2005 Predictions

Trev has posted his predictions for the 2005 season. Just for fun, here are mine.

A.L. East
Boston
New York
Baltimore
Toronto
Tampa Bay

Picking the Red Sox may be a bit of wishful thinking on my part. I think it'll be a very close race with the Yankees.

A.L. Central
Minnesota
Cleveland
Detroit
Chicago
Kansas City

I like Cleveland but am not sure they'll have they'll be able to overcome the Twins, who should benefit from the presence of Joe Mauer and an entire year of Justin Morneau.

A.L. West
Anaheim
Oakland
Seattle
Texas

I think Anaheim's much-ballyhooed outfield could actually turn out to be only average, but I love their bullpen and their depth - once everyone gets healthy, their bench could include Juan Rivera, Jeff DaVanon, Chone Figgins and Robb Quinlan, all of whom could be decent starters for lots of other teams. Oakland gets the nod over the other two teams because their pitching is actually much better. Still, I think this division contains four pretty good teams and that all four of them could be breathing down each other's necks all year long. The West is a great pennant race waiting to happen.

N.L. East
Atlanta
Philadelphia
New York
Florida
Washington

I won't make the mistake of betting against the Braves this year.

N.L. Central
St. Louis
Chicago
Houston
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati

I changed my mind - I picked the Cubs to win a few weeks ago, but doubt they can win without a healthy Mark Prior.

N.L. West
Los Angeles
San Diego
San Francisco
Arizona
Colorado

The Dodgers and the Padres are the class of this division. Unless Barry Bonds comes back soon, the Giants should be terrible. The Rockies will be, too. Arizona threw a bunch of money around this offseason but made some ridiculously bad decisions; amazingly, their starting middle infield is Craig Counsell and Royce Clayton, who also have the first two positions in the batting order. Yuck.