Who will win the 2008 MLB World Series?

Curious George · 04-01-08, 06:12 AM

Here's my early predictions:

AL EAST

1. Yankees - Pettite & Mussina will struggle with minor injuries, missing patches of starts and both posting 4.00+ ERAs. Hughes will be good, but not great. Kennedy will out of the rotation by May. They'll try to convert Joba into a starter with mixed success and their bullpen will go to hell in the mean time. Giambi will be make a run for comeback player of the year and we'll wonder why he wasn't playing 1B all along. There will be struggles during the summer months but they'll right the ship just in time to hold onto 1st Place heading into the playoffs. It will be a narrow lead, 1-2 games.

2. Red Sox - ManRam sees a small drop in average, Big Papi sees a drop in home run totals. Ellsbury will be decent but not great. Lugo will improve but not into the player he once was. Dominant pitching and great bullpen will be the key to success as they claim the Wild Card spot.

3. Blue Jays - Great pitching, much improved lineup will lead to about 85-90 wins, but not enough to challenge the Yanks/Sox for first and second.

4. Rays - Finally climbing out of last place, their roster of rookies and young stars will post enough wins to hoise them over the rebuilding O's.

5. Orioles - Gonna be a bad year for the O's. One bright note will be that Ramon Hernandez will prove he's still a top 5 catcher.

AL CENTRAL

1. Tigers - One of the best lineups in baseball combined with perhaps the most dominant starting pitching staff will propel them to victory in the Central. Miguel Cabrera continues to produce at the same level, IRod shows more power, Sheff & Maggs drop off slightly from last year. Verlander will win 20 games, Willis will be something of a bust. The one weak spot will be their bullpen. Hurry back, Joel Zumaya! The Tigers need you!

2. Indians - Sabathia and Carmona will continue to dominate. Westbrook will surprise with much lower ERA and K totals. Ryan Garko will have a career year and Asdubal Cabrera will prove serviceable at 2B.

3. Twins - Twins fans will find out this year just how much Johan Santana meant to their success. Livan Hernandez will eat innings but take a hit in his K totals in the switch from NL to AL. His ERA will be far too high for an ace. Liriano will return but not to his 2006 form. The back end of their rotation will struggle mightily. Delmon Young will be a welcome addition to the lineup but it won't produce enough runs to beat out the Indians.

4. White Sox - Crede will lose his job to Fields by the end of April. Alexei who? Buehrle will have an awful season by his standards and Vazquez will implode before long. Dye will hit 30+ home runs.

5. Royals - Sorry, guys. Maybe next year.

AL WEST

1. Angels - Is there even any question? Starting pitching is overrated but will prove good enough to win them the West.

2. Seattle - The addition of Erik Bedard will give the Mariners some much-needed pitching help, but not enough to catch the Angels.

3. Athletics - Suzuki becomes a top 10 catcher. Barton will live up to expectations, but not immediately. Emil Brown will prove a good pickup. Harden will miss more games than he plays (again). Good bullpen will help clean up some of the messes left by starting pitching, but not enough to catch the Mariners who will post a healthy lead over them.

4. Rangers - Josh Hamilton will explode this year. Blalock will have something of a comeback year. Decent bullpen won't be enough to save them from their starting pitching, especially not in this ball park.

Now, I don't really pay much attention to the NL, but here are my guesses:

NL EAST

1. Mets - All around disgusting team will win over 100 games.

2. Braves - New SS Escobar will turn into a star this year.

3. Phillies - .....

4. Nationals - They'll win 75 games.

5. Marlins - When Mark Hendrickson is your ace you're in baaad shape. Bullpen isn't much better. Can Ramirez and Uggla save the Marlins from an embarassing last place finish? Not likely.

NL CENTRAL

1. Cubs - ***udome will be great for the Cubs. Kerry Wood will remain healthy and become a top tier closer (::waits for the sky to fall:

. Cubs will win 90+ games and come away with the division title.

2. Brewers - Gagne will struggle at first but return almost to previous form to finish out the season. Gwynn will be a greater center fielder but won't be all that good with the bat. By season's end the rotation will be: Sheets, Gallardo, Suppan, Villanueva, Parra. Weeks will be better but still won't scrape the the surface of what's been expected of him. Braun will fall back down to earth this year, but still post very good numbers. Over all, the Brew Crew will be a very good team. Good enough to win the Wild Card.

3. Pirates - Long shot pick to come out of no where for 3rd Place, but I like their roster. I think Matt Morris will continue to be decent. Jason Bay will return to form after whatever that was last year. Once again, Noah Lowry will once again limp through the first half of the season and then sprint through the last half. Adam LaRoche will imrpove greatly as well.

4. Reds - Jay Bruce, Homer Bailey. Just wait. They'll both make appearances before the season is over. Neither will live up to the hype initially, but next year they'll both become stars.

5. Astros - Eh.

NL WEST

1. Dodgers - Holy cow! Where'd they come from? Torre lifts the Dodgers on his back and carries them to victory. Take that, Steinbrenner!

2. Padres - Peavy win 20 games.

3. Diamondbacks - Byrnes slows down.

4. Rockies - 4th Place.

5. Giants - Matt Cain's not all that. Lincecum continues to impress. Zito continues to go downhill. The rest of the team continues to either be too old or sub-par for them to do any better than a last place finish.

PLAYOFFS

Round 1:

AL 1 Tigers v. 4 Angels (Tigers win)
AL 2 Yankees v. 3 Red Sox (Yankees win)

NL 1 Mets v. 4 Dodgers (Mets win)
NL 2 Cubs v. 3 Brewers (Brewers win)

Round 2:

AL Tigers v. Yankees (Yankees win)
NL Mets v. Brewers (Mets win)

WORLD SERIES

Yankees v. Mets (Mets win 4-2)

reaganburch · 04-01-08, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curious George

Here's my early predictions:

AL EAST

1. Yankees - Pettite & Mussina will struggle with minor injuries, missing patches of starts and both posting 4.00+ ERAs. Hughes will be good, but not great. Kennedy will out of the rotation by May. They'll try to convert Joba into a starter with mixed success and their bullpen will go to hell in the mean time. Giambi will be make a run for comeback player of the year and we'll wonder why he wasn't playing 1B all along. There will be struggles during the summer months but they'll right the ship just in time to hold onto 1st Place heading into the playoffs. It will be a narrow lead, 1-2 games.

2. Red Sox - ManRam sees a small drop in average, Big Papi sees a drop in home run totals. Ellsbury will be decent but not great. Lugo will improve but not into the player he once was. Dominant pitching and great bullpen will be the key to success as they claim the Wild Card spot.

3. Blue Jays - Great pitching, much improved lineup will lead to about 85-90 wins, but not enough to challenge the Yanks/Sox for first and second.

4. Rays - Finally climbing out of last place, their roster of rookies and young stars will post enough wins to hoise them over the rebuilding O's.

5. Orioles - Gonna be a bad year for the O's. One bright note will be that Ramon Hernandez will prove he's still a top 5 catcher.

AL CENTRAL

1. Tigers - One of the best lineups in baseball combined with perhaps the most dominant starting pitching staff will propel them to victory in the Central. Miguel Cabrera continues to produce at the same level, IRod shows more power, Sheff & Maggs drop off slightly from last year. Verlander will win 20 games, Willis will be something of a bust. The one weak spot will be their bullpen. Hurry back, Joel Zumaya! The Tigers need you!

2. Indians - Sabathia and Carmona will continue to dominate. Westbrook will surprise with much lower ERA and K totals. Ryan Garko will have a career year and Asdubal Cabrera will prove serviceable at 2B.

3. Twins - Twins fans will find out this year just how much Johan Santana meant to their success. Livan Hernandez will eat innings but take a hit in his K totals in the switch from NL to AL. His ERA will be far too high for an ace. Liriano will return but not to his 2006 form. The back end of their rotation will struggle mightily. Delmon Young will be a welcome addition to the lineup but it won't produce enough runs to beat out the Indians.

4. White Sox - Crede will lose his job to Fields by the end of April. Alexei who? Buehrle will have an awful season by his standards and Vazquez will implode before long. Dye will hit 30+ home runs.

5. Royals - Sorry, guys. Maybe next year.

AL WEST

1. Angels - Is there even any question? Starting pitching is overrated but will prove good enough to win them the West.

2. Seattle - The addition of Erik Bedard will give the Mariners some much-needed pitching help, but not enough to catch the Angels.

3. Athletics - Suzuki becomes a top 10 catcher. Barton will live up to expectations, but not immediately. Emil Brown will prove a good pickup. Harden will miss more games than he plays (again). Good bullpen will help clean up some of the messes left by starting pitching, but not enough to catch the Mariners who will post a healthy lead over them.

4. Rangers - Josh Hamilton will explode this year. Blalock will have something of a comeback year. Decent bullpen won't be enough to save them from their starting pitching, especially not in this ball park.

Now, I don't really pay much attention to the NL, but here are my guesses:

NL EAST

1. Mets - All around disgusting team will win over 100 games.

2. Braves - New SS Escobar will turn into a star this year.

3. Phillies - .....

4. Nationals - They'll win 75 games.

5. Marlins - When Mark Hendrickson is your ace you're in baaad shape. Bullpen isn't much better. Can Ramirez and Uggla save the Marlins from an embarassing last place finish? Not likely.

NL CENTRAL

1. Cubs - ***udome will be great for the Cubs. Kerry Wood will remain healthy and become a top tier closer (::waits for the sky to fall:

. Cubs will win 90+ games and come away with the division title.

2. Brewers - Gagne will struggle at first but return almost to previous form to finish out the season. Gwynn will be a greater center fielder but won't be all that good with the bat. By season's end the rotation will be: Sheets, Gallardo, Suppan, Villanueva, Parra. Weeks will be better but still won't scrape the the surface of what's been expected of him. Braun will fall back down to earth this year, but still post very good numbers. Over all, the Brew Crew will be a very good team. Good enough to win the Wild Card.

3. Pirates - Long shot pick to come out of no where for 3rd Place, but I like their roster. I think Matt Morris will continue to be decent. Jason Bay will return to form after whatever that was last year. Once again, Noah Lowry will once again limp through the first half of the season and then sprint through the last half. Adam LaRoche will imrpove greatly as well.

4. Reds - Jay Bruce, Homer Bailey. Just wait. They'll both make appearances before the season is over. Neither will live up to the hype initially, but next year they'll both become stars.

5. Astros - Eh.

NL WEST

1. Dodgers - Holy cow! Where'd they come from? Torre lifts the Dodgers on his back and carries them to victory. Take that, Steinbrenner!

2. Padres - Peavy win 20 games.

3. Diamondbacks - Byrnes slows down.

4. Rockies - 4th Place.

5. Giants - Matt Cain's not all that. Lincecum continues to impress. Zito continues to go downhill. The rest of the team continues to either be too old or sub-par for them to do any better than a last place finish.

PLAYOFFS

Round 1:

AL 1 Tigers v. 4 Angels (Tigers win)
AL 2 Yankees v. 3 Red Sox (Yankees win)

NL 1 Mets v. 4 Dodgers (Mets win)
NL 2 Cubs v. 3 Brewers (Brewers win)

Round 2:

AL Tigers v. Yankees (Yankees win)
NL Mets v. Brewers (Mets win)

WORLD SERIES

Yankees v. Mets (Mets win 4-2)

You forgot about the St Louis Cardinals in the NL Central... although, they oughta suck this year, unfortunately for this Card fan...

WI Crippler · 04-01-08, 09:55 AM

Wow, Brewers in the NLCS???

They started off hot last year, but faded down the stretch. Hopefully they can put it all together this year. They need the attendance for Miller Stadium. Thats a damn fine ballpark they built, now they need to make their money back on it.

independent_thinker2002 · 04-01-08, 10:16 AM

The Cardinals were left off of his list for a reason. He fears them. They will surprise everyone and win it all.

Aahhhhh, the audacity of hope.

galenrox · 04-01-08, 10:18 AM

Cubs are going all the way this year. Pinella is doing his thing.

independent_thinker2002 · 04-01-08, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galenrox

Cubs are going all the way this year. Pinella is doing his thing.

No way! You delusional Cubs fans say this crap every year. Just stick to the team motto: "Maybe next year!"

reaganburch · 04-01-08, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by independent_thinker2002

The Cardinals were left off of his list for a reason. He fears them. They will surprise everyone and win it all.

Aahhhhh, the audacity of hope.

I said in another thread to Champs, that this years Cardinals remind me of the Indians in the film Major League, except with Pujols.... a bunch of who are theys? and are they still playing?

Bad luck already, Pujols hit one out yesterday & the game was rained out. They're gonna replay it in its entirety, so none of the stats count...