Call It in the Air

With so many free agents still available, rumors of potential trades whirling around, and the weather in the Northeast a sweltering eight degrees, it might be a bit premature to be talking September baseball.

That's why I'm gonna do it now...to make me look like a genius if my predictions come true. Besides, does it really matter who Baltimore or Washington convince to take their money? That being said, here's my picks for the division winners and wild card teams for the 2009 season.

National League:

NL East: New York Mets - I really don't like the mets, but I think they're gonna take this division. They fixed what was terribly broken...the bullpen.  Philly will be on their heels, and the division will come down to the final days, but with a pen that won't blow it, the Mets won't make it three disasters in a row.

NL Central: Chicago Cubs - Unless something catastrophic happens, the Cubs should easily take this division. No one else in the central did much to improve and if it's close at the end, the Brewers will be reminded of the fact that Trevor Hoffman has never saved a meaningful game. But making the playoffs isn't enough for the Cubs, they need to win it all or the season is a loss.  Can they avoid imploding in the playoffs again?

NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks - The Giants improved, but not enough. Even if the Dodgers bring back Manny, they still lost a lot of pitching. And I think the Padres and Rockies will go down as "also ran" in 2009.  The d-backs have good pitching and a very young team that should continue to improve.  If they can stay out of the way of line drives (brandon webb) and run away superstars (manny's insane post trade run), they should be fine.  Expect Justin Upton to have a monster year too. 

NL Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies - The worst thing a championship team can do is nothing, which is a theory the phils apparently want to test.  The beginning of the year is going to be a bit of a mess with Chase Utley working his way back and J.C. Romero serving a suspension, but i still like the phils to make the playoffs.  I don't understand the Raul Ibanez signing - how many lefties can you have in a lineup?

American League:

AL East: Boston Red Sox - While the Yankees went and overpaid for the services of Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett, the Red Sox quietly put together a monster staff and locked up some key players for about half the price.  It's hard to find a flaw on this team, especially when the best from Pedroia, Ellsbury and lester might still be to come.

AL Central: Detroit Tigers - This division is basically up for grabs with four teams that could easily claim it, but if the tigers bullpen can get healthy, I think it's there's. And if the stars align for them, they could make it interesting come playoff time...again.

AL West: Oakland A's - When GM Billy Beane swung the trade for Matt Holliday I figured he was just planning on immediately shipping him to philly for prospects.  Then he brought back Giambi to be the dh and it dawned on me that they were actually going to try and compete.  The Angels should run away with this division, but i'm taking Oakland for no real good reason. 

AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays - That's right, the Yankees don't make the playoffs.  They overpaid for a bunch of guys that will only be a slight improvement on the last bunch of guys.  Mussina won 20 last year, will CC win 30? Will Burnett even pitch in 30 games? Is there an uglier outfield right now than the Yankees?  Who gets the ball to Mariano?  Is it blasphemy to say Jeter is in decline?  These are the reasons Tampa Bay takes the wild card.  They're gonna ride last year's experience, a full year of David Price and the soon to be fan favorite "pat the bat" all the way into the post season. Teixeira will make more this year than Evan Longoria will over the life of his contract, but Longoria will win the mvp and be playing in October again.