Texas Rangers World Series Champs and 15 Bold Predictions for Rest of MLB Season

The MLB trade deadline is officially over, and while some teams, like the New York Yankees, might make some waiver deals in August, we have enough questions answered to make predictions about the rest of the season. 

Which teams will hold on to their close division leads? The NL West and AL East are both looking like they will go down to the wire. Which teams will lose their leads?

Who will lead the league in home runs? What about saves? Or batting average?

Who wins the major awards? Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young award last year on a bad team. Can that happen again?

Will new players on new teams have success? Colby Rasmus and Ubaldo Jimenez are huge question marks as we enter August. 

I'll attempt to answer some of these popular questions with some not-so-popular answers. 

Rich Harden Won't Get to 10 Total Starts

Rich Harden has made five starts so far and is scheduled to start tonight. Simple math says he's only got three more under his tender arm. 

The Red Sox were willing to take on Erik Bedard's injury problems and not Harden's, and that's saying something. They must have seen something they didn't like.  

Doug Fister Will Only Win 3 Games With the Detroit Tigers

Doug Fister will realize he can't have the best of both worlds. 

He will no longer have the terrible run support of the Seattle Mariners, but he also won't get to pitch in the friendly confines of Safeco Field.

His career splits point to a rise in ERA away from Safeco. 

Edwin Jackson Will Struggle Mightily

Sure, he moved to the easier league, but I've never been a huge fan of Edwin Jackson.

His WHIP so far this season is an ugly 1.42, and I find it hard to believe he'll keep that ERA under four. 

In 33 career starts in September and October, Jackson has an ERA hovering around six. The Cardinals are going to regret this trade. I don't think they will make the playoffs.  

Ubaldo Jimenez Will Post an ERA Over 4.00 With the Cleveland Indians

Ubaldo Jimenez is too good and too cheap for the Rockies to ship him off like that. His velocity is down. There has to be something wrong.

Even during his stellar 2010, Jimenez posted a 4.58 ERA and 1.53 WHIP against the AL. It's a small sample, but I expect him to hit some bumps while he gets used to a new league. 

Colby Rasmus Will Hit over .300 With the Toronto Blue Jays

Colby Rasmus has never really come close to hitting .300 in the majors, but a new, healthy situation can do wonders.

He was being moved all around the lineup in St. Louis for the past couple of months. One place he wasn't hitting, was in front of Albert Pujols. If Toronto keeps him in front of Jose Bautista, he will settle in nicely. 

Dustin Ackley Will Win AL Rookie of the Year

Dustin Ackley didn't get the call to the majors until late June but has certainly made an impact.

Ackley has arguably been Seattle's best player since his arrival. He's got to do some work, but I think he'll pass teammate Michael Pineda (he'll be shut down), Jeremy Hellickson, Mark Trumbo and Eric Hosmer. 

Ackley's overall stats aren't the best out of all rookies, but his impact is un-rivaled. 

Justin Verlander Will Win the AL Cy Young Award

It's essentially a three-person race with Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver and C.C Sabathia.

I think Weaver put himself in a bad light with that tirade a couple days ago, and while Sabathia has been good, the only stat he leads the trio in is wins. He's also gotten about two more runs per game than the other two.

Verlander has the best WHIP, most strikeouts, most innings, four complete games, two shutouts and a no-hitter. 

He's come close to a no-hitter about three more times. 

Clayton Kershaw Will Win the NL Cy Young Award

Just a hunch that Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels kind of cancel each other out.

Clayton Kershaw has probably been the most dominating pitching in the NL, and he could sneak in and steal the award. 

Adrian Gonzalez Will Finish the Season With an Average Above .370

Since hitting .314 in April and .341 in May, Adrian Gonzalez has combined to hit .388 in June and July. If he wants to reach .370, he'll have to hit somewhere around .400 for the rest of the season.

Gonzalez would become the first person since Ichiro in 2004 to complete the feat. 

Gonzalez will also be named AL MVP. 

Matt Kemp Will Reach 40 HR's and 40 Steals

In the last three seasons, Matt Kemp has reach 657, 667 and 668 plate appearances, respectively. If he reaches somewhere around that mark this year, he is on pace for about 38 homers and 40 steals.

I think he gets there and wins the MVP.

The Dodgers become the worst team in history to have both the MVP and Cy Young. 

The Texas Rangers Will Win the AL West by at Least 6 Games

The Texas Rangers are really good.

The Los Angeles Angels have kept pace so far because of their starting pitching, but the moves the Rangers made at the deadline are going to be just too much. 

The Boston Red Sox Will Win the AL East

The AL East race is obviously down to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, and the Yanks apparently believed that a deadline trade wasn't necessary.

Both offenses are good, and I actually like the Red Sox rotation more than the Yankees' after the addition of Erik Bedard. He's been good this year, and his injury wasn't to the elbow that has troubled him in the past. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks Will Win the NL West

This is just a hunch, really. San Francisco has the pitching. The Arizona Diamondbacks have the firepower on the offensive side of the ball.

Getting Carlos Beltran was nice for the Giants, but he isn't fixing that lineup. He won't have the same lineup protection he had with New York.

The D-Backs pitching will be key, and I love their trio of Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Josh Collmenter.  

The Philadelphia Phillies Will Win the NL

The Philadelphia Phillies' pitching is perfect for the playoffs, and I loved the addition of Hunter Pence. 

They are too good to lose four, or even three, games in a series to any team in the NL. 

The Texas Rangers Will Win the World Series

Assuming Adrian Beltre comes back healthy, the Texas Rangers' offense is scary good.

Their pitching staff is extremely underrated. Derek Holland might be their worst starter, and he's been on fire lately.

With the additions of Koji Uehara and Mike Adams, their bullpen might be one of the best in all of baseball.

Texas is going to be hard to beat.