By Calvin Connors Posted April 20, 2011
American League Predictions:
It’s that time of year again, where America’s past time comes to life and all of the talented teams in the MLB fight to be World Series champions.
Central-The Minnesota Twins will win the central division because of their team leaders that consist of Joe Mauer, Jim Thome, Delmon Young, and Francisco Liriano. Joe Mauer finished last season with 9 home runs, 75 RBI’s, and a .327 batting average. Jim Thome is the team leader of last season with 25 home runs, 59 RBI’s, and a .283 batting average. Delmon Young had led the team in RBI’s with 112, he also had a .298 batting average with 21 home runs. Francisco Liriano lead with a 3.62 ERA.
East-The New York Yankees have one of the most talented teams not only in the American League but also in the National League. Robinson Cano led the team with a .319 batting average along with 29 home runs and 109 RBI’s. Mark Teixeira led the team last season in home runs with 33; he also had 108 RBI’s and a .256 batting average. Alex Rodriguez had a whopping 125 RBI’s and wasn’t far behind Texeira with 30 home runs. Lefty CC Sabathia led the pitchers with an ERA of 3.18
West-The Texas Rangers lost their RBI leader when Vladimir Guerrero went to the Baltimore Orioles. But I still think that the Rangers will win the Western division because Josh Hamilton leads the team in, not only batting average but in home runs as well. He finished the season with a batting average of .359 and with 32 home runs as well. Even with the loss of starter Cliff Lee, the Rangers have a solid rotation with Neftali Feliz anchoring the bullpen.
AL Wild Card- Boston Red Sox after being played with injuries in 2010, the Red Sox still had an amazing 89 wins.
National League Predictions:
Central-The St. Louis Cardinals have the best hitter in baseball Albert Pujols returning to their squad. Pujols leads the team in two categories that include home runs and RBI’s; he finished the season with 42 home runs and 118 RBI’s. Pujols also tied with left fielder Matt Holiday with a .312 batting average.
East Division- the Philadelphia Phillies is the team that has a great talent not only on the offensive side but on the defensive side as well. They have very good players consisting of Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard. The Phillies also have a great pitching staff in Roy Halladay, Cole Hammels, and Cliff Lee.
West-The returning World Series Champs the San Francisco Giants are looking strong once again with returning catcher Buster Posey who was phenomenal last season. Brian Wilson is also returning on the pitching staff for the defending champs.
NL Wild Card-The Cincinnati Reds are a solid team in a somewhat weak division. The Reds should be a great wild card frontrunner. The Reds won the Central division last year but got beat in by the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round of the playoffs.
World Series-The two teams that will make it to the World Series are the Phillies and the Yankees. These two teams met in the World Series two years ago, the Yankees ended up beating the defending champs the Phillies. But the Phillies will pull out the World Series and beat the Yankees in a thrilling series, that will go down to the last game (game 7) and the Phillies winning game seven 8-5.
