overly negative sneering comment about the Sox.

It's no big surprise that Al's perspective of the Sox is skewed so negatively. It's par for the course

(The Sox will) be hard-pressed to win 70 games next year. - Al
Yellon, Dec. 14, 2004

2005 White Sox
* 99 wins
* First place from game 1 to 162
* 11-1 in the post-season
* WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!

Hey, be happy Cubbie fans, Phil Rogers predicted the Cubbies would win 98 games this season.

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
Wild Card: Phillies
AL East: Red Sox
Central: Indians
AL West: Seattle
Wild Card: Yanks

Cubs over Indians.

Like the Mets in the East, will rebound over collapse last year. Phils just don't have the depth in the rotation, will miss Rowland.
Cubs will win the central with a Reds team much better than anyone could imagine even Dusty.
Dodgers, Torre adds ten wins alone.
Cubs come out the NL.

Red Sox are loaded, period. Yanks have to much youth in the rotation, but pound the ball, Orioles will be horrid, the bullpen is about as good as Mechancisburg Senior High school 1975,
Indians will come out of the Central, Tigers have no pen either. Twins will better than expected
I like Seattle a lot, Angels lose Escobar which is a blow.
Seattle in the upset over the Red Sox
Cubs win in 6, win the Series

Go Cubs

Cubs over Seattle, that is it.

or a total idiot.

NL East: Braves -- most balanced, best depth
NL Central: Cubs -- best pitching in the division, good defense, enough hitting
NL West: Rockies -- I probably would have gone with the Snakes until the Doug Davis issue came up.
Wild Card: Phillies -- great offense, good defense, suspect pitching

AL East: BoSox -- I think the Yanks' "young guns" will have some growing pains
AL Central: Indians -- Detroit has too many question marks on the mound. (Royals in 4th, Sox in 5th)
AL West: Angels -- despite the loss of Lackey and Escobar, they still have a good rotation
AL Wild Card: Tigers -- great offense plus Jim Leyland

I think the BoSox come out of the AL. The NL playoffs will be a crap-shoot. It will come down to pitching, so that means the Braves and the Cubs. I pick the Cubs in a 7 game series.

On paper, the BoSox are a better team than the Cubs, but the better team doesn't always win in a 7 game series, especially when reversals of 100 year jinxes are involved. So...

The Cubs will win the World Series. There, I said it. And I mean it. I think.

missing something about met pitching. i keep seeing posts saying all the mets have is johan and then meh on the rest of the staff. john maine is a stud. i'll go out on the limb and say he wins 20 games this year and is their best pitcher. now with all that said the cubs are gonna win the NL and go on to become WS Champs!!! opening day is almost here......................

I just hope the Cubs live up to it. I think we will learn a lot in this first home stand. I really hope that it won't take 60 days for this team to learn to play together (like least year). I hope they come flying out of the gate this year!

Just for kicks, here are my wacky predictions for 2008:

AL East: NY Yankees. Why? because I'll be hanged and tar-feathered at home if I say that the Red Sox will win. Besides, with an old Wakefield and no Schilling, the Sox are vulnerable. Meanwhile, the Yankees improved both their bullpen and their starting rotation. Watch out for Toronto, though. They'll make a run for it but will fall short.

AL Central: Cleveland indians. The Tigers will fall short on pitching.

AL West: Seattle Mariners. The Angels pitching is suspect.

Wild Card: Boston Red Sox

NL East: I'll pick my dark horse here. I believe the Mets pitching will fail, again. Santana notwithstaning, there are too many oldies in that pitching rotation. The best team in the division are the Phillies, but I always choose one good team to fail and it won't be the Cubs, so my pick to win the division is the Atlanta Braves.

NL Central. The Cubs. Best team in a weak division. Watch out for the Cincinnatti Reds to give everyone a scare. Dusty's teams are usually good in his first year and decline afterwards.

NL West: Arizona. It's a well balanced team with better pitching that last year, IMHO. It should be a close race, though, with the Rockies and Dodgers in pursuit.

Wild card: Philadelphia.

I never predict playoffs in advance. Too many intangibles. But we might see the Indians win a WS title, at last.

As to the Cubs, I agree that the team is improved, though it wouldn't hurt to get another starter along the way. I'm alway worried when the Cubs rely too much on Kerry Wood, but I am confident that he is OK and that if, God forbids, he gets injured, there are alternatives in what, on paper, looks like a very solid bullpen.

Baseball is back. Go, Cubs, go!

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Rockies
NL WC: Braves

AL East: BoSox
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Mariners
AL WC: Tigers

WS: Cubs over Tribe in 6.