MLB 2004 Picks

[loseyourname]

NL West - Giants (Sorry to say it, but it'll be a really weak division)
NL Central - Astros (I think they'll barely outlast the Cubs. Having no Prior for April will hurt them, and they need a legitimate leadoff hitter with no Lofton now.)
NL East - Phillies (They might have the most complete team in the league. The Marlins and Braves should both be weaker, and the Phils got a lot better in the offseason, especially in the bullpen, where they really needed it.)
NL Wild Card - Cubs

AL West - Angels (The Mariners and A's will both be weaker and Texas isn't moving one inch. On paper, they should run away with this division, but I still think Oakland will make it tight with their starting pitching. They'll miss Tejada and Ellis, though.)
AL Central - I have no idea. Every team in this division sucks.
AL East - Red Sox (They played the Yankees to a dead heat last year. Both teams got even better, but I just have a feeling. They have to break through at some point, and the Yanks do have some question marks. If Jose Contreras falters and Kevin Brown can't stay healthy, they'll have trouble in a very heavy-hitting division.)
AL Wild Card - A's (Maybe I'm just being mean-spirited, but it would be beautiful to see the Yankee payroll shoot up to $200 million and not even get them into the playoffs. Boss George might fire everyone in the stadium.)

NL Champion - Cubs (They made the moves they needed to last year. If they really need a leadoff guy, I think they'll get him. If their entire pitching staff is healthy in October, they should be almost impossible to score on.)

AL Champion - Angels (This is really the only team that has any shot at beating either the Yankees or the Red Sox. If they can stay healthy, they'll be tough. They still have a lot of guys that can come through in the clutch, and the top bullpen in the AL, maybe in the majors with the Dodgers losing Quantrill, will keep opponents in check in the late innings. If the games stay close, I like their chances.)

World Series Champion - Angels (I really want to pick the Cubs here, but I just can't do it. They have so much history riding against them that they'll be thrilled just to make it this far. A lot of the Angels have been here already and Mike Scoscia will once again school Dusty Baker.)

[Hogg]

I'll kill someone if the Angels win again.

[loseyourname]

Kill Frank McCourt, Bob Daly, and Dan Evans. I'll help you.

[jilbagh]

Giants are too weak this season. They lost Santiago and a few others.

i'm going with Dodgers and Red Sox...

Dodgers letting Burnitz go was a BIG mistake.
I also have faith in St. Louis and Philly

[dstyle]

NL
West - Padres(Barry is the ish, but the team got very weak)
Central - Cubs (Prior-USC)
East - Phillies
Wild - Astros

AL
West - Angles
Central - Sox
East - Red Sox
Wild - A's

ya im a yankee hater

NL Champs Astros over the Cubbies
AL Champs Red Sox over Angles

Red Sox win it all, Steinbreeradsradsr kills himself, everyone is happy.

[antihippy]

NL west - Diamondbacks. I think their lineup will rebound and Richie Sexson will make a difference. Losing Schilling hurts, but they didn't have him or Johnson for long stretches last year and they still gave a strong showing. I'm going out on a limb here and saying that the Big Unit will have a monster season and Brandon Webb will be more than adequate as a replacement for Schilling.

NL central - Cubs. Too much pitching. This will be the best staff since the '88 Dodgers but with a better lineup.

NL east - Phillies. If they have Billy Wagner and Tim Worrell last year, they might have won the division. They easily would have taken the wild card. Pat Burrell should have make a nice comeback, too.

NL wild card - Astros

NL champ - Cubs over Astros. Clemens is just too old and Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller have never played that deep into the postseason. Plus, who knows how their bullpen will be. Can Dotel close out games as well as he set them up? With a four-man postseason rotation, the Cubs might have Greg Maddux coming out of the bullpen, or Matt Clement, and that's scary.

AL west - Angels. They should kill this division.

AL central - White Sox. Rebound year for Konerko. They should beat up on the weak pitching staffs in this division, plus there aren't a lot of bats in the division, so they're own pitching weaknesses shouldn't be exposed too badly.

AL east - Yankees. I just have a real feeling about Kevin Brown. I think he'll win 23 games this year and the AL Cy Young. He and Vasquez are better than Clemens and Pettite, at least in the regular season. This lineup is ridiculous and should obliterate the terrible pitching of the Orioles, Devil Rays, and Blue Jays.

AL wild card - Oakland. Hudson, Zito, and Mulder are capable of winning 20 games each. It'll be a tough race with Boston, but these guys always seem to come through in September.

AL champ - Angels over Yankees. The Angels rotation is too deep and they'll be fresher when October comes around. I get the feeling Guillen and Glaus are gonna have huge years, and Vlad Guerrero and Garret Anderson will just keep doing what they always do. Eckstein will have a much better year and so will Darin Erstad. Molina is clutch. This will be a tight series, really tight, just like last year with the Red Sox and Yankees, but the depth of the Angels rotation, the depth of their bullpen, and the depth on their bench, combined with great late-inning management will make them really tough in a game seven, which should be played in Anaheim, as they're in a weaker division and should finish with the better record.

MLB champ - Cubs. They have to win one at some point. No one can keep losing forever.

[jilbagh]

johnson has no cartilidge left in his knees and they're ailing...how can you pick the diamondbacks?


but overall nice picks. boston, cubs, dodgers or angels as your world series champs. pending if the injury voodoo doll is still around in the dodger clubhouse

[loseyourname]

There's no way in hell the D-Backs take the west. Webb has sucked in exhibition.

[dstyle]

Padres by far take the west.