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Every early April, baseball junkies like myself are on the verge of being committed to an asylum due to baseball withdrawal, though the end is in sight. It’s all I can do to not be donning a straight jacket to surmise who might take each division, the wild cards, the pennants, and the trophy at the seasons end, so that’s what I’ll do here.

I cannot predict the future, and my flux capacitor is on the fritz, so I couldn’t make the trip to November to see who finished where, but I’ll do my best to predict such without the help of Marty Mcfly.

American League:

AL East:

Firstly, the American League. In the AL, the Eastern Division has arguably three of the best teams in all of baseball. The Boston Red Sox, who have the best staff in baseball as well as best bullpen and one of the top offenses, the New York Yankees who over pay and continue to under produce, and the Tampa Bay Rays, who are America’s new favorite team, are all among the elite squads throughout. The problem arises that only one team in each Division gets an automatic berth into the play-offs, and the rest of the world must sit and wait to see to whom the coveted Wild Cards go.

Prediction: Red Sox take the Division, Yankees and Rays battle and jockey for second place, the Baltimore Orioles take third, and the lowly Toronto Blue Jays trade Halladay mid-season, and become the cellar dwellers.

AL Central:

The Central Division is not as powerful, by any means. With teams like Cleveland, Detroit and Kansas City retooled, it can be a toss-up, with no one team being the absolute favorite.

Prediction: the Cleveland Indians take the division with Kerry Wood (not Rick Vaughn) closing games and Mark DeRosa playing every position, including field maintenance crew. Next is Minnesota, the Tigers, the ChiSox, and even with the new high-powered offense, the Royals remain where they usually are at the end of the season, fifth place. When your pitching staff couldn’t get me out, you’re not winning any games. Nice try KC.

AL West:

Finally, the West. No questions asked, the weakest division in the American. Los Angeles down-graded with the departure of Mark Teixeira and Casey Kotchman. However, the addition of Bobby Abreu will help with some of this lack of power that Kendry Morales brings to first base. In Texas, the one thing always missing is pitching, and nothing’s changed. Oakland definitely re-upped their squad for the better, but is in desperate need of arms, and the only thing Seattle changed was adding a washed-up outfielder/DH that cures exactly zero of the infinite problems they have.

Prediction: Angels easily take the division, followed by the Athletics, the Rangers, and the Mariners in last place once again.

National League

NL East:

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