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BigWersk’s BOLD predicitions: 2011 MLB Season

Posted in Sports, tagged MLB, Sports on March 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Opening day is finally upon us, but i’ll save you the trouble of watching 162 long boring baseball games and let you know whats going to happen.

NL East: The Nationals are an interesting team offensively and might surprise a few folks, but pitching is the name of the game and they just don’t have any. They’ll be in cellar. The Marlins have some decent pitching, solid youngsters, and Hanley Ramirez but they’re not well-rounded enough to compete with the big boys at the top of the division. The Mets are intriguing as far as the line up is concerned. But too much is riding on aging and injury riddled Beltran and Santana. Although I think they’ll put up a decent showing this year, they’ll be battling for 3rd with the Marlins. The Phillies have a legit all-star rotation top to bottom, might be one of the best we’ve seen in a long time. However, they’ll struggle offensively and might have some back of the bull pen issues. Sooooo I’m talking the Braves to win the division. But its about as close to a push as there is this season. Braves are very balanced and will squeak by the Phillies by maybe a game.

NL Central: The Pirates are well…the Pirates and perennial sellers of good young talent. They’re bad. After that this is where this division gets interesting. The Astros look like they might have a healthy amount of fire power at the plate, but whether or not the pitching can step up is a question. They’ve got the arms who knows if they’ll show. The cubs added by subtraction with the departure of Lou Pinella last season. They’ve got a good pitching staff but poor defense and too many question marks for offense. They’ll be better than last year but still need to get out from under a couple of bad contracts before they can be factor. The Cardinals are solid top to bottom but the loss of Wainwright is a huge blow. Regardless they’ve got Pujols and they’re still going to be a tough out for anyone. The Reds are basically the same as last season so there shouldn’t be a drop off in their abilities. The only concern here is whether or not Baker will find a way to burn out his young pitchers. The Astros, cubs, Cardinals, and Reds are all going to compete making this summer a fun one for NL Central fans, but the Milwaukee Brewers will come out on top. They’ve finally gotten a solid pitching staff to go along with their explosive offense. Only concerns are some early season injuries and an average defense. But they’ll win the division in a tight race with 3 maybe 4 teams contending.

NL West: Even though the Padres surprised a lot of people hanging in contention for most of the season last year, they’re still the bottom of the barrel here. Their best player is now in Boston. The D-Backs are sort of in no man’s land. It seems like they’ve got a shot at being competitive but at the same time they could be battling the Padres for last place. The Rockies always seem to out perform expectations and this year will probably be no different. However I don’t know if they can be as good away from Coors Field as they are at home. The Dodgers are expected to have a drop off but I think their well-rounded and will raise some eyebrows this season. They’re a real dark horse at winning this division. However, I’ve got to take the defending world champions to win. Even though they look very challenged offensively, their pitching is top-notch. The Giants, Dodgers, and Rockies will take it to the wire with the Giants winning out.

NL Wild Card: Phillies

AL East: In Baltimore, Buck’s boys can bat! But that’s about it. After Guthrie I’m not sure who will be able to step up in that rotation. The arrow is pointing up for this team, but it’s pointing up from the bottom of the division. Toronto isn’t far ahead of the Os, actually I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jays were in last this season. But they do have some good young pitching and some spot pop in the line up. The Rays had to move some salary and are firmly on the decline. However, they still have a lot of good young hitters and a great manager. 3rd place is firmly theirs. Well well well…what a surprise, down to the Yankees and Red Sox. Frankly I hate both teams and don’t care what either does. Yankees don’t have the pitching and are getting long in the tooth. Red Sox got considerably better in the off-season, Bo Sox take the division.

AL Central: Kansas City is still Kansas City only they dealt away their best starting pitcher. They’ll be able to score runs but the problem is they won’t be able to keep other teams from scoring. The only reason why the Indians might finish ahead of the Royals is they have a little better rotation. Otherwise they’re pretty similar. Both teams will be towards the bottom of the AL. The Tigers are touted as a serious contender this year but I just don’t see it. That’s not to say they won’t be competitive as they have tons of power and one of the top pitchers in baseball with Verlander. But after Verlander their rotation isn’t very scary and they don’t have a proven bullpen. Either way they’re going to hang with the top teams in the division but fall just short. The Twins are pesky with a lot of power in their line up and sneaky good pitching. Even though they won without them last year this season rides on the healthy return of Nathan and Morneau. If those two return to form the Twins will be every bit as good as they have been the last couple seasons. So long as the White Sox shake their Minneapolis curse they should take this division in yet another tight race. In a division where 3 teams really can take it all, I feel that the Sox will edge out the competition.

AL West: The Mariners have some nice pieces but not a complete team…aaannnd Milton Bradley. I really feel sorry for Ichiro because that guy deserves to be on a winner. Not this year though. The Angels are getting long in the tooth but also have some nice pieces mixed in. They’ve got three legit starters so they should be competitive, certainly more so than the Mariners. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they jumped up and contended for the division. But right now on paper I’ve got them 3rd. I really don’t know why, but I’ve got Oakland 2nd. Their pitching has the chance at being really good but I’m not sure where the offense is going to come from. Lets call it a toss-up between the A’s and the Angels. Texas is the cream of the western crop. Tons of offense and solid pitching will have them winning the west without a problem.