2011 MLB Playoffs Prediction Challenge: Can You Call It Correct Now?

The MLB season is 1/4 of the way complete and I think it's fair to say that it has had plenty of surprises.

Some teams the experts expected to be contenders like the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox, have not played up to their potential.

Then, there are teams that didn't have much hope for success in April—the Florida Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians—who are overachieving and appear to have a good chance at making the playoffs.

But we are now entering the part of the season where the truly good teams start playing well and some teams will fade away into mediocrity.

The landscape of the MLB is much different now than it was a month and a half ago.  So I think it is the perfect time to re-pick the teams that will make the playoffs with the knowledge of how the season has started off, while there is still plenty of time for things to change again.

I figure picking right now gives us some knowledge, but also a lot of bragging rights if we pick correctly right now.  

So, if you want to be part of this challenge just comment with your picks.

Include: Which teams make the playoffs, who wins each series and who will ultimately become World Series Champs.  

Here is the format you should follow, along with my picks for this challenge:

AL East Champs and #1 Seed: Boston Red Sox 

AL West Champs and #2 Seed: Texas Rangers

AL Central Champs and #3 Seed: Minnesota Twins (Yeah I said it!)

AL Wild Card and # 4 Seed: New York Yankees

NL East Champs and #1 Seed: Philadelphia Phillies

NL West Champs and #2 Seed: Colorado Rockies 

NL Central Champs and #3 Seed: Milwaukee Brewers

NL Wild Card and #4 Seed: Atlanta Braves

First Round of the Playoffs

#4 Seed New York Yankees Defeat #1 Seed Boston Red Sox

#3 Seed Minnesota Twins Defeat #2 Seed Texas Rangers

#1 Seed Philadelphia Phillies Defeat #4 Seed Atlanta Braves

#3 Seed Milwaukee Brewers Defeat #2 Colorado Rockies

Second Round of the Playoffs

#3 Seed Minnesota Twins Defeat #4 New York Yankees

#3 Seed Milwaukee Brewers Defeat #1 Seed Philadelphia Phillies

World Series

The Minnesota Twins Defeat the Milwaukee Brewers!

So there you have it.  You can call me a homer for picking the Minnesota Twins to win it all, even though they currently have the worst record in baseball. That's OK. I just want it to be documented that I called their 180-degree turn and miraculous success of what will be known as the greatest comeback ever!

So make sure you label what seed each team is, so that we will know what the match-ups for the playoffs will be.  The scoring will go as follows:

1 Point for correctly predicting a playoff team (You don't need to accurately call their seed)

2 Points for correctly predicting a team making it to the AL/NL Championship Round

4 Points for correctly predicting a team making it to the World Series

10 Points for correctly predicting the winner of the World Series

So I hope a lot of you Bleacherites will join me in this challenge, and we will see who will earn the Ultimate Bragging Rights as the Bleacher Head that knows the most about the MLB.

(But before I let you go I want to make a shallow plug for another one of my passions: rap. I am trying to start a comedy rap career (somewhat like the Lonely Island but more creativity, wit and actual rap talent.)

If you like underground rap please check out my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/UntameableJoelBrand  

I go by the name of Untameable and appreciate your guys supporting me here and also with rapping. So thanks and now let's let the predictions begin and debate start.