[EmpireWF]

The Hardball Times has a fun read, they predict the division outcomes in each league with their specific formula. Here are some notes...


-The Mets will win the NL East, but the Phillies, Braves and Marlins will contend. The Nationals will struggle.

-The Cardinals and Cubs will battle for the NL Central crown with the loser taking the wild card in the NL. The rest of the division will battle for respectability. Interestingly, only six games will separate Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Houston and Milwaukee.

-Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson will lead the Diamondbacks to another Western title. The Giants and Dodgers will be close while the Padres just miss the .500 mark.

-The Yankees come close to 100 wins in taking the east while the Red Sox take the wild card with 90+ wins. The rest of the division is made up of two .500 teams and the sub 70 win Devil Rays (as usual).

-The Twins take the central crown with just 89 wins. Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago only have 83 wins while the Royals end up being the worst team in baseball. The division is not the best in the game as some may think.

-The Angels and Athletics compete for first place. Seattle isn't too far behind while Texas again falls in last. Hardball predicts the Angels take the division by just a hair.


They go in-depth and it's a fun read. Any large disagreements?

[simple simon]

i only seriously follow the AL East and there are so many questions to really be able to go along or discredit the prediction

will A-Rod pull his head out of his butt

will Dice-K pan out

will Manic Manny finally have a serious melt-down

will Rivera's age finally seriously catch up with him

the list goes on and on

i do think the race and wild card is between these two.....but in what order is still very much a toss up imo

[Lefty Noob]

So let's see, they have...

Mets out of the NL East
Cards/Cubs as the Central champ and Wild Card
D-Back in the NL West

Yankees in the AL East
Twins in the AL Central
Angels in the AL West
Boston as the Wild Card

The AL looks about right to me.
In the NL, I see the Wild Card coming out of the East, with the Mets, Braves and Phills competing for the two playoff spots.
Cardinals win the Central. West is a toss up, but don't sleep on the Giants.

[azrael492]

The only glaring problem I see is the Cubs contending in the NL Central. They improved their offense, but their pitching is still bad. They will lose a lot of high scoring games. I don't see a rotation with Lilly and Marquis winning too many games.

[MJHMarc]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

So let's see, they have...
D-Back in the NL West

Whoa. Now, they have taken this too far!

[DaBigManOnCampus]

I think most of that is right except some things...

I think that the wild card will come out the Central with the Tigers Indians and White Sox battling for that cause the East will beat each other up, with series upsets by the Orioles and Devil Rays, and most of all the Sox/Yanks rivalry will just be their downfall...

The NL... The Cubs! the whole thing with the new manager will win ballgames will finnally....














Prove you wrong. bullpen is still skecthy and most of all Zambrano cant carry the pitching rotation, we saw it from last year... And The Reds and Astros will go for that wild card spot...

And be careful of the Padres in the west, the can be a sneaky bunch.

[EmpireWF]

The NL West will be a toss-up. The Dbacks have restocked, the Giants are a ace and great hitter away from division contention and of course you have the Pads and Dodgers back with some upgrades.

In the AL, I don't know if the Tigers will get the same amazing pitching performances they got last year. The White Sox, I'm never high on. So I can easily see the wild card coming from the east.

[Mike24]

I seriously doubt the Royals will be the worst team this year. They have got some good talent on that team, and they ended the season great. Alex Gordon is an amazing hitter, reminds me alot of George Brett. If the pitching is solid, the team will atleast be around 500. Dayton Moore is heading in the right direction.

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by Mike24

I seriously doubt the Royals will be the worst team this year. They have got some good talent on that team, and they ended the season great. Alex Gordon is an amazing hitter, reminds me alot of George Brett. If the pitching is solid, the team will atleast be around 500. Dayton Moore is heading in the right direction.

Then who will be the worst team in baseball, Mike? Tampa Bay? Washington?

[Mike24]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Then who will be the worst team in baseball, Mike? Tampa Bay? Washington?

Hmmmm, who knows. But I highly doubt KC will be the worst team in baseball this year. Maybe the analyst need to take a closer look at the Royals' talent before judging something?