Pat Morgan's Fearless 2008 MLB Predictions

On the day of the Red Sox/Athletics opener in Japan, here are my 2008 predictions!

AL East: *Boston (O 94), New York (U 93.5), Toronto (O 85.5), Tampa Bay (U 75), Baltimore (U 64.5)
AL Central: Detroit (O 93.5), Cleveland (O 90), Chicago (O 79.5), Minnesota (O 75), Kansas City (U 73.5)
AL West: Seattle (O 85), Los Angeles (U 92), Oakland (O 73.5), Texas (U 76)
MVP: Miguel Cabrera
Cy Young: Erik Bedard
Rookie: Joba Chamberlain
Comeback: Vernon Wells
Manager: John McLaren

The AL is clearly still the dominant league even with Johan Santana and Dan Haren being dealt to the NL. The AL has eight teams that I can see having really good years. The big six that no one will really dispute with are Boston, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Seattle, and Los Angeles. I would consider Toronto and Chicago as two long shots, but could contend for the wildcard.

My AL East and Central picks are the popular picks, and I think the wildcard will come down to the Yankees and Indians around 92-93 wins. I think with the Angels pitching injuries that will give the Mariners the inside track to dethrone them in the West. I absolutely love the Bedard, King Felix 1,2 punch leading into perhaps the league's best closer (not named Mariano) in J.J. Putz. Detroit is my pick to win the World Series because of their great lineup and deep rotation. Should they lose, it will be because of their injury plagued pen, and Todd Jones in the closer spot. I think that will cost them homefield, but hopefully Zumaya will be back to stabilize things come October.

NL East: *New York (O 93.5), Philadelphia (O 87.5), Atlanta (U 85.5), Washington (U 72.5), Florida (U 69)
NL Central: Chicago (O 87), Milwaukee (U 84.5), Houston (O 75), Cincinnati (U 77.5), St. Louis (U 76), Pittsburgh (U 70)
NL West: Arizona (O 87.5), Los Angeles (O 86.5), Colorado (O 83), San Diego (U 84.5), San Francisco (U 73)
MVP: Chase Utley
Cy Young: Johan Santana
Rookie: Geovany Soto
Comeback: Andruw Jones
Manager: Willie Randolph

The NL appeared to be up for grabs when it seemed that the Mets would not be able to acquire Johan Santana from the Twins. Their patience with Minnesota paid off however and they got the game's best pitcher for basically nothing. With Santana, I expect the Mets to win well north of 90 games and cake walk to the NL East crown and homefield in the playoffs.

The NL Central and especially the West are up for grabs. I'll take Chicago as the best overall team in the Central. They have a good lineup, good rotation, and I think Kerry Wood is made to be a closer if he stays healthy. Milwaukee has a better lineup, but I think that is the only spot another team can say they are better than the Cubs in a certain area. I want to pick the Dodgers in the West, but its hard to ignore the Webb-Haren-Johnson trio in Arizona. Expect the top 4 teams in the West to be within 5-8 games of each other at the end of the year.

ALDS: Boston 3, Seattle 1; Detroit 3, New York 2
NLDS: New York 3, Chicago 1; Philadelphia 3, Arizona 2
ALCS: Detroit 4, Boston 3
NLCS: New York 4, Philadelphia 2
World Series: Detroit 4, New York 2
World Series MVP: Justin Verlander

Pat Morgan