Playoff Predictions

Finally, here are my picks for awards and playoffs:

NL Cy Young- Johan Santana, Mets
AL Cy Young- Daiske Matsusaka, Red Sox

NL MVP- Prince Fielder, Brewers
AL MVP- Grady Sizemore, Indians

ALDS:
Indians over Mariners
Red Sox over Tigers

ALCS: Indians over Red Sox

NLDS:
Brewers over Padres
Dodgers over Phillies

NLCS: Brewers over Dodgers

World Series: Indians over Brewers

You heard it here first!

The Curse of the Penguin

News came down today that Nomar will spend the first week of the season on the Disabled List. This, just 2 weeks after 3rd base prospect Andy LaRoche went down for 8-10 weeks. We are now 26 years into what I (and I am sure others) have called the "Curse of the Penguin." Ron "Penguin" Cey is the greatest 3rd baseman in the history of the Dodgers, playing 1971-82 with LA. Then in the fall of '82, thinking Cey was too old, they traded him to the Cubs for Vance Lovelace and Dan Cataline. Hows that working out? Cey played another 6 years, Lovelace and Cataline never got above AA, and the Dodgers have been looking for a hot corner guy ever since. Here's just a partial list of the goofballs since Cey:

Bill Madlock- Great player, 10 years before we got him.

Jeff Hamilton(above)- Yes, he was on the '88 Champions, but he's more famous for being the first position player to take a loss by pitching in a 22-inning game. Never batted above .245.

Tim Wallach- see Bill Madlock.

Todd Zeile- See Bill Madlock.

Adrian Beltre- Sure, he gave us one HGH, contract-year blowout with 48 homers and 2nd in the MVP. 5 other non-HGH, non-contract year garbage that went with that.

Mike Blowers, Lenny Harris, Tracy Woodson, Bob Bailor, Rafael Landestoy, Olmaedo Saenz, Chad Fonville, etc, etc, etc..

And now the Nomar and Andy show. LaRoche may show himself to be "the guy" at third for a long time, but you'll excuse me for not taking the bait on this after nearly three decades of has-beens and never-weres.

National League West Preview

1. San Diego Padres- Peavy, Young, Maddux, Wolf, Hoffman. Oh, and they have a good lineup too. Their pitching will most likely win them a highly contested and competitve division.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers- Have to show their late-season crumbling was due to Grady Little and not players. Pitching is better with Hiroki Kuroda and subtraction of Mark Hendrickson and Brett Tomko. Bullpen is as deep as any in the NL, and their lineup is solid if not powerful. Should be able to pull off the wild-card.

3. Colorado Rockies- I love how people who never even heard of the Rockies before last September are picking them to win the NL. A very good lineup, a decent if not dominant closer in Manny Corpas. Thier question to me is starters, as they remind me of the '05 White SOx- did everyone have career years at the same time in '07?

4. Arizona Diamondbacks- They would easily be the champs if they played in the dead-ball era of the early 1900's. Brandon Webb and Dan Haren are an incredible 1-2 punch, Randy Johnson is done, and Eric Brynes will be the new version of Brady Anderson- one monster season surrounded by average years.

5. San Francisco Giants- The start of the post-Big Head era will be rough going, but at least they'll start to get some good karma back after the freak show the last decade has been.

Coming next week- World Series and Award predictions-

Happy March Madness!

Good luck to all the billions of brackets floating out there- and let one of my 3 be a winner!

National League Central Preview

1. Milwaukee Brewers- Time for the "Crew" to celebrate like it's 1982 (their last playoff appearance). A very good offense led by Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan lead a good rotation, and Eric Gagne will rebound from a horrendous 2months as Red Sox' set-up guy to be the solid (if not dominating) closer again.

2. Chicago Cubs- At least we're not talking about Prior and Wood this year- wait- what- new closer Wood is having back spasms? Ohh boy..On the plus side, their offense is even better this year with Fukodome, along with the maturation of Geovanny Soto and Ryan Theriot. Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly are good top-of-the-rotation, then it gets sketchy. And the bullpen, well, did I mention Kerry Wood? 100 years of futility will go at least one more.

3. St Louis Cardinals- The Cards should be thankful they are in the worst division in the NL, and even that won't help them. Albert Pujols is still the best player in the game, but there may be injuries that hold him back. Good young outfield led by former feel-good story Rick Ankiel. An underappreciated closer in Jason Isringhausen. But that rotation would have looked good about 5 years ago, when some guys still had youth, potential, or both- Mark Mulder, Kyle Lohse, Joel Piniero. Maybe Tony LaRussa should have taken the Yankees' job.

4. Cincinnati Reds- Are people really picking this team to win the division? An okay lineup, a bland rotation, and closer Fransisco Cordero. Dusty Baker is good, but he doesn't walk on water.

5. Houston Astros- Maybe the 'Stros can play the White Sox in the "Remember Us, We Were Good in '05?" Series. Kaz Matsui and Michael Bourn were good pickups for the future, but Lance Berkman will be hitting most of his blasts with the bases empty. Good luck, Roy Oswalt.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates- I don't think the Pirates even pretend to try anymore. Just pathetic.

National League East Preview

Phillies and Mets are 1 and 1A in this division, will probably flip-flop into first place all year long:

1. Philadelphia Phillies- Solid rotation, with youngster Cole Hamels, ageless Jamie Moyer, and wife-beater Brett Myers. Brad Lidge may implode in the 'pen, but Flash Gordon a good alternate. Lineup anchored by the last 2 MVPs in Howard and Rollins, it will all depend on how they deal with being the chase-ee this time around.

2. NY Mets- Plus- you get the best pitcher in baseball (Johan Santana). Minus- you do absolutely nothing else to upgrade a team that had one of the biggest collapses in MLB history. Will score alot, will pray for Pedro to be '99-04 Pedro, will hope John Maine and Oliver Perez continue to exceed expectations. Johan can only pitch every 5 days.

3. Washington Nationals- A distant 3rd, but 3rd nonetheless. Jason Bergmann, Shawn Hill and John Lannan (above) will be in the Nats' rotation for the next decade, and with a solid 7th thru 9th inning bullpen, they don't have to blow their arms out in the process. A halfway decent lineup with little power, depending on how the new Nats Park plays. The start of the revival of a long-downtrodden franchise.

4. Atlanta Braves- Glavine's back!(he's 62) Hudson's healthy!(really?) Mark Kotsay replaces Andruw! (uh-oh..) Jo-Jo Reyes is our 5th starter! (umm...) Do you think Teixeira is ready to head back to Texas?

5. Florida Marlins- Their bid to move to the Carolina League was denied, so they will have to settle for being the worst team in the NL. By trading their only two marketable players (Dontrelle & Miguel Cabrera), the 675 people that came out last year may not be back. Their new stadium in 2010-11 may be too late.

An Honorable Move

Praising the Yankees isn't something I am used to, but I feel the need to mention the act of generosity and kindness the team displayed yesterday. On their only off-day of the pre-season, the entire team flew from Tampa, Florida to Blacksburg, VA to play a charity event at Virginia Tech. This was more than just a game, as it continued a long healing process for a campus still recovering from last year's mass shooting. The Yankees signed autographs, took pictures and visited the memorial site before taking the field. All the superstars attended, and gave a lifetime of memories to some lucky students. Well done.

American League West Preview

1. Seattle Mariners- Biggest acquisition of the offseason in ace Eric Bedard (above). An already talented team with Felix Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn and Carlos Silva are that much better bumping everyone down a slot to bring in Bedard. AL's best closer in JJ Putz, AL's best pure hitter in Ichiro, and some good pop in the lineup will help the Mariners squeak by the Angels.

2. Anaheim Angels- The Yankees of the West, throwing money at anybody who has a heartbeat. Did make some solid moves picking up Jon Garland and Torii Hunter. The infield is surpirisingly shallow, with Chone Figgins being the only one worth much. Closer K-Rod and a decent starting rotation will make this a great division race.

3. Texas Rangers- A team on the rise offensively, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young make a great DP tandem. But when Kevin Millwood is your ace, well...

4. Oakland A's- Eric Chavez will be traded by July. Then they will have...Daric Barton? Emil Brown? Joe Blanton and Rich Harden will keep their starts close, but Moneyball's demise will continue.

The End

Sadness beyond words. Final Vero Game- Astros 12, Dodgers 10. Full story here.

Atlanta Tornado

Here's to all of my ATL brethren- thankfully, no one was killed during Friday's tornado, but the damage is unbelievable. Knowing the resolve of my former hometown and favorite place in the world, they will recover and rebuild quickly!