Ohh, folks! I think we're going to have ourselves a very exciting second half of major league baseball in 2009. Most of the divisions throughout the league are tight races so far and there are some big names looming out there before the trade deadline at the end of July. There's a little bit of everything happening this year. This is a two part series. I'll follow up with a revised post after the trade deadline since that will most likely alter some of the races. Now, I'm not going to throw statistics at you like Al Gore or Barack Obama. For that you can go to
baseball-reference.com for every stat you could possibly desire. No, I'm coming at this like George "Dubbya" Bush - from the gut! With that, here's how I see things shaking out in the second half.
National League West
Let's start with the easy division, shall we? It's the Dodgers all the way. Sure, they could use a little bullpen help but overall their pitching is solid. And yeah, Chad Billingsly hasn't made a quality start in a while but he'll right his own ship. Their offense is certainly one of the bests in the league and now they have Manny back from his Club PED vacation all rested and ready to mash his team into the post season. The Giants and Rockies will make a push but a wild card victory for them is more realistic.
National League Central
What a division. Right now St. Louis has a 2 game lead over the Cubs and a 3 game lead over the Brewers and Astros. Oh, and the Reds are only 5 1/2 games out. There's a lot to like about the Cardinals - from their pitching to having the best player in the game in Albert Pujols. That's why I'm picking the Cubs to win the division! I have to think teams are going to flat out stop pitching to Pujols from here on out. They have to. Make Colby Ramsus or Ryan Ludwick beat you. Meanwhile in Chicago, Lou Piniella is going to become Milton Bradley's personal hitting coach. I'm tellin' ya, things are about to turn around for them. Cubs win! Cubs win! But they'll get swept in the first round of the playoffs.
National League East
Gotta go with the Champs on this one. The Phillies decimated the Cubs on national television last night (my pick for the NL Central already looks HORRIBLE!) to continue their hot streak. That's 9 wins in a row. Meanwhile, the Mets are just too banged up at this point. Really, I don't like that Mets team. They just don't seem to gell and the Oliver Perez signing has been a disaster. If the Phillies make a deal for Roy Halladay (and they should) they'll cruise right back to the World Series.
American League West
The Rangers are looking mighty good these days. What a Gnarly lineup (Cruz, Hamilton, Young...) and a much improved pitching staff with C.J. Wilson doing a great job in the closer role. Over in Anaheim, meanwhile, the Angels are pretty beat up. Vlad and Torri Hunter are both on the DL and they have some suspect pitching. Having said that, they're still finding ways to win and have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Rangers currently. They still own the Yankees and tend to beat up on the Red Sox in the regular season (October's a different story!). They really need Hunter back in that lineup though (as does my fantasy team). This is a tough one, but I'm going with the Rangers to mash their way into the playoffs with pitching just good enough to keep them in ball games.
American League Central
White Sox. They're about to get Carlos Quentin back and I see them moving into first place within the next two weeks. The Tigers have been a big surprise so far but let's face it, the city of Detroit is having a very bad year. When was the last time you heard good news coming out of Detroit? Don't exptect it with the Tigers either.
American League East
Ok, here we go. The meat grinder division! There's my beloved Boston Red Sox and the of course, the New York Yankees. They're in your face, overplayed in the media, the rivalry isn't as interesting anymore, and they're a bunch of big, fat rich kids with fan bases that constantly complain about how shitty they're doing even though most other teams would kill for their resources. I love it! Mix in the reigning AL Champ Tampa Bay Rays we've got a great second half coming here. Even before the season began I just couldn't see the Rays pulling it out again. It's completely possible, but they're just not going to do it. This is going to be old school, coming down between the big boys who are currently all even. Boston's bats have been struggling a bit as of late but this is no time to panic. They're ganna hit and we know they can pitch. The Yankees, as we all know, can hit the shit out of the ball and their pitching staff is starting to come together. Uh oh. This is going to make for some great September baseball down the stretch...and the winner is.......the Boston Red Sox! Who win the division by 2 games. Yeah, I know, I'm a homer. I thought about predicting the Yanks to win the division but my fingers literally couldn't type it.
AL WILD CARD: New York Yankees
NL WILD CARD: St. Louis Cardinals
There you have it. I can't wait to see how many of these I get completely wrong. Actually, scratch that - I can't wait to see how many I get right. Ok, baseball fans - until next time - enjoy the rest of the season.
