Predictions for the 2008 MLB Season
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The 2007 Major League Baseball season came to a close with the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series for the second time in four seasons. After several decades of being unable to win the World Series, the Boston Red Sox are looking to become the newest dynasty in Major League Baseball but there are several teams that are looking to try to start a dynasty of their own.
The main team looking to take down the Boston Red Sox is, of course, the New York Yankees. The Boston Red Sox will likely win the American League East division because, even with Curt Schilling injured, there is less of a question mark with their pitching rotation. With Roger Clemens gone, Mike Mussina having an awful season and a media circus around Andy Pettitte, they will likely have a rough season. The New York Yankees offense is good enough to capture the Wild Card in the American League though.
In the American League Central, the Detroit Tigers look like a pretty obvious choice even though the Cleveland Indians won the division last season. The Detroit Tigers had possibly the most loaded offense in all of baseball and added a superstar in Miguel Cabrera and if the change of scenery turns Dontrelle Willis back into the player he was then the Detroit Tigers could cruise to a Championship. The Detroit Tigers also added Edgar Renteria and those two deals were probably the best offseason moves any team in the American League made.
The team that made the second best deal this offseason was the Seattle Mariners. Acquiring Erik Bedard to team up with Felix Hernandez is just what the Seattle Mariners need to pass up the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West.
The team that everybody is talking about in the National League is the New York Mets. Obviously the acquisition of Johan Santana was the best offseason move of any National League team. The New York Mets needed a lot of things to go wrong last year in order for the Philadelphia Phillies to win the division by one game. Now the New York Mets have Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez is healthy. Meanwhile the Phillies lost Aaron Rowand and the Atlanta Braves lost Andruw Jones and Edgar Renteria so I don’t see any reason to think anybody other than the New York Mets will win the National League East.
In the National League Central, the defending champion Chicago Cubs will likely be the winner once again. The Cubs have a great middle of a lineup and a much better pitching rotation than the Milwaukee Brewers. There are two National League Central teams that could be a dark horse though.
The Houston Astros have been loading up on offense by acquiring Carlos Lee last year and Miguel Tejada this year. If they get any pitching other than Roy Oswalt they should see a great improvement in their record. The other surprise team could be the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds quietly have one of the best pitching duos in Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo and other younger pitchers such as Homer Bailey on the way. I don’t think either team will keep up with the Chicago Cubs but both could compete for the National League Wild Card.
The National League West is loaded with pitching. The Arizona Diamondbacks added Dan Haren to go along with Brandon Webb. The Los Angeles Dodgers have Brad Penny and Derek Lowe and the San Diego Padres are led by Jake Peavy and Chris Young. Unfortunately, none of those teams are very good offensively and I think the Colorado Rockies will hit their way to the National League West pennant.
As I said before, the two big winners this offseason were the Detroit Tigers with their acquisitions of Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Renteria and Dontrelle Wills and the New York Mets, with their acquisition of Johan Santana. I think it’s no coincidence that those teams are now the favorites in their respective leagues and they will likely be playing each other in October in the World Series.
The Detroit Tigers have an offense as good as anybody in the American League and talented young pitchers like Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman. The New York Mets on the other hand will win because only the teams in the National League West rival their pitching but the Mets offense is far better than those teams.
