2011 Predictions: I Have No Way To Make This Title Clever

Prediction posts are fun. They’re invariably proven wrong, and always serve to tick off fans who think you’ve disrespected their team by picking them to finish third. Plus, there’s usually rampant homer-ism involved.  So of course I’m doing a predictions post.

My 2011 MLB predictions:

NL West

1. San Francisco Giants

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

3. Colorado Rockies

4. San Diego Padres

5. Arizona Diamondbacks

Do you know how nice it is to pick the Giants and not feel like a huge homer for doing so? I mean, there’s no way I could’ve justified picking them in ’07 or something, but now? Division champs. I know everyone seems to be in love with the Rockies this year, but I think the Dodgers have the better pitching staff and will push the Giants the most. The Padres will have trouble overcoming the loss of Adrian Gonzalez, especially now that Mat Latos is starting the season on the DL. The Diamondbacks should be better than most last place teams.

NL Central

1. Milwaukee Brewers

2. Cincinnati Reds

3. St. Louis Cardinals

4. Chicago Cubs

5. Houston Astros

6. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Brewers may have the best middle of the order in the league, and finally have the pitching to back it up (even with Zack Greinke missing some time). The Reds have Fred Lewis, which automatically disqualifies them from playoff consideration. The Cardinals would’ve been my pick had they not lost Adam Wainwright for the season. The Cubs and Astros are interchangeable to me- they could be the same team. The Pirates will probably avoid a 100-loss season, which will be an accomplishment of sorts.

NL East

1. Atlanta Braves

2. Philadelphia Phillies (Wild Card)

3. Florida Marlins

4. Washington Nationals

5. New York Mets

There’s no way the Phillies will miss the playoffs with their pitching staff- barring injury- but their lineup is going to suffer if Chase Utley misses a significant amount of time. Adding Dan Uggla makes the Braves the favorite for me, considering the depth of their pitching. The Marlins have the potential to stay in contention for most of the season, especially if Mike Stanton explodes. The Nationals and the Mets will probably be all kinds of awful. I picked the Nats ahead of the Mets because I haven’t gotten over the 2000 NLDS.

AL West

1. Texas Rangers

2. Oakland A’s

3. Los Angeles Angels

4. Seattle Mariners

The Rangers did just fine without Cliff Lee the first half of last year, and can always look to add pitching at the trade deadline again. They have a better lineup than the A’s, but Oakland’s pitching staff is good enough that they could easily win this division. It’ll be a tough battle. The Angels didn’t do enough this offseason to compete with Texas and Oakland, and the Mariners still don’t have enough hitters.

AL Central

1. Chicago White Sox

2. Minnesota Twins (Wild Card)

3. Detroit Tigers

4. Cleveland Indians

5. Kansas City Royals

I really like the White Sox this year; they can beat teams in a lot of different ways. The Twins were plagued by injuries last year and still won the division; if they stay healthy this year, they’ll be right there with Chicago. Detroit isn’t too far behind either of them, but I don’t think their pitching is as deep. The days of the Royals being the Central’s perpetual last place team should be over soon enough, as they have the best farm system in baseball. The Indians are likely to take their place.

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox

2. Tampa Bay Rays

3. New York Yankees

4. Toronto Blue Jays

5. Baltimore Orioles

The Red Sox spent a ton, and spent wisely- they’re clearly the best team in the division. The Rays may have lost a substantial number of players to free agency, but they’re still better than people think. Their pitching staff is better than New York’s, who’ll employ Freddy Garcia, Kevin Millwood and Bartolo Colon this year. That would’ve been a fantastic pitching staff in 2005; in 2011, not so much. The Blue Jays should petition MLB to move to another division. The Orioles will likely flirt with a .500 season.

Playoffs

Giants over Phillies

Braves over Brewers

Red Sox over Twins

White Sox over Rangers

Giants over Braves

White Sox over Red Sox

Again, it feels good to pick the Giants to go to the World Series without feeling like a homer. I have the Giants going through the same two teams they faced last year to get there this year, only in different order. In the AL, I think Chicago has the depth to win the battle of the Sox.

World Series

Giants over White Sox

The Giants go back-to-back by beating AJ Pierzynski. It doesn’t get much better than that.

So there you have it. Make sure to save this post and point out how wrong I was when October rolls around.