The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

2005 MLB Preview - Playoffs and Awards

2005 Award Winner Predictions

American League MVP

Manny Ramirez or Adrian Beltre

Dark Horse: Travis Hafner

National League MVP

Albert Pujols or Carlos Beltran

Dark Horse: Adam Dunn

American League Cy Young

Randy Johnson (only need one choice here)

Dark Horse: Rich Harden

National League Cy Young

Pedro Martinez or Tim Hudson

Dark Horse: Oliver Perez

American League Manager of the Year

Eric Wedge or Mike Scoscia

Dark Horse: Lou Pinella

National League Manager of the Year

Bobby Cox or Felipe Alou

Dark Horse: Ned Yost

American League Home Run Champ

Alex Rodriguez or Vlad Guerrero

Dark Horse: David Ortiz (hurt by inter-league)

National League Home Run Champ

Albert Pujols or Carlos Delgado

Dark Horse: Barry Bonds (if he counts as a “dark horse”)

I’m not touching the Rookies, the Comeback Players, or any of the Gold Gloves. I’m pretty certain those things will change, dramatically, as the season goes on. Also, I don’t think there’s any chance in hell that Barry Bonds wins consecutive MVP number five. Pujols will probably be rewarded for his last three seasons combined. As for the playoffs…

2005 Playoff Predictions

American League East

New York Yankees

American League Central

Cleveland Indians

American League West

Anaheim Angels

American League Wild Card

Boston Red Sox

National League East

Atlanta Braves

National League Central

St. Louis Cardinals

National League West

San Francisco Giants

National League Wild Card

Florida Marlins

America League Divisional Series

Red Sox over Indians (4 games)

Angels over Yankees (5 Games)

America League Championship Series

Red Sox over Angels (6 games)

National League Divisional Series

Giants over Braves (5 games)

Cardinals over Marlins (3 games)

National League Championship Series

Giants over Cardinals (7 games)

World Series

Can you say DYNASTY?

I can…

Red Sox over Giants (6 games)

Hey, like I said, I’m trying to look at this objectively. And for as many questions as there are surrounding the Red Sox ability to rebuild after losing so much of their 2004 team, there’s also no other team in baseball that looks like a clear-cut favorite. I believe the Cardinals have the talent to get back to the World Series, but I didn’t want to seem out of date by predicting last year’s series this year.

posted by Big D @ 5:43 PM