Quick Flashes from My Crystal Ball

Over at Stick and Ball Guy today, SBG has compiled preseason forecasts by most of the Twins bloggers. Batgirl thinks she's being cute by picking the Twins to win every division and both wild card slots, but everyone knows the Twins have no chance in the AL East. The Twins are Mighty, but not wholly Omnipotent. The Force is strong with the minions of the Dark Side (of the Moon and New York City) too, and due respect should be paid. Even as I loathe them damned Yankees.

However, all us Twins bloggers are in agreement that the Twin Cities should expect to enjoy another AL Central title. Surrrrprise! Surrrrprise! I'm picking a repeat of the 2004 AL playoff teams straight across the board. In the NL, I'm taking the Cards, Dodgers, and Phillies, with the Braves in the wild card slot this year.

I expect the Angels to win the AL West again, fairly comfortably. Oakland should have a contending team, despite losing Hudson and Mulder. It looks like Beane acquired some true blue chip talent in both deals, and I suspect that he got rid of Mulder at just the right time, as he's been nagged by back problems for at least the past few years and that tailspin of his after the break last season would have worried me if I were a GM. I also applaud the move to bring in Jason Kendall, one of the great, underrated moves of the offseason. But I don't think the A's have the offense to keep pace with the Halos. Texas, as usual, still lacks pitching. Seattle made some splashy moves to upgrade the offense, but their pitching this spring is riddled with questions that need answering. I see the M's as being another year away from making a run at the top again.

In the Central, I see the Twins faltering only if the team is beset by a plague of locusts, frogs, a One Hundred Year Flood that submerges the Twin Cities, and serious injuries to Santana, Mauer, Morneau, and Radke. I don't think that Kevin Millwood is enough for the Indians to make the leap to 90+ wins. The Tigers offense should be solid, and that bullpen could be intimidating with Percival as its anchor, but their pitching rotation is young and mediocre. The White Sox, thankfully, had an awful offseason orchestrated by the man who could be the worst GM in baseball, trading his best hitter last season for junk parts even as he's throwing $22m at Jose Contreras, Carl Everett, Jermaine Dye, Dustin Hermanson, and a broken-down Orlando Hernandez. The Royals will only be a contender for the title of worst team in the league.

In the AL East, the Yankees and Red Sox will be great. Ho-hum. The Jays and Orioles will fight for 3rd place. The Devil Rays will be developing a young nucleus in an empty dome, for what could be a good Tampa Bay team in 2008 or else the next wave of stars in New York, Boston, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, and St. Louis. Cheers!

I could see the Padres winning the NL West, but I'll pick the Dodgers to repeat in a close race. LA has a deep, experienced pitching staff; I think Derek Lowe will thrive in the NL and Dodger Stadium; and the offense should be fine with J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent in the middle, even if it will be tough to replace what Adrian Beltre did for the lineup last year. But I'll give my respect to the San Diego team, a nice blend of youth and good veterans, which features my pick for the NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy. I expect the Giants to have a hard time without Barry Bonds, or even with him and all the attendant distractions when he is playing this year. Arizona threw bags of money at Troy Glaus and Russ Ortiz this winter, and also hired and fired a manager before he ever had charge of a game, which about sums up the direction of that club. The Rockies still don't really know the formula for winning outside, as well as in, Coors Field. Not that I know, either. I'm just sayin'.

I'm not sure that the Cards pitching can repeat its performance of last year: I suspect that the staff put on a show with smoke and mirrors, and I'm not that confident in Mark Mulder to replace Woody Williams going into this season. Still, what an offense, eh? It could be a(nother) tough year for the Cubs if Wood and Prior can't get healthy. The Astros last year scuffled until after picking up Carlos Beltran, and he isn't back this spring. I'm also going to predict that this is the year something really loony happens with Clemens, even loonier than throwing a bat at Piazza, something that effectively ends his career on a sour note and permanently tarnishes his legacy. I'm not saying he'll be caught with HGH in his chewing tobacky... but get ready. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking. As for the Pirates, Brewers, and Reds, they have some individual players of interest--like I'd just love to see Oliver Perez in the same rotation as Johan Santana--but we all know the teams won't be serious contenders in the division this year.

I'm picking the Phillies in the East because I've done it the last two years, and one of these times I hope to be right. The Braves probably will figure out a way to win it again, though. The Marlins signed Carlos Delgado and brought in Al Leiter to replace Carl Pavano. I wouldn't complain about having Josh Beckettt, Dontrelle Willis, A.J. Burnett, Miguel Cabrera, and Mike Lowell, either. Keep an eye on them. Even though I love Pedro and Dougie M., and the Mets did land the big free agent this winter in Carlos Beltran, they're still the Mets--and they're still rebuilding a team that won just 71 games last year. As for the Nats, we're looking at a last place team whose new GM this winter threw most of his improvement funds at Cristian Guzman, Vinny Castilla, and Esteban Loaiza. Exxxcellent, Mr. Bowden! Mwuhahahahahahahaha! Who says you need some kind of special expertise or experience to be a MLB GM? I could run the Nats into the ground just as well as their guy can do it, and for a fraction of the cost! Bud Selig, give me a call, will you?