Baseball's Division Winners, The Way It Will Happen

It's almost baseball time!

The 2009 MLB season is about to began. Everyone picks a bracket for the NCAA tourney, so why not pick the likely division winners in MLB as well? There are good races in every division this season.

The AL East and NL East are both looking like they will come down to the end of the season, just like last year. The Rays jumped into America’s hearts last season by turning a 180 and winning the division and pennant. The Mets also found a way to fall apart at the end of the season, but I really don’t think it could happen three years in a row.

Elsewhere, the Oakland A’s are loaded with young talent. They should give the Angels a run for their money. The Twins, who were cheated out of their division last season, should have a great race with the White Sox, Indians, and Tigers.

Here is how I think each team will finish.

NL West

1.       L.A. Dodgers

2.       D-Backs

3.       Giants

4.       Rockies

5.       Padres

The Dodgers are loaded from top to bottom. Manny will help lead them to the playoffs once again and maybe even deeper this time.

NL Central

1.       Cubs

2.       Cardinals

3.       Reds

4.       Astros

5.       Brewers

6.       Pirates

The Cubs will take this division easy and should have the NL’s best record. They have a great team with a solid pitching staff. Look for Carlos Zambrano to have a great season as well.

NL East:

1.       Phillies

2.       Mets

3.       Marlins

4.       Braves

5.       Nationals

The fighting Phils are the champs, and as the saying goes, “You want to be the champ, you got to go through the champs.” I really think the wild card will also come out of this division.

AL West

1.       Angels

2.       A’s

3.       Rangers

4.       Mariners

The Angels have a concept that has worked for them for many years. It will work again and may get them a home field advantage this season. Expect Vald to come back strong.

AL East

1.       Rays

2.       Yankees

3.       Red Sox

4.       Blue Jays

5.       Orioles

The Rays have everything you want in a team—speed, power, pitching, and defense. BJ Upton and Carl Crawford will have to be healthy to make this happen. David Price should be called up within the first month viva Evan Longoria.

AL Central

1.       Twins

2.       Indians

3.       White Sox

4.       Tigers

5.       Royals

I think the Twins will have a tough time winning this division, but if you know anything about this division, you never count the Twins out. Good young pitching and solid defense will prevail once again.

This season will be filled with drama and action. I, for one, cannot wait to see the excitement happen. Oh, and my picks for the World Series are the Cubs and the Rays.