Break Out the Crystal Ball

It's time for my 2007 MLB predictions.

A.L. East
1. Boston - The best rotation in the division, arguably the best closer, and a potent lineup will propel the Sox to the top of the division and back into the playoffs.

2. Toronto - The Jays are poised to surprise (some) people and make a run at the division with good starting pitching and a great bullpen.

3. New York - The Yankees rotation is simply not good enough to win this division, no matter how good the lineup is.

4. Tampa Bay - The Rays are good enough to finish ahead of the Orioles but don't have any young pitching to compliment their young and talented lineup.

5. Baltimore - Not enough of anything to make much noise in the competitive A.L. East.

A.L. Central
1. Chicago - The White Sox rebound from a post-World Series hangover to win the Central.

2. Cleveland (A.L. WC) - The Indians bounce back in a big way in 2007 and win the American League Wild Card.

3. Minnesota - Without Liriano the Twins don't enough pitching to make the playoffs in what is probably the strongest division in baseball.

4. Detroit - The Tigers fall back to reality in a big way after spending most of last year as everyone's darling.

5. Kansas City - Once again the Royals are just going through the motions.

A.L. West
1. Los Angeles / Anaheim - The Angels will probably be the division winner with the fewest wins in the A.L.

2. Oakland - The A's should have a chance again to win the division playing by the "Moneyball" rules as long as their rotation stays healthy.

3. Texas - The Rangers still haven't figured out that they need good pitchers to make the playoffs.

4. Seattle - At least Ichiro will have the chance to showcase his talent before hitting free agency.

N.L. East
1. New York - The Mets rotation doesn't scare me in a good way, but it does scare me a little in a bad way.

2. Atlanta (N.L. WC) - The Braves return the playoffs but the don't quite win another division title after their incredible streak was ended last year.

3. Philadelphia - Ryan Howard and Chase Utley give Philly fans hope for the future.

4. Florida - The still very young Marlins team will probably win fewer games than last year, especially without Joe Girardi at the helm.

5. Washington - The Nats are stuck in neutral.

N.L. Central
1. St. Louis - The Cards should be able to earn the chance to defend their title, but this weak division is really up for grabs.

2. Cincinnati - It could be a good year to be a baseball fan in Ohio between the Reds and Indians.

3. Chicago - Without a healthy Prior and Wood the Cubbies will be watching the playoffs from home even after spending big this offseason.

4. Houston - The Astros won't make the playoffs with or without Roger Clemens.

5. Milwaukee - At least Ben Sheets is getting better with age and is under contract for the next few years.

6. Pittsburgh - Last season's N.L. batting champ played for the Pirates. Yay!

N.L. West
1. Los Angeles - Nomar, Grady, Billy, and all of the former Red Sox on the "Red Sox West" try to get fans in L.A. to appreciate baseball.

2. San Diego - The Padres compete with the Dodgers for the division title and the most former Red Sox players.

3. Arizona - Reacquiring Randy Johnson should help the Diamondbacks out of the N.L. West basement.

4. San Francisco - A declining Barry Zito should see a statistical uptick by switching to the N.L., but a declining Barry Bonds should be spending his nights in jail.

5. Colorado - The Rockies should have traded Todd Helton when they could still get value for him.


Playoffs

Red Sox over Indians
Angels over White Sox

Red Sox over Angels in the ALCS

Mets over Cardinals
Dodgers over Braves

Dodgers over Mets in the NLC

Red Sox over Dodger in the World Series


Awards
A.L. Cy Young - Roy Halladay
A.L. MVP - David Ortiz
N.L. Cy Young - Roy Oswalt
N.L. MVP - David Wright