February 21, 2004

Predictions, Part II. Part I is here. This is from Athlon:
AL East     AL Central    AL West

New York Kansas City Anaheim
Boston Minnesota Oakland
Baltimore Chicago Seattle
Toronto Cleveland Texas
Tampa Bay Detroit
NL East     NL Central    NL West

Atlanta Houston San Francisco
Phillies Chicago San Diego
Florida St. Louis Arizona
New York Cincinnati Los Angeles
Montreal Milwaukee Colorado
Pittsburgh
Wild Cards: Boston & Philadelphia
AL Pennant: Anaheim over New York
NL Pennant: Houston over San Francisco
World Series: Houston over Anaheim
AL MVP: Garrett Anderson, Alex Rodriguez, Vernon Wells
NL MVP: Jim Thome, Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds
AL Cy Young: Tim Hudson, Pedro Martinez, Jose Contreras
NL Cy Young: John Smoltz, Mark Prior, Brandon Webb
AL Rookie: Joe Mauer, Minnesota
NL Rookie: Kazuo Matsui, Mets

For the AL East, here are Athlon's pithy comments:
New York Yankees -- Still rule improved AL East.
Boston Red Sox -- Grady bleeping Little.

Memo to Athlon: I understand you can't pack much analysis into 4-6 words, but Grady Little is no longer employed by the Red Sox. ... As for Pedro's predicted 2nd place finish for the Cy Young, Athlon writes: "Needs lots of bullpen help." But how will that help Martinez's Cy Young chances? The only way it helps is if award voters look solely at wins, a stat the pitcher has very little control over. When you see Hudson's comment ("Just a few blown saves from award in '03") you realize that is exactly what Athlon is saying. Is Joe Morgan writing for these guys now? ... And I love this comment for Contreras: "Is it that far-fetched?" Actually, yes, it is.

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