Play Ball!

It's like Christmas in April today; the Red Sox season opener starts at 2 PM EST. I'm running out the door at 4 PM today to watch the NESN HD broadcast on my DVR. I will be avoiding the score like the plague until I get home. Okay, maybe not the plague, but I will avoid any updates like a really bad head cold with fever.

Here are my brief season predictions.

Sox win 98 games and the division crown. Yanks and Jays battle for second place in the division, but both finish out of the wild card. If Burnett is healthy, the Jays should edge the Yanks for second.

White Sox win the Central. The Indians will battle Oakland for the wild card.

Angels win the A.L. West title. I think Oakland will lose out to the Indians for the wild card, but I wouldn't be surprised if the A's hold off Cleveland and win it.

The Mets edge the Braves for the N.L. East crown. I think the N.L. East will be a dog fight this year. I think Atlanta wins the wild card.

The Cards will run away with the Central.

The Dodgers should finish ahead of both the Giants and Padres.

I'll throw up some quick numerical predictions and individual award winners in the next couple of days.