MLB 2009!!!!!!!

Preface:

I won't reminisce about the joys of last year's championship because a new year is upon us. It isn't my style to discuss my religion like that. It's a private thing - something for you and your tribe. Just know that when you win a championship after a drought of 20 years or more, it pretty much frees your soul and allows you to do previously impossible tasks like exposing a corrupt municipal government or talking to women that are way out of your league.

One thing I'm having trouble figuring out is how to address all of the drought-era superstitions I've developed over the years around the Phillies. I haven't really blogged it, but for those of you that don't know, I'm a HUGE baseball fanatic. I'm kind of over-the-top.

One superstition I have is that I never publicly pick against the Phillies. NEVER! Under any circumstances. For instance, last season I impulsively left town for South Philly when we got to the NLCS. One of the great characters from my life, Upstairs Dan (who occasionally drops by WCBF as an anonymous commenter), decided to torment me with an impossible scenario. He cornered me and demanded to know what I would do if I could only have one of two things - either the Phillies win the World Series or Barack Obama wins the Presidency. Now this was truly unfair. Obviously I couldn't possibly pick against the Phils in the middle of a deep playoff push, the first time we'd made to the NLCS since I was eight years old. But would I really doom the whole country to another GOP administration in the midst of a worldwide financial crisis of our own making? The Phils are obviously going to continue to be competitive but it was now or never for Barack Obama.

I picked my Phillies! I said F-U to America and my integrity as a committed progressive blogger. It happened. I meant it. Upstairs Dan was incredulous. How could I? He threatened to put it on my blog and ruin my "career." And I didn't hear the end of it. The Phils kept on winning. Lucky for me, Obama won the Presidency and I got the best of both worlds.

So now I have a little bit of a conundrum. I'm about to publish my 2009 predictions but I'm having a real internal debate over whether or not I'll be able to sleep at night if I pick the Phillies to finish any worse than 150-12. I mean, we're the champs. I won. I don't have to just pick the Phils because all I have in life is springtime optimism. Plus I don't think the Phillies had the greatest off-season. I don't think replacing Burrell with Ibanez is an upgrade. I've always respected him as a player but Ibanez is getting old. And I'm not sure how functional it is to bat lefties at 3-4-5. Plus Hamels pitched A LOT of innings last season. Our bullpen overachieved. It's tough to repeat in baseball...

What will I do...


MLB 2009!!!!!!!

American League

AL EAST

1. Boston Red Sox
2. Tampa Rays
3. New York Yankees
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Toronto Blue Jays

This is an incredibly tough division to win. I worry about the Rays falling back to the pack this year but their roster is just so impressive. I think they got lucky with injuries last year. The Orioles are going to hit and they finally have a game plan after a decade in the wilderness.

AL CENTRAL

1. Cleveland Indians
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Detroit Tigers

This is tough to handicap. The Indians have been a favorite of baseball purists for the last few seasons but they've kneecapped themselves with poor first halves. They're due. The Royals will be better surprisingly competitive and I could easily see them finishing third over the Twins, who I think play soft, and the Tigers who I think are going to have to shed talent and salary for economic reasons starting in May or June.

AL WEST

1. Oakland A's
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

I thought the Angels were the best team in baseball last year but I really hate what they did this off season and I think the AL WEST is suddenly amongst the weakest in the game. The Mariners have a better roster than they've proven on the field but they don't work well as a team. They need a new plan. I like the risks the A's took this winter. They'll need to be especially healthy.

AL PLAYOFFS:

Boston over Oakland
Tampa over Cleveland

Boston over Tampa


NL EAST

1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Florida Marlins
3. New York Mets
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Washington Nationals

The top four teams in this division are all capable of making the playoffs. It's going to be a bloodbath. I hate the Mets so I'm picking them to finish in third behind two playoff teams. "K-Rod" is going to have a bad year, Santana is going to get hurt, and Jose Reyes is going to continue to earn the resentment of his teammates and the rest of his league for his lackadaisical effort and his overall badditude. The Marlins are really really talented. They might be the best team in the National League secretly.

NL CENTRAL

1. Chicago Cubs
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Milwalkee Brewers
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Reds are secretly really balanced and have finally changed the culture of the franchise after dumping losers like Adam Dunn. The Brewers lost too much pitching but I was tempted to dump the Cardinals down into fourth because I really just don't like them.

NL WEST

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. San Fransisco Giants
4. San Diego Padres
5. Colorado Rockies

This division is getting better quickly. If the Giants can figure out their starting eight, their starting pitching could be the best in the league, Barry Zito renaissance or not. The Padres seemed willing to unload assets this off season but I don't think they're too far off from being competitive.

Florida over Chicago
Philly over LA

Philly over Florida

World Series: Phillies over Red Sox

Back to back champs!!!!

I couldn't help it guys. I can't not pick my hometown nine!

But if Boston beats LA in the World Series instead, I wouldn't be too surprised.