At Last—Major League Baseball Is Back: 2009 AL Season Predictions

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

It's the most wonderful time of the year. No I'm not talking about Christmas, the last day of school, or a personal favorite, the beginning of March Madness. I'm talking about Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season.

Baseball kicks off tonight when the Atlanta Braves face off against the reigning World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies at 8 p.m. tonight on ESPN. That's all great and what not, but the REAL Opening Day is tomorrow when there is non-stop baseball for twelve hours, from 1p.m. until 1 a.m.

Whether you watch from your team's local network or the quadruple-header on ESPN and ESPN 2, baseball owns TV tomorrow.

Since this is my favorite sport, my favorite to write about, and overall, the best sport known to man, it is time for some season predictions. I will give you my division winners from all 6 divisions, give you the winner for October, and my picks for the award winners. I will also look forward to hearing peoples' comments and opinions about what I write.

First off, I will start in the Jr. Circuit and give the three American League division winners.

AL East—Red Sox. I say this for a number of reasons. Nothing is more important than pitching, and the Sox's pitching staff is loaded from top to bottom. With a healthy Beckett, an improving Jon Lester, and a motivated Brad Penny, the Sox have one of the best, if not the best, rotations in baseball. I didn't even mention Dice-K, who won 18 games last year. Also, you can't forget about that Wake geezer too; everyone loves him. Also, every game is over after five innings with this bullpen. With Ramirez, Delcarmen, Saito, Masterson, and Jonathan Papelbon, this staff can carry the Sox straight to the series.

Key to Success—Offensive Health. If David Ortiz and Mike Lowell are healthy, or even at 90 percent, the Sox offense will be saying "Manny who?" Let's not forget that this team was very unhealthy when they lost in game 7 of the ALCS.

AL Central—Indians. This one was actually a tough call. The AL Central is one of the weaker divisions and could be won by any of the five teams. Yes, that includes the Royals. However, I think Travis Haefner is motivated and ready to rake along with Victor Martinez. This on top of an excellent MVP candidate in Grady Sizemore and an improving Shin Soo Choo, the offense should be good enough in a weak division.

Key to Success—Back of rotation/end of game. I'm not worried about Cliff Lee or Fausto Carmona. If Carl Pavano (remember when the Red Sox said was untouchable?) and either Scott Lewis or Anthony Reyes can win more than 10 games, 90 wins is a possibility. A healthy Kerry Wood would also make them contenders in October too.

AL West

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?