Baseball Predictions

As much as I love hockey and as excited as I am about the upcoming NHL playoffs, I am equally excited about the start of the 2006 Major League Baseball season. Baseball has always been my first love when it comes to the major sports and I am very excited about the upcoming season.

While the forecast is calling for more dark clouds ahead for my Cubbies, my other two teams- the Indians and Blue Jays- both have a lot of sunshine coming their way this summer.

So, without further adieu, here are my predictions for the upcoming season.

American League

East- Yankees, Jays, Red Sox, Rays, Orioles
Central- Indians, Twins, White Sox, Tigers, Royals
West- Rangers, A's, Angels, Mariners

Playoffs- Yankees over Rangers; Indians over Jays
ALDS- Indians over Yankees

American League Hardware:
MVP- Alex Rodriguez- Mark Texeira and Travis Hafner close seconds
CY Young- Roy Halladay
Rookie- Francisco Liriano

National League
East- Braves, Mets, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals
Central- Cardinals, Brewers, Astros, Pirates, Cubs, Reds
West- Padres, D'backs, Dodgers, Giants, Rockies

Playoffs- Braves over Padres; Mets over Cardinals
NLDS- Braves over Mets

National League Hardware:
MVP- Albert Pujols
CY Young- Tim Hudson
Rookie- Stephen Drew

World Series- Indians over Braves
World Series MVP- Grady Sizemore

If you've read Tom Verducci's recent predictions on SI.com you'll notice that I couldn't differ from ol' Tom's predictions much more than I already do. Verducci seems to have been caught up in the great White Sox hype, but I'm not buying. If anything, I think the White Sox are destined to be this year's biggest disappointment (a complete 180 from last year when they were the year's biggest surprise). I dare Ozzie Guillen and Co. to prove me wrong.